


The Wise Mans Fear

by MercurialInK



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: Buckle up for a long ride, Demons, Hogwarts AU, Hufflepuff!Kuroko, I have created a monster, This is gratuitous and I'm not sorry, also minor character death, averted apocalypses, it gets a lil violent later on kiddos, slow burn so slow it's glacial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-25
Updated: 2017-10-26
Packaged: 2018-05-28 22:14:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 63
Words: 627,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6347698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MercurialInK/pseuds/MercurialInK
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Mandatory Hogwarts AU. Beta'ed by the wonderful <a href="http://archiveofourown.org/users/Beccabee/pseuds/Beccabee">Beccabee</a> who has put up with so much to bring this to you.</p><p> </p><p>Arc I: <i>In which Kuroko is a budding delinquent who catches the eye of star student Akashi Seijuro.</i><br/>Arc II: <i>In which Kuroko is a respectable student and a talented duelist who plans on showing his former teammates the error of their ways by using the power of friendship.<i></i></i><br/>Arc III: <i>In which Kuroko is neither a delinquent nor a respectable student, but a fully realized wizard with a plan to stop the world from ending – if he can work with the Miracles for long enough to make it happen.</i><br/>...</p><p>“There are three things all wise men fear: the sea in storm, a night with no moon, and the anger of a gentle man.”<br/>~Patrick Rothfuss</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. In Which Akashi Discovers An Unquenchable Thirst

**Author's Note:**

> IT. BEGINS.

**ARC I: THE SEA IN STORM**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.- 

 

**_First year:_ **

 

_Our story begins on a clear, cloudless night in fall._

 

_It was September first, and a line of first years arrived at Hogwarts that would change the wizarding world forever. Outside the warm Great Hall, there were crickets chirping and a cool breeze was on the air, gently disrupting the surface of the Great Lake that cut a smooth swath through the English countryside. It’s surface gently swayed, only slightly distorting the image of the huge castle reflected in it._

_Some would say, years later, that this chilly fall evening was at least partially prophetic. That they had known right from the beginning that the Generation of Miracles would become something special, that they would do amazing – terrible – things._

_But that wasn’t true._

_The truth is that they were children. Just children, excited and nervous and eager to fit in just like every other child who walked into that hall._

_The truth is that when “Akashi Seijuro!” was called forward to be sorted first, he walked with even steps, but when he sat down his knees shook and he prayed with every part of his soul that the hat would place him where he needed to be. His family expected nothing less than the instantaneous bellow from the hat that he was destined for the greatness of "SLYTHERIN!"_

_The truth is that “Aomine Daiki” jumped up and pounded a fist in the air, cheering when the Sorting hat barely had to be placed on his head to pronounce that he belonged in “GRYFFINDOR!”_

_The truth is that Kise’s eyes sparkled with unshed tears when he joined Aomine in the same house after nearly two and a half full minutes sitting there just hoping that he was something more than a squib. He hadn't even really believed until then that he truly belonged here._

_The truth is that Midorima Shintarou was immediately drawn into a quiet, intense conversation about the virtues of Astronomy and Divination with the Ravenclaw house prefect for the fifth years, and that Murasakibara Atsushi looked to the Slytherin table with a lost expression on his face until Akashi moved over, creating an extra place for the extremely tall eleven year old._

_There was nothing extraordinary about them on that particular day, nothing aside from the astonishingly bright colors of their hair to distinguish them as the Miracles they would one day become._

_But this isn’t their story._

_This story belongs to the tiny slip of boy who was sorted quietly between these minor events, while Kise Ryouta ran to the Gryffindor table._

_Kuroko Tetsuya walked cautiously up to the stool and sat, wondering how on earth this hat was meant to know who he was at his core when so many people never bothered to look at him twice. But when the hat fell down over his eyes and enclosed Kuroko in darkness, he finally had his answer._

My my _, the Sorting Hat whispered inside his head._ An invisible boy _._

_Uncomfortable as he felt the stares of the entire crowd upon him, Kuroko pursed his lips together and prayed that this would be over soon._

Ooh, there’s loyalty in spades, that will serve you well in several houses. And quite a temper too, there’s a Slytherin sense of justice and revenge if I’ve ever seen one. You can certainly keep a cool head… And you keep your secrets like a Snake. But… no, perhaps not there, not with your lack of drive and ambition. You work hard, want to help others, remain in the shadows…

_Kuroko breathed out a sigh of relief. The hat understood. He was invisible, and had no desire to do anything to attract undue attention to himself here._

Very well _, the hat said at last._ Make your home in the house of those that will work hard and never give up no matter the odds, among those who will never betray you. I believe you will find your clearest path lays ahead in _“HUFFLEPUFF!”_

_Just as quickly as Kuroko slid away into the crowd of black and yellow, he was forgotten, and “Murasakibara Atsushi!” was being sorted into Slytherin and Akashi Seijuro was introducing himself to the eleven year old that already stood almost a full head taller than his peers._

_The blue haired boy sat back in contentment._

_It seemed he was due for seven quiet years here at Hogwarts._

_The Sorting hat had not been wrong when it had called him an invisible boy. All his life, even before arriving at Hogwarts, Kuroko had been hard to find, hard to remember, and hard to keep track of. There were only a small number of people for whom that had not been true._

_Kuroko was invisible. This was due to two incredibly lucky factors. First and foremost was Kuroko’s weak presence;_ He didn’t stand out, and people rarely noticed him until he tried to bring himself to their attention.

 

_The second was that five students at Hogwarts quickly set themselves upon a pedestal so far above the reach of their yea rmates so as to become almost untouchable. Their influence on the Hogwarts student body obscured almost all of the first years from notice – even those who would ordinarily have stood out due to their own talents._

_It was whispered throughout the school that Akashi Seijuro, a first year Slytherin, had managed to complete the transfiguration assignment on his first try. There were also rumors that he’d managed to, without so much as the use of his wand, cause a matchstick to turn into a giant eagle that flew repeatedly around the room._

_Kuroko didn’t believe those rumors, but word was beginning to spread, and Akashi wasn’t the only one._

_Three weeks into the school year, they were already calling the five boys the “Generation of Miracles.”_

_Everyone knew that their presence at Hogwarts overshadowed everyone, but with those five in any room, nobody was looking for Kuroko Tetsuya. He liked it that way. He could work hard in the shadows without the intense scrutiny of his peers and professors._

_Kuroko truly was an invisible boy._

_And for quite some time – just a little over three years – that continued to be true. Until one day, it wasn’t._

….

                                                                           

“Kuroko Tetsuya?”

 

Kuroko looked up, shock outweighing the irritation at the sudden interruption.

 

Not once in four years had anyone _ever_ come up to him of their own initiative and disrupted his studies. Even those that could notice him knew better by now, and most could barely even see him to begin with.

 

His dorm mates had mastered the art of finding him during classes or in the Great Hall. Like most of the Hogwarts population, however, they never found him unless they were looking for him, and none of them were overly fond of the library.

 

Even Ogiwara never came and found him on his own when Kuroko was studying. He spotted Kuroko about one time in three, which was significantly higher than anyone Kuroko had ever known before.

 

However, when he made eye contact with the interloper into his bubble of studying space, whatever verbal reaction he had died on his lips.

 

“I don’t believe we’ve been properly introduced,” the figure said politely, his hair the color of blood in the auburn light of the library lamps. “I am Akashi Seijuro.”

 

 _I know,_ Kuroko thought, but didn’t say. Of course the boy in front of him was Akashi Seijuro– Slytherin fourth year, top of their year by all objective measure, and one of the most powerful students at Hogwarts. In four years, Kuroko didn’t think Akashi had ever said one word to him. They were in the same year, but the difference in their power and ability put them in completely different circles.

 

“May I sit down?” Akashi asked. Kuroko nodded, and Akashi took the chair across from him, leaning forward to sit with his chin resting on one hand. His elbow was less than an inch away from the end of Kuroko’s parchment and the Hufflepuff fought the sudden urge to yank it away.

 

“How can I help you?” Kuroko asked, closing his textbook after marking his place. He resigned himself to dealing with this interruption as soon as possible.

 

Akashi smiled approvingly as Kuroko pushed the book away, giving the Slytherin his undivided attention.

 

“You may have seen the class rankings from this past spring,” Akashi said casually, and Kuroko blinked. Why would he look at class rankings? They weren’t a secret, but why would he care about anyone else’s position? Kuroko had enough on his plate just keeping up with the curriculum without turning it into a competition, especially when he knew that his low levels of magical power guaranteed he would lose.

 

“For the last four years, I have not only maintained the top rank for students in our year, I have maintained the top rank in every _class_ of our year. Now imagine my surprise when I found out that the top student of our year in both Potions and Charms is _not_ Akashi Seijuro, as anticipated, but rather a student named Kuroko Tetsuya.”

 

Kuroko’s brain stuttered over that information.

 

He’d… outperformed… everyone in his class… in two classes.

 

That was unexpected. Shocking really, almost unreal.

 

Sure, Kuroko had studied hard, mostly out of a need to prove to himself that he still belonged here. There was also a desire to not fail, as he had almost done every year previously (due not to any lack of effort on his part, just a lack of power and ability). Now that he thought about it, he _had_ found the practical examinations even easier than usual this year, especially Charms. It had been the first year he was certain that he hadn’t flunked any of the exams. He’d only spared enough time to be grateful that his hard work might be paying off before putting even more effort into the new term.

 

He had known his marks were good, but to have _beaten_ even the best student in his class –

 

“Did you want me to apologize?” Kuroko asked. He wondered if he had somehow offended the Slytherin. Exams aside, he knew Akashi could flatten him in mere seconds if he chose to. It was one of the many reasons Kuroko preferred the anonymity his invisibility provided him.

 

Akashi laughed, a high, genuine sound that made Kuroko lower his guard a little, assuring him that the other boy wasn’t here to beat him up for stealing his class ranking.

 

“Oh no, not at all!” He told the Hufflepuff gently. “If anything, I should congratulate you for such excellent work. Of course, you are in no danger of threatening my position at the top of our year in general.”

 

He said this so casually, as though it was a fact. Kuroko was sure that the boy was certain of his spot at the top of their year, if only because of his sheer amount of magical power. Combined with a deadly intelligence, Akashi must coast to the top of all his classes without a problem.

 

“I see,” Kuroko said, though he still didn’t understand why the most popular and well known student at Hogwarts had felt the need to seek him out to brag about his grades. “Is that all?”

 

Akashi’s smile faltered a little as Kuroko’s hand twitched towards his textbook.

 

“I originally sought you out because it was so curious,” he said, his voice serious now. Kuroko blinked.

 

“What was curious?”

 

“Hufflepuff and Slytherin have Charms together,” Akashi said. “As well as Astronomy. And I checked – you took Ancient Runes and Arithmancy with me too.”

 

Kuroko shrugged. None of this was new.  It had been the same way all four years they’d been at Hogwarts, hadn’t it? Though it was bordering on creepy that the other boy had apparently all but stalked him.

 

“I’m sorry, I still don’t understand.”

 

“We’ve been taking the same classes together for years and despite your clear excellence in many of them, I’ve never seen or _heard of_ you before,” Akashi said. He sounded triumphant, like he’d finally said what he had come here to say.

 

“I’m easy to ignore,” Kuroko said, uncomfortable under the discerning gaze of his powerful classmate. “I’m not powerful, but I study very hard to do well. You aren’t the first person to see right through me, and likely will not be the last.”

 

“I am absolute,” Akashi bit back and Kuroko fought the urge to roll his eyes. Seriously? Akashi was powerful, but he was Kuroko’s age. He was fourteen, where did he get off talking about being “absolute?”

 

“I do not make mistakes, and yet I have overlooked you. I don’t think that is mere coincidence.”

 

Too late for the warning to be of any use, Kuroko felt unease curl in his stomach. His disdain evaporated in an instant of terror, because the look Akashi was giving him was… possessive.

 

Frightening.

 

Kuroko needed to get out of there _right now_. He should have realized he was in danger long before Akashi had made his declaration He should have known _the second_ the boy had actively sought him out that there would be trouble. Akashi was looking at him like he was a mystery, something to be solved. The other boy would drag him out of the shadows, lay Kuroko bare until he was satisfied, and Kuroko had to cut that line of inquiry off before it went too far.

 

“I need to go,” he said, shoving his textbook in his bag, followed by a mess of notes. He practically swept it up, hurrying as fast as he dared.

 

Akashi caught his wrist and Kuroko froze, looking up into bright red eyes.

 

“You have a talent I’ve never encountered before,” Akashi said. “Your gift for misdirection is one that could be extremely useful. You are incredibly powerful in your own right.”

 

He was _wrong, so wrong._

 

“Please let go of me,” Kuroko all but begged. “Akashi-kun, I’m invisible. I _like_ being invisible. I’m _good_ at it. I have no desire to be anything _but_ invisible.”

 

If he wasn’t invisible, he was nothing. He might be able to fool his professors in a classroom, but Kuroko’s magic was as weak as it came. He made up for it by practicing himself to technical perfection and studying so hard that his written grades offset his practical ones. But at the end of the day he was just an invisible weakling, not worth the notice it took to acknowledge him.

 

He had to make sure that Akashi understood that he was no threat to him. If Akashi thought, even for a second, that Kuroko was a challenger of sorts, his life could become miserable very quickly. He had no desire to start a feud with the Slytherin, when the cold hard truth was that there was nothing there to interest Akashi to begin with. He wasn’t powerful, he was just invisible, and his pride wasn’t sure it could take that revelation being thrown in his face in full view of the entire school. And with his true weakness revealed, Kuroko would spend the next three years at Hogwarts with a target on his back for anyone who cared to look.

 

Akashi didn’t say anything but he did release Kuroko’s wrist. Kuroko pulled it back as fast as he dared. His wrist felt like it had burned where Akashi had touched it.

 

“It was not my intention to make you uncomfortable,” the Slytherin said at last. “I apologize if I have offended or frightened you. I allowed my curiosity to get the better of my manners. Permit me one more minute of your time.”

 

Kuroko nodded again. That was about how long it would take to get his things in order anyway. His heart was beating rabbit fast in his chest and he scrambled to separate his books from those belonging in the library.

 

“This year, there is going to be an interschool tournament,” Askashi said. “It will be announced tonight. They will have two divisions, one for second through fourth years, and one for fifth through seventh years. Hogwarts is hosting many other schools from around the world. It will be a display of magical skill and power.”

 

Kuroko stayed silent, shoving a thick wad of parchment – his notes from Herbology – into one of his textbooks and in turn placing the book in his bag.

 

“The teams themselves will be decided by a dueling tournament,” Akashi continued. “The six top students in each section of the tournament will be the representatives of our school.”

 

This was the first Kuroko had heard anything about such a competition, but he already knew who would hold those first five spots among the younger years. They would go to Akashi and the rest of the Generation of Miracles, five of the most magically talented students to ever walk the halls of Hogwarts School. But with _six_ spots… the battle for that last position would be a bloodbath. So many people would kill or die to be considered able to stand among that cadre of talented individuals. Kuroko swept his quills and inkwells indiscriminately into his bag, trying to ignore the pang of hope – and what might have been jealousy– that went through him.

 

“I would like you to enter, Kuroko-kun,” Akashi said softly. “And I would like you to take that sixth spot. You have a unique talent that will assure our school victory.”

 

Kuroko zipped his bag shut, a feeling of relief coming over him as he realized this discussion would soon be over, and swung his bag over his shoulder.

 

“Is that all?”

 

Akashi stood up as well, holding up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

 

“Yes, I’ve said what I’ve come to say,” he replied.

 

“Then good night.”

 

Kuroko all but sprinted out of the library, ignoring the way Akashi’s red eyes followed him every step of the way.

 

“What do you think, Shintarou?” Akashi asked.

 

Shintarou Midorima, the ace chaser of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, and member of the Generation of Miracles, stepped out from behind a set of shelves.

 

“He’s rough around the edges,” Midorima said.

 

“He has so much potential.”

 

Midorima tsked dismissively.

 

“Did you notice the trick?” Akashi asked, with genuine excitement. “It’s fascinating. He maintains a strong magical field around him at all times, shielding him from notice. But as I expected, when I touched him -“

 

The redhead smiled viciously.

 

“-Just for a moment, I felt it,” he added. “Kuroko Tetsuya is more powerful than he appears to be. More powerful than he should be, what with that weak presence of his, but now I understand.”

 

“He is likely unaware of his true power,” Midorima said thoughtfully, though his tone quickly changed as we went on. “He may have never even considered the possibility he was stronger than he appeared, if he has been subconsciously shielding himself his entire life. Hufflepuffs. They never want to question things or look deeper.”

 

“Then I’ll just have to show him myself,” Akashi smirked.

 

“If you want my actual advice-” Here, Midorima glanced, somewhat cautiously, at his fellow student. “I would send someone else to do your convincing. You’ve obviously spooked him, and the stars advise Sagittarius to avoid aggressive courtship this month. Even just watching the two of you, I could tell he isn’t swayed by your intensity.”

 

Akashi frowned.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“I told you, he’s a Hufflepuff,” Midorima shrugged. “They don’t go about winning the same way we do. The means is as important as the end for them, sometimes more so. And Kuroko in particular has more honor than a Gryffindor in that regard.”

 

“Shintarou, by all means just tell me what it is you wish to say in plain terms.”

 

“You scare him,” Midorima said dismissively. “He wants his comfy life of obscurity, because he’s scared of the attention your association will bring him.”

 

“Then how would you court him?” Akashi sounded genuinely interested in what Midorima had to say on the subject.

 

“You need someone who can force him to do what they want - without appearing to be forceful. At this point, it can’t be you.”

 

Akashi mulled that thought over for a few seconds. Shintarou was correct in his assessment that Akashi’s particular brand of exercising power tended to be heavy handed. While that was fine for keeping the rest of the Generation of Miracles in line – each of them were powerful, tough, and difficult to control. Like Akashi, they responded to the only one thing: Power.

 

But Kuroko was far too delicate to handle in that manner.

 

“Ryouta perhaps?” He wondered out loud. Kise could be sweet when he wanted, and could befriend the boy easily. “Perhaps Atsushi?”

 

“Ryouta will scare him off with his volume before he even gets close,” Midorima disagreed. “And Atsushi… that’s not a bad idea. His friendship would appeal to Kuroko. I only worry that he would lack the… capacity… to coerce Kuroko without letting anything on.”

 

Akashi nodded thoughtfully.

 

“I assume then that you had someone else in mind?”

 

“Of course. Satsuki.”

 

Midorima adjusted his glasses and started walking in the same direction as the subject of their conversation. Akashi watched him go as well, and considered that parting shot.

 

It wasn’t an idea without merit, which is of course why he’d asked the Ravenclaw to join him on this escapade. Midorima had an analytical mind that – while not in danger of surpassing Akashi’s – was razor sharp and a frightening beast in its own right.

 

Akashi stood there for a moment longer, thinking about the plans he was getting ready to unfold.

 

This was going to be an exciting year.

…

Kuroko found Ogiwara exactly where he thought he would – arguing with Momoi by the kitchens. Ogiwara had an unpleasant looking purple stain over the front of his shirt that Kuroko assumed was from some kind of failed potions experiment.

 

“You added the elm root too early!” Momoi was yelling.

 

“Maybe, but I’m not the one who decided to _explode the damn cauldron!”_

 

“The recipe _clearly_ says to heat the potion at a temperature of one hundred degrees!”

 

“ _I KNOW FIRST YEARS_ who know that you’re not supposed to heat potions that contain Jobberknoll feathers and Neem oil without elm root BECAUSE THEY EXPLODE WHEN THEY REACH seventy damn degrees!”

 

“What are you doing with Jabberknoll feathers?” Kuroko asked, curiosity momentarily overcoming his urgency about his run in with Akashi.

 

Ogiwara yelped and jumped into the air while Momoi simply turned towards him, rolling her eyes at Ogiwara.

 

“Tetsu-kun!” she grinned widely, all traces of ire disappearing in an instant. “Thank god, this idiot came up with a prank that’s smarter than his brain!”

 

“Tetsu, tell your snake that you don’t heat Jabberknoll feathers and Neem oil without-”

 

“Can we table this?” Kuroko asked. “Please, we need to talk.”

 

Momoi and Ogiwara exchanged concerned glances, but followed Kuroko into the unused storeroom that served as their base of operations.

 

“What happened?” Momoi asked.

 

“So I just had an interesting conversation with Akashi Seijuro,” Kuroko began, and Ogiwara let out a strangled noise.

 

“What did Sei-chan want?” Momoi asked, tilting her head to the side thoughtfully.

 

“Sei- oh right, I keep forgetting you’re his friend too,” Ogiwara said, rubbing the back of his neck.

 

“Does he know how much of a delinquent you actually are?”

 

The smile Momoi sent Ogiwara was positively angelic, up until her fist made contact with his side.

 

“Please shut up,” Kuroko said, ducking into an empty classroom and turning to face the other two fourth years. “We need a plan.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“Momoi, did you know?” Kuroko asked. He was staring her right in the eyes. Her eyebrows knit together in confusion, mouth turned down at the idea that there was something going on she had no ability to predict.

 

Kuroko felt himself relax a little at that. Momoi would have told him if she had known about what Akashi had planned to do. Kuroko anticipated that if she had known what Akashi wanted out of that conversation, she would have tried to convince him Kuroko should enter, as Akashi had.

 

“Akashi told me that Hogwarts is hosting an interschool tournament,” Kuroko said. “Dozens of schools dueling each other for the top position. We’ll have two teams of six students representing us, one team from the younger years, one from the upper ones.”

 

Momoi blushed bright red.

 

“Uh,” she murmured. “I’m sorry.”

 

“What?” Ogiwara snapped, turning to her. “Why are you apologizing?”

 

“I knew,” she said. “I helped design the bracket system they’re going to use to choose which Hogwarts students will represent us. The Headmaster had strenuous objections to the use of a magical artifact that could form binding magical contracts with students.”

 

“You knew and didn’t tell us?” Ogiwara yelled.

 

“Hey, this isn’t some stupid prank, that’s classified school business and ministry intelligence-”

 

“Akashi wants me to compete.”

 

Kuroko silenced his feuding friends by jumping straight to the point.

 

“He said he thinks my invisibility is _interesting_.”

 

There was a world of bitterness in the fourth year’s voice. His eyes gleamed too bright in the torchlight with tears that had not yet fallen.

 

“He’s going to expose how _weak_ I am in front of the entire school, and when he’s seen what he currently refusing to see, he’ll abandon me to the wolves,” Kuroko finished, voice rough with frustration.

 

Momoi and Ogiwara exchanged glances.

 

“I need you to help me run interference,” Kuroko cut off whatever either of them intended to say. He didn’t want their assurances that he was a perfectly adequate wizard. He was a realist. He would never compete on the same field as someone like Akashi, and he didn't need false compliments to dull the pain of that knowledge.

 

“We need a prank. Something big. Something that will distract him enough that he won’t even remember me until after the entire thing is done, and by then it will be too late.”

 

Momoi’s lips twitched in agitation, holding back whatever it was she wanted to say. Ogiwara leaned back against the wall, resigned to not having this fight with his friend all over again.

 

“Something big, huh?” he asked. “Well, we can shelve the Jaberknoll feathers for another day then. Were you thinking of something disruptive enough to cancel classes?”

 

“I was thinking that the day before sign ups for the tournament close, we should implement Operation Ice Princess.”

 

“But they’re only giving us a week, and the spell work alone-”

 

“We’ll do it in a week,” Ogiwara said. “We’ve got your back Kuroko. We can make it work.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He felt tired, coming down off the adrenaline of his encounter with the Slytherin. But he felt better, having a plan.

 

“Okay then, let’s do it,” Momoi agreed. “Now, if we’re going to be plotting mayhem and destruction for the next week, we should get to dinner now. We don’t want to miss the Headmaster’s grand announcement of this tournament you don’t want any part in.”

 

She sounded annoyed. Her voice was too sharp and too quick. As she turned around, bright pink hair flouncing in Kuroko’s face, he held back a sigh.

 

She had it all backwards. He wanted nothing more than to compete in this tournament, to have more than a snowball’s chance in hell. But one on one, facing an opponent with all their attention on him, his only true power was useless.

 

Momoi would get over her disappointment, just as he had, Kuroko thought firmly, and followed his friends to the Great Hall.

 

…

 

The Headmaster’s announcement was greeted with a great deal of enthusiasm and cheering from the students. From the hum of excitement that followed every group of students leaving dinner that night, there wasn’t a single student in the castle who didn’t intend to compete. It was the only thing anyone talked about.

 

Who would fight who, who had the best chance of winning, what kind of spells they would see - it was a veritable racket of noise coming from every single quarter of the school.

 

That excitement bled into the next several days, and Kuroko found himself actively avoiding his peers even more than he ordinarily did (not that it took all that much work). More than once, he had looked up during meals with the uncomfortable feeling he was being watched, only to look over at the Slytherin table to see that Akashi had his red eyes trained on Kuroko.

 

Without fail, whenever this happened, Akashi would smile pleasantly, nod, and look away.

 

It boiled Kuroko’s blood.

 

By Friday, he was ready to jump off the astronomy tower just to avoid hearing one more word about the stupid, blasted, ridiculous tournament.

 

At least this whole thing would be over and done with soon.

 

In the meantime, he was going to spend his time working on the prank they had kept in reserve since Momoi had come up with it last spring, and sequestered himself in the library.

 

The latter turned out to be a tactic that was less than effective.

 

For the second time that week, Kuroko found his studies distracted by a shadow falling over his textbook.

 

This time, he did not react. He turned to the next page and continued to process the text’s information on the various reactions of ingredients in the potion they would be working on tomorrow.

 

“Tetsu-kun, why are you ignoring me?”

 

The whining voice was accompanied by an adorable pout, and Kuroko sighed, snapping his book shut. There was no point trying to get any work done with Satsuki vying for his attention.

 

“Momoi,” he acknowledged. “I would like to remain ahead of the curve in potions. If there’s anything you need for the prank, please talk to Shige.”

 

The pink haired girl smiled beautifully as Kuroko’s attention focused on her.

 

“I can’t just come find my friend in the library to talk?”

 

“Momoi, you never _just_ want to talk.”

 

Momoi hummed in appreciation, tilting her head to the side innocently and folding her hands behind her back. Kuroko didn’t have the heart to tell her that her already impressive burgeoning cleavage didn’t do anything whatsoever to convince him of what she wanted.

 

“So about this tournament.”

 

Ah.

 

That was a different tone than she’d had when she was talking about the tournament yesterday, and there was something strained in it that Kuroko recognized.

 

He’d known that Momoi was friends with the Generation of Miracles. She had entered Hogwarts as Aomine Daiki’s best friend. But somewhere along the way, Kuroko had forgotten all that. And now it seemed that they were going to use his friend to try to make him do what they wanted.

 

And that pissed him the fuck off. He immediately reopened the book, shuffling towards the page he’d been on previously.

 

“No.”

 

“I’ve been thinking a lot-”

 

“Absolutely not.”

 

“I think we should call off the prank. And I think you should enter.”

 

“No.”

 

“Tetsu-“

 

“Momoi, I am not entering the tournament,” Kuroko said. He didn’t think he’d ever been this angry talking to his friend, but he could feel the burn of pure rage racing through his veins. Momoi at least knew _why_ he wanted to stay in the shadows, so why was she trying to convince him otherwise?

 

“You’re not even a little curious too see if you can use your talents to your advantage?” Momoi asked. “You don’t want to see what you could do if you pushed yourself to your limits? Akashi can help you develop powers-”

 

“I’m not interested in power,” Kuroko said lightly, gesturing at the black and yellow sigil on his chest. “It isn’t my way of doing magic. And I don’t care about what Akashi can or can’t teach me, because it’s never going to be enough! I’ll never be what he wants me to be and I don’t want-“

 

“What? To get your hopes up? To be proven right, that all this time you really were just so weak that you’re invisible?”

 

The words weren’t meant to be cruel, but they cut deep. Kuroko didn’t need to respond, because Momoi already knew she’d hit on exactly what his problem was. He grit his teeth together.

 

“Even if you’re right,” Momoi said, after a long silence. “Even if you lose, you could still have fun with it, you know?”

 

“I don’t - what?” Kuroko asked slowly.

 

Momoi grinned, seeing the perfect chance to bring Kuroko out of whatever funk he’d been in since speaking to Akashi.

 

“Yes!” she squealed. “The speed, the strength, the creativity of the spells, it’s all an art in and of itself!”

 

She clasped her hands together and swirled around in a complete circle, her pink hair swinging out around her. Kuroko ducked just in time to avoid being hit with it, thankfully dropping down on top of his notes so that nothing else was swept away in the rush of hair.

 

Straightening his things, Kuroko considered what Momoi had said.

 

His curiosity was piqued.

 

He hadn’t considered the idea of doing this purely for _fun,_ as something he might enjoy. It was worth exploring, maybe? If it really was something like what his friend was describing. After all, he knew Momoi religiously read dueling magazines and kept abreast of the competitive circuit.

 

“I see.”

 

“Besides, if you don’t enter the tournament and compete to the best of your ability, I’ll tell on you.”

 

Kuroko tilted his head to the side.

 

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

 

“Oh, Tetsu-kun, where would I even begin?” Momoi let out a put upon sigh that Kuroko was reasonably sure was 100% contrived. “I know that our adorable, darling Tetsu-kun is quite a rebel in disguise and has been all over the castle causing all sorts of chaos and destruction in this sacred learning environment. It would only be in the best interests of the students and the school that I inform the professors. I _do_ want to make prefect next year, after all.”

 

The Slytherin said this with a straight face that rivaled even Kuroko’s deadpan. Kuroko remembered her issuing pretty much the exact same threat to him and Ogiwara at the age of eleven. He was impressed - it was even better the second time around. Momoi’s place in Slytherin was well deserved.

 

“You’re blackmailing me. _Again_.”

 

Momoi beamed.

 

“Exactly!” she said, and Kuroko shuddered.

 

“Fine, fine,” he said. “I’ll compete in the stupid tournament.”

 

It wasn’t like he had any chance of winning that sixth spot, even if he did try as hard as he could to take it. Kuroko knew that his powers were inclined to different strengths than most other witches and wizards. He had accepted that and begun to change his style of casting in response. In the end, however, his style of magic was a mere curiosity. It wasn’t powerful, or even _useful,_ really.

 

He would show Momoi and Akashi that he really was nothing special, and then he’d go back to his quiet life of obscurity. The sooner he got this over with the better, but in the meantime, maybe Momoi was right.

 

Maybe, regardless of power, regardless of strength, this could still be fun.

 

Momoi seemed satisfied by his answer, because she hummed and skipped away, her hair flouncing impressively behind her.

 

Kuroko rubbed at a budding headache in his temples.

 

That girl was a danger to society.

 

And he’d been kind of looking forward to that prank too.

 

…

 

Akashi couldn’t ever remember a time when Hogwarts was this… entertaining. The tournament itself promised to be a welcome distraction (even if its results were entirely inevitable). But more than that, the discovery of an invisible boy, hiding among them and using his magic so subtly that even Akashi had failed to catch on for three entire _years –_

 

He was impressed. He was intrigued.

 

Shintarou had been absolutely right about the best way to get his attention, too. Akashi had been very pleased with the way the fourth year Ravenclaw was applying his quick wit.

 

“He hasn’t put his name down yet.”

 

Ah, speaking of his favorite Ravenclaw.

 

“He still has until tomorrow afternoon. I have faith that Tetsuya will not disappoint us.”

 

“How can you be so sure?”

 

“He’s hungry,” Akashi murmured, turning to face his friend. “I did a little digging. Until last year, his grades were barely above failing. Satsuki tells me he’s done little but study and aid his friend in causing some minor accidents around the castle for his first three years. He’s frustrated with his lack of progress. Once he is convinced that there is progress to be had, he will accept my tutelage.”

 

“He’s very stubborn,” Midorima observed.

 

“Without a strong will, there can be no victory,” Akashi replied. “He might have made an excellent Slytherin.”

 

“What if you’re wrong?”

 

Akashi laughed.

 

“You have developed quite the inner eye, especially as of late. Why don’t _you_ tell _me_ what you think our dear Tetsuya will do?”

 

Midorima scowled.

 

Akashi stood. He didn’t even bother smirking at the truth he saw in his friend’s face.

 

“I should get back to the common room,” he said. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

…

Kuroko didn’t know what he was waiting for.

 

It was past midnight, well after curfew. The only light in the Entrance Hall of Hogwarts was the moonlight that was drifting through the high, arched windows above him.

 

Should he, or shouldn’t he.

 

He’d promised Momoi, but he was quite certain that prank or not, Kuroko could avoid Momoi for half a day, if it came to it. He could even fake an illness. Even if Akashi suspected something, he wouldn’t be able to _do_ anything about it.

 

He had an out.

 

He could fall back into oblivion. He could stay invisible.

 

Kuroko clenched his right fist. The thought didn’t bring him the comfort it once might have.

 

What if Momoi and Akashi were right?

 

He didn’t want to hope, but the thought made something inside his heart soar at the words. Perhaps there was something more to his invisibility, something worthwhile and useful.

 

“Are you going to stand there all night?”

 

Kuroko whirled around in alarm.

 

Leaning against the wall a few yards down from him was the Head Boy, Nijimura Shuzo. He was scowling, drawn up to every inch of his intimidating height, power crackling around him like static.

 

Kuroko swallowed, excuses falling through his brain like sand in a sieve.

 

“A little bird told me that one of our fourth years was out and about after curfew,” the Head Boy said casually.

 

“I was curious, and I came to see what kind of trouble he might be getting into.”

 

“No trouble tonight,” Kuroko defended reflexively, and the scowl lifted a little as Nijimura processed that.

 

“Not tonight, huh?” he asked. “Then what _are_ you doing?”

 

“Contemplating the nature of my existence.”

 

“Sounds productive.”

 

“Not really.”

 

Nijimura chuckled, but his face sobered fairly quickly.

 

“The way I see it,” he said, holding up his hands to forestall any objections, “not that you asked of course, but the way I see it, you either gotta put your name down or walk away. Dithering doesn’t help anyone. If you’re gonna try, you need to _commit._ And if you can’t do that, you have no business cluttering the field.”

 

And didn’t Kuroko know that.

 

“Maybe I’m trying to decide if I can do that or not.”

 

Nijimura reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder.

 

“It’s two in the morning, so I’m going to give you some advice, and then you are going to go to bed, so that _I_ can go to bed.”

 

Kuroko leaned forward, a thoughtful expression on his face.

 

“It’s a fucking dueling tournament. Enter or don’t, but there is absolutely nothing existential about it. Win, lose, it doesn’t matter because in the end you will always be whoever you decide you are, because dueling is a game that is supposed to be challenging but still fun. You should be more concerned about the fact that you are keeping your Head Boy from his sleep when he has N.E.W.T.S to study for along with the rest of this nonsense. And I’m graciously giving you thirty seconds to make a decision before I wake up a professor to give you detention.”

 

Kuroko looked back over to the sheet.

 

Damn his own fears, his own insecurities. If he was as weak as he believed, nothing would change. If he found a strength he didn’t know existed, he could only stand to gain.

 

Did he want this?

 

Kuroko reached out and picked up the quill lying on top of the sign up sheet for the underclassmen. It was almost entirely filled, but Kuroko penned his name at the bottom of the parchment.

 

“There we go,” Nijimura said encouragingly. “Now my little wayward badger, it’s off to bed. Now.”

 

He shooed Kuroko down the steps towards the Hufflepuff common room, waiting until he watched Kuroko vanish behind the set of barrels guarding their common room.

 

It wasn’t until he was almost asleep in his bed that Kuroko realized that something was incredibly off about his encounter with the Head Boy. He hadn’t noticed it right away but Nijimura had had absolutely no trouble locating him standing perfectly still in the darkness.

...


	2. Sakurai Turns To A Life of Crime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kuroko doesn't want your sad vegetables.

**_First Year:_ **

 

_Since Hufflepuff was paired with Ravenclaw for almost all their classes (the professors in charge of scheduling had yet to give up on forcing the Gryffindors and Slytherins to spend quality time together), Kuroko generally had the chance to spend time with only one of the so-called Miracles, Midorima Shintarou. They had their first class together Monday morning. While it had only been History of Magic, Kuroko was able to immediately sense the power radiating from the tall boy._

 

_It was like… well, like an itch at the back of Kuroko’s neck. It felt warm, almost hot. It was hard to describe because it wasn’t a physical sense per se – more like a feeling in the back of his mind. Kuroko had always had these feelings, and he’d learned over time that the sense was dead on. He trusted the instinct that told him Midorima Shintarou was a wizard to tread carefully around, as much as he trusted that he could only just barely sense his own power. He and Midorima were opposite sides of the power spectrum, and Kuroko had never been more aware of his own weakness in his life._

 

_Midorima sat in the back, sharp emerald gaze never leaving the lecturing ghost at the front of the room. His expression was frozen in a look of utter contempt that was extremely out of place on the face of an eleven year old child. Kuroko couldn’t help but try and sneak glances at the boy. However, since that he was sitting on the far side of the room, he didn’t want to draw any attention to himself._

 

_They had Transfiguration later that day. Kuroko was disheartened and frustrated to find that by the end of class he was the only one who hadn’t managed to turn his matchstick into a needle. He hadn’t been able to make his wand so much as spark, despite an entire class period’s worth of effort._

 

_As he’d known, he wasn’t a powerful wizard. He’d just been holding out hope that he wasn’t as weak as he had feared himself to be._

 

_Of course, Midorima had managed it on his first attempt. Kuroko tried not to feel bitter or ashamed at that._

 

_The only benefit to his invisibility was that Kuroko wasn’t assigned extra work for his failure._

 

_Though that didn’t really change anything. Instead of going to dinner, Kuroko sat down on his bed and stared at his transfiguration textbook, trying to understand what he was doing wrong. He had no idea what he should be doing differently._

 

_Perched on the bed next to his book, Kuroko placed the matchstick he’d taken with him from the lesson. The stubborn, stupid stick that wouldn’t change no matter how hard he’d tried. By the time Kuroko’s roommates arrived back from dinner, his stomach was grumbling and there were tears of frustration prickling at the back of his eyes._

 

_By Tuesday afternoon, with about six straight hours of practice, he’d managed the transformation of the matchstick. He found a serious appreciation for the fact that they were only allowed to have one wanded class a day. He had no trouble keeping up in classes like Herbology or History of Magic, but he was struggling to only be slightly behind in the rest of his classes._

 

_And they hadn’t even finished the first week._

 

_It wasn’t until Charms on Wednesday that Kuroko was brought face to face with any of the other members of the Generation of Miracles. This time, it was Akashi – the redhead he’d been hearing whispers about since Monday morning – and Murasakibara – who was already extremely tall for an eleven year old. As Kuroko watched, Murasakibara promptly slouched down in his chair and unwrapped a muffin from breakfast as the rest of the class started taking out their textbooks. Akashi gave the purple haired boy a gentle prod. His fellow Slytherin glared back before putting his Charms book on the table as well._

 

_Kuroko felt their magic in the room before he could seen them. The sheer force of their combined power felt like a loud hum in the back of his mind. It was… distracting to say the least._

 

_Professor Nakatani, who many swore had held the position forever and might continue to do so for time immemorial, immediately set them into groups to start practicing their project. Today’s goal was to make a feather fly. He was a former Ravenclaw, with a stern, but intelligent expression and what had been widely reported as a cutting wit, though it would be several more years before Kuroko would grow to appreciate it._

 

_Quickly pushing away the distracting thrum of Akashi and Murasakibara’s power (neither of whom made any move towards a partner, not even each other), Kuroko turned to the boy next to him._

 

_“Oh, hi!” the Hufflepuff said brightly, smiling at Kuroko. “I’m Ogiwara Shigehiro, but you can call me Shige. I didn’t realize you were sitting next to me!”_

 

_“I’m easy to overlook,” Kuroko said, shrugging. He’d been making the same excuse to his startled peers since Monday. He was already exasperated at what the next seven years would be like if the first week was any indication. “I’m Kuroko Tetsuya, I am in your care.”_

 

_He was ready for Ogiwara’s eyes to slide away from him, as the eyes of so many other students did. He was prepared for the other boy to gaze in puzzlement at the feather for a moment before his eyes glazed over and the other Hufflepuff forgot about Kuroko entirely._

 

_But that didn’t happen. Ogiwara smiled broadly and started chattering away, his eyes never leaving Kuroko’s._

 

_Kuroko never got to register his shock at this, as they were momentarily interrupted by an excited squeal from the professor and some ‘oohs’ from their classmate. Kuroko turned slightly to see Akashi lazily flicking his wand, making the feather dance around the room._

 

_“Well done, Akashi-kun!” Professor Nakatani called. “Now remember, class, you only need to make the feather float for full marks, so don’t get discouraged!”_

 

_Determined, Kuroko set his gaze on the feather in front of him. But before he could so much as wave his wand, Ogiwara prodded it, yelled something (something that was definitely not the appropriate incantation) and the entire desk exploded._

 

_Another wave of much louder yelling filled the room._

 

_With a wave of his wand, Professor Nakatani calmly cleared the room of the acrid smelling smoke and bore down on the poor Ogiwara. The stunned Hufflepuff was staring in shock at the charred surface of his desk._

 

_“Wingardium Leviosa!” The professor enunciated carefully. He didn’t raise his voice, but the disappointment in his expression was clear, and the accents on the words were sharp with reproval. “Be mindful of your incantations students, or you will meet with disaster! Never forget Wizard Barrufio-”_

 

_Ogiwara sunk down into his seat a little as the professor lectured them on wand safety for the rest of the class._

 

_As they were leaving, Kuroko caught up with the only classmate he’d actually managed to speak to since arriving at Hogwarts._

 

_“I thought that was pretty cool,” he said._

 

_“I blew up a desk.”_

 

_“Exactly!”_

 

_“Tetsu, I couldn’t even make a feather float! I made a desk explode! On the first week! There were girls in that class, and now everyone is gonna think I’m lame and stupid…”_

 

_This carried on at a rather loud tone for most of their trip down the hallway. They were attracting a few glances, especially from the older years, and a trail of minor snickering followed in their wake. At this rate, the entire castle would know the explosive details of Ogiwara’s failure by lunch, not because of students’ gossip, but his own lamenting._

 

_Kuroko let him carry on for another count of ten before deeming this to be unproductive and deciding to take action._

 

_Swiftly and unmercifully, he jabbed the other boy right below his ribs with the point of his hand._

 

_Ogiwara was immediately silenced, doubled over from the lack of air._

 

_“What the hell, Tetsu?” he demanded._

 

_“You’re missing the point,” Kuroko sighed._

 

_“Then what is the point?” Ogiwara asked._

 

_“Do better next time.”_

 

_Ogiwara stopped mid step, smack in the center of the hallway._

 

_“I have a better point,” he said, turning to look down at Kuroko. A large grin overtook his features. It was like a sun had just come out from behind a set of clouds._

 

_“What are you talking about?”_

 

_“Imagine what we could do with my talent for destruction, and your complete lack of presence?”_

 

_Kuroko stared at the other boy._

 

_“What are you talking about?”_

 

_Ogiwara glanced around, displaying an impressive sense of situational awareness Kuroko had hitherto assumed he did not have. And then he leaned in close towards the shorter boy, his face alight with an impossibly wide grin._

 

_“Pranks, Tetsuya! Pranks! We could pull all kinds of shit without getting in trouble because I’m a walking disaster who couldn’t possibly have done anything wrong intentionally, and you’re practically invisible!”_

 

_That was a proposition worth at least a bit of consideration. Kuroko thought about his frustration in class, the difficulty he was having with even the simplest of spells. Really, he should be buckling down to focus on getting better at magic, but the appeal of a distraction of some sort was promising._

 

_In addition, perhaps there could be very real educational benefits to the research they would need to do in order to prank their fellow students with magic._

 

_And it would mean… well, spending time with someone while they not only could see him, but actively wanted him there. Having a friend. Someone who didn’t discount him, who could see him and valued him.  Someone who looked at him with the kind of excitement that lit in Ogiwara’s eyes even now, when he should have forgotten Kuroko entirely._

 

_“Nothing that disrupts actual studying time though,” Kuroko held up a finger. “And we don’t go after anyone individually, or hinder anyone’s success academically.”_

 

_“That’s along the lines of what I was thinking anyway,” Ogiwara insisted quickly. With that settled, he put an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders and proceeded down the hallway, new friend in tow._

 

_“Tetsu, I think this is the start of a beautiful friendship.”_

 

_Kuroko blushed bright red, and couldn’t help the warm feeling that settled inside his gut._

 

_He’d never had a friend before._

 

_Perhaps his years at Hogwarts would not be as quiet as he’d hoped, but he was beginning to think that maybe that wouldn’t be so bad after all._

 

…

 

“You’re going to compete?”

 

“Blame Satsuki,” Kuroko mumbled, refusing to look at the list of students who would be competing in the junior division of the tournament. He had not slept well the night before. He had been preoccupied with his meeting with the Head Boy and the rash decision he’d made to sneak out of the Hufflepuff common room.

 

“I thought she had more sense than letting you do this?”

 

“I thought so too,” Kuroko said. “Perhaps she changed her mind. I know she spoke to Akashi.”

 

Kuroko still wasn’t sure exactly what was behind Momoi’s decision to convince him to compete in the tournament. Maybe Akashi had manipulated her. Maybe she’d honestly thought he would have fun, but he refused to speculate without any information.

 

“I knew it!” Ogiwara yelled. Several students in the hallway turned to stare at them and he hunched in embarrassment before continuing their conversation as they walked into the Great Hall for breakfast.

 

“Kuroko, what have I been saying for years, ever since-”

 

“She can have friends, Shige,” Kuroko said, as patiently as he was able. “She’s beautiful and powerful and in his house. Plus she’s probably even more diabolical than he is, why wouldn’t they be friends?”

 

Ogiwara looked like he wanted to argue, but Kuroko stopped him again by not too gently putting a hand on his shoulder to get Ogiwara to sit down on the bench next to the table.

 

“And as I remember, those exact traits down to the letter are why we let her in on our… adventures. So can we please talk about something else?”

 

Ogiwara pouted and started filling his plate with various breakfast foods.

 

“On the bright side, we still have Operation Ice Princess in reserve for another day,” Ogiwara said, clearly unhappy with the change in topic but unwilling to push it. “That kind of prank deserves time and attention.”

 

“You just want to blow things up.”

 

“Guilty,” Ogiwara grinned around a mouthful of food.

 

“Why don’t you compete?” Kuroko asked after a long moment. “I’m sure there will be lots of opportunities to explode things in a dueling tournament.”

 

Ogiwara laughed and shook his head.

 

“No way,” he said. “You couldn’t _pay_ me to compete against _that lot_. Plus, I have Quidditch. There are way more important things in life than dueling, trust me.”

 

He gestured towards the rest of the hall at large with a fork piled high with eggs before shoving the entire thing into his mouth. Kuroko chuckled.

 

It was at just that moment that the rest of the fourth year Hufflepuffs converged on them.

 

“Kuroko, you didn’t tell us you were going to compete!” Furihata slung an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders as he fell into the seat next to him, grinning widely. “Maybe we’ll compete against each other!”

 

“You put your name down?” Ogiwara asked, a bit of egg still stuck to the side of his mouth.

 

“Me and Sakurai over here are gonna compete over that last spot, just watch us!” Furihata said, pulling the other fourth year down into the seat on his other side. Fukuda and Kawahara sat down next to Ogiwara on the other side of the table.

 

“But you never told us you liked dueling!” Furihata added, looking back to Kuroko.

 

“Ah, I’m just trying it out for the first time,” Kuroko said, ducking under the other boys arm so that he could continue with breakfast. “Have any of you dueled before?”

 

“I was always a sick kid, so I’m looking forward to the chance!” Kawahara said proudly, ready to deliver the monologue they had all heard at least six times by now. Ogiwara poked him in the side to shut him up before he continued along. After four years of living with the boy, half of them could do it word for word along with him.

 

“I’ve dueled some,” Fukuda said casually. “I think only Sakurai has ever actually officially competed or anything before though.”

 

Sakurai blushed.

 

“Only once or twice,” he said. “My mom had me do a summer program where we did a little dueling at the end.”

 

“Do you have any tips for the rest of us?” Ogiwara asked. “I’m not gonna duel, but it looks like most of our dorm is going to be throwing down over that last spot. I think it should go to one of the wonderful gentlemen at this table, as opposed to anyone else.”

 

“Wait, why aren’t you dueling?” Furihata asked.

 

“Uh, duh, Quidditch,” Ogiwara said. “I’d have to miss the second round of the tournament for the tryout planning meeting. Plus there’s no way I’d have time to compete against other schools _and_ fly. Not to mention we have an exhibition game on Monday to convince new people to try out, right after the tournament is over and we need to _practice_.”

 

There was something of a house wide understanding that sometime very soon, Ogiwara would be captain of the Hufflpuff team. Not only were all the other members of the team currently sixth and seventh years, but Ogiwara was, as a fourth year, their star Chaser and one of the best strategists in the school.

 

“I’ve been working on Keeping all summer!” Furihata said nervously, grinning widely. “After the tournament, let’s talk Quidditch! You can give me some tips, since we’re down a Keeper this year.”

 

Ogiwara and Furihata fist bumped over the table.

 

“Oi, broomstick heads, we’re talking about dueling!” Kawahara said, flicking a piece of bacon at Ogiwara, who dodged it. “Who do you think is gonna win?”

 

“I agree with Ogiwara: so long as it goes to a Hufflepuff, I don’t care which of us gets it,” Fukuda said fervently. “What do you think, Sakurai?”

 

“Just – ah – never look away from your opponent,” Sakurai said. “Sorry, that’s obvious. They say experienced duelers can focus on the top of someone’s chest and know from their opponents movements what spell they’re going to cast, even nonverbally.”

 

“Yeah, like any fourth years can cast nonverbally,” Ogiwara said sarcastically.

 

As if fate had heard Ogiwara’s derision at that exact moment, a commotion was caused as five more students walked into the Great Hall, led by Akashi.

 

“I bet at least one of _them_ can,” Fukuda said, turning his head to watch the Generation of Miracles split up to walk towards their respective tables.

 

The fourth year Hufflepuffs were quiet for a moment before Furihata laughed nervously.

 

“If any of us competes against the Generation of Miracles, we’re gonna get beat down,” he said. “No chance in hell.”

 

“I guess it all depends on the pairings in the tournament then,” Kuroko said thoughtfully.

 

“Here’s to the luck of Hufflepuffs!” Kawahara said, grinning widely. “Come on, we’re in the top of the age bracket, so it’s gotta be a fourth year who takes that spot, and we have just as good a chance as any other house.”

 

“It’s going to be tough competition,” Kuroko said thoughtfully, casting his eyes over the rest of the table.

 

“Alright Kuroko, you spend lots of time quietly watching our fellow students, who do you think is most likely to win?”

 

Kuroko was silent for a while, organizing his thoughts.

 

“Yeah, who are your top five choices for who’s gonna get that final spot?” Ogiwara asked encouragingly.

 

“Takao, probably,” Kuroko said thoughtfully. “Haizaki –“

 

“I hate that guy,” Ogiwara muttered, face darkening at the mention of the Slytherin. He probably wasn’t the only person in Hogwarts that felt that way, nor was he the only one who made a face at the thought of Haizaki becoming their Champion.

 

“Tsugawa, maybe… And obviously Sakurai.”

 

The Hufflepuff in question blushed again.

 

“Don’t be shy, Sakurai, you’re really powerful,” Furihata said encouragingly. “You’re always the fastest to master spells, and remember that time you sent my book flying halfway to the Forbidden Forest?”

 

“Sorry!” Sakurai squeaked.

 

“Who else?” Kawahara asked.

 

“Momoi has a good chance, if she enters,” Kuroko said. “I’d bet on her first, out of anyone.”

 

“She helped with the tournament preparations though, so would they even let her compete?” Ogiwara asked skeptically. “It sounds like she’s still involved in some of the official stuff going on this weekend too.”

 

“I think that if Momoi really wants to compete, there will be nothing that stops her from doing so and sweeping the entire tournament. Nobody will say a word about it either,” Kuroko said seriously.

 

Kawahara sighed, and Kuroko could almost literally see the hearts in his eyes. It wasn’t an uncommon reaction people had towards Kuroko’s friend and sometime partner in crime.

 

“Figures,” he said. “Powerful and beautiful, what a combination!”

 

The fourth years laughed at his antics and attention moved away from the tournament and back towards the upcoming Quidditch season.

 

Even with the topic of the tournament behind them, Kuroko couldn’t help but feel a twist of anticipation in his gut. There was a part of him that he had shoved down and forced himself to forget, and that part of him desperately wanted to be worthy of taking that last spot. He was already prepared to fight for all he was worth.

 

And for once, Kuroko couldn’t find a reason not to.

 

Even if it didn’t change anything.

 

…

 

The Hufflepuff fourth years were sitting in a half circle by the fireplace, surrounded by textbooks. Even the excitement of the upcoming tournament hadn’t put a damper in the number of assignments that they were being given by their professors. At least one of them had already mentioned the dreaded O.W.L.S. (“They’re a whole two years away, what do they think they’re playing at?” Ogiwara had burst out at dinner).

 

“Hey, fourth years!”

 

Kiyoshi Teppei, the fifth year Hufflepuff prefect, loomed over Kawahara’s shoulder, smiling brightly. “How’s studying for potions going?”

 

“We’ll make it,” Ogiwara shrugged. Neither he nor Kuroko were overly concerned about their potions grades. Ogiwara was Kuroko’s partner, and potions was a subject that could be excelled in by mere hard work and study. Kuroko’s stubborn nature allowed him to do extremely well in any class that didn’t require much magical power.

 

The rest of the Hufflepuffs, who did not have the benefit of Kuroko’s partnership, were less secure in the level of studying they needed.

 

“Hey now, don’t worry, you’ve got loads of time to stay up to speed!” Kiyoshi said. “A little birdy told me they’re planning on cancel classes on Friday, so you won’t have to work on that potion until Monday.”

 

This announcement was greeted by general good cheer and excitement.

 

“Now tell me, do all of you feel ready for this weekend? I heard almost all of our fourth years put their names down for the tournament!”

 

“We’re going to destroy it!” Kawahara said, raising his hand in a fist. Kiyoshi laughed, patting him on the shoulder.

 

“That’s the spirit!” he said. “Just have fun with it, and I’m sure every one of you will do well!”

 

He said this with unwavering confidence, his head tilted happily to the side.

 

“Aren’t you competing too?” Furihata asked. Kiyoshi paused.

 

“Eh?”

 

“Your name was down,” Kawahara said.

 

“Was it?”

 

Kiyoshi looked a little startled and confused. He opened his mouth to say something, but was stopped when he was hit on the back of the head by another one of the fifth years had followed him over.

 

“Ow! Mitobe, what was that for?”

 

The look Mitobe gave his fellow fifth year was pretty self explanatory in Kuroko’s opinion. He’d never heard the fifth year say a single word. He rarely needed to, not when Koganei, the fifth year Gryffindor he was dating, talked enough for them both. Kuroko wasn’t sure if he didn’t speak, or chose not to, but he’d always been very nice to all of the fourth years.

 

“Right, anyway,” Kiyoshi looked back at the fourth years, laughing a little self consciously and rubbing the back of his head. “I just wanted to say good luck this weekend!” Kiyoshi smiled broadly. “Do your best, and play to your strengths!”

 

The fourth years responded with a round of well wishes for their prefect, and returned to studying.

 

Kuroko, however, wasn’t paying attention to the potions textbook in front of him anymore. Those words, _play to your strengths,_ had given him an idea.

 

Pulling his notebook over, Kuroko flipped to an empty page, and started to write.

 

He was invisible. He was good at charms.

 

Putting those two together wouldn’t be hard. He could use his knowledge of charms to distract his opponent, but there was a pretty limited intersection between the kinds of spells he could physically do and the kinds of spells that would be helpful for this situation.

 

This was going to require some planning and research.

 

…

 

_Play to your strengths._

 

Kuroko knew his only shot at competing on even ground was to make use of his invisibility.

 

He also knew that there was almost no way for him to vanish when every ounce of his opponents attention would be focused on him.

 

He had absolutely no idea how to use his particular “strengths” here.

 

So the next day, with three days left until the qualifying tournament, Kuroko woke up early to find an empty classroom. He was armed with his wand and pure, untapped desperation.

 

Kuroko set up a desk facing sideways at one end of the classroom, and walked to the other.

 

“Stupefy!”

 

The beam of red light left a charred and smoking spot somewhere about two feet to the right of the desk.

 

Kuroko grimaced. He had bigger problems than utilizing his invisibility. If he couldn’t manage to actually hit a student with a spell, it wouldn’t matter whether or not he was able to use his powers.

 

Frustrated he cast again, and again. He was covered in a light sheen of sweat by the time the morning bell rang, signifying that he only had a few minutes to get to class.

 

And he hadn’t even eaten breakfast.

 

All that day, Kuroko pondered the issue of his misdirection. He ate lunch at lightning speed and used his empty classroom for target practice before his afternoon period.

 

Kuroko identified another huge barrier as he cast his last disarming spell of the afternoon: he couldn’t cast a large number of spells. Unlike some of his compatriots, Kuroko was unable to lay down a continuous barrage of spells. He would be the first one down if the duel developed into a shoot out.

 

What he really needed, Kuroko decided that evening, once again sequestered in his classroom, was a _distraction._

 

Just like with several of the pranks he, Ogiwara, and Momoi had pulled off - sometimes in plain view of professors - Kuroko needed a way to kick the metaphorical sand into the eyes of his opponents, and hit them while they were looking the other way.

 

Kuroko lowered his wand, examining the result of his last ten spells. About a third had touched the desk in some way.

 

That was going to have to be good enough for now. Kuroko was about to drop, and he only barely managed to get to his common room on his own two feet. He collapsed into bed fully clothed, with the lights still on, long before any of his dorm mates returned.

 

The next day Kuroko woke early enough to take advantage of the time to practice accuracy. He spent his lunch time looking through old notes for pranks.

 

In one case, Ogiwara had suggested taking advantage of a particular stage of brewing in potions class to act as a distraction to set a prank. That was no good - Kuroko was not going to try exploding part of the arena, no matter how much it might amuse his friend. He needed to rely on some kind of magical illusion.

 

Kuroko found three promising options. He figured if he could master one of them, it might work. And with this kind of spell, there was no need for accuracy. Getting the spell right once, at a critical moment, would be enough.

 

After dinner, Kuroko practiced casting each of the three spells. He found the second one to be of the most use, making it his choice for the tournament this weekend by default.

 

He had five days to master this spell enough to make it useable, and to perfect his accuracy enough to actually be able to hit something.

 

Kuroko had never been athletic. He wasn’t exactly a physical kind of wizard, nor did he have extremely good hand-eye coordination. He bemoaned this to Ogiwara when the other boy returned to their dorm that night.

 

“I think I can fix that,” Ogiwara said thoughtfully. “But you’re not going to like it.”

 

“If I manage to hit even one of my opponents with a spell this weekend, it will be worth it.”

 

“Okay then,” Ogiwara said. “If you can be up before dawn, I’ll do what I can.”

 

Kuroko nodded, too tired to argue or think too far into what he was agreeing to. He was asleep as soon as he changed clothes.

 

The next morning, he regretted that as he followed his friend out onto the Quidditch pitch.

 

“This doesn’t seem safe.”

 

“Oh don’t be a baby, I’m going to be a captain some day, I have to be able to oversee practices. I know what I’m doing.”

 

“Shige, I can’t catch a ball while standing on the ground.”

 

“That’s good, because I don’t need you to catch anything,” Ogiwara said. He threw a bag onto the ground next to Kuroko and walked several feet away.

 

“I’m casting a narrow shield charm,” Ogiwara said. “Hit my shield. When you can do it three times in a row, then we’ll try it in the air with moving targets.”

 

“I hope nobody cares where these balls end up,” Kuroko muttered, pulling open the bag to reveal about two dozen practice snitches.

 

Kuroko picked up one of the balls. He hefted it in his hand, feeling the weight. He threw it as hard as he could.

 

It fell to the ground harmlessly about a foot in front of Ogiwara.

 

“Oh boy.”

 

“I told you.”

 

Over the next three days, they met several times to complete similar exercises. Ogiwara made himself as available as possible despite having to start going to meetings for Quidditch practice and homework and exams of his own to study for. They would sit together silently in the evenings once they were done, Ogiwara waking Kuroko up every few minutes to make sure he finished his classwork before he went to bed.

 

Kuroko’s arms burned _constantly_. He was so tired he could feel his eyelids constantly drooping. He’d fallen asleep in Charms, Transfiguration, and almost tumbled head first into his cauldron during Potions. He’d spent every second of free time practicing spells, refining his casting, and meeting with Ogiwara.

 

Two days before the tournament, he could reliably hit Ogiwara while standing on the ground. A very small percentage of his throws made contact with Ogiwara when he was flying, but as the other Hufflepuff said, flying was faster and provided more options for a fleeing opponent than simply running away. Being confined to a small area would help him in that regard as well.

 

“I’m not saying you’ll be as good as Midorima, but if your opponent is too busy looking for you, they won’t be going fast enough to be impossible to hit. You can do this, Tetsu,” Ogiwara told Kuroko, using a spell to gather the fallen practice balls. “Now, just get enough rest so that you’ll be able to stay on your feet for four rounds of competition and you’ll be set.”

 

That was easier said than done. But two days out, Kuroko was feeling as confident as he thought was possible.

 

He had a loose set of ideas that could barely be called a strategy, but he had no idea how it would play out in real life. He would need to be quick to adapt to the specific duelist, but his keen skills of observation would allow him to process and make decisions faster than the average wizard.

 

What Kuroko really needed was a strategy to handle his opponent if they were actively shielding themselves.

 

He was still working on that, but time was running out. It was slipping through his hands like sand, too fast to keep track of it. It seemed one day, Akashi was cornering him in the library, and then he blinked and it was already the day before the tournament.

 

All he could do was hope that his basics were strong enough to carry him through, and the trump card that was his misdirection would be enough to let him utilize his invisibility. Kiyoshi had said _play to your strengths,_ and Kuroko had to believe this would let him do just that.

 

If he was going to fight, he wasn’t going to let himself be proven right. He was going to find whatever it was that Satsuki and Akashi seemed to see in him.

 

_What if they’re wrong?_

 

Kuroko set his jaw and hardened his will against that nagging doubt.

 

Even if he didn’t have the same power that the Generation of Miracles did, he was _not_ weak. He was going to show Hogwarts that any student could be incredible, even without the ridiculous and unnecessary amount of power the five prodigies had.

 

…

 

It was dinnertime Friday. Kuroko almost fell into the bench next to Ogiwara, already exhausted. He wanted to go to sleep, right here. He had been practicing with every second of free time all week, and trying to keep up with classwork on top of that had been exhausting. He’d spent the better part of the morning perfecting his trump card, and despite how heavy and tired he felt, Kuroko was in high spirits.

 

His strategy was ready, even if the top half of his body was collapsed horizontally onto the table in front of him.

 

“Training is going well, I take it,” Ogiwara said cheerfully, dumping a small pile of vegetables onto Kuroko’s plate. “I thought I told you to take it easy for tomorrow!”

 

“I don’t want your sad vegetables,” Kuroko said, a deadpan look on his face, ignoring the latter half of Ogiwara’s declaration. “I want vanilla cake.”

 

He made a grabbing gesture with one hand, which was kind of useless given that his arm didn’t reach nearly far enough to actually get to the cake.

 

“Eat your vegetables,” Ogiwara replied.

 

Kuroko heaved a sigh, and started eating, casting his eyes up and down the table.

 

One sight did catch his attention, and he watched with interest as Imayoshi – a sixth year Slytherin – approached Sakurai at the other end of the table. The two of them spoke on seemingly genial terms, and Kuroko definitely saw gold change hands.

 

A few moments later, a pair of burly Gryffindors came up and cornered Sakurai. He calmly nodded and wrote something down on a roll of parchment. More gold changed hands and Sakurai turned back to his dinner.

 

Kuroko watched this exchange happen two more times, with students from various houses, before he decided to ask his friend about it.

 

“Did Sakurai join a gang?”

 

Ogiwara choked on a mouth full of pumpkin juice and only barely managed to avoid spraying it all over the table.

 

“What?”

 

“He’s being cornered by multiple students down on his end of the table and has been exchanging a lot of gold,” Kuroko said calmly, once Ogiwara was breathing normally again.

 

“Oh that!” Ogiwara replied. “Yeah, Furihata made the suggestion that anyone who started taking bets on the tournament would make quite a bit of cash. I just didn’t think he’d go into business with _Imayoshi_ of all people. You’d think being a Slytherin and a pure blood would stop him from even _wanting_ to work with Sakurai.”

 

“Ogiwara there’s no need to be bigoted against pure-bloods.”

 

Ogiwara didn’t even let that register, being so used to Kuroko’s weird brand of deadpan humor to be able to completely ignore it.

 

“Anyway, we should keep an eye on Sakurai, in case that snake tries to pull anything funny,” Ogiwara continued. “He’s up to something.”

 

“Are that many students really paying to bet on this tournament?” Kuroko asked, feeling a little bit of energy return to him with the consumption of food, but also trying to change the subject. Once Ogiwara got started on the subject of any given Slytherin he wouldn’t stop. It was almost Gryffindor in its regularity and vehemence and Kuroko did _not_ have the time of day for that.

 

“Apparently. From what I can see, a lot of students think it’s a great idea.”

 

Kuroko nodded, returning to his food.

 

“Can he do that as a competitor? He could convince everyone to bet on him and then throw the match to get all the money.”

 

That was Furihata, sliding onto the bend on Ogiwara’s other side.

 

Ogiwara snorted.

 

“That must be why he’s working with Imayoshi,” Kuroko reasoned. “Sakurai takes the upper year’s bets, while Imayoshi handles the lower years. The two are splitting the profits.”

 

“The third years were getting pissed off because nobody seems to think any of them have a chance,” Furihata said.

 

“Well, if the Miracles weren’t around, at least some of them might actually make it,” Ogiwara muttered, stabbing the meat in front of him as if it was one of said Miracles with it.

 

“Well, even if Sakurai doesn’t win, he’ll at least get to say that he got something out of this weekend.”

 

The others hummed in agreement, and the topic of conversation turned to how the fourth years had spent their free day.

 

Much later that night, once all of the students were in bed, Kuroko was sitting in the common room, staring at his charms textbook. He was trying to figure out if he could manipulate his spell any further. He heard a pair of footsteps creaking on the steps behind him.

 

“Are you still awake?”

 

Kuroko turned to see Ogiwara in his pyjamas.

 

“Yes. Why are you still awake too?”

 

“I was thinking about the tournament and I had an idea,” Ogiwara said, rubbing his eyes. “Got a second?”

 

Kuroko closed the book in front of him and nodded to the other half of the couch, indicating that his friend should sit down so that they could talk.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Do you remember that prank with the post-it notes last year?”

 

“Yeah, why?”

 

“Do you remember how you did that, with the spell?”

 

“I… yes. I do.”

 

“Do you think you could do it during a duel? Change the way a spell was moving?”

 

Kuroko considered that question, his face unreadable.

 

“Maybe.”

 

“Try it this weekend, if you get the chance.”

 

“Shige, we don’t even know if I _can_ do it again. It was probably a fluke. And even if I could, what are the odds I could pull it off without any practice?”  


“Well, it’s a good trump card to have in your back pocket.”

 

“For something to be a trump card, it must physically be a card.”

 

“Hey, it was just a suggestion.”

 

Kuroko immediately felt bad for snapping at his friend. He honestly doubted he could do the trick Ogiwara was talking about even if he had to, but if he _was_ able to pull it off, it would be spectacular. He honestly hadn’t given much thought to what had turned out to be one of the first pranks they had ever pulled together.

 

“Okay Shige. If I get the chance during the tournament I will try it.”

 

Ogiwara nodded, and stood up, stretching.

 

“Go to bed soon too, okay? You gotta take care of yourself.”

 

Kuroko agreed to this too, and shoved the textbook back into his bag. There probably wasn’t anything else to be gained by continuing to stare at its pages, and he was extremely tired. Tomorrow if he got the opportunity, he would try Ogiwara’s suggestion and see if there was any merit to it.

 

If it worked, _well then._

 

Kuroko could see the obvious promise in the suggestion.

 

He just wished he’d been the one to think of it.

 

He wished he’d thought of it seven days ago, but he couldn’t exactly change that now. He was just going to have to make do with what he had practiced.

 

…

 


	3. Kuroko Beats Up A Little Girl

…

**_First year:_ **

 

_By the end of their first week at Hogwarts, Kuroko was forced to face a much more painful truth than the realization that he might enjoy having Ogiwara Shigehiro as a friend. After an entire week’s worth of classes, Kuroko could no longer deny it: he was a singularly untalented wizard._

 

_Even without the comparison to the Generation of Miracles – natural geniuses through and through – he was just… average. He’d been so excited to be able to do magic, to get his very own wand and join the ranks of the accomplished wizards in his family. But it turned out that Kuroko was as unremarkable a wizard as he was a person._

 

_Mouth set into a grimace, Kuroko was sitting in one of the armchairs by the fire in the Hufflepuff common room, watching the flames curl upwards in its grate. His Charms book was open in his lap, laid out to the theory on levitation spells. It seemed simple enough. Yet Kuroko was still struggling with applying it, his frustration reaching critical levels._

 

_Why was he even here, anyway? It seemed so easy for the rest of them. Even Ogiwara had no problem succeeding with the spells their professors gave them by the end of the class period. After the occasional explosion here and there, anyway. At least Ogiwara knew he had power, knew that he deserved to be able to call himself a wizard. Kuroko hadn’t managed to actually perform a single spell inside class. The near constant spell practice outside of it was draining him to the point where he couldn’t even stay awake in most classes anyway._

 

_He’d only been here a week and he could already feel himself falling behind. Kuroko could feel the curl of anxiety in his stomach at the thought that the gap between himself and his peers was widening into a gaping abyss, and that he'd only fall further and further behind._

 

_Kuroko sniffed, wiping away the tears that spilled over across his cheeks. What was even the point? He’d never be good enough. He was barely more than a squib anyway._

 

_“Hey, Tetsu. You wanna play exploding snap?”_

 

_Ogiwara had launched himself over the back of the couch Kuroko was sitting on and landed squarely next to him. “Eh, what’s wrong? Why are you crying?”_

 

_“I’m not crying,” Kuroko said blankly, swiftly wiping away the evidence of his tears from his cheeks. “I’m not.”_

 

_“Uh huh. Sure. Come on, let’s go play some Snap, and maybe get a start on our Charms homework. I’ll trade you tips on the spellwork for your notes in History of Magic.”_

 

_Kuroko couldn’t find it in himself to argue with the other boy. He nodded, and picked up his bag to follow Ogiwara over to one of the tables off to the side of the Common Room._

 

_It didn’t even occur to him until much later that Ogiwara had absolutely no problem spotting him sitting there by the fireplace. That over the course of the last week, Ogiwara had sought him out on multiple occasions without any difficulties. The few times that Kuroko had managed to surprise him, the other boy had taken his sudden appearances in stride._

 

_But weeks later, even when it did occur to Kuroko to realize that there was something highly unusual about Ogiwara Shigehiro, the realization only left a warm feeling in its wake._

…

In the end, 30 students signed up to compete in the junior division of the tournament, most of them third and fourth years. Only a scattering of extremely brave and foolish second years had put their names down, but pretty much every single fourth year at Hogwarts had. The only exceptions to that were students like Ogiwara, who had other club activities and commitments to pursue. The general consensus was that the true bloodbath in the junior division of the competition would be among the fourth years, each of whom were going to fight to the death for the spot not occupied by the Generation of Miracles.

 

The current betting favored the competitors Kuroko had named during breakfast with his housemates. Tsugawa and Haizaki were at even odds at the top of the pack, with Takao and Sakurai not far behind them. Momoi had not put her name down in the end, which had somewhat evened out the competition. The school consensus was that if the Slytherin girl had chosen to participate, everyone else might as well just not bother. But with such promising and exciting competition ahead, Sakurai and Imayoshi were doing roaring business among the Hogwarts population as the days continued.

 

The Headmaster had grudgingly gone up to the podium one night at dinner to announce that the more specific rules of the tournament would be posted in the Great Hall, which had led to a sudden and abrupt end to the meal as almost half the student body ran to the Great Hall to see what the structure of the tournament would actually look like.

 

Each of the competitors would fight four duels, against four different opponents. Their first duel would be decided by random draw. The second two rounds would be matched based on the duelists records from the previous rounds – competing against other duelists who had similar scores and the same number of wins.

 

The final round would be power protected. Those with the best scores would duel those with the worst, ensuring that the most powerful competitors would not knock each other out in the final round.

 

Two judges in each round would score each competitor out of ten. That score would help in more closely matching combatants that shared similar records, and would help break any ties.

 

Each duel would continue until one opponent was incapacitated or yielded verbally to their opponent. A tie would be declared if the duel went on for over five minutes in the junior division, or ten in the upper one.

 

The students with the top six records in each of the two age divisions would represent Hogwarts as Champions in the upcoming inter school tournament. 

 

It was a system that sounded incredibly complicated. Kuroko was not surprised to learn the next day that Momoi had helped design it. He was just glad that all he had to worry about was not getting beat down to the ground during the tournament. Momoi, by comparison, was never seen without at least two reams of parchment floating behind her as she dictated to a quill that was seamlessly scrolling figures on the parchment.

 

"Haven't you already done everything that needs to be done for this stupid tournament?" Ogiwara complained when they gathered together the night before the tournament. Momoi smirked.

  
"Oh of course," she said. "They don't even have to do anything other than enter the scores on my parchment and my algorithms will find the best pairing based on the criteria I've set up - with their permission. The process is already tested and approved, and they had a neutral Arithmancer come in to recast the spells to make sure that I was correct, which was obviously the case."

 

"Oh, _obviously_ ," Ogiwara moaned sarcastically. "So what are you doing with all these papers then?"

 

"A personal project," Momoi said. "I'm doing a statistical analysis based on my understanding of every single student entered in the Senior division. For my Arithmancy project this year, I've decided to predict the outcome of the inter school tournament based on an analysis of each competitors capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. I believe I have an acceptable formula for crunching so much raw data, but I would like the opportunity to test it out. I have hypothesized the victors of the senior division to within less than a five per cent margin of error."

 

"What? Hey, you should share that kind of information! We could make bank off of Sakurai!"

 

"It's not a perfected process," Momoi defended. "I could be wrong."

 

"But you don't think you are, and I've never seen you be wrong when you were this sure of yourself, so let's hear it!"

 

Momoi blushed a little at the compliment Ogiwara probably didn't even realize he'd been giving, but recovered quickly.

 

"Well," she said. "Don't you think, given my certainty, that I would have already placed my bet? Why should I tell you just to share the jackpot?"

 

Ogiwara's face was priceless, and Kuroko was laughing quietly at his friends' antics all the way back to the common room.  

 

It was the morning of the tournament, and the student body was vibrating with excitement. Minor scuffles erupted among the students on their way to breakfast, playfully shoving and smack talking each other. A few minor injuries resulted from the roughhousing, but for the most part the mood was incredibly genial as they moved out towards the grounds to watch the tournament.

 

It was a crisp fall day outside. The first chill of the year was in the air, and the sky was overcast with grey clouds. Kuroko braced himself against the cold as he followed his fellow fourth years into the crowd of students. He avoided being jostled by virtue of quick dodging and generally not being too much of a target to be seen.

 

Eight circles of moderate size had been set up on the grounds, a fair distance away from the Quidditch Pitch. A stadium had been set up around each of the circles, so that other students would be able to watch the fights. Kuroko assumed they were trying to get through the rounds as fast as possible, since between each division over sixty fights would have to take place each day. Many of those rounds would be over with quickly. Kuroko knew most of the last rounds, which would match the strongest students against the weakest ones, would be over in an instant.

 

A huge canvas board had also been set up, magically flashing the matchups for each round in black ink. Kuroko scanned the pairings until he found his own name, and ran his eyes along the line to see who his opponent was, and in which ring they would be fighting.

 

Kuroko was facing a second year, a student two years his junior in Gryffindor. He’d seen her around the halls before, but had never spoken to her. He was willing to bet that she had never even heard of him, but that was just fine.

 

It meant that his first fight would prove to be an effective testing ground for his style of fighting.

 

“We’ll be cheering for you,” Ogiwara said, clapping Kuroko on the shoulder. “Well, I will. Sakurai, Kawahara, and Furihata all have their own cage matches to win. Now go scare the shit out of that kid.”

 

Kuroko nodded, stretching his arms. This fight would be the most intense minute of his life, that was for sure. Because at the end of that minute, he was either going to drop from exhaustion or he would win. The reality of his magical stamina was that he needed to win this quickly or not at all. 

 

He took a deep breath of crisp fall air.

 

The announcer called his name.

 

Kuroko entered the arena, the second year Gryffindor doing the same on the other side. Kuroko felt the wards rise up in a dome around them, powerful shields that would prevent any spells from hitting other duelists or the spectators that had gathered. He didn’t turn to look, but he doubted this fight was one that would gather many viewers.

 

They bowed respectfully to each other, and assumed dueling positions.

 

Cannon fire went off.

 

Kuroko acted immediately, running to the right. Two spells hit the shield behind him in the spot where he had stood a second ago

 

Kuroko cast his first spell, and a spray of fog filled his opponents side of the arena. He could see the second year turn around in circles trying to find him.

 

Perfect.

 

Had the air in the arena been clear, there would be no way for Kuroko to disappear. His natural misdirection took over, making him even less noticeable in the thick fog. Kuroko ducked away, letting the Gryffindor spin around looking for him.

 

Projecting his voice, Kuroko yelled out a spell. His wand was still by his side. He had no intention of using it, but his distraction achieved its desired effect. The girl yelled out a stunning spell.  The spell shot harmlessly over Kuroko’s head as he dodged away.

 

The fog was clearing away, and Kuroko had exactly the angle he needed. The second year was facing away from him, looking around to try and find him in the dissipating smoke.

 

Kuroko walked straight up behind the girl and disarmed her.

 

The second year’s wand went flying, and cannon fire signaled the end of the duel in Kuroko’s favor.

 

The two competitors shook hands, and that was that.

 

It hadn't even taken close to a minute. 

 

Kuroko didn’t internalize that he had won until he walked out of the arena and saw Ogiwara jumping up and down and grinning.

 

He could hardly believe it. The duel had been simple and fast. Kuroko hadn’t even worked up a sweat, but his ability to hide had given him an advantage which, when pursued, gave him the victory.

 

He hadn’t even done anything spectacular.

 

Kuroko wouldn’t be fighting his next round until after lunch, so he joined Ogiwara in the stands to watch the rest of the first rounds play out.

 

They got seated just in time to watch Aomine take the field against Kawahara.

 

“That’s not going to go well,” Ogiwara murmured. Kuroko shook his head.

 

Kawahara was an above average wizard, but Aomine was a monster in his own class. The tanned, tall Gryffindor took the field across from Kawahara, slinking forward like a panther. Kawahara stumbled fro nerves as they went to bow.

 

The cannon went off, and Aomine burst into movement, a blur of blue lightning. Kuroko stared in awe as the boy dived forward, rolling under Kawahara’s first two spells. Kawahara threw himself to the side, nearly avoiding an Expelliarmus, and then a bright red stunning spell. He pulled up a shield, blocking three curses from Aomine before buckling. Kawahara got in one more attack before he was thrown clear across the arena by the disarming spell Aomine sent his way. The audience hissed in sympathy, before cheering on the blue haired Gryffindor as the sound of cannons rang out again.

 

Aomine went to help Kawahara to his feet, and clapped the other wizard on the back. Kuroko watched him hand Kawahara back his wand.

 

“Bummer,” Ogiwara said, standing. “That’s it for Hufflepuff then. You and Sakurai are the only ones with winning records now. God help us all, an invisible boy and an apologetic mushroom are Hufflepuffs best shot at having Champions!”

 

“What about Furihata?” Kuroko followed him out, giving Aomine’s broad figure a last look as the Gryffindor left the arena. He was choosing to ignore Ogiwara’s melodrama.

 

“He hit Midorima in round one,” Ogiwara clucked his tongue sympathetically. “Boil hex, right to the face. Apparently Midorima didn’t expect Furihata to be exactly where he was and meant to get his shoulder.”

 

“They could still win with three victories,” Kuroko mused.

 

“We’ll see, Ogiwara said as they left the stands. “Let’s beat the rush to lunch.”

…

The fourth year Hufflepuffs sat together in a show of solidarity during lunch. Ironically, it seemed the fourth year competitors from every other house had taken a similar thinking – if the last champion couldn’t be them, it damn well better be one of their own.

 

“I don’t know what all those assholes are doing, the other houses are pretty much guaranteed that a champion will represent them,” Ogiwara muttered. “Hufflepuff is the only house without our own Miracle.”

 

“It should go to the best competitors in the tournament,” Sakurai said softly, pushing food around his plate. He smiled, weakly, before the expression crumbled and his hand tightened into a fist around his fork. “That’s what I want to say right now, but sorry, I can’t. One of us _needs_ to take the slot. Hufflepuff should be represented."

 

“Attention students!” Headmaster Aida’s voice rang out around the room. “For those of you with any interest, the results of this morning’s duel’s will be posted outside, along with the schedule and pairings for the next round. That is all.”

 

There was a great clattering of porcelain against wood and benches shifting as every student in the hall abandoned their lunches to run to the Great Hall and see who would be facing whom in the afternoon.

 

“Oi, Kuroko, I can’t see, get us the results!” Ogiwara said, trying and failing to jump high enough to see over the heads of those rushing forwards.

 

Obligingly, Kuroko slipped through the crowd, letting the natural movement of the shoving, yelling students push him close enough to the front to see the results. He scanned down the line, thanking god that none of them were facing one of the Miracles this round, and retreated safely to give his roommates the good news.

 

The evening went by in a blur. Kuroko’s fog tactic worked well on a Slytherin fourth year, and once again his duel came and went in under a minute.

 

He and Sakurai were both up two rounds, while the rest of the Hufflepuff fourth years each had a single win under their belts.

 

It was still possible for any of them to win a top six ranking at this point, though Kuroko and Sakurai had the best chances at doing so. It would be the duels on Sunday morning that really decided how the results would fall out.

…

Having won his first two rounds, Kuroko was feeling pretty good about himself the next morning.

 

Well, he was feeling good up until he saw who his opponent was for the third round.

 

“I’m withdrawing from the tournament,” he said seriously. Luckily only Ogiwara heard him. Somewhat less luckily, the other Hufflepuff hit Kuroko hard, just under his ribs.

 

Kuroko didn’t have enough breath to gasp, but he bowed over in pain and waited for the ability to breathe to return. When it did he straightened up and glared at his friend.

 

“Go kick Tsugawa’s loud, obnoxious ass,” Ogiwara said without preamble. “Geez, he wins two rounds and decides he’s too much of a diva to fight anyone who’s already started shaving!”

 

He announced this to the world at large, arms raised in a gesture of long suffering frustration. 

 

“I’m fighting Takao,” Furihata moaned. “This is going to suck. How are we _all_ hitting the top people in the tournament?”

 

“Because we’re awesome, obviously,” Ogiwara yelled. “Now STOP BITCHING AND KILL SOME TEENAGERS!”

 

A huge group of students stared at Ogiwara jumping and yelling, but he seemed too caught up in his excitement to care.

 

Honestly, Kuroko though, the students of Hogwarts should have been more than used to the sight of Ogiwara’s excessive enthusiasm. It certainly happened a lot.

 

Kuroko wasn’t feeling very confident in his ability to fight Tsugawa, but he didn’t have a choice. He walked out onto the field across from the grinning Gryffindor who was whooping and shouting to his friends in the stands.

 

Tsugawa was a powerhouse, and the favorite to take the last spot among the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko could feel doubt curling in his stomach. But there was another feeling, one that was even more potent.

 

He didn’t want to lose.

 

He took a deep breath and cleared his mind of fear, getting into position after shaking Tsugawa’s hand.

 

“I’m going to destroy you!” Tsugawa yelled.

 

Kuroko decided not to respond.

 

_“Do you remember the prank with the post-its?”_

 

Kuroko had an ace up his sleeve, one that might be his saving grace in this duel.

 

“I watched your duel last night, you were pretty quick,” Tsugawa grinned. “But it won’t work on me!”

 

_You never know._

 

The cannons sounded. Tsugawa jumped forward, sending a wave of spell fire at Kuroko.

 

Kuroko didn’t even have a chance to cast the fog spell. He sent up a shield that was blown away by a single blast of bright red light. He kept backing up, wholly on the defensive as Tsugawa poured everything into his offense.

 

Kuroko needed to buy himself just a minute to think, to breathe, away from this duel. He cast a reflective shield and dived to the left as Tsugawa cursed, jumping out of the way of his own spell.

 

Kuroko huffed out the fog spell from where he lay on the ground. He made it to his feet slowly, trying to breathe as shallowly as he could.

 

He could hear Tsugawa cursing and shouting from a mere foot away, but he didn’t want to give away his position just yet.

 

A few unsatisfying and shallow breaths later, he heard Tsugawa start casting random stunners.

 

Kuroko felt like this was a good time to bring out some tricks while hiding behind the foggy veneer of this spell. He concentrated on the fog around where Tsugawa was standing opposite Kuroko, a few feet to the boys’ right. He let it billow as though someone was moving through it, and grinned as he heard Tsugawa turn around and shout spells at the place where the fog was moving.

 

He crept forward. One step. A second.

 

In just a moment, he would know exactly where the other boy was and he would be able to disarm him and be done with this duel.

 

A stunning spell barely brushed the top of Kuroko’s hair. He had never been so glad to be short in his life. If Tsugawa had accurately estimated his height, the duel would have ended right there.

 

Kuroko manipulated the fog again, willing Tsugawa to move in the other direction. He heard steps moving away, and breathed a sigh of relief.

 

He was slowly beginning to calm down. He had no idea how much time had elapsed, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute, maybe two.

 

He still had time to end this if he was patient, and took an opening as soon as it presented itself.

 

Kuroko was not ready for Tsugawa’s next move, however.

 

“Lumos!”

 

One of the things that Kuroko had not considered about this spell was that fog is great at reflecting light. When Tsugawa cast his spell, Kuroko was wholly unprepared to be blinded as his vision whited out completely. He gasped and tripped, barely missing the curse the Gryffindor had sent his way as soon as he’d heard Kuroko moving.

 

_No, I’ve got to let him think I’m somewhere else until I can see!_

 

But the fog was already dissipating. Kuroko could see the vague shape of the other student standing over him. Kuroko tried to disarm him, but the spell bounced off of Tsugawa’s shield.

 

“I’ve got you!”

 

Kuroko cast a shield and scampered to his feet, backing up blindly. The shield took two hits and dissipated, and Tsugawa was still casting.

 

_Like with the post-its._

 

Kuroko remembered the feel of manipulating magic from his and Ogiwara’s prank the year before. Taking Ogiwara’s spell and moving it so that it touched hundreds of little colored papers to make them all levitate at once. Ogiwara’s magic had been easy to find and touch, as familiar to him as Ogiwara himself.

 

Tsugawa’s magic was wild, powerful, and untamed. Kuroko – ‘tapped’ would be the best term for it, but there was no practical way of describing how it felt. He moved Tsugawa’s spells to the side, gently changing their trajectory to hit harmlessly against the border of the arena behind him.

 

Tsugawa’s eyes widened in fear before his determination came back full force.

 

Kuroko, having seen his hesitation, went in for the kill.

 

Their stunning spells hit in the middle, exploding spectacularly.

 

Kuroko and Tsugawa were thrown in opposite directions, slamming into the border of the arena on opposite sides of the circle.

 

Kuroko didn’t feel that first contact, but he definitely felt the air driving from his lungs when he hit the ground, barely managing to bring his hands up to his face to protect it.

 

_Ouch._

 

Tsugawa groaned and yelled an obscenity. Before the Gryffindor could retaliate, he was interrupted by the sound of cannons firing.

 

 _No,_ Kuroko didn’t have the breath to yell, but if he had, he would have been cursing just as vehemently as his opponent.

 

“ _Time!”_ Their judge yelled. “Draw.”

 

It took Kuroko a few more dejected seconds to get to his feet.

 

“I can’t believe this!” Tsugawa moaned.

 

Kuroko could agree.

 

“The next time we meet, I’m going to win,” Tsugawa promised.

 

“Likewise,” Kuroko replied, shaking his hand. “We’ll continue this another day.”

 

“Name the time and place shorty!” Tsugawa replied. “Now how am I supposed to keep up my reputation with the ladies?”

 

Kuroko turned away, feeling frustrated and dejected.

 

He had fought the top contender in this tournament to a draw, which meant that everything was going to come down to luck, and the strength of their next opponent.

 

At this point, it was anybody’s game.

 

….

 

Lunch came and went quickly, as the entire school waited for the announcement of the final round of pairings. With a full three quarters of the tournament complete, speculation was running rampant,as to who still had a chance and who had already been thrown out of the rankings. There had only been a handful of students with perfect scores, and even fewer had lost every round. It seemed that round four was going to have a lot more competition than anyone had thought it would.

 

Soon after lunch had started, the Headmaster announced with a grim scowl that the results of the previous round were posted in the Entrance Hall. Another chaotic exodus ensued as the student body eagerly shoved their way out of the Great Hall in order to see who would be fighting each other in the next round.

 

Kuroko and Ogiwara rushed to the front so that they could see the list of the final round of pairings for the tournament.

 

“Going into the final round, only a few students are actually power protected,” Ogiwara commented to Kuroko. “Not even all of the Generation of Miracles have a guaranteed spot right now.”

 

 _That_ was interesting. Kuroko looked at the list again, his mind deep in thought.

 

Akashi, Murasakibara, and Aomine had won all three of their first rounds and were guaranteed spots on the team.The only thing that would stop that was if something insane happened in the last duel. All three were facing incredibly weak opponents, so that was highly unlikely. Kise and Midorima’s unfortunate tie took them out of the running for power protection, which meant they would not be fighting their final round against a weak opponent. Midorima’s record on power was better than Kise’s. As a result he was going against one of the more talented third years whileKise would be going toe to toe with Haizaki.

 

“That will be an interesting duel,” Kuroko commented. “If they don’t kill each other.”

 

“I’m more concerned about your duel,” Ogiwara said. Kuroko had the same exact record as Kise and Midorima right now – two and a half. It would be impossible to guess what the exact difference in their individual points was, but it couldn’t be very much, given the record of Kuroko’s next opponent. He would be facing…

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, _oh.”_

 

Ogiwara put a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder with a grimace.

 

“It was nice knowing you,” he said genuinely.

 

Kuroko slammed his hand into Ogiwara’s solar plexus. He did not even take his eyes off the chart as Ogiwara yelped and winced in pain.

 

_Takao Kazunari._

 

The other fourth year boy had two and a half wins as well. Kuroko hadn’t seen any of his matches, but he knew that the Slytherin was very good friends with Midorima. Takao was almost certainly powerful enough to deserve the final spot among the Generation of Miracles.

 

More than that, he was an unfortunate match up for Kuroko in particular. Takao was one of the few people who had never had difficulty noticing Kuroko.

 

“I know I said to stop bitching, but I mean you could always throw the match,” a recovered Ogiwara said thoughtfully. “I mean it’s not like you actually want to be on the Champions team, right?”

 

That was true.

 

But losing in such a way offended his sensibilities in a way he would not have expected just a week ago.

 

He had come this far, and Kuroko found himself _wanting to win._ It was an unfamiliar and unexpected development.

 

“It would be offensive for me not to fight Takao with everything that I have,” Kuroko replied. “Hufflepuffs always give our all and our best, even when it is hard. Even when we know it isn’t enough. I can’t back down here.”

 

He would probably lose. He knew that even as he said the words. And yet it mattered that he go down fighting as hard as possible.

 

Ogiwara smiled, bright and warm, as comforting as sunshine, and clapped Kuroko on the back.

 

“You’re spending too much time with Kiyoshi-senpai,” he said, but it wasn’t an insult, not really. “Too bad we’re going to miss watching Haizaki and Kise trying to kill each other.”

 

“You could go,” Kuroko suggested. Ogiwara rolled his eyes.

 

“And miss your match? What kind of friend do you think I am? I’m gonna go and cheer for you and laugh when Takao Kazunari kicks your ass.”

 

“You’re a bad person.”

 

“Hey!”

 

All too soon, they were back on the pitch. The sun was already close to the horizon, setting long shadows sprawling across the grounds as the final duels began to start.

 

“You’re up in a few,” Ogiwara murmured to Kuroko as they entered the arena. “You should go get ready.”

 

Kuroko nodded seriously.

 

“Good luck,” Ogiwara added. He clapped Kuroko on the back, the warm weight of his hand a comfort as Kuroko mentally prepared himself to face off against another talented wizard. “You can do this.”

 

“I’ll do my best,” Kuroko promised, and vanished into the crowd.

 

…

 

Kuroko knew he was fighting for his one chance to stay in the tournament. Both him and Takao were in the running to be in the top six of the tournament. This was going to be a rough round.

 

Somehow, Kuroko doubted that his simple tricks were going to help him here.

 

The cannon sounded the end of the duel before his own, and Kuroko walked out onto the field. Across from him, Takao was doing the same, smiling the way only someone who knows that they have an ace up their sleeve can.

 

Kuroko had a bad feeling about this.

 

“Don’t think that you’re going to get by me on this one,” Takao said smugly as they shook hands. Kuroko didn’t reply. When they were ready to fight, they drew back, waiting for cannon fire.

 

 _He can’t hit me if he can’t see me,_ Kuroko assured himself.

 

When the cannons sounded Kuroko cast  his spell before he even started moving. Takao stepped back. Rather than immediately going on the offensive, he drew a thick shield around himself.

 

The fog filled the arena and Kuroko quietly slipped around the edges of the ring, trying to get an angle on Takao.

 

Before he could, a gust of air blew harshly around him, drawing away the fog and leaving Kuroko visible opposite his opponent.

 

Takao was looking right at him.

 

“You could say I hate you,” Takao smiled, at odds with his harsh words. “Because we’re the same.”

 

Kuroko’s brain froze.

 

He reacted to Takao’s attack, dodging the spell. He cast another fog spell but it was dissipated quickly, leaving Takao clicking his tongue. Kuroko had the unnerving sensation that even with the smoke surrounding him, Takao would only have a minor handicap finding him. With every attack, Takao followed Kuroko’s movements like a hawk.

 

Kuroko hit the ground rolling and put up a weak shield spell that buckled under the weight of a single curse.

 

“Come on Kuroko, you never should have made it this far anyway. So just back down and admit I’m better!”

 

Spell after spell came at him, and Kuroko was losing stamina quickly. He knew Takao was trying to pin him down, and he had no way of stopping it. He cast a Jelly-Legs Jinx, hoping to dodge around the other boy, but there was no luck there either. Takao was a wizard of overwhelming force, and he was giving no ground.

 

Dodging another disarming spell, Kuroko leaned too far back and hit the ground. A second one hit him and sent his wand flying past Takao.

 

“Yield!” Takao yelled.

 

Maybe that would have been the smart thing to do. But Kuroko had all the stubbornness that was characteristic of his house. And he wasn’t here to lose. He wanted to win, not for Hufflepuff, not for Momoi, and definitely not for Akashi and his miracles, but for himself. He wanted to show that he was not going to be stepped on and he wasn’t going to let Takao force him to surrender.

 

“No way!”

 

Takao rolled his eyes, and cast again, but this time Kuroko didn’t move. He remembered his duel with Tsugawa and grounded himself where he was standing.

 

The spell never made contact. It slid away. Kuroko felt it prickle along his skin like static, and then dissolve into the shield behind him.

 

“Are you casting a nonverbal shield?” Takao asked, stepping back in surprise. “How are you doing that?”

 

It was a stalemate. Kuroko could not cast any spells without his wand, and Takao could not hit him without Kuroko moving the spell away. Kuroko could have just done what he’d done the round before, but he refused to accept another duel as a tie.

 

He shrugged in response to the other boys question, watching Takao readily. All Kuroko needed was a single second of distraction that he could take advantage of. The he could make a run for his wand and hope he was faster on the draw than Takao was.

 

Honestly, he didn’t have a whole lot of faith but it was all he had.

 

“Well, it doesn’t matter. If you won’t yield, I’ll just beat you to the ground by force. _STUPEFY!”_

 

Kuroko knew immediately that it would be too powerful a spell for him to just slightly push away. It burned with enough force and intensity to shatter any shield he had the power to raise, not that that was really even an option.

 

The spell was coming at him. His wand was all the way on the other side of the arena.

 

Kuroko didn’t dodge. He took every bit of power that was left inside him and instead of gently shifting the spell, he _slammed_ into it, forcing it backwards.

 

Takao’s own power passed through his shields like they weren’t there at all, and his eyes widened in surprise and shock as he was thrown across the arena.

 

He didn’t get up.

 

Kuroko stood in place. Anyone who did not know him would think he had expected that to happen. But the truth was that Kuroko was as surprised as Takao had been.

 

What. The _hell._

 

Kuroko walked over to his wand and slowly bent down to pick it up. He was suddenly aware of how much his body hurt – four matches in two days was nothing to sneeze at, especially for someone with his stamina. Kuroko limped over to his opponent, and waited cautiously above the other boy to make sure he was truly out. Somewhere very far away someone was announcing that he had won the round. It felt like the words were filtering towards him through a wall of water.

 

He revived the other boy and held a hand out to him.

 

“That was a good round,” Kuroko said.

 

Takao’s eyes narrowed in confusion, and then he grimaced in defeat.

 

“You fought well,” he replied.

 

A smile suddenly bloomed across the taller boy’s face as he stood up.

 

“It was a good duel,” he agreed. “But next time, I won’t let you win so easily!”

 

Kuroko smiled back, still riding the high of adrenaline, wanting to scream and jump and yell and generally celebrate the fact that he had come this far. He’d fought as hard as he could, and as it turned out, it was not only _fun,_ as Momoi had promised,but  it was pretty damn good. Kuroko wasn’t used to the feeling of having done something so overwhelmingly _right_.

 

“Well, I guess that’s that then,” Takao said as they left the arena with one last look at the scoring judges. “However this comes out, congratulations.”

 

“KAZUNARI!”

 

Takao winced, glancing behind him.

 

“Aw shit, that’s Ootsubo,” he hissed. “He’s gonna be _pissed_ , I blew off Quidditch practice to work on shield spells and I didn’t even win. Sorry, Kuroko, I’ll see you around!”

 

Kuroko watched silently as the fifth year stalked towards the Eagle Eyed duellist, wrath consuming his features. He felt kind of bad that he had made Takao’s friend and captain mad at him, but it really was just a duel, anyway.

 

He decided he should go find Ogiwara before the other boy starting causing trouble trying to find him. They wouldn’t get the tournament results until the next night anyway.

 

Aside from trying to find his friend, Kuroko’s mind was consumed with a single, desperate question: _How did he do that?_

 

…

 

The stands were so crowded with people lining up to watch Akashi’s final match that Kuroko wasn’t able to locate his friend until they were back in the common room.

 

Ogiwara was looking around, eyebrows knit in concentration. Kuroko tapped him on the shoulder politely.

 

Ogiwara whirled around and grinned when he saw Kuroko, pulling him into a huge hug.

 

“You did it!”

 

“I don’t know what happened at the end.”

 

“Well, we can research and figure it out, but it’s not like that’s the first time you’ve moved around spells before.”

 

“But those were pretty basic; levitation spells, duplicating charms,” Kuroko said, frowning. Ogiwara shrugged, but then the grin came back.

 

“That _was_ a lot more than what you did with the post-it’s” he said with a smirk. “Still think that was the best use of your powers though!”

 

Kuroko smiled a little, confusion fading away to elation. Hehad fought extremely hard in every single round, and had done better than he had expected. Likely not good _enough_ , but he wasn’t aiming to join the Generation of Miracles anyway. Like Takao said, that was that.

 

“I’m just glad it’s over,” Kuroko finally said.

 

“Yeah but you won! Even if you don’t win a spot on the team, you won the same number of rounds as some of the Generation of Miracles! You did amazing!”

 

Kuroko allowed himself to smile at that.The last of his confusion over the circumstances of his victory fading away in the bright sunlight of his friend’s pride.

 

It _had_ been a very exciting tournament, and he was extremely proud over how it had come out in the end.

 

A wave of exhaustion broke over him then, and he staggered a little where he stood. Ogiwara held him steady.

 

“Let’s get you up to bed. Fighting four difficult duels in two days isn’t easy,” he said. “You’d think with all the spell practice you do you’d have better stamina, you dork.”

 

Kuroko smiled faintly and let the other boy support him up to their dorm.

 

“Hopefully Momoi will shut up now,” Kuroko murmured quietly as he got dressed for bed. “I competed and it’s done with.”

 

“You might win that last spot,” Ogiwara said, his voice rich with excitement as he pulled off his robes to exchange them for an overlarge t-shirt and sweatpants.

 

“Heaven forbid,” Kuroko made a face, sticking out his tongue. He threw himself onto his bed, exhaling heavily at finally being able to lay down. He _was_ exhausted. “Don’t even joke like that.”

 

“Aw, come on, you did really well!”

 

“Can you imagine how much that tournament would suck?” Kuroko asked, rolling over onto his back. “With the entire Generation of Miracles always looking down on you, resenting you for coming into their little circle, always head and shoulders above you? That’s not why I did this.”

 

“I guess I can see how that wouldn’t be fun,” Ogiwara allowed. “But I don’t think it would be like that if you really proved yourself. And you can do stuff even _they_ can’t! I bet that’s why Akashi wanted you to try to take that last spot. He wants your powers on his side.”

 

“Maybe,” Kuroko said quietly. Then he sniggered into the darkness.

 

“What?”

 

“Imagine having Akashi as your captain.”

 

“Okay now I definitely see what you mean. ‘ _I am absolute._ We will never lose because I don’t lose at _anything_ _ever’_.”

 

The impression captured Akashi’s stark seriousness so well that Kuroko found himself laughing outright.

 

“See, it’d be awful!”

 

The two boys were still giggling when the rest of the fourth year Hufflepuff boys trudged into their dorm, chatting animatedly about the last match.

 

“Akashi  _destroyed_ that second year!”

 

“I heard it didn’t even take ten seconds!”

 

“Oi, but did you see that fight between Haizaki and Kise? _That_ was _amazing_! I thought they were going to kill each other!”

 

“I saw Haizaki and Kise in the hall after my duel. Haizaki looked like _might_ murder Kise,” Furihata said. “And Kise didn't look much better! It was scary!”

 

“Hey, guys,” Ogiwara waved at the four of them. “How’d your duels go?”

 

“Sakurai lost to Tsugawa, so he’s only got two wins, and the rest of us have pretty much been out since yesterday.”

 

“Ouch,” Ogiwara said with sympathy. “Who did you end up facing?”

 

“I had to fight Akashi this morning,” Furihata moaned, falling into his pillow with the memory. “Don’t remind me, I’d almost forgotten after watching Kise and Haizaki go right after me.”

 

Hisses of sympathy sounded across the dorm.

 

“Well, it was fun at least!” Kawahara said brightly.

 

“Really?” Furihata asked. “I mostly remember terror.”

 

“What happened?”

 

“I just kind of… stood there I guess. He cursed me before I could even move my wand, it _sucked._ He found me after and shook my hand though, said he’d heard I fought well before then.”

 

“Ugh, he couldn’t have even been enough of an asshole to hate him about it?” Kawahara asked, stripping off his shirt to change for bed. A chorus of laughter followed this, and the fourth year Hufflepuffs settled into general good cheer. Ogiwara changed quickly and then prodded Kuroko to wake up and do the same.

 

“Same with Aomine, the bastard should have at least been rude to me,” Kawahara muttered. “Still, I’d rather have him than Haizaki.”

 

“Who’d you go watch?” Furihata asked Ogiwara as he pulled off his shirt.

 

“I went to go cheer on Kuroko,” Ogiwara said, gesturing to the four poster where the smaller boy had all but passed out. He was wearing a night shirt over the sweatpants he’d competed in, but that was going to have to be good enough. There were some lines Ogiwara was not willing to cross, even for his best friend: such as taking off Kuroko’s pants.

 

“That’s right, I forgot he was doing really well in the tournament too! How’d it go?”

 

“He won against Takao Kazunari,” Ogiwara sat up, chest puffed out with pride. “He has three and a half wins!”

 

The other fourth years cheered at this, as Kuroko now had the best shot of any of them to get onto the competitive team, but the group of boys quickly quieted down.

 

“Does anyone know how the upper years did?” Furihata asked. “Who’d we even have competing in that division?”

 

“Our best shot is Kiyoshi, but we don’t really have any powerhouses in the older years. Mitobe maybe?”

 

“I just want _one_ of us to compete, you know?”

 

“Everyone else always gets all the glory, it’s not like we’re not awesome here in Hufflepuff too.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Quickly, the exhausted group got into their respective beds and turned off the lights. Not much longer, they had all followed Kuroko into sleep.

 

It had been a very long weekend for all of them.

…


	4. The Entirely Surprising and Completely Unpredictable Results

...

A practically tangible spark of electricity was in the air the next day. Almost none of the students could concentrate due to the excitement of what was to come. With a full night’s rest, the exhausted competitors and pumped up spectators were ramped up and would think and talk of nothing else.

 

Even their professors seemed less committed to serious education than usual, barely bothering to extend more than a cursory effort to control the attention of the students in their classrooms.

 

At lunch, speculation was rife across all four House tables. The professors, still involved in tallying scores, refrained from gossip - at least where the entire school could see.

 

Of course, some students had been eliminated, as they had lost at least two of their rounds. But there were only a few students with perfect scores, and plenty of students (including at least two of the Generation of Miracles) were hoping their individual scores could get them a spot with only three or three and a half wins.

 

Kuroko himself was in that last category with three and a half victories, though he wasn’t hoping to become a Champion. He was content to listen to all the excitement going on around him without actively participating. Ogiwara himself was loudly involved in any and all speculation, and Kuroko contented himself to remain in his shadow. He was exhausted, but he was also happy; just last week, he never would have believed it was possible for him to make such a good showing in the tournament.

 

Their afternoon classes passed in a blur. Professor Nakatani didn’t even try to hold the attention of his fourth year class – he spent the first twenty minutes reviwing their first month of study, and then set his class to independent work for the rest of the period.

 

By the time their last class had finished, most of the students were so excited they could barely sit still. Kuroko didn’t think he’d ever seen his fellow students run that eagerly out of their classroom. He knew they were all bolting towards their common rooms to leave their book bags behind and get to dinner.

 

The mob of students pressing into the Great Hall was much louder than usual. The noise level only continued to rise throughout the meal, getting louder and louder as students finished eating and were waiting on the edges of their seats for the results of the tournament.

 

Not one student left the hall.

 

Finally, excruciatingly, the Headmaster stood.

 

Aida Kagetora was a man who looked older than his years. Kuroko had to assume that the perpetual scowl and bags under his eyes were the result of having been a Headmaster of a school where so many ridiculous shenanigans took place on a regular basis. He was a gruff, scary looking man that intimidated Kuroko severely. He loved his daughter (a Ravenclaw fifth year who also terrified Kuroko immensely) unreservedly, yet showed no favoritism.

 

Right now, his scowling face was bearing every single piece of frustration a rational adult, having spent two days overseeing four rounds of hyperactive teenagers fighting each other with dangerous weapons, would have.

 

“QUIET.”

 

Almost immediately, the volume inside the Great Hall died down to a whisper, and then complete silence reigned. Kuroko was almost impressed – the Headmaster had quieted a cacophonous roar into a silence so palpable you could hear a needle drop, should one have the occasion to do so at that moment.

 

Headmaster Aida didn’t smile, but he straightened up a little, seeming to rise up with the attention of his school.

 

“Good evening students,” he began. “Today, we celebrate the success of all of our students, each of whom has shown initiative, drive, and talent during the last few days. I’m pretty sure that there isn’t a single student in this room who did not compete, or aid in the setup and implementation of the tournament, or come to watch and support their classmates. These last few days we have seen the strength of Hogwarts shining through the bonds of your friendship and the hard work you have all put yourselves through – voluntarily – in order to represent our school. I have no reason to complain about anything that happened in the last few days, so thank you.”

 

Several of the teachers along the staff table snickered at this. The flowery wording was pretty out of character for Headmaster Aida’s announcements, and it was funny to watch the normally curt Headmaster speak so formally. Quite a few of the professors were nodding appreciatively. With the tournament becoming such a major focus, Kuroko could easily see how the professors were pleased to spend less time than usual disciplining rule violations. Even Kuroko, Momoi, and Ogiwara had been kept too busy to get up to any actual mischief, and _that_ was a real accomplishment.

 

“Now, I know you’re all very excited to learn which students will be representing us in the interschool tournament this year,” Headmaster Aida said, scowling out at the population of the school. “Especially among our upper years, the competition was fierce.”

 

He paused here, looking out over the student population. They sat at the edges of their seats, breathless with anticipation for her to tell them who won. The frenzied hope on the faces of those who had entered and still stood to potentially rank in the tournament was palpable even with the general air of excitement that every student seemed to carry with them.

 

“So with that, I think we’ll go straight to the results, since I’m sure that none of you want to sit here and listen to me waffle a moment longer,” the Headmaster finally said, dropping all pretense of professionalism and sliding back into the more natural casual demeanor his students were familiar with.

 

“First, I’ll announce our six champions from the fifth through seventh years,” he continued, unraveling a scroll out of thin air with (presumably) the results written across it.

 

“In first place, with four wins, seventh year Shuzo Nijimura, from Gryffindor!”

 

The house of the Lions let loose a roar of approval, but they were not alone in cheering on the Head Boy of Hogwarts. Even Akashi respected and listened to the older boy – though Kuroko privately wondered if the younger wizard had not already surpassed his mentor.

 

Nijimura stood with a look of determination on his face. He acknowleged the cheering with a curt nod of his head, taking his place as the leader among the older studnets.

 

“In second place, with three and a half wins, Kiyoshi Teppei, of Hufflepuff!”

 

The cacophony of sound that came from every table, with no equivocation, spoke of how well liked Kiyoshi was – almost as much so as Nijimura himself, for all that he was two years younger than the Head Boy. Kuroko cheered loudly with Ogiwara, who was so overexcited in his cheering that he nearly fell backwards off the bench.

 

Kiyoshi blushed heavily as he stood and walked to the front of the great hall. He was grinning like a loon, but he made a halfhearted shusshing gesture to the Gryffindor table as he walked up, where one of the students at the table was standing on the bench, pumping his fist in the air and shouting loudly.

 

“In third place, with three wins, Hanamiya Makoto!”

 

There was a hesitant pause before the cheering this time around.

 

Without a doubt, Hanamiya was powerful. He was also brutal and ruthless, in a way that was prone to violence. He would lead them to victory – a victory that would be won at any cost. He and Kiyoshi could be no more different than night and day. The Ravenclaw was the world’s biggest asshole and Kiyoshi was a human marshmallow.

 

If Slytherin were truly the house of dark magic, Kuroko knew without a doubt Hanamiya would have made a comfortable home there. He doubted however that Hanamiya had the drive or ambition to join Slytherin however. Everything that gave Hanamiya the “bad boy” reputation stemmed from curiosity, boredom, and a general lack of focus for his immense intelligence and magical ability.

 

Kuroko saw the look Nijimura sent Hanamiya as the Great Hall settled down, and hoped that the older boy would be able to keep the Ravenclaw in line.

 

“In fourth place with three wins, Hayama Kotaro, from Slytherin!”

 

The Slytherin table cheered loudly as the small redhead stood with a broad smile, walking confidently towards the Headmaster.

 

Nebuya Eikichi took the fifth place spot. The massive Gryffindor was as loud as his size and house would suggest, shouting with victory as he walked up to join the line of Champions that was almost complete.

 

Kuroko had his own thoughts about who would be called to fill the final spot, suspicions that were validated only a moment later.

 

“Our final champion is Mibuchi Reo, of Ravenclaw!”

 

Ravenclaw was cheering again, excited to have two champions among the final six winners of the tournament, even if one of them was Hanamiya.

 

There was a slight hiss of disappointment from those who had been in the running and hopeful for a spot at the top, but had lost to the winners standing in front of them. The general mood however was energetic, hopeful, and excited.

 

After all, there were still six more champions to be named.

 

“And on to our champions among the second through fourth years,” the Headmaster said, once the room had quieted down somewhat. “Three students successfully managed a perfect score with four wins. Their ranks were decided by their individual scores. Of our three competitors with four wins, only one received a perfect score of forty.”

 

The dramatic silence the Headmaster allowed at the end of this sentence was somewhat ruined by the fact that literally every single person in the Great Hall already knew who he was talking about. There was no bated breath, no crossed fingers, no mystery. There could only be one person who whom such a statement would apply.

 

“In first place, with a record of four wins, and four perfect individual scores, Akashi Seijuro, of Slytherin!”

 

Of course. No one else could take that spot. Akashi came second to none. Had he competed in the division for the upper years, most took it for granted he would have blazed through his competition just as thoroughly.

 

Kuroko privately wondered how things would have fallen out if Akashi had faced Nijimura in the final round.

 

The redhead stood, a polite smile on his face as the crowd cheered for him. It didn’t matter that the result had been all but preordained – the school was still loud in letting the captain of the junior team hear their approval. Akashi made his way to the front of the hall, standing a few feet to the Headmasters’ left side, starting a line opposite from where Nijimura stood. The dark haired Head Boy smiled at the smaller redhead, and Akashi nodded back.

 

Kuroko snuck a glance at the rest of the Generation of Miracles. Most of them looked determined. Midorima was clapping politely. Kise was cheering loudly, practically standing (though somewhat hindered by the bench behind him) at the Gryffindor table. A few feet down, Aomine was clapping as well, though he was leaning to the side sprawled in a picture of complacency and superiority. Kuroko remembered that both Aomine and Murasakibara both had four wins, and had by the Headmasters’ own admission already been assured of their placement in the top six (more so than they already had been, anyway).

 

“In second place, with a record of four wins, Murasakibara Atsushi, of Slytherin!”

 

The Slytherin table was exploding in cheers. Not only had two of their house made it onto the junior team, they had done so by taking the top two spots. The massive boy threw a fist in the air as he stood to join his captain at the front of the Great Hall. Akashi clapped him on the back and said something to the taller boy that Kuroko couldn’t make out over the overwhelming noise.

 

“In third place, with four wins, Aomine Daiki!”

 

It was Gryffindor’s turn to cheer loudly, shrieking with joy for their champion. Aomine smirked, joining the other two members of the Generation of Miracles. He loped up to the front of the Great Hall with catlike grace. Akashi didn’t say anything to the other boy, but he nodded approvingly to him as he joined the two champions already standing in front of the school.

 

“Our last three places were determined by the individual scores of each fight,” the Headmaster continued. “As they all had three and half wins.”

 

At this a few hisses of disappointment were heard around the room. Of course, most people had assumed that it would take at least three and a half victories to take that final spot, but it was one thing to assume that, and quite another to hear it laid out. Ignoring the sting of loss, the Headmaster plunged forward.

 

“Our fourth place champion, with three and a half wins, and a combined score of thirty seven, is Midorima Shintarou, of Ravenclaw!”

 

Ravenclaw cheered as loudly as any other as Midorima rose to join his friends. He didn’t seem to react at all to the applause, but even under the dim lighting of the great hall, one could make out a slight blush in his cheeks.

 

Nobody was surprised that this was how the results of the competition were turning out, with Akashi and his cadre taking over completely. And yet, nobody had any objections. Nobody was really angry at the fact that they were basically guaranteed the first five spots on this list. They were popular. They were athletes. They were powerful. They were beautiful. There was nothing to dislike, nothing _not_ to cheer for, as each member of the Hogwarts community thought about the surprise that awaited the other schools that would come here to compete.

 

The school was afire with excitement because the most talented wizards imaginable would be representing them in an international tournament. Every other school would come and see that Hogwarts was strong and its students were fierce.

 

Even Nijimura was clapping loudly, beaming with pride. He was as loud as any other student in his vocal support of the younger champions.

 

Headmaster Aida looked down his list. He seemed to frown, his eyebrows knitting together with confusion. Kuroko didn’t have time to analyze this departure from the Headmaster’s usual scowl before the next name was being read out.

 

“In fifth place, with three and a half wins, and a combined score of thirty six _and a half_ \- _Kuroko Tetsuya_ , of _Hufflepuff_!”

 

For a second, the entire hall went entirely silent with shock.

 

Kuroko’s stomach dropped. That couldn’t be right. That was wrong, entirely wrong, someone must have made a mistake. Beside him, Ogiwara’s eyes went wide and then he started whooping at the top of his voice, slamming his hand down on the table, expression full of jubilation. Kuroko thought the other boy might be yelling “I knew it! I knew it!” repeatedly, but he was having trouble focusing on something that wasn’t the rapid racing of his own pulse. He could feel Ogiwara abandon his abuse of the table to throw himself on the blue haired Hufflepuff, hugging him with wild excitement.

 

The roar that came from the Hufflepuffs made the table practically _vibrate._ Not only had two members of their House managed to secure spots on the elite teams that would be representing their school, but their youngest champion had managed to _beat_ one of the Generation of Miracles to do it (not that it mattered to anyone that Kuroko hadn’t ever actually faced Kise, this was good enough for them)! And as if that weren’t enough, he was only half a point away from having tied with yet _another_ member of the most powerful group of students in the school.

 

It didn’t even matter that most of the upper years didn’t even know who Kuroko was.

 

Kuroko finally rose when Ogiwara all but dragged him to his feet, his face carefully schooled to blankness. He was having trouble forcing himself to keep moving – he felt like he’d somehow been detached from his body, like the strings holding him had been cut. Ogiwara gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the front of the room and he stumbled his first few steps before he started moving under his own power.

 

This was not what he intended in the slightest. He’d had no idea that his score was so well ranked – _almost_ _even_ with that of Midorima…

 

This couldn’t be right at all. There had to be some mistake.

 

The look Akashi was giving Kuroko as he walked up to join the Generation of Miracles was calculating to say the least.

 

Aomine was openly staring at the Hufflepuff without even bothering to pretend that he wasn’t. Midorima’s expression was as calculating as Akashi’s, but his mouth was turned down in disbelief. Murasakibara alone looked unaffected, but he was busy trying to fish another chip out of the bottom of a pack he’d produced from one of the pockets of his robes, so he might just not have been paying attention.

 

“Yes yes, congratulations, Hufflepuff,” the Headmaster was saying. “Where is your Champion?”

 

“I’m right here,” Kuroko said, having reached the front of the room, where he was standing right next to him. Titters of laughter broke out around the hall as their Headmaster jumped, though some students exclaimed in surprise as well.

 

“Did you see him?”

 

“No, did you?”

 

“Have you ever had a class with him before?”

 

“No, is he a second year?”

 

“A second year beat one of the _Generation of Miracles_?”

 

The whispering continued in the background while the Headmaster composed himself.

 

“Of course!” he said. “There we are. Now our last spot was very close. So close in fact that not only did both of the candidates tie with three and a half wins, both candidates _also_ had the same score.”

 

More whispers broke out around the hall. Kuroko was immediately forgotten in the face of the most surprising development of the night.

 

What was going on? Was a member of the Generation of Miracles about to lose their throne? How could this spot be guaranteed to anyone except Kise Ryouta?

 

“Our sixth and seventh place winners both received an individual score of thirty-two. Their tie could only be broken by using the combined scores of their _opponents_ , thus breaking the tie by weighing it in favor of the competitor who fought more difficult rounds.”

 

Kuroko saw every student in the great hall lean forward eagerly. This was the first real surprise of the night and everyone was anticipating the explosive results.

 

“I am pleased to introduce you to our sixth and final champion, Kise Ryouta, from Gryffindor!”

 

Beside him, Kuroko was sure he heard at least one exhale of relief.

 

Midorima, who was directly next to him, placed a middle finger on his glasses and pushed them up contemptuously. Kuroko had no idea if his contempt was directed at Kise, or towards those who doubted that the blonde member of the Generation of Miracles would stand among the six most powerful students of their year. Somewhere next to him he was pretty sure he heard Aomine’s almost equally contemptuous “thank fuck.”

 

“Hogwarts, these are your Champions!”

 

Hogwarts responded with a roar of approval that could have drowned out entire armies.

 

Kuroko felt almost lightheaded, like this was a dream. He couldn’t believe that he had clawed his way up to stand here, a Champion of his school.

 

However this fell out, whatever happened next, he was pretty sure this moment might be capable of fueling a goddamn Patronus.

 

…

 

They were released not long after the announcement had been made, the entire school milling together into an excited throng of students. A few professors tried and failed to restore order to the Great Hall. Kuroko watched the Headmaster survey the crowd, shout something about anyone who had designs on his daughter, and run off.

 

He couldn’t remember ever having been happier.

 

As the throng of students closed in around them, Kuroko caught Kiyoshi’s eyes. The older boy grinned and held two thumbs up at the younger Hufflepuff, obviously in pride. Kuroko smiled back uncertainly, but looked away quickly. They hadn’t had much interaction, though Kiyoshi was a particularly hands on Prefect, and knew all the younger year students.

 

Kuroko had no idea how to feel. Everything felt like it was going at a million miles an hour, and every hope and dream he had been too afraid to give credence to lest his worst fears be proven right, now rose up out of his chest.

 

Pride.

 

That was what he was feeling right now. He had fought his way through the ranks of Hogwarts students, standing on his own and in the light.

 

Kuroko could feel himself physically shaking.

 

With a fleeting glance at the other five boys, none of whom were paying any attention to him, Kuroko slipped into the crowd.

 

He found Ogiwara by the Hufflepuff table, obviously scanning the crowd for him. He tapped the other boy on the arm, and the other boy turned and grinned at him.

 

“You’re a _Champion!”_ he whooped.

 

“Not so loudly!” Kuroko hushed the other boy. While he failed to attract much attention, Ogiwara shouting in the middle of the Great Hall certainly would.

 

“Tetsu!”

 

Kuroko turned and found himself assaulted by a blur of pink as his Slytherin friend descended on him.

 

“I’m so proud! I didn’t even get to watch the junior matches but I know you deserved it more than anyone!” Momoi said. “I hope you’re proud of yourself – you threw a wrench in my predictions for the entire tournament!”

 

“Sorry,” Kuroko apologized as Momoi drew away, ruffling his hair.

 

“I don’t even care, I’m just so glad you made it!” Momoi gushed. “I can’t wait to see how you work with Dai-kun and the rest, I just know you’re going to love it. You’re special, just like them, but in your own way, and I’m so proud of you for figuring out how to make it work!”

 

She hugged him again, overcome with joy.

 

“Now I need to go and congratulate the others, Mu-kun disappeared on me,” Momoi said. “I’ll see you tomorrow Tetsu!”

 

“That girl is mental,” Ogiwara said, ruffling the hair on the back of his head. “But she is right you know. You’re pretty awesome for an invisible kid.”

 

“You’re embarassasing me Shige,” Kuroko said, looking at the floor.

 

“Okay but dude, I had no idea how close the scores were,” Ogiwara said in a much quieter voice. “You beat _Kise Ryouta!_ ”

 

“Not directly,” Kuroko said. “Anyway, let’s get out of here before-”

 

A heavy, large hand landed directly on his shoulder.

 

“Short stuff.”

 

Kuroko looked up at the owner of the hand.

 

“Please do not call me that,” he requested politely. Somewhere nearly a foot above him, Aomine Daiki huffed. This close, he was a _lot_ bigger than Kuroko, both in height and muscle mass.

 

And wait, how had the other boy been able to find him so quickly? That was happening far too often lately.

 

“We’re having a meeting,” Aomine said, looking curiously down at the smaller boy. “Come on.”

 

That was informative. Not. But Kuroko guessed that the Generation of Miracles wanted to strategize or set meetings to practice, which would make sense.

 

Kuroko waved goodbye to his friend and promised to be back before curfew. He turned to follow Aomine out of the Great Hall into one of the unused classrooms off to the side.

 

Midorima and Murasakibara were already there, as was Kise. The Gryffindor was leaning against the back wall, head tilted up against the wall, eyes closed. He looked like he’d been crying recently. From the downward turn of his mouth, Kuroko guessed he was only barely holding back even more tears.

 

“I, for one am quite glad we did not need to murder Haizaki,” Midorima was saying when they entered. He looked entirely unruffled and his voice was clipped and analytical.

 

“Aka-chin may still ask us to murder Ryu-chin,” Murasakibara noted from where he sprawled on the desk.

 

“Don’t remind me,” Kise moaned from where he was sitting, eyes still closed. “I’m dead.”

 

“I hope you’re aware that the only reason you are sitting here right now is the fact that Midorima defeated his opponents more soundly than almost any student in this competition.”

 

The voice came from the doorway, where Akashi was framed by the light from the hallway. He looked dangerous, the beatific smile he’d given the crowd in the great hall replaced by a blank expression similar to what Kuroko usually adopted.

 

Kise scrambled to his feet and bowed to the redhead, eyes watering with more tears.

 

“In fact, despite having only three wins and a tie, Midorima created larger score differences in those three victories than anyone but myself,” Akashi continued, closing the door behind him with a snap. Kise remained bowed in front of him, trembling slightly. “It was Midorima and Midorima alone who made up the difference in your opponents combined scores. Had you tied against almost anyone else, you would have faced another weak opponent instead of Haizaki and not had the score necessary to take this spot. I hope you realize that if it weren’t for Midorima, it is likely that it would be Haizaki standing her in your place.”

 

“I do Akashicchi, and I apologize for disappointing you!”

 

Kise shouted the words, his body bent entirely in half in a display of supplication. It took Kuroko a second to follow what was happening – apparently Kise and Midorima had faced each other and tied, nearly knocking each other out of the tournament. Kise had gone on to face Haizaki and nearly gotten knocked out a second time, having only barely managed to edge him out in points.

 

Kuroko watched this exchange with interest. Akashi’s power and dynamic personality inspired this level of devotion, even from a powerful wizard like Kise Ryouta.

 

“As there was no harm done, I will overlook it,” Akashi said quietly. Kise nodded, and a great deal of tension seemed to bleed out of the room as he straightened up.

 

“Do we know who Kise almost lost to?” Aomine asked. Akashi nodded sharply.

 

“It is irrelevant,” he said. “It doesn’t affect anything moving forward. What’s done is done. Ryouta almost lost, but he did not, and there is nothing more to say on the matter.”

 

Aomine nodded jerkily. Kuroko too was curious about who had managed to score exactly the same number of wins and points as Kise, but he supposed that Akashi was right. In the end, it _didn’t_ matter who had almost won, because Kise had taken that spot himself.

 

“Indeed, much as you disappointed me Ryouta, I find myself incredibly pleased tonight,” Akashi said, closing the door behind him. “Tetsuya, despite myself, I am particularly impressed with your performance.”

 

“Eh?” Murasakibara sat up. “Aka-chin, who are you talking to?”

 

“Akashi, isn’t it a little familiar to use my first name?”

 

Kuroko spoke for the first time, causing Kise to yelp loudly in surprise, and Midorima to turn around so quickly he nearly fell. Murasakibara sat straight up, eyes going to the smaller boy in alarm.

 

“How long have you been there?” Kise whined.

 

“He came in behind me, idiot,” Aomine spoke up. “Don’t you remember Akashi telling me to go find him? It’s not my fault you were too busy moping to notice.”

 

Akashi was locked in a staring contest with Kuroko, not paying any attention to the banter between the other members of the generation of miracles.

 

“But we’re teammates now, are we not?” Akashi asked, his smile deceptively friendly. “We’ll be working together for the entire year.”

 

It wasn’t worth fighting over, Kuroko thought, even though he didn’t want Akashi to engage in that level of familiarity with him, and shrugged.

 

“Tetsuya then,” he acquiesced, and Akashi’s smile grew even larger.

 

“You’re a Hufflepuff?” Murasakibara asked with interest. “Don’t you live near the kitchens? Kuro-chin must be able to get snacks whenever he wants!”

 

Kuroko thought about protesting that nickname too, but thought better of even trying.

 

_I’m going to murder Momoi._

 

“As I was saying,” Akashi cut in. “I knew you would be able to win a spot on this team the first time I spoke to you. I confess I did not expect you to beat any one of us to do it.”

 

“It was a mistake,” Kuroko murmured. That’s what it must have been. “The schedule favored me, and disfavored Kise. Drawing with Midorima had him fighting Haizaki, and both were unlucky pairings. Such a contest can only do so much to ensure an accurate ranking of power.”

 

“Victory is victory,” Akashi said simply, but Kise smiled widely and gratefully at Kuroko for his words. Akashi turned and faced all five members of the room.

 

“I will not take much of your time tonight,” he said. “Congratulations to each of you for your victory. You have all fought well, and fought hard, however close many of those rounds were. But this was child’s play compared to the tournament we will face. What each of us has done out on the field is not enough. We will be training extensively to face the best that every school coming here can offer. Any one of you that refuses to do the work to improve will face my wrath.  I will accept nothing short of victory. That is all.”

 

There was a beat of silence.

 

“So may we leave your exalted presence?” Kuroko asked, face deadpan calm.

 

There was hissed intake of breath (mostly from Kise) in the room as each of the Generation of Miracles waited to see how Akashi would take the sass coming from their new teammate.

 

“Yes,” Akashi said with a genuine smirk. “You may leave my exalted presence.”

 

“Kuroko is pretty awesome!” Kise enthused, bounding forwards to hug the smaller boy around the shoulders. Kuroko could have sworn that he looked upset just a moment ago. Perhaps he suffered from rapidly swinging emotions. “This is going to be fun!”

 

Kuroko staggered back under Kise’s weight, but smiled slightly.

 

Maybe it would be.

 

Just a little.

 

The champions parted ways in the Great Hall. Kise, Aomine, and Midorima headed left, towards the staircase, as they needed to get to the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw towers respectively.

 

Kuroko took off down the stairs towards the Hufflepuff common room.

 

He felt dazed, like he was in a dream.

 

His hands were still shaking.

 

He couldn’t stop remembering that last moment of his duel against Takao. Whatever he had done shouldn’t have worked, shouldn’t have happened. Takao’s shield had been functioning perfectly well, and had still been up when the curse Kuroko had redirected had hit the Gryffindor. Kuroko hadn’t cast a spell either, not with his wand on the other side of the circle.

 

All he could think is that somehow, he’d changed the course of Takao’s own spell.

 

But that should have been impossible. It _was_ impossible.

 

He’d never even heard of magic being used like that, and he’d grown up around magic users his entire life.

 

Kuroko was so distracted running over the last few seconds of that duel that he nearly ran headfirst into the pile of barrels at the end of the hallway. Sheepishly, he pressed the right spot on the correct barrel, and entered the badgers’ den.

 

As soon as the entryway opened up, Kuroko was hit by a blast of heat and sound.

 

The common room was in a state of near chaos. It was clear that the entire House was engaged in a huge party of some kind.

 

Three large kegs of something had been set up along a table at the back of the common room. Next to it was a table full of snacks and food Kuroko assumed members of the house had convinced some of the House Elves to set up for them. His money was on Mitobe having been responsible for the setup.

 

In the chaos, it took Kuroko a second to locate Ogiwara, who was scanning the group of students, two cups in his hands.

 

Ogiwara grinned when he caught sight of Kuroko and handed him one of the cups he was holding.

 

“Here, I grabbed you some Butterbeer, now come on I want you to tell me everything. Is Akashi as awful as we thought? Spill!”

 

The two of them made their way through the throng of celebrating students over to the wall opposite the fireplace, and sat together on the floor, as most of the seating seemed to be occupied.

 

“So what happened?” Ogiwara seemed to have decided that he’d waited long enough for his gossip and was looking at Kuroko expectantly.

 

“Akashi wanted to deliver a few well placed threats to his minions,” Kuroko rolled his eyes. “‘ _I am absolute, I can’t loose’,_ and the like.”

 

“I thought Midorima was going to murder you when your score was shared,” Ogiwara agreed. “Kise looked like he was going to cry.”

 

“I think he did,” Kuroko said, but the smile fell off his face. “The rankings were stacked the hardest against him, but he still managed to win one of the top rankings. I think he’s even more powerful than a lot of people are giving him credit for.”

 

Ogiwara’s smile faltered at the serious talk as well, and he nodded.

 

“So why are we having a party?” Kuroko changed the topic.

 

“You’re serious?” Ogiwara yelped. “You and Kiyoshi, of course!”

 

Kuroko just stared at the other boy.

 

“Why?”

 

“It’s exciting!” Ogiwara waved his arms around, apparently trying to pantomime excitement. “We have two champions, one among each set of competitors. And luck or not, you still outranked a Miracle, so everyone’s fired up and wants to show their support!”

 

Kuroko leaned back against the wall and looked out at the common room. A warm feeling enveloped him, like an extremely nice hug.

 

He thought about what Momoi had told him before running off. _You’re special, just like them, but in your own way._

 

Kuroko was beginning to believe, for the very first time, that maybe that was right. Maybe he’d been looking at his misdirection all wrong this whole time. It had served him well against almost every opponent he had faced this weekend, and it would be his strongest weapon in the upcoming tournament.

 

Nobody would ever see him coming.

 

Somewhere out in the distance, Kuroko heard another set of cheers as a third keg of butterbeer was unleashed. Kuroko looked over at the Hufflepuffs there. They seemed really happy.

 

From across the room, Kiyoshi met eyes with the two fourth years and grinned. He didn’t bring any attention to them, but held up his butterbeer in toast to Kuroko, who did the same. The moment was broken as an older student slapped Kiyoshi on the back and steered him away. Kuroko watched the celebrations unfold around him.

 

“That’s really nice,” Kuroko said, smiling.

 

“Are you gonna tell them you’re here?” Ogiwara asked.

 

“I don’t need the spotlight,” Kuroko shrugged. “Just enjoying the party from here is… enough. I feel sufficiently supported.”

 

Ogiwara fell back, a rueful smile on his own face.

 

“Okay,” he agreed. “Even for a Hufflepuff, you sure shun the spotlight. Listen, I helped Mitobe steal like ten kegs for this, and you’re just gonna hang out by the fire? Some friend you are.”

 

“I’m sorry I disappointed you.”

 

“Oh hey no that’s not what I meant!” Ogiwara quickly backtracked. “I just meant it’s kind of ironic that of everyone that competed in this stupid tournament, you’re probably the one that least wanted to be a champion, and yet you won.”

 

“But I did want to win,” Kuroko said. “I don’t care that much about being a Champion, but I wanted to win more than anything.”

 

“I know,” Ogiwara said. “How does it feel? All those overpowered assholes can suck your dust. I just wish you didn’t have to share the spotlight with such assholes. Nobody’s gonna give you the credit you deserve with all those Miracles hanging around.”

 

Kuroko smiled thinly.

 

“I’m a shadow,” Kuroko explained. “I’m quite comfortable standing behind the light. That’s why I’m friends with Shige-chan. He’s like a mini sun.”

 

Ogiwara turned bright red, but he beamed with happiness and pride.

 

“Then I’m quite happy to be friends with my moon,” he said, hugging Kuroko briefly. “Just promise me you won’t leave me for a brighter light.”

 

“It’s not a hard promise to make,” Kuroko leaned his head on his longtime friend’s shoulder. “You’re always going to be my light, for as long as you want to be.”

 

“Deal,” Ogiwara replied.

 

…


	5. Kise Has A Nice Ass

...

 

By the next morning, it seemed as if everyone had forgotten that the junior division even _had_ a sixth champion. Talk had turned entirely to gossip about the five members of the Generation of Miracles, and how they would be officially working together for the first time. Rumors were spreading like wildfire of infighting, personal drama, and other such gossip. The junior champion from Hufflepuff had been entirely erased from the public discourse.

 

There was of course, no one more offended by this than one Ogiwara Shigehiro. The Hufflepuff fourth year was making his displeasure known loudly and to anyone who cared to come within a fifteen-foot radius of him. He’d taken to using meal times as an opportunity to unsuccessfully attempt to get Kuroko as riled up about this as he was.

 

“Don’t you think it’s weird?”

 

“No.”

 

“But it’s-”

 

“No.”

 

“You’re not-”

 

“No.”

 

“Now you’re just repeatedly saying the same word over and over again!”

 

Kuroko finally looked up at his friend, face entirely blank.

 

“No.”

 

He said the word slowly and deliberately, and grinned as Ogiwara shouted in frustration.

 

“You – are – _infuriating!”_

 

“Oi, fourth year! Some of us want some peace and quiet with our breakfast!” one of the seventh years called from down the table.

 

“It’s still weird,” Ogiwara glowered.

 

“Please leave it alone,” Kuroko replied.

 

“Dude you almost beat _Midorima_ and nobody seems to remember who you are! Doesn’t that bother you?”

 

Kuroko heaved a sigh, and shoved his plate away.

 

“The people who care about me are the ones who remember,” Kuroko replied evasively, standing up. It was the truth, as far as he was concerned. “Maybe I’m really just not as memorable as you think I am.”

 

He was halfway to the door before Kise stepped into his path.

 

“Kurokochhi!” he said loudly.

 

“Kise,” Kuroko replied. “Do you need anything?”

 

“Akashicchi sent me over to tell you we’re meeting tonight after study period to start making plans. He has a room set up on the second floor that’s all outfitted so that we can practice dueling in there and everything!”

 

Kuroko nodded his assent.

 

Kise turned his head to the side, considering Kuroko thoughtfully.

 

“I never thought Kurokocchi would be strong enough to fight in the tournament,” Kise said. Kuroko didn’t let himself react to the statement, even if it did offend him. He’d shown that his greatest weakness could be a strength if he let it, and now his only job was to figure out how best to use it. To be so casually disissed by a student who he already knew was more powerful in every regard…

 

It kind of made him angry.

 

“I got to see your last round,” Kise continued. “What did you do? You didn’t even have your wand and Takao’s spells – hey, where did you go?”

 

Kuroko had ducked around Kise when the blonde had looked away for a moment, his eyes naturally seeking out the other Gryffindor as his rant included him. When Kise looked back, Kuroko was seemingly gone.

 

Kuroko enjoyed the much quieter trip to his first class of the day.

 

…

 

Kuroko had yet to consider what being in class with the Generation of Miracles would be like now that he was actually on their radar, as it were. When he walked into Ancient Runes, Akashi fixed him with an intense stare. It felt like being under a microscope as he stepped into the classroom. Midorima, who sat on the other end of the classroom, seemed to have noticed that Akashi was looking at something and looked up just in time to catch Kuroko’s eyes.

 

It seemed he wasn’t going to be lucky enough to escape the attention of any of the Generation of Miracles today.

 

“Why don’t you sit next to me?” Midorima asked, gruffly. “You’re an Aquarius, right? They’re lucky companions for Cancer today.”

 

What the fuck.

 

Kuroko knew that Midorima was probably the most skilled seer to come out of their generation, but this was a lot. He’d seen the other boy walking around with lucky items on multiple occasions, but had not realized the extent to which his obsession went. It was kind of hard to miss a green haired giant walking around with a bright orange umbrella, or a teddy bear in a tutu, or any of the other weird shit that Midorima carried around on a daily basis, especially not as first years, but he’d all but forgotten about that little quirk. Today, it seemed that Midorima’s lucky item was a statue of a polar bear, perched neatly at the edge of the Ravenclaw’s desk.

 

“I am afraid I will disappoint you,” Kuroko said, not taking the seat. “I do not think my skills in any class are particularly lucky.”

 

Midorima frowned, and gestured to the seat.

 

“Let me rephrase,” he said. “Sit. Please. I would like to work with you in class today, because I am curious about the interaction of your unique magical talents and the warding we will be working on.”

 

“Shin-chan is such a tsundere,” Kuroko hadn’t noticed Takao coming in. The other boy draped himself over Midorima from behind, smiling at Kuroko. “Kuroko, congratulations on your victory. I didn’t get the chance to say so last night.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Thank you for a good match,” he said politely. “You seem to be correct. Midorima is a tsundere.”

 

Midorima sputtered, but he did not make a move to remove the other boy’s arms. It was Takao himself who drew back in order to pull out his own notes.

 

“Just remember that I can still kick your ass,” Takao conceded, still smiling.

 

“I believe that is absolutely true,” Kuroko said. He took the seat next to Midorima. “I am sorry if you are disappointed, Midorima.”

 

Behind them, Takao snorted.

 

“That’s something you never have to hear when I sit next to you, Shin-chan.”

 

Midorima turned a bright, interesting red.

 

Thankfully for Midorima’s dignity, the professor arrived at that exact moment, calling the class to order.

 

“We are now several weeks into the semester,” Professor Harasawa said by way of introduction. “You should be working hard on research for your warding projects – a reminder to all of you that your proposal is due next week. Today we will be working on simple binding rune combinations. As we discussed last class, the materials used, the choice of rune, and the type of bond all play a role in determining the strength of the rune magic. We’ll turn our attention to practical work today. Please pair up.”

 

Midorima gave Kuroko a pointed look. Clearly Kuroko would not be able to slip away, and the blue haired Hufflepuff slunk down in his chair.

 

Once the class had paired off in an efficient burst of conversation, professor Harasawa walked around the room handing out a card to each person.

 

“Each card has a material and a rune combination that has a specific function in a finished whole,” the professor continued sharply. “You will combine this material and function with that on your partner’s card. Should your combination be incompatible you will be responsible for explaining in depth why that is the case. When you are prepared, you may retrieve your materials from the back of the room and begin.”

 

Kuroko appreciated Professor Harasawa’s efficiency, and evidently he shared this opinion with Midorima because as soon as they received a pair of thick paper cards from the professor, Midorima adjusted his glasses and got down to business analyzing both of them.

 

Elm wood and Bowtuckle bone, meant to work together to provide light. A fairly innocent spell combination but one that worked against the general tendencies of both materials.

 

Kuroko pulled out his rune manual just as Midorima did the same.

 

“For binding wood and bone we need these two,” Midorima said instantly. “But to counteract the properties of the Bowtuckle bone we need…”

 

They were still bent over the manual when the bell rang for the end of class.

 

“For next class, I want eight inches on your progress and what theories you wish to test the next time we meet. We’ll pick this up on Wednesday.”

 

Professor Harasawa gathered the cards and left, leaving the students to pack away their materials and books.

 

It didn’t escape Kuroko’s attention that Akashi had managed to successfully complete his binding. As he watched, the redhead used his knife to mar one of the runes, causing all of them to stop glowing at once, and tossed them into the pot reserved for discarded rune materials.

 

“Oi, Shin-chan, wanna trade assignments? I have a good luck charm, and that’s boring.”

 

“No.”

 

“Come on, why won’t you ever partner with me?”

 

“Because you’re annoying.”

 

Kuroko wondered what was going on between the two of them as he watched Midorima storm out of the classroom ahead of Takao.

 

Takao’s grin fell a little as he turned back to his bag, vanishing completely when he looked back at Kuroko.

 

“For the record, just because he’s curious about your magic doesn’t mean he’s interested in you,” Takao said. Kuroko stared blankly back.

 

“You think I want to date your boyfriend,” he said in sudden realization. “That is not something you need to worry about.”

 

Takao grinned widely, and patted Kuroko on the shoulder.

 

“He’s not my boyfriend yet, but he will be,” Takao said. “And I don’t need anyone fucking that up, do you understand?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I have no intention to be a rival for anyone’s affections,” Kuroko said.

 

“Good. So long as you remember that, I won’t need to fuck you up,” he said cheerfully, and sauntered off down the hallway.

 

Kuroko felt a pounding headache developing in the back of his skull.

 

Jesus Christ, it wasn’t even lunchtime.

 

…

 

“So how was Ancient Runes with the Generation of Miracles?”

 

Kuroko was sagging downwards in his bench at lunch, trying very hard to avoid the notice of anyone at all.

 

Having the attention of the five most popular students in the school was _exhausting._ The Generation of Miracles themselves were all _exhausting._

 

“I see,” Ogiwara said, in response to Kuroko’s silence. “Here, I got the house elves to make you a vanilla milkshake.”

 

Kuroko grabbed the milkshake out of the other boy’s hands so quickly that some kind of magic had to be involved in ensuring that it didn’t spill.

 

“You are my favorite person in the world,” Kuroko said.

 

“I know,” Ogiwara said, turning red. “So, it was that bad?”

 

“I think Midorima wants to dissect me like a potions ingredient.”

 

Ogiwara winced at the analogy.

 

“And his boyfriend wants to punch me in the face.”

 

Ogiwara snorted so hard he inhaled the bite of food he had just put into his mouth and started choking. When he had finally managed to catch his breath, he stared at Kuroko in shock.

 

 _“Midorima_ is _gay?”_

 

“Do muggles have a problem with homosexuality?” Kuroko asked. Ogiwara shrugged.

 

“Some do, but that’s not why I asked. I didn’t even realize he was _dating_ anyone?”

 

“Both of them behaved very strangely during Ancient Runes,” Kuroko explained his comment-. “Though I don’t think they’re actually dating. It was weird. Takao was fairly open with his intentions and Midorima seemed to at least know what he was hinting at. It’s obvious that he reciprocates Takao’s feelings but doesn’t seem to want to act on it.”

 

“Look that’s an entire thing I don’t have time to explain right now - oh hey Furihata!”

 

“Hey, Ogiwara, when are Quidditch tryouts happening?”

 

Furihata had managed to find Ogiwara at their usual end of the table, and the conversation turned to the upcoming tryouts for the Quidditch team. Ogiwara lit up as he traded tips with Furihata to help the other fourth year get on the team. As the current youngest member of the team, Ogiwara had been the subject of some good-natured ribbing from the older members. He was looking forward to being neither the most junior nor the youngest person on the team soon.

 

Kuroko was perfectly happy to fade into the background for a bit. He had had more than enough of the spotlight for the moment.

 

…

 

Their last class of the day was Defense Against the Dark Arts with Gryffindor. Kuroko had braced himself as much as he could, thankful that he at least had the rest of the Hufflepuffs in this class with him as a buffer.

 

Aomine and Kise slinked into class one after the other, with Aomine shouldering Kise out of the way.

 

“Oi, don’t be so annoying,” Aomine said. “You’re taking up all my space.”

 

“But Aominecchi promised he would show me the variation on that freezing spell!”

“Tch, you think you can keep up?”

 

“I bet I master it before you do!” Kise shot back.

 

This bickering was a familiar backdrop to nearly every single class that mixed Gryffindor and Hufflepuff. Instead of tuning it out as usual, Kuroko watched the dynamic between his now teammates play out with interest.

 

For all that Aomine talked like an overly aggressive and put upon alpha male, he immediately turned to the blonde Gryffindor when it came time to work on the hex.

 

“First person to freeze a pattern on the other wins,” Aomine muttered to Kise. Kise eagerly agreed, and took the first turn casting the spell.

 

After a second of concentration, Kise waved his wand at Aomine, and a chill wind settled across the entire room a second before everyone standing downwind of Kise was covered in a thin layer of ice. The floor and desks were especially healivy coated, and frost patterns were crawling up the walls.

  
“Eheh, sorry!” Kise said awkwardly, waving his arms in wild apology. “I got too excited and carried away, sorry!”

 

Aomine shook off the coating of frost and melted it himself, mock glaring at Kise.

 

“You idiot,” he said affectionately.

 

A second later, Kise was sporting a beard made of ice. Aomine pointed at the blonde’s face and chuckled while Kise squacked indignantly and ran around, trying to figure out what the other Gryffindor had done to his face.

  
“Aomine! Kise! If you would _please settle down!_ Ten points from Gryffindor!”

 

The rest of the fourth year Gryffindors didn’t even bother to moan at this. Takao, from his spot in the back of the room, rolled his eyes.

 

“Hey, hey Aominecchi!” Kise turned back to the dark skinned Gryffinor. “Hey, watch!”

 

He pointed his wand at Aomine’s face. The other boy waited with one eyebrow raised, while Kise cast the ice spell at him again. This time, it formed into the perfect shape of an impressive handlebar moustache.

 

Kise was laughing so hard he could barely get the words out when he pointed at Aomine’s face. It was probably a lucky thing that Takao beat him to the joke he had wanted to make.

 

“Oi Aomine – I – _moustache_ you a question- how do you like Kise’s spellwork?”

“What did you - Kise you asshole!”

 

Several minites later, the boys were transfiguring various types of facial hair on each other made out of frost patterns, giggling and threatening one another in turn.

 

“Want to try again?” Ogiwara asked Kuroko encouragingly. Kuroko turned back to his partner, trying to ignore the rambunctious Gryffindors.

 

“Sure,” he said dejectedly. He pointed his wand at his friend and cast the spell.

 

“I think I felt a little cold that time,” Ogiwara said. Kuroko pushed his frustration to the back of his mind as best he could.

 

“Why don’t you give it a try?” he asked instead. Ogiwara nodded seriously and rolled up his sleeves.

 

“Okay, here goes-”

 

Ogiwara cast the spell, and Kuroko felt a chill on the very top of his head. He looked up but couldn’t see anything wrong.

 

Ogiwara froze before he started laughing, nearly rolling out of his chair in the process.

 

“Oh boy Tetsu, I’m sorry it's just – it's worse than your bedhead!”

 

Kuroko caught sight of his hair – frosted straight up and kept in that position by the ice that was gripping his hair. It did look kind of ridiculous, and he smiled.

 

That evening, Kuroko met the rest of the Generation of Miracles in an expanded classroom on the second floor. When he walked in, he was surprised to see that it was several times its natural size, with a clear ring laid out in the middle. He recognized some of the runes etched around the side – at least enough to recognize it was a complicated shield compilation Akashi must have gotten a professional to aid in placing. He wondered which professor had managed to be talked into doing so, since Harasawa hardly seemed like the approachable sort.

 

Akashi gathered the five competitors together before they began, laying out what he wanted to work on today.

 

“What I hope to accomplish eventually is for us to develop a distinctive fighting style based on our shared strengths and failings,” Akashi said. “In order to win next semester, we will have to function like a well oiled machine, relying on the strength of our competitors to hold the field. That starts here, today. We already know some of the ways in which our powers can support and hinder each other, and we will continue to work as a team to get stronger.”

 

“Each of us has our own specializations,” Kise said brightly. “I’m great with illusions! Which means Kurokocchi’s power matches mine!”

 

Aomine punched the blonde in the shoulder.

 

“Don’t be a dumbass,” he said. “Kuroko’s powers are different too.”

 

Kuroko nodded at this assessment. He did indeed use a form of illusion magic to fight in the tournament, but he didn’t need a glamor to disappear, or to move magic. If anything, his power was Kise’s inverse: Kise drew attention and focus. Kuroko’s misdirection repelled it.

 

“So we are going to find out how your specialization work with ours,” Akashi said. “I know that your misdirection is extremely useful, especially if we can utilize it with others around you. For now, I want to watch you and Ryouta duel Daiki and Atsushi.”

 

While Kuroko wanted to protest that the pairing was hardly fair, he doubted it would do any good. That knowledge did not stop Kise from complaining loudly about it.

 

“Akashicchi that’s not a fair matchup!” he whined. “I can’t even beat Aominecchi on my own yet, and Kurokocchi’s going to get crushed by Murasakibaracchi!”

  
Akashi looked like he was ready to tell Kise to just deal with it, but Aomine beat him to the punch.

 

“If you’re scared, we can just trade you for Haizaki,” Aomine taunted Kise. “At least he’s got balls.”

 

That seemed to work, because Kise stopped whining, and a dangerous light glinted in his eyes.

 

“Kurokocchi and I are going to destroy you!”

 

“Bring it on, pretty boy,” Aomine grinned back. “See if you can even make either of us work for it for a change.”

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything at all. He was pretty sure that he and Kise were about to get their asses handed to them on a silver platter. He just hoped that nobody got hurt.

 

The four of them got into position on either side of the room. Kise’s eyes were narrowed in Aomine and Murasakibara’s direction as he stretched one arm over his chest and then switched.

 

Akashi walked over to where Kuroko and Kise were standing, neither of them speaking much as they considered their options for the upcoming duel.

 

“One of you can make himself disappear, the other can make anything he wants appear,” Akashi said calmly and patiently. “This particular aspect of your abilities mirrors that of the other. I expect to see you utilize both Kuroko’s misdirection and Kise’s glamors to their full potential. You have five minutes while Midorima sets up a shield around the room to decide how to do it.”

 

Kuroko watched him walk towards Murasakibara and Aomine, wondering what he was telling the other two.

 

“We’re gonna die,” Kise moaned.

 

“Probably,” Kuroko agreed. “Unless we come up with a strategy.”

 

Kise nodded.

 

“We can always rely on Akashi’s plan,” he said. “I’ll be the distraction, you be the sword.”

 

“What does that even mean?” Kuroko asked.

 

“I’ll get their attention and keep it,” Kise said. “You take them out while they’re distracted and preferably before I get cursed all to hell.”

 

That didn’t sound like a well thought out plan, but it was all Kuroko could think of as well, so he rolled up his sleeves, readying himself for the fight.

 

They were so going to die.

 

Akashi informed the four of them when the five minutes was up, and ordered them to take their places in the middle of the arena. Aomine and Murasakibara made a hilarious picture towering over Kuroko and Kise as they bowed to each other.

 

“Duel!” Akashi commanded.

 

Kise and Kuroko shielded as one, and the offensive spells Aomine fired bounced harmlessly away.

 

“Hey, Aominecchi, do you think I’m pretty?” Kise asked. Aomine’s expression was _fucking priceless_ as Kise multiplied into ten copies of himself, standing in a circle around the other two duelists.

 

All eleven Kise’s were completely naked.

 

“What the _fuck?”_

 

Kuroko ducked down behind one of the naked Kise copies. It was now waving its hips in a suggestive circle that was _so much more than he’d ever wanted to see of Kise oh my god –_

 

Aomine was angrily blasting spells at naked copies of Kise, trying to catch the real one. Each of his spells left a patch of dark blue ice wherever it landed as it moved straight through the illusions, disrupting them enough to cause them to explode in a puff of yellow smoke. It was slow work: The copies were all darting around sporadically and both Aomine and Murasakibara had lost track of where the actual Kise was.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes, stepped around the illusion that Aomine hadn’t blasted away yet, and cast twice, taking advantage of Aomine’s surprise to take him down. Murasakibara flicked his wand at Kuroko, sending him flying into a wall, but not before Kise took the giant down as well, neatly disarming him while he was still trying to stand on the dangerously icy floor.

 

“Well done, Ryouta,” Akashi said, his face reflecting nothing of what he really thought of the duel. “If you would please put some clothes on?”

 

All of the remaining Kise’s smiled and saluted, before all but one of them vanished.

 

Thankfully, he was once again clothed.

 

“What kind of shit idea was that?” Aomine yelled. “That’s the stupidest fucking thing I’ve ever seen, and it’s going to get us thrown out of the tournament!”

 

“It worked!” Kise replied, looking very pleased with himself.

 

“Yes, and Atsushi knocked out Tetsuya,” Akashi said. “Which is less than ideal, since having a competitor taken out will lower our overall score. Atsushi, if you would?”

 

Atsushi strode over to Kuroko, and placed a hand on his head. Kuroko stirred, his eyes slowly coming back into focus.

 

As Atsushi helped Kuroko, Akashi cast a spell to melt the remaining ice on the floor, heating it until it curled harmlessly up into the air as steam and dissipated entirely.

 

“Are you alright Kuro-chin?” Murasakibara asked. “You’re small, you need to take better care not to get thrown around.”

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said warily. “I’ll remember that.”

 

Beyond Murasakibara’s shoulder, he could see Akashi, and nodded to let the other boy know he was okay.

 

“Daiki is also right that the tactic you used was immature and inappropriate.”

 

“It worked!”

 

“If you hadn’t been trying to show off your fucking naked ass for Kuroko this wouldn’t have even happened!” Aomine shouted in return.

 

“Daiki, stop,” Akashi ordered. The large Gryffindor glared, but didn’t say anything else, storming off towards Midorima.

 

Kuroko got to his feet, slightly unsteady, watching the fight cautiously.

 

“I suppose I couldn’t have asked for more from you, Ryouta,” Akashi said, and Kise actually flinched at the cold words. “After all, I did ask you to put some form of thought into a decision. I shouldn’t have had high expectation for how that would turn out.”

 

Kise looked like he was about to cry, Murasakibara just looked bored.

 

“Is this what it’s always like?” Kuroko asked quietly.

 

“Pretty much,” Murasakibara shrugged. He pulled an already unwrapped chocolate frog from his pocket and began munching on it.

 

“They get so boring when they’re like this,” the giant confided. “I wish they would stop being so immature. This is why I just don’t bother.”

 

Kuroko sighed, agreeing wholeheartedly with Murasakibara’s assessment of their teammates. He wasn’t looking forward to what the next several months would be like if this was what they would be dealing with the whole way.

 

“We’re done for the night,” Akashi said shortly. “Ryouta, Tetsuya, on Friday we’ll try this again. I want the two of you to have a strategy that utilizes your strengths that does _not_ involve nudity. I cannot believe I have to stipulate that.”

 

Kise seemed to only have heard the part about working with Kuroko, because he was back to grinning widely.

 

Aomine looked like he wanted to throw the blonde wizard into a wall. To be fair, unless he was actively dueling Kise, that was generally how Aomine reacted to the other boy, but he looked especially murderous right now.

…

 

“But they’re the _miracles!”_ Ogiwara said, a delighted expression on his face. “ _The fucking Generation of Miracles and they’re as immature as children!”_

 

Kuroko snorted with laughter. Neither of them could speak for several seconds as they caught their breath after Kuroko had finished telling his best friend the story of what had happened the night before.

 

“So is it a nice ass?” Ogiwara asked when he’d finally finished laughing.

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I was kind of busy trying to actually hit Aomine or Murasakibara. At least I managed one of them.”

 

“Oh come on, Witch Weekly wont even give us a peek, I need details!”

 

“I’m pretty sure they can’t put a fourteen year olds’ naked ass on the cover of a magazine,” Kuroko said. “I really do not care about his ass, I’m worried that I will die during this tournament because Kise’s gut reaction when asked to come up with some form of distraction is to start taking off his clothes.”

 

“Hey, it worked!”

 

“Yeah it’ll work to get us all expelled.”

 

“It’s too bad he’s straight.”

 

“Good night, Shige.”

 

“Think you could convince him to take off his clothes while I’m around next time?”

 

“I literally never want to see that again,” Kuroko deadpanned, and turned off the lights in the room. Ogiwara stumbled over his trunk, swore violently, and hit the ground.

 

Kuroko was content to ignore it, pretending to be asleep.

 

“Shige, would you shut up with your yammering and go the shit to bed so that the rest of us can go to sleep?” Fukuda demanded loudly from the other side of the room.

 

“Sorry!” Ogiwara said bashfully, turning on a lone lamp in the room with a flick of his wand so that he could get undressed and make his way to bed. “Good night everyone!”

 

In his hurry, Ogiwara extinguished the light too early, however. Several muffled voices shouted curses at the other boy, who stumbled over again trying to find his bed in the dark. It was several more loud seconds before silence fell in the Hufflepuff dormitory.

 

“Hey Shige, you gonna tell Kise you wanna see his ass tomorrow?”

 

Kuroko could have strangled Furihata for adding fuel to the fire as Ogiwara groaned and their other roommates started giggling again.

 

“You’re all terrible,” Ogiwara sniffed mournfully, not meaning a word of it. “I should have gone to Gryffindor; at least they would appreciate me over there.”

 

“You cried when Sakurai stepped on a butterly.”

 

“OI! SO DID SAKURAI! It was a beautiful creature cut down before its time! IT DIDN'T DESERVE TO BE CRUSHED!”

 

“So true,” Sakurai said, and he sounded genuinely broken up about it. He sniffed delicately.

 

“See?”

 

“I’m gonna kill all _three_ of you,” Fukuda threatened.

 

“Like Sakurai killed the butterfly?” Kuroko asked, completely unable to resist stirring the pot just one more time.

 

This ignited another round of shouting, after which the Hufflepuff’s finally settled down enough to go to bed.

 

Kuroko’s last thought before passing into sleep was that as weird as all of his friends were, he was extremely happy and fortunate to have their friendships. He thought he might even treasure his burgeoning friendships with the Generation of Miracles, for all that he hadn’t known them very well for very long, and generally were fairly exasperating.

 

If this is what it meant to be dragged out into the light, maybe he didn't mind it so much.

 

….

 


	6. Is No One Concerned That A Fourteen Year Old Is Casually Trying To Kill Someone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some administrative stuff; please note this fic has updated tags to include slow burn and minor character death. We're not at the shipping point just yet, so if thats why you're here, hold tight, we'll get there. The minor character death is a LONG way out but I realize I forgot to include it in my first set of tags so here we are.
> 
> Anyway, without further ado, here's "Is No One Concerned That A Fourteen Year Old Is Casually Trying To Kill Someone" aka 90% of my beta's substantive comments on this fic

…

**_First Year:_ **

_“Kawahara Koichi, you butt!”_

_Ogiwara’s voice held a lot of vehemence, even though he could barely speak past his closed up throat._

_Kawahara flinched, hiding under his covers as best he could._

_“You are so lucky that I can’t get up right now or I would strangle you,” Ogiwara said plainly. He punctuated this with a sneeze that sent green and purple sparks flying everywhere. “You suck.”_

_“He’s kind of right,” Furihata said, punctuating this with a cough and then a sneeze that much like Ogiwara’s sent a hail of sparks over his sheets. Thankfully, all of their beds had been treated against fire, or they would have likely burned down their room ages ago._

_“It’s not – it’s not his fault,” Sakurai said softly from his bed, hands shaking. “A-anyone can get sick.”_

_“Yeah but he’s the butt that came back from break getting all the rest of us sick too!” Ogiwara waved his arms uselessly. “Dragon Pox Koichi! Dragon Pox! Did you lick a dragon? Seriously? Oh my god, how does someone even_ get _Dragon Pox anymore?”_

_“My great aunt was sick,” Kawahara said, hiding behind his sheets._

_“Oi, Ogiwara, please shut up,” Fukuda said from his own bed. “We’re all sick and your complaining is too loud!”_  


_The pillow Fukuda tried to throw at Ogiwara only made it hallway across the distance between them, most of the strength in the other boy’s arms having been robbed by the illness._

_Squabbling broke out again. This time it was only interrupted by another extremely loud sneeze, followed by the smell of smoke._

_“Uh oh!”_

_One of the beds was smoking. There was a loud thump as a body fell out of the bed, and rustling as they attempted to beat the fire out with a cover._

_  
Finally, coughing and covered in ash, Kuroko looked around at his roommates, eyes wide, as he held onto the charred pillow he had used to extinguish the fire._

_“OH MY GOD!” Ogiwata shouted. “Kuroko, your bed is on fire!”_

_“I think it_ was _,” Kuroko agreed, peering through the thinning smoke at his own bed._

_“Didn’t they fire proof it?” Furihata asked. Kuroko shrugged. He doubted they had remembered to spell his own bed, and he hadn’t realized they were supposed to. It hadn’t really occurred to him that the rest of his housemates weren’t setting their own beds on fire when they sneezed._

_And then it occurred to Ogiwara that while most of their skin tones had revered to only a pale green, with intermittent boils, Kuroko’s face was still the bright color of the toads they had been dissecting in Potions last last semester. He was also drooping a lot more than than the rest of them._

_“Kuroko, you look terrible, did they even give you the cure when they came around?” Ogiwara demanded._

_“I don’t think they saw me.”_

_  
Kuroko sniffed and then sneezed loudly again, jumping back to avoid setting himself on fire. Again._

_“They forgot you,” Ogiwara said, and he didn’t sound impressed. In fact, his voice had gone a lot quieter and colder._

_“What asshats,” he muttered, coughing into his elbow. “Forget setting fire to your bed, Dragon Pox can be lethal! Jerks. Well, I guess it can’t be helped. I’ll be right back.”_

_“No, Ogiwara you’re not supposed to leave the…”_

_The door snapped closed before Kuroko could finish._

_“…quarantine,” Kuroko finished quietly._

_He was blushing bright red, and leaned his head back against his bed._

_“I can’t believe they forgot about you,” Kawahara said._

_“We did too,” Furihata said, looking guilty. “It’s a good thing Ogiwara is here.”_

_“We’re really sorry,” Sakurai said anxiously, twisting his hands._

_“I have a weak presence,” Kuroko said quietly. “A lot of people forget about me. It happens all the time.”_

_  
“That’s no excuse!” Sakurai said, sitting up in outrage. “Sorry, it’s true! They’re adults and they’re supposed to be taking care of us and you’re sick too and they should know better.”_

_“I don’t think being older makes you much smarter,” Furihata observed. “Ogiwara might be the smartest person I know right now and he’s eleven.”_

_Kawahara laughed, and then coughed._

_“This sucks,” he said._

_“Yeah,” they all agreed._

_“At least they’re letting us out of the quarantine next week,” Fukuda said. “And we don’t have to go to classes until we’re better.”_

_“I just want to not be green anymore,” Sakurai said, scratching at one of the boils on his elbow absently._

_This was another sentiment the rest of the room agreed with._

_“We should play Exploding Snap when we can finally get out of bed,” Kwahara said._

_“I think I’ve had enough of being set on fire,” Kuroko said._

_“Does that happen often?” Fukuda sounded really curious about that._

_“I am good friends with Ogiwara, it happens frequently enough,” Kuroko replied, and even though he was tired and itchy and sore and felt so, so sick, the thought of being able to call Ogiwara his good friend made him feel warm inside._

_Or maybe that was just the fever making him feel like he was about to melt into the floor._

_No one spoke after that, and Kuroko dozed off while sitting on the floor with his head supported on the side of Ogiwara’s bed. He woke up when the door opened and he saw Ogiwara looking very smug, wrapped tightly in a blanket. The wayward Hufflepuff was ordered back into his bed by the healer who followed him._

_Their head of house and Transfiguration teacher, Professor Shirogane, followed the healer in._

_“Ah dear,” he tutted. “Let’s get this sorted.”_

_With one wave of his wand, the still lingering smoke was cleared, leaving the air much fresher than before. A second wave of his wand put Kuroko’s charred bed back to rights, newly furnished with clean sheets and a blanket that hadn’t been half burned._

_“That should avoid any more fires,” he added with a smile. “Now let’s get you back into bed.”_

_With the support of the kind healer – an older woman Kuroko couldn’t remember from the first time she had come to diagnose them – and his head of house, Kuroko managed to get back into bed. The healer measured his temperature and let out another tutting sound much like the one Professor Shirogane had made, and Kuroko wondered idly if that was a universal thing adults did._

_“I’m sorry we missed you the first time around,” she said frankly. “I don’t know how that happened.”_

_“I have a weak presence,” Kuroko explained dully. He wondered how many times he’d said those words already, and the year was still young._

_He was given a potion to down, and a minty smelling cream was rubbed on the worst of his boils before he was allowed to lay back and rest._

_“There you are dear,” The healer said, finishing her ministrations. “You’re all set. I’ll make sure that the next time I come up I’ve got the right number of treatments so this one-” at this, she gave Ogiwara a pointed glance, which he returned with a very proud smile “-can stay in bed where he belongs.”_

_“Alright boys, we’ll be back to check on you in a few hours,” Professor Shirogane said. “And next time if any of you need anything, you can just ask a house elf to come get us, okay? They can find us faster.”_

_Ogiwara grinned innocently. Kuroko kindly refrained from calling him out for having deliberately left their quarantine just for the adventure of it. Of course if there was anything that would have avoided a repeat of Ogiwara’s little jaunt, it was the reminder that if any of them really was in trouble, a house elf could get a teacher faster than they could find one, especially while they were slow from bing sick._

_Ogiwara would have made an excellent Gryffindor, in that regard, Kuroko thought. Very privately, he was glad that Ogiwara made a better Hufflepuff._

_“Thank you,” Kuroko said quietly, looking up at the professor. Professor Shirogane’s smile softened a little._

_“Like I said, we’re not more than a short call away,” he said, pausing by the door. “We want to make sure all of you get through this week in good health, so let me know if you need anything.”_

_And with that, the five Hufflepuffs were left alone in their quarantine again, tuckered out from the earlier excitement and mostly just ready to take a nap and sleep away the rest of their time being sick. Kuroko was nodding off again, but before he fell asleep, he knew there was something he needed to say to his friend._

_“Thank you Ogiwara.”_

_“Just call me Shige and we’ll be even. We’re friends, you don’t have to be so formal all the time.”_

_Ogiwara pretented not to notice the blush on Kuroko’s face as the other boy looked down at his blankets._

_“Also, I just remembered something! We’re doomed,” Ogiwara said suddenly, sitting up in alarm. “We’re all doomed guys, Kawahara has ruined everything!”_  


_“What are you talking about?”_

_Furihata sounded like he was half a second away from trying his own luck at hitting Ogiwara with his pillow._

_“I heard this group of girls talking when we were walking back! One of them pointed at me and giggled and said – ‘wow the Hufflepuff boys have such bad cooties they had to put them in quarantine!’ They think we have cooties!”_

_Ogiwara went on ranting for several seconds before he was literally robbed of his breath by a blow to the stomach._

_He turned and stared at Kuroko, who had pulled himself up out of bed to shut the other Hufflepuff up._

_“Shige, you are a butthead,” he said very seriously, his face devoid of any emotion._

_The room got really quiet for a few minutes before all five of them started giggling. Sakurai was the first to break, followed in quick succession by Fukuda and Kawahara, and then Furihata, and then Ogiwara. Kuroko held out the longest, but his small smile grew to spread across his entire face and then he was laughing just as much of the rest of them, holding onto Ogiwara’s bed for support. He only just made it back to his own bed before collapsing again, this time ready to take a long nap._

_All in all, their quarantine could have been a lot worse._

_A week later they were all back in class, mostly free of their green and purple spots, and ready to rejoin the student population. For about a month, they were the most exciting thing to happen in Hogwarts, if only because the student body wanted to talk about the dweebs in Hufflepuff that had to miss two weeks of class for an illness that mostly affected old grandmothers. Eventually, even this interest faded, and things went back to whatever passed for normal at Hogwarts._

…

 

Akashi was frowning into his Ancient Runes notes, tapping his quill thoughtfullt against the side of the page.

 

“Say it before you burst,” Midorima snapped across the table. “Your tapping is becoming irritating.”

 

“Did I make a mistake?” Akashi asked. “I was so sure that Tetsuya was the final piece we needed to truly come together as a team. His abilities are certainly interesting, but if we can’t find a way to work together, it will not matter how unique his skills are; we will lose.”

 

Midorima frowned.

 

“I don’t think you made the wrong decision,” he said finally, staring down at his notes without really seeing them.

 

Akashi shifted in his chair, giving the Ravenclaw an intense look.

 

“What did you see?”

 

“I think it just needs more time,” Midorima said finally. “I have a good feeling that soon things will start coming together, that’s all.”

 

He snapped his textbook closed with an audible sound, and shoved it into his backpack.

 

“It’s getting late, I’m going back to the common room.”

 

With that, Midorima departed. Akashi watched him leave, a curious expression on his face.

 

Midorima stalked down the corridor towards the Ravenclaw tower.

 

In truth, he wasn’t sure _what_ he had seen, and he wasn’t ready to tell Akashi anything just yet. He shared Akashi’s feeling that Kuroko would somehow be the final piece of their team necessarily to win the upcoming tournament. Midorima was certain that had the selection process come out any other way, Hogwarts would not win the tournament. Aquarius was in a position of gain this year – they would rise to unexpected challenges and surpass them. Midorima did not share Akashi’s concerns about whether or not Kuroko would help them win the tournament. Of that he had almost no doubt.

 

In fact, he was pretty sure the only way they would win this tournament would be with Kuroko Tetsuya fighting alongside them as an equal.

 

But he’d seen other things, and Midorima couldn’t help but shake the idea that Kuroko’s addition to the team had been somehow the wrong move - not for the tournament, but even farther into the future.

 

He’d gotten that feeling sitting next to the boy in runes, the strong sense of doom that hung around the Hufflepuff like a noxious gas for those with the power to perceive it.

 

Midorima just wasn’t willing to let his doubts be known yet. After all, he could hardly discount the idea that perhaps he just had a fundamentally different personality than Kuroko, and merely disliked him. Most of the time, all Midorima ever got of the future were vague feelings and flashes of insight anyway, most of which could be interpreted in many ways and rarely came out the way they were expected to. Thus far, he had nothing of substance and would refrain from causing a panic based on jumping to conclusions.

 

Midorima had long since learned the art of keeping his insights to himself until he was sure what they meant, and only doling out advice and commentary as needed.

 

He knew enough to answer Akashi’s question with certainty: Kuroko would find a way to rise to this challenge, and more. The Hufflepuff would find a way to mesh with all of them in the long run. Their fates, from the second Kuroko had made the decision to write his name down on the list of tournament participants, were entwined forever.

 

Whatever happened next, the Generation of Miracles – all six of them, for Kuroko’s strange abilities marked him as nothing short of miraculous even if he didn’t have a ridiculous level of power like the rest of them – would rise together.

 

The only question was whether or not their rise would ultimately send them toppling into an unparalleled fall.

…

 

Kise approached the Hufflepuff table on Tuesday morning, head bowed in contrition as he apologized for his behavior the night before. He walked up and down the table three times before Ogiwara stopped laughing for long enough to point out where Kuroko was sitting with the rest of the fourth year Hufflepuffs, trying to enjoy a breakfast that didn’t involve mention of Kise’s naked butt. He was unsuccessful in avoiding the blonde.

 

Thankfully, Kise was vague enough about why he was apologizing to stop Kuroko from completely losing his dignity in front of the four boys he was eating breakfast with.

 

“I thought it would be surprising enough to distract Aominecchi and Murasakibaracchi!” Kise explained, wringing his hands. “And I’m sorry I freaked out Kurokocchi and got you thrown into a wall.”

 

Kuroko, more than anything else in the world, wanted to put this behind them and move forward and avoid any awkward questions from his classmates – all of whom looked eager to find out more about why Kise Ryouta felt the need to apologize to Kuroko. Most of them had only heard the tail tend of Kuroko and Ogiwara’s conversation the night before and were hungry for details.

 

“We need to find a real way to combine our talents,” Kuroko replied evenly, neither accepting nor rejecting the apology for now. “I will meet you in the classroom tonight?”

 

Kise nodded, brightening considerably as he left.

 

Ogiwara burst out into laughter again.

 

“I need to know what happened, and I need to know now. For science,” Furihata said quickly.

 

“Trust me,” Kuroko said passionately. “Nobody needs to know what happened.”

 

“Everyone should know what happened,” Ogiwara cut in. “It did interfere with everyone getting to sleep at a reasonable time last night.”

 

“No they shouldn’t, and if you tell anyone, I won’t call you my light anymore.”

 

Kuroko’s face was entirely serious as he said this, and Ogiwara’s face went gray as he considered the implications of Kuroko’s threat. As intended, he took discretion as the greater part of valor and stopped talking.

 

Furihata eyed Ogiwara, made the wise decision that he didn’t want to know, and returned to his food.

 

“Oi, Sakurai, up to starting a betting pool as to what Kise did to piss Kuroko off so badly?” Kawahara yelled down the table. “If Ogiwara got to know I want to know too!”

 

Sakurai looked up. He looked at Kuroko, then at Ogiwara, and finally at Kise’s retreating back.

 

“I want to live to reach graduation,” he called back. “Sorry!”

 

“That apologetic mushroom never wants to help when he’s needed,” Kawahara muttered, pushing his eggs around his plate moodily. “Figures.”

 

Kuroko made a strategic and unseen exit before his housemates decided that interrogating him was the best way to sate their interest after all.

 

That night, Kise apologized again when he met Kuroko at the practice room. Kuroko nodded, and closed the book he’d be reading while he waited for the Gryffindor.

 

“You know it was immature and stupid, even if it did work,” he said. “I forgive you. Let’s get to work.”

 

Kise nodded, looking determined to prove that he was an actual, serious duelist, with concrete, serious skills. Kuroko was sure that was potentially true, but he also had a very vivid image of his naked teammate that would probably be how he thought of Kise for quite some time to come.

 

It had been one hell of a first impression of Kise’s dueling capabilities. Immaturity aside, even Kuroko had to admit that the power to create so many functioning illusions of himself, and the control it took to effectively use them was downright impressive.

 

An hour later, they had a plan Kuroko was certain they could implement. Actually, he was kind of excited to see how it played out.

 

He was sure Murasakibara and Aomine would be ready for almost anything, which meant that they would have to be flexible, quick to react, and take them down before the two wizards could overwhelm them with sheer power.

 

…

 

By the end of Ancient Runes on Wednesday, Kuroko and Midorima had successfully crafted a simple rune set with the materials assigned to them. Midorima seemed happy enough, but Kuroko knew from the expression the Ravenclaw kept sending his way that he was unsatisfied with their partnership. Kuroko did not know what the other boy expected to learn about him through their classwork, but he also didn’t know how to correct whatever disappointment Midorima found in him.

 

Kuroko got the feeling that Midorima had sat in judgement of him and found him wanting in some way, and he wasn’t sure how to change that – or if he even could. Perhaps Midorima had looked into the future and seen how their friendship, if pursued, would turn out. Or maybe he just knew the trust about how pathetic Kuroko was.

 

Midorima did not say anything in classs about what had happened at the disaster that had been the first Generation of Miracles practice, but his expression was set in an expression of near constant disapproval every time he looked Kuroko’s way.

 

Kuroko just hoped that his dueling on Friday would be enough to make up for it.

 

The week passed quickly, and before Kuroko could register it, it was Friday and time for their second practice of the semester. He met Murasakibara coming up the stairs and they walked in silence towards the classroom Akashi had claimed for their practice times.

 

“Did you convince Ki-chin not to take off his clothes this time?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I hope so.”

 

“Good,” Murasakibara said. “I don’t want to crush him while he’s naked.”

 

Kuroko refrained from the perfectly logical response that that attitude is exactly what made Kise’s idea a viable one in a real fight outside of a dueling arena. Mostly because he had no desire to see Kise naked again, but also because Kuroko didn’t think Murasakibara was above crushing _him_ if he was sufficiently annoying _._

 

“This time we’ll have a real duel,” Kuroko promised.

 

Murasakibara didn’t respond, and they continued in silence until they got to the room. Only Akashi and Midorima were there already. Akashi nodded to both of them as they entered, but Midorima was busy setting the runes for their practice field to acknowledge them. Kuroko wondered what he was getting out of watching these proceedings, but he supposed with Midorima’s specialty being the use of runes, this _was_ a form of practice for him.

 

Kuroko stretched and got ready for the upcoming duel as Kise, and then Aomine appeared in the room.

 

“Are we ready?” Akashi asked. All four of them nodded, and Akashi gestured for them to take their places.

 

Kise split himself into multiple copies right away once the starting bell rang.

 

Murasakibara grumbled as he and Aomine started casting at the copies, neither having noticed that both the real Kise and Kuroko had entirely vanished.

 

Smoke filled the room just as the last few copies were dissipating, leaving Murasakibara and Aomine blind. Each caught sight of what looked like copies of Kuroko and Kise running through the mist, but neither attacked right away.

 

Kuroko and Kise were standing right next to each other. Kuroko was maintaining the smoke and invisibility, while Kise moved around the various copies of the two of them, forcing Aomine and Murasakibara closer and closer together.

 

“Ready, Kurokocchi?” Kise whispered. Kuroko nodded. They were just close enough and facing the right direction.

 

Neither he nor Kise had the power to simply blast through any of the shields Aomine and Murasakibara had up right now. In their previous duel, both of them had been able to take advantage of their bewilderment at the naked copies of Kise – but that didn’t matter now.

 

Kise sent a copy between the two of them, a copy that was mostly invisible because of the fog surrounding both of them. Aomine and Murasakibara cast at the same time, each sending a powerful spell directly at the copy.

 

Murasakibara’s spell passed right over Aomine’s as the copy vanished between them. Neither had the chance to react to the other’s spell slamming into their shields, breaking the powerful magic protecting them and leaving them wide open for a pair of stunning spells.

 

“AL _RIGHT!_ Kise and Kurokocchi for the win!” Kise yelled, high fiving Kuroko.

 

Kuroko smiled, and let the fog dissipate.

 

“A much more impressive showing,” Akashi allowed. “But I don’t want to overuse Tetsuya’s fog trick, since it’s something our opponents will be expecting now. Tetsuya, why don’t you work with Ryouta on other illusions for Monday, and we’ll drill spell work for the rest of tonight.”

 

He revived Aomine and Murasakibara and all six set to work casting towards targets that Akashi had set on the other side of the room.

 

All in all, it was a much better night than Monday. Everything had run smoothly, without any additional distractions.

 

Ogiwara was expressly disappointed when Kuroko reported back that evening.

 

“You mean none of them got naked this time? Now that’s just disappointing.”

 

“Wait, Kuroko didn’t say anything about the Miracles getting naked yesterday, what are you two talking about?”

 

Kuroko’s face flared red, and he wondered if the ground would do him a favor and just swallow him up entirely and relieve him from the earthly burden of explaining how weird the Generation of Miracles was to his roommates.

 

…

 

On the way to lunch, Ogiwara pulled Kuroko aside.

 

“Uh, I forgot to give these to you before but my mom sent them to me this morning,” Ogiwara said, thrusting a small brown package towards Kuroko. “It takes a little bit of time, you know, when it has to go halfway by muggle post and all. But here they are.”

 

Kuroko accepted the package and thanked his friend politely.

 

“What is it?” he asked curiously.

 

“Ah, it’s not worth trying to explain, just open it,” Ogiwara said. Kuroko quickly removed the brown packaging and pulled out…

 

Well, he wasn’t sure exactly _what_ he was looking at. It looked like two small thick bands made of heavy black fabric Kuroko had never seen before. He couldn’t even begin to guess their purpose.

 

“They’re sweatbands,” Ogiwara said, in response to Kuroko’s continued confusion. “You wear them on your wrists. If you get sweaty running around during a duel, they’ll stop the sweat from building up on your hands making it hard to hold your wand.”

 

“That’s very practical,” Kuroko said, peering more closely at them. “Thank you Shige.”

 

Ogiwara blushed.

 

“Here, you just slip them over your hands, and then you don’t have to worry about the sweat,” he said, showing Kuroko how the fabric stretched to allow room for his hand to pass through.

 

Kuroko tried it himself, slipping both of the bands over his hands and examining them. He twisted his wrists a few times to make sure that they maintained the same level of mobility as they previously had.

 

The bands didn’t interfere with him at all. They were heavy enough that Kuroko was aware of their presence, but he was sure a minute into practice he would stop noticing them entirely.

 

“Where did you get the idea for this?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Back when I was a kid, I played basketball all the time and I had a pair of these,” Ogiwara said. “Lots of muggle athletes use bands like these to make sure they don’t get too sweaty to hold onto the ball or anything like that. I got the idea last year to use them during Quidditch games, and when you started the tournament I thought maybe they would work for dueling too. It just took a little longer than I thought to get them.”

 

“These are brilliant,” Kuroko said. “Thank you Shige, really. I’m sure they will be extremely helpful in the tournament.”

 

“Yeah, well they better,” Ogiwara said, picking up his own bag so that they could head to lunch. “After you win this tournament, nobody will be able to forget you then.”

 

Unexpectedly, Kuroko reached out and hugged his friend.

 

“I’ll do my best,” he promised. “But I really meant what I said. It’s enough that I have my friends cheering for me. Whatever happens, I’m lucky to have you all as my friends, but especially you.”

 

Ogiwara hugged Kuroko back, patting him on the back a few times. After about a minute, he drew away from the other Huffelpuff.

 

“Okay okay, that’s enough of us being embarrassingly emotional for now,” he said. “Let’s go eat.”

 

…

 

“How are things going with the Miracles?” Momoi asked Kuroko a few days later as they were walking to dinner. They had met halfway between their elective classes, and chosen to travel the rest of the way to the Great Hall together.

 

“They are… eccentric.”

 

“They are,” Momoi agreed. “But they’re good people. And they’re incredible duelists.”

 

“I know,” Kuroko said. “I just wish that I was worth their time.”

 

Momoi made a frustrated noise in the back of her throat.

 

“You want to impress them?” she asked.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Then be yourself,” she said confidently. “That’s the best thing you can do.”

 

Privately and respectfully, Kuroko thought it was one thing for Momoi to say that when she was so objectively amazing in every way that could possibly be measured, but it was quite another thing to apply that logic to himself.

 

“Now what I want to know is why you’ve been holding out on me!” Momoi said. “How come you never told me what you could do with your magic! That last round of the tournament was _incredible,_ but I never thought for a second that was something you could do! How did you do it?”

 

Kuroko felt that headache coming back again. He was so tired of being asked that question by his friends at every turn, like he could explain this bizzaire and suddenly manifesting aspect to his powers. He had no idea what had happened and was in equal parts scared, awed, and confused. He still didn’t know how to answer that question, and he wished people would just stop talking about it.

 

“If you find out, please, _please_ tell me, because I have _no idea_!”

 

Kuroko stormed forward, leaving Momoi behind.

 

The pink haired Slytherin stopped short, her expression hurt.

 

“Are you – _angry_ with me?”

 

…

 

Their third practice had Akashi paring them off to duel again. Kuroko got to watch the other miracles in action; Kise wasn’t just good at copies and illusions – he was a prolific spellcaster that learned quickly and always had tricks up his sleeve.

 

Aomine was fast, and it only took Kuroko one duel to realize he did not use his wand or spoken spells.

 

“Why does Aomine hold his wand if he doesn’t use it?” he asked Akashi mid duel, as Aomine and Kise fought one on one. Kise had set up several reflective spells that hovered in mid air, sending random copies walking here or there, and bouncing around spells that Aomine sent his way.

 

Akashi smiled, not taking his eyes off the duo.

 

“What on earth makes you think he doesn’t require the wand?”

 

“His wand movements are completely wrong for the spells he’s shouting, and he seems to be rarely casting the same spell he is saying.”

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“Well observed Tetsuya,” he said, sounding extremely pleased. “For now, I will ask you to keep that information to yourself, but you are correct. Daiki does not need a wand to cast most spells. He travelled a great deal as child, experiencing many different methods of magical focus and practice. The end result is a wizard that is free of the bounds of any single style or focus.”

 

Kuroko felt a pang of envy.

 

Aomine really was one of the most talented wizards of their generation. And Kuroko was – what, exactly? Invisible?

 

It burned in his gut, the knowledge that he wasn’t strong enough, wasn’t good enough. But it lit a fire in him too – because he knew he had a place here anyway. He knew he could fight, and he was going to prove it. He might not be worthy of competing with these Miracles today, but he would make himself strong enough, however he could.

 

He got his chance to prove it a moment later as Aomine summoned a bubble of water to surround Kise until the other stopped moving. He watched dispassionately as the bubble popped, and Kise’s unconscious body was picked up by Murasakibara.

 

Kuroko wondered if the school administration knew how many times students were being knocked out during Akashi’s training sessions.

 

“Tetsuya, duel with me.”

 

Kuroko nodded, walking over to take a starting position in front of the team captain. He pulled on Ogiwara’s sweatbands before doing so, drawing Aomine’s attention.

 

“Oi, what the hell are those?”

 

“Sweat bands,” Kuroko explained, holding up his arms so that Aomine could see them better. “Shige thought they might be helpful given how athletic dueling can be.”

 

“Oh I’ve seen these!” Kise said excitedly. “That’s a great idea! Muggle athletes use gear like this all the time and it’s super useful!”

 

Midorima snorted, but Akashi looked interested.

 

“We should discuss those more at a later date, but for now I would like to get back to practice, if none of you mind?”

 

Kise blushed and apologized, stepping back so that Kuroko could stand opposite their captain. Kuroko took up a dueling stance, trying not to wince in advance knowing exactly how this would turn out.

 

“Duel!”

 

Akashi had Kuroko on the floor with a sweep of his wand in seconds.

 

“Again.”

 

Kuroko pulled himself back to his feet, only to be sent flying back as soon as Akashi called the start.

 

“Again.”

 

“Akashicchi-”

 

“Be silent, Ryouta.”

 

Akashi stood over Kuroko, the confusion and frustration on his face entirely evident.

 

“We can fight again, Akashi, but I do not think the result will change.”

 

Kuroko took an extra moment to pull himself back to his feet, as he was feeling distinctly bruised after being thrown around by Akashi’s spells several times.

 

“No, this isn’t right,” Akashi frowned. “Tetsuya, you used an impressive piece of magic in your fight with Kazunari. I wish for you to replicate it.”

 

“I told Akashi and many others, I have no idea what happened,” Kuroko bit out, at the edge of his patience. “I apologize. You can wish all you want, I don’t think I can do it again.”

 

There was a tense moment of silence as the rest of the Miracles watched intently, worried Kuroko’s frank response to their captain would result in Kuroko getting cursed.

 

Akashi heaved a very put upon sigh, but it didn’t take a moment before his eyes gleamed with inspiration. Kuroko didn’t like that look at all. For a moment, it looked like his eyes were flashing gold, but Kuroko was sure that was merely a product of the light and his own nervousness.

 

“Give Daiki your wand.”

 

“Aka-chin, aren’t you being too harsh?”

 

“AKASHICCHI, YOU’RE GONNA KILL HIM!”

 

“Why are we bullying Tetsu?”

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything. He met Akashi’s stare head on, unafraid. He knew what the other boy was doing, even if it pissed him off. He supposed this was one way to see if he could replicate what he had done during his final duel in the tournament. Of course, odds were good that he was going to end up being cursed to high heaven and back again, but that probably didn’t concern Akashi at all. Kuroko bet that his safety during this training exercise had not been figured into the other boy’s calculations at all.

 

Put more positively, Akashi’s lack of care spoke to his faith in Kuroko’s power, faith that the Hufflepuff was strong enough to do whatever it was Akashi needed from him.

 

Even Ogiwara, who had never given Kuroko anything but his wholehearted and unreserved support, had never looked at Kuroko like he was a _threat,_ like there was true power to be found within him. Kuroko wanted to know just as much as Akashi did if he could replicate what he had done during the dueling tournament.

 

Kuroko wanted to meet that challenge. He wanted to prove Akashi’s expectations correct, and if this would work, he wasn’t going to question it. The thought lit a fire under him.

 

He handed Aomine his wand with a bow.

 

“Please take care of my wand, Aomine,” he said respectfully. Aomine scowled down at the smaller boy.

 

“You don’t have to do _everything_ he says you know,” the Gryffindor said softly. His tone could be mistaken for disinterest, but the words were touching. However, they both knew that wasn’t exactly right.

 

“Aomine, what could I do with my wand to defend myself against Akashi?” Kuroko asked.

 

And that… was actually an excellent point.

 

Aomine stowed Kuroko’s wand away inside his robes and watched as Kuroko went to stand about five feet in front of Akashi.

 

The redhead waved his wand, and a glowing circle of light appeared on the ground, thinly etched in gold on the floor around Kuroko. It was about a foot and a half in diameter.

 

“You are not allowed to move from the circle around you,” Akashi said. “I will send curses at you. You will remain there until I am done.”

 

“We’re going to get in trouble if you seriously hurt him,” Midorima cut in, speaking for the first time. “There’s a reason you get this much leeway, and if you abuse it there will be consequences.”

 

“We’ll see,” Akashi replied. “Tetsuya, are you ready?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Kuroko bowed to Akashi. Akashi bowed back.

 

Faster than lightning, Akashi snapped off his first curse, wand pointed directly at Kuroko.

 

“ _Reducto_!”

 

Kise shouted in alarm as it became clear that the curse would not miss, not with the limited amount of room Kuroko had to move. But before the Gryffindor could fully react, the wall behind Kuroko exploded in a shower of dust.

 

“What? He missed? Aka-chin missed?”

 

Kuroko’s heart was pounding at a million miles per second, but he had moved the spell. There was no denying that. He had stood entirely still. Akashi had aimed dead on at him, and - nothing. There was no way the other boy could have missed, not unless Kuroko had successfully managed his own counter.

 

Kuroko and Akashi made eye contact, and the redhead grinned.

 

They both knew the truth.

 

Akashi had not missed at all.

 

“Do you have the feel of it?” he asked.

 

Kuroko nodded, giving the redhead a smile of his own. He was breathing too quickly, trying to come down off the high of having demonstrated that his weird magical quirk was more than just a fluke. The immediate danger of Akashi’s explosive spell had forced Kuroko to act, but he understood now. He was almost certain that he could do it again.

 

“I believe so.”

 

“Do you feel that you can replicate it deliberately now?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Then we will continue.”

 

A second spell. A third.

 

With every spell Kuroko became better at anticipating the path of magic and just slightly influencing it out of his own way. It took very little focus or power to give the spells a small metaphysical _tap,_ changing their course just enough to avoid behin hit.

 

A rain of curses fell down on the blue haired boy and every single one was redirected. Just a small tap of Kuroko’s will sent them slightly out of the way, leaving him safe and unharmed. It was more than Kuroko had deflected in his battle with Takao, more so even than he had done in his draw with Tsugawa.

 

A full minute of continuous casting later, Akashi put down his wand.

 

Kuroko was still standing, face perfectly calm. He was successfully hiding the exhaustion that was plaguing him down to the bone after the magical workout Akashi had given him.

 

At no point during the exercise had Kuroko behaved as though he were in any danger, despite the nature of some of the curses Akashi had sent his way. Many would have killed or at least seriously hurt him if they had managed to reach their target.

 

But every single one of them had missed.

 

Akashi Seijuro, foremost among the Generation of Miracles, singularly most powerful student at Hogwarts, had not been able to land a single curse on a boy none of them had heard of two days ago.

 

“Tetsuya possesses a singularly unique set of skills that are incredibly useful in team dueling,” Akashi said with a broad smile, turning to the other four Miracles, who were staring in complete shock. “It’s a combination of simple muggle misdirection, and some of the most advanced magic I’ve ever heard of. This is the magical aspect of that talent.”

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything, but he remained standing in place.

 

“You may retrieve your wand, Tetsuya.”

 

Without a word, Kuroko stepped out of the circle. But before he could cross the distance between himself and Aomine to get his wand, Akashi cast another curse, hitting the boy before he could react.

 

Kuroko went to his knees, hissing in pain.

 

The stinging curse had caught him in the arm. It wasn’t debilitating, but he had definitely felt it. A rope of fire wrapped around his forearm, raising agitated bright red marks where it touched skin.

 

“Of course, it isn’t a talent that is useful all the time,” Akashi said. The entire room was silent. “Eventually, it loses its effectiveness as Tetsuya loses focus and power. The longer he stays in my field of view, the easier it is to hit him. We’ll work on your stamina Tetusya, but it is something to remember.”

 

Kuroko understood what Akashi was doing. Kuroko had just made every single person in the room question whether or not he could defeat their captain. Akashi had to remind the group that while Kuroko was something special, he would never be more powerful than Akashi himself.

 

“I would like to begin incorporating Tetsuya’s unique talent into a few simple dueling maneuvers,” Akashi said as if he hadn’t just nearly murdered the boy in question. “We will further explore this as a potential tactic. In the meantime, Tetusya I want you to focus on your invisibility during duels. The rest of you already have the schedules that Statsuki has created for you to build on your strengths, so you have something to work on for our next practice. You are all dismissed for the day.”

 

Akashi turned and strode out of the room at top speed.

 

“What the _fuck_ ,” Aomine said softly, but with a great deal of feeling, into the emptiness their captain left behind.

 

Kuroko found himself unable to disagree with that assessment.

…

 


	7. Ogiwara Would Like To Voice A Concern

…

**_First Year:_ **

****

_Kuroko and Ogiwara found themselves swamped with the arrival of Easter, revision season, and all too soon afterwards, exams. Before they knew it, it was the end of spring and their first year had gone by in a flash. All that was left was preparing for exams, which was no mean feat, but certainly doable. Unfortunately, it left the two delinquents with very little time to focus on their true calling: pranks._

_“This is exactly the time of year when the student body needs some stirring up too,” Ogiwara lamented quietly one afternoon while he and Kuroko were busy quizzing each other on the proper theory for simple charms. Since professor Nakatani had hinted heavily that levitation spells would figure prominently on the exam, so that’s what they were doing instead of planning any new mischief._

_“Go ahead and demonstrate the proper wand movements for the levitation spell,” Kuroko replied, not engaging Ogiwara’s earlier comment. Devastatingly prank free the student body might be, but Kuroko wanted to pass his exams. He wasn’t even sure he’d be physically able to do all the spells in the practical segments. Ogiwara could though, and Kuroko was going to make sure both he and his friend made it through their first year with acceptable marks if it killed them both._

_“I’M BORED,” Ogiwara screamed out to the sky. He fell dramatically back onto the grass and rolled over onto his back to stare up at the branches of the tree they were sitting under._

_“If Shige-kun blows something up during the Charms final, Professor Nakatani_ will _fail him,” Kuroko noted dryly and entirely unnecessarily. “Please demonstrate the wand movements for the spell.”_

_It was like pulling a stubborn horse by the reigns, Kuroko imagined, though he himself had never actually experienced that particular task for himself._

_“Wingardium fucking Leviosa,” Ogiwara snapped, waving his hand in an approximation of a series of movements that looked nothing like a swish or a flick. He yelped as his wand began issuing a loud shrieking noise and nearly threw it into the lake._

_“Wow, that was really pathetic,” observed the most condescending eleven-year-old voice Kuroko had ever heard from behind them._

_Both boys were startled by the arrival of none other than Momoi Satsuki, the gorgeous first year princess of Slytherin._

_Perhaps she might have gotten more attention as a powerful witch in her own right if she hadn’t had to share the limelight with the like of Akashi Seijuro and Murasakibara Atsushi within her own house. Even so, she’d made a name for herself as being powerful, brilliant, and ruthless. As far as most people were concerned, she was basically a member of the Generation of Miracles, and she even had the hair to prove it._

_“Now, did I hear something about pranking?” she asked with an innocent smile._

_“What? No of course not, go away,” Ogiwara grumbled._

_“Really? Because I’m thinking that since I’m aiming for top of our class, and eventually the responsibilities of prefect and head girl, it is my job as a model student to make sure the professors know of anyone up to no good in the castle,” Momoi continued, examining her fingernails._

_“Are you blackmailing us?” Kuroko asked. “Why?”_

_“Blackmail is such an ugly word,” Momoi smiled brightly. “I prefer ‘incentivizing my friends’, don’t you?”_

_“What do you want?” Ogiwara demanded. The look Momoi gave him was decidedly less friendly than the bright smile she’d turned on Kuroko._

_“I have an idea for a prank.”_

_“Absolutely not.”_

_“Oh Shigehiro-chan, I’m not asking for permission.”_

_“So what, we let you in on an end of the year prank or you rat us out to the teachers?”_

_“Exactly.”_

_As it turned out, Momoi Satsuki was incredibly good at finding the right incentives to make people do things for her._

_But even more bizzarely, she was also incredibly good at making friends, even with an obnoxiously loud redhead prone to blowing things up and his invisible sidekick. It was a rocky start to an enduring friendship that Kuroko would treasure long after he’d left school._

_This would also turn out to bite Kuroko in the ass pretty spectacularly._

_Years and years later, long after the fact, looking back with the rose tinted glasses of age, maturity, and experience, Kuroko would say that despite everything that happened after that fateful meeting with Momoi Satsuki, it was all mostly worth it._

_Because when the pink haired evil genius sat down next to the two boys with a cute tilt to her head, and said with shinning, innocent eyes, “it’s rather hot here during the summer, isn’t it?” it lead to their greatest and most complex prank yet. Between Momoi’s devious brilliance, Ogiwara’s raw power, and Kuroko’s misdirection, they made a pretty fantastic team._

 

…

 

Kuroko had just finished telling Ogiwara what had happened during his last practice with the Generation of Miracles, and he was beginning to wish he had just decided to keep his mouth shut.

 

Ogiwara was outraged.

 

“He could have hurt you!”

 

“He didn’t, Shige, that’s what matters.”

 

“WANDS ARE DANGEROUS AND YOU DON’T THROW AROUND CURSES YOU DON’T INTEND TO HIT THEIR TARGETS!”

 

Kuroko wanted to address the irony of _Ogiwara_ of all people giving out a lecture on wand safety, but he doubted it would work out better than any other time he’d attempted to talk Ogiwara out of a rage like this.

 

“I bet even Momoi would agree that’s bullshit.”

 

“I’m sorry, I would agree with what?”

 

Momoi had joined the two of them in the downstairs corridor leading to the empty storeroom they used as their pranking headquarters.

 

“For the record, I highly doubt I will agree with anything you have to say,” Momoi said loftily. “But continue.”

 

“Akashi tried to curse Kuroko!”

 

“He did _what?!”_

 

Momoi’s response was almost as loud as Ogiwara’s. Kuroko wondered what he had done to deserve any of this. Kuroko shushed both of them and ushered them into the empty classroom before they could draw any attention to them.

 

Once they had settled down inside, Kuroko turned to the Slytherin girl, who was red face and angry. Her hands were on her hips, clearly awaiting a response from Kuroko.

 

“Can we focus on our first order of business?” he asked instead. “Momoi, have you been able to locate any early floor plans of the school to find any unknown tunnels or rooms we can use as our headquarters?”

 

“Tet-chan, I’ve been just a _little_ bit busy,” Momoi replied tersely, flicking her pink hair in authoritative annoyance. “I have overseen every detail of the tournament schedule while simultaneously working on the highly technically complicated and hellishly detail oriented project that’s going to get me the apprenticeship of my dreams  _and on top of that_ Sei-chan has me writing up training schedules for all of you-”

 

“Does it include teaching Kise illusions that don’t end up with him naked? Please say yes.”

 

Momoi twitched.

 

“It’s a work in progress,” she snapped. “But more importantly, why did Sei-chan curse you? What on earth does he think he’s doing during these practices _exactly_?”

 

“He wanted to see if I could repeat what I had done in the final round of the tournament,” Kuroko said. “The wandless magic. Moving around spells. Throwing Takao’s magic back at him through his own shield.”

 

His eyes shone with excitement. He still hadn’t gotten over the fact that he had something that might serve as an incedible weapon in the arena if he honed it correctly. Under Akashi’s tutelage, Kuroko might just bloom into the wizard he had always hoped he could be.

 

Momoi hummed thoughtfully.

 

“Yes, I can see how those would be skills that would be useful to cultivate,” she said. “But there are better ways to do that than putting you in danger. Shige, can you take point on the finding a new headquarters project for now? Clearly I need to start spending more time on this training schedule, because if I leave these six to their own devices I think one of you may actually die. And that’s ignoring the fact that I’m attending most of the senior team’s practices too, to get as much data on each of their talents as I can for my arithmancy project.”

 

She said all this very fast and in a high-pitched voice that made Kuroko’s ears hurt from sympathetic stress. He did not believe for a second that she was exaggerating the amount of work that was sitting on her plate right now. Ogiwara nodded in response to her request.

 

“But even aside from that, if something like this happens again, tell me. Akashi and Nijimura are being given a great deal of leeway because the school finds them trustworthy enough to run their own teams without too much supervision. If that’s not the case, I have to inform someone about it.”

 

Kuroko privately doubted he would ever have a reason to run to Momoi with tales of his new teammates (especially not when she looked like she hadn’t slept in a month and desperately needed people in her life to stop dropping responsibilities on her) but it was kind of comforting to know where the Slytherin stood with regards to him.  

 

“So all this is realty great,” Ogiwara said after a minute or so of silence, “but when are we meeting up for our next pranking opportunity?”

 

“Shige, we have so many more important things to worry about than pranks right now,” Momoi said. Kuroko was inclined to agree – all of them were far too busy for the usual distractions they had indulged during their first few years at Hogwarts. The last few times they had met in their claimed hideout, it had been solely for personal gossip and studying.

 

It did seem a shame to let the student population forget about their resident pranksters though. Kuroko mentally made a note to start thinking up something fun they could do before winter break, or at least before the end of the year.

 

Meanwhile, it was all he could do to just barely keep up between his classes and Akashi’s strict training. He felt like he was being run into the ground.

 

 _You asked for this,_ he reminded himself grimly as the three friends parted ways. _You fought for this. You wanted this. So take the opportunity to prove you deserve it, instead of running away like you always do. And maybe if you meet this challenge you’ll finally find the strength Momoi and Akashi keep insisting is there somewhere._

 

“Hey, Ogiwara, don’t you have a Quidditch practice to get to?” Momoi asked out loud, not looking up from her planner. Ogiwara leaped up in alarm and made a run for it, shouting his thanks down the hall.

 

“Honestly, do I have to keep _all_ of you on track?” Momoi murmured so quietly Kuroko wondered if he’d heard her correctly at all. “I guess it’s true what they say, staying on top requires a woman’s touch.”

 

That wasn’t something Kuroko could argue with as he turned the page of his Runes dictionary, looking for a set of runes that would work for his independent study project for Ancient Runes.

 

“And what about you, do you have your charms notes done and transcribed into your class outline?” Momoi asked.

 

“Yes.”

 

Momoi smiled softly, returning to her planner.

 

“Good. One less of you to deal with.”

 

Kuroko went back to his own notes, discarding the Rune binding he was looking at. He knew it wouldn’t match with the core set he needed to use. At this rate, he was never going to get this stupid project done by the end of the century, let alone the end of the year.

 

…

 

Over two weeks after the names of the Hogwarts Champions had been announced (and Kuroko could think of very few things he disliked more than that particular title), Kuroko found himself ambushed by Kiyoshi Teppei.

 

“We’re Hufflepuff’s representatives, so it’s only reasonable that we become good friends!”

 

Kiyoshi was everything Kuroko was not – conversational in his own weird way, generally friendly, good-natured, and extremely kind. Kuroko had always admired and respected the prefect for having those qualities.

 

“Okay,” Kuroko replied, unable to think of a better response to this declaration.

 

Kiyoshi put a friendly arm around Kuroko’s shoulders and smiled brightly.

 

“If you need anything, come find me!” he said. “But most of all, make sure you have fun!”

 

While it was probably the weirdest encounter Kuroko had ever had with his prefect, it wasn’t actually unpleasant.

 

“You did really well!” Kiyoshi added. “So did everyone, but you have a very unique style of dueling!”

 

Kuroko nodded his thanks.

 

“I did what you told us to do that night in the common room,” Kuroko admitted. “I thought about how I could play to my strengths and used my natural misdirection to fight.”

 

Kiyoshi grinned back at the younger Hufflepuff.

 

“Well, I’m glad!” he said. “I’ll see you around, Kuroko!”

 

Kuroko nodded, and headed in the opposite direction of Kiyoshi as he caught up with Ogiwara.

 

“I think it’s kind of cute,” Ogiwara said. “You have a senpai! I want a senpai!”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I’m glad that we have a representative in both divisions,” Ogiwara said. “Hufflepuff never gets the glory.”

 

“If we were doing it for glory we wouldn’t be Hufflepuffs,” Kuroko replied absently. “But it is nice to be vindicated for a change.”

 

“Damn right it is.”

 

…

 

Not everyone was as thrilled at the selection of Champions as the majority of the school seemed to be.

 

Haizaki in particular seemed to be extremely bitter about the very close match that had denied him what he felt was his rightful title. He told anyone who would listen that the match with Kise had been a mere fluke, and that the Gryffindor must have somehow cheated in order to get the position.

 

Kuroko had not been paying attention to the Slytherin or the bile he was spouting until one otherwise unremarkable Wednesday afternoon. He was walking towards his next class when he turned a corner, and a much larger, very blonde student fell directly into him, sending both of them sprawling painfully to the floor.

 

“You’re weak, Kise,” a voice said above them, and Kuroko registered the looming figure of Haizaki Shougo, and Kise Ryouta, who had fallen on top of him.

 

“Hey, there’s no need to push other people down – oh, Kurokocchi!”

 

Kise smile widely when he realized that it was Kuroko that he’d run into, a line of blood showing on his chin from where he’d clearly been hit.

 

Kuroko scrambled back and helped Kise to his feet, staring down Haizaki, who hadn’t moved to stop them. Two against one probably weren’t odds he liked very much - not that Kuroko counted for much in an actual fight. Still, he was one more witness that Haizaki would have to have to deal with.

 

Kise turned to face Haizaki, his arm pulling Kuroko behind him.

 

“Now now, Kise, I don’t want to fight your friend, and I’m sure you don’t want him to know that you’re getting your ass beat on a regular basis by some ordinary wizard who isn’t even a _miracle._ ”

 

Kuroko couldn’t see Kise’s face, but when he responded, his voice had dropped from its usual high-pitched lilt, into something dangerous, driven.

 

“One of these days, Haizaki, I’m going to stop giving a shit about getting in trouble and I’m going to hit back. Just so you know.”

 

“Keep dreaming,” Haizaki sneered. “In the meantime, you know where you can find me – between your girlfriend’s legs.”

 

“Classy.”

 

“Ooooh because I ain’t some rich ass pureblood-”

 

“My blood’s as pure as yours,” Kise snapped back. “You think I’m frightened of you? I was born in the same gutter you were.”

 

Haizaki sneered at that and then spit at the model’s feet.

 

“Well then that just makes it even more pathetic,” he said. “Guess your pretty boy looks really _are_ the only useful thing about you.”

 

“Is there a problem here, gentlemen?”

 

Even Kuroko hadn’t noticed Nijimura walking up the hallway. The Head Boy had both hands in the front pockets of his jeans, and was the picture of relaxation. Kuroko didn’t doubt for a second that the seventh year could have his wand out and ready to fight in a second if he had to. He also didn’t doubt that if it came down to a fight between Haizaki and the head boy, Nijimura would be the one who came out the victor.

 

“No problem at all,” Haizaki spat again, clearly deciding that discretion was the better part of valor and that provoking Nijimura would get him nowhere. “Prettyboy here ran into a wall and I helped him up, ain’t that right, Prettyboy?”

 

Nijimura’s eyebrows lifted towards his hairline, obvious disbelief written in the downturn of his mouth and the tilt of his head.

 

“Is that right, Kise?” he asked. Kise smiled broadly.

 

“It’s exactly what he said,” he agreed pleasantly. There were practically sparkles coming off him.

 

Kuroko had the immediate realization that Kise’s general loud, hearts and butterflies persona was not all it appeared to be. It was a cover for a lot of shit below the surface. That he used it deliberately and to his benefit was an interesting revelation, one that Kuroko filed away for consideration later.

 

Nijimura looked skeptically between the two boys one more time before nodding.

 

“Well then, off to the hospital wing to get treated for that, “ he said dismissively. “As for you, Haizaki – it’s almost time for afternoon classes. Get where you need to be and stay there.”

 

Nijimura purposefully strode right between the feuding students, stopping only when he’d gotten to the other side.

 

“Ah, Kuroko, congratulations on your placement in the tournament. I do expect you to be on your way to your next classroom in short order as well.”

 

He continued walking. Haizaki made a face at the Head Boy’s retreating back, but otherwise did not attempt to further escalate the situation. The three students were silent until they could no longer hear Nijimura’s footsteps before turning back to each other.

 

“Guess I should get moving to class like a good little boy, huh?” Haizaki said sarcastically. “Later, Prettyboy.”

 

He strutted off. Kise glared at his retreating back before turning around to face Kuroko.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked. Kuroko nodded. He’d just tumbled to the floor – it was Kise who looked like he’d taken a fist right to the face.

 

“Good,” Kise said. “Listen, Kurokocchi-”

 

His expression was as serious as Kuroko had ever seen it, his eyes glinting with fire and purpose.

 

“Don’t you dare tell anyone about this, especially Akashicchi, okay? I know everyone thinks I’m the weakest member of the Miracles, and they’re right. I know what they all say behind my back, and I don’t need to give anyone more of an excuse to say that my being here is a fluke.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He understood what Kise was feeling, because he felt exactly the same way.

 

“If anything, it was me who took a place that was not mine,” Kuroko said softly. “The tournament pairings should have placed Haizaki in my stead.”

 

Kise’s head tilted to the side thoughtfully.

 

“I don’t believe in Fate as strongly as Midorimacchi, but I don’t think that’s true,” he said. “Besides, you’re much easier to get along with than Haizaki!”

 

He smiled again, and the aura of intensity around him vanished in an instant.

 

“Will you be okay to get to the hospital wing?” Kuroko asked. Kise nodded.

 

“I’ll see you tonight!”

 

It was a good act, one Kise had almost down pat. But Kuroko knew that the other boy wasn’t going to the hospital wing. For one thing, he was too proud, too invested in hiding the fact that he was being bullied to admit it to a school administrator.

 

For another, he’d walked off in the exact opposite direction he’d need to go in to get to the hospital wing.

 

Kuroko forced himself to remember that other people’s choices were their own, and started making his way to class.

 

By the time Kise showed up to their practice meeting that evening, any sign of Haizaki’s punch was entirely gone.

 

…

 

After their conversation about Akashi’s training methods over the weekend, Momoi seemed to take a significantly more personal interest in the training schedule of the Generation of Miracles. So much so that she was working with Kuroko one on one to figure out how he could do an even better job of disappearing. Ogiwara had, of course, invited himself along. Kuroko appreciated the gesture and Momoi had scoffed at it, but had not outright objected.

 

Momoi watched Kuroko cast several spells, her expression narrowed in concentration as she took notes on a roll of parchment next to her. She finally gestured for him to stop, and huffed quietly to herself before reviewing her notes one last time and speaking.

 

“Draw less attention to yourself.”

 

Kuroko frowned.

 

“How am I drawing attention to myself?”

 

“You look like you’re about to cast a spell. My eyes are always going to be glued to you and your wand if I think you’re an immediate threat.”

 

“Momoi, I _am_ about to cast a spell.”

 

“Yes, but you need to be much less obvious about it!”

 

Kuroko, who had almost never actively attempted to draw less attention to himself, found this advice to be singularly unhelpful.

 

After about five minutes of Momoi fruitlessly trying to explain hand gestures and techniques for remaining out of sight, Ogiwara’s muggleborn knowledge saved all of them.

 

“It sounds like you’re talking about magic tricks.”

 

Momoi opened her mouth, most likely to tell Ogiwara that _yes, hello we are in a school for wizards and witches and we are trying to learn magic, what about that didn’t you get in the last four years, do you need a mind healer,_ but Ogiwara cut her off at the pass.

 

“I mean _muggle_ magic tricks. The kind of stuff that they make look like conjuring and banishing. They hide things in their hands and direct the attention of the people watching exactly where they want it to be.”

 

Momoi tilted her head to the side.

 

“They do sound substantially similar,” she allowed grudgingly. “I guess muggles are good for something after all.”

 

“Gee, thanks,” Ogiwara snarked back. “Glad to know that all of us little people do come in handy every now again.”

 

“Please, don’t get the wrong impression,” Momoi replied smoothly, flipping her hair behind her and smoothing out the lines in her skirt, “I don’t dislike you because you’re a muggleborn. I dislike you because your manners are plebeian and your countenance is obnoxious.”

 

She strode out, leaving behind a whiff of flowery perfume and the notes she had handed off to Kuroko as she barged out.

 

“Man, that girl-”

 

“Do you always have to pick fights with her?” Kuroko cut in.

 

“What, so you’re on her side now?”

 

“I’m not on anyone’s side,” Kuroko quickly cut in. “Both of you are my friends.”

 

“You just had to pick a Slytherin.”

 

“She picked us.”

 

“You kept her.”

 

“I did nothing,” Kuroko denied. “Momoi doesn’t do anything or go anywhere she doesn’t expressly want to. Besides, you know she looks out for us. Both of us.”

 

“I’ll get you some books,” Ogiwara promised, changing the topic after a few seconds of awkward silence. “A lot of what you do regularly already uses some of those techniques, but it might help you branch out and come up with some new ideas. Maybe you’ll even surprise Akashi!”

 

“I’m pretty sure that after the first time I surprised him, I lost the ability to ever do it again,” Kuroko said. He packed up his notes, shoving them semi-neatly into his backpack.

 

“I’ll see you at dinner,” Kuroko said politely, and left, following Momoi out.

 

Ogiwara watched the door close behind his friend, and exhaled in frustration.

 

“How am I supposed to be your light when I can’t help you?” Ogiwara asked the empty room.

 

…

 

Akashi cornered Kuroko after dinner, politely drawing him away from the group of Hufflepuffs heading back to their common room. Ogiwara waved to Kuroko to let him know that he would see him later that evening, and followed the rest of their group out.

 

“I believe I know how you can control your invisibility,” Akashi said simply, leading Kuroko through the Great Hall and towards the stairs. “And it might lead to some more insights into how the rest of your unique abilities function.”

 

Kuroko, being absolutely on board with any course of action that would help him improve, was listening intently. Akashi didn’t say anything more until they had left the general flow of students behind them, and were heading up to the room they were using to practice strategy.

 

“What do you think is causing my invisibility?” Kuroko asked.

 

“You have a naturally occurring magical shield that is being powered constantly,” Akashi said, sounding awed. “It functions as a permanent notice-me-not charm around you. Perhaps your affinity with this type of magic can account for your spectacular performance in charms.”

 

“But I can’t even maintain a shield charm for a few minutes at a time.”

 

Akashi smiled.

 

“My hypothesis is that you use a different part of your magical core, one you don’t access for everyday magic,” Akashi explained. “I believe it functions in a very similar way to your ability to wandlessly move spells cast by other people. It is only a theory, and one that we cannot test. Especially not at this stage in your development, as most of the tests that could be done might your magical core to radically destabilize.”

 

Akashi sounded way too disappointed at the limitation on conducting tests on one of his teammates for Kuroko’s comfort.

 

“In the meantime, I want you to work on your misdirection. It will allow you to utilize this shield in order to get close to your opponents. We also need to examine this talent of yours for moving spells. I have a theory that we can test tonight. Still, it isn’t as though your already accessible talents aren’t extraordinary enough.”

 

Kuroko didn’t give voice to his doubts about that.

 

True to his word, Akashi asked Kise to come help Kuroko test the limits of his power that night during practice. Momoi had shown up to take notes, looking tired but happy to be there. She watched Murasakibara and Aomine trade spells with a grin, making a few notes before turning to the group of four at the side of the arena.

 

“Kise, I want you to cast a shield,” Akashi said. “And then any spell. Whatever you want, but it must be something offensive. Kuroko, you are going to try and divert it, not to the side, as you have been doing, but directly ahead.”

 

“I have been trying to do so, but I do not believe I can,” Kuroko admitted.

 

“Well,” Akashi said. “I have a solution.”

 

“Sei-kun,” Momoi started.

 

“A moment of indulgence, please,” Akashi said politely, smiling at the other Slytherin. “I would like to test out my theory, and I don’t doubt that I am correct.”

 

He leaned forward and looked Kuroko dead in the eyes.

 

“It is no different than merely tapping the spell to the side. Instead of hitting it laterally, send it in the opposite direction. Envision a mirror, and hold it up to the spell, make it move where you want it to go. And you want it to hit Ryouta. Do you understand?”

 

Kuroko had his doubts, but he didn’t think it would be productive to express them. Nor did he think Akashi would be willing to listen to him try and talk his way out of having to do this. Instead he readied himself for a duel.

 

Kise cast a shield charm before sending an _Expelliarmus_ at Kuroko.

 

_Just hold up a mirror. It’s like with the post it prank – just reflect it instead of multiplying it._

 

Kuroko watched the spell come towards him as though it was in slow motion. When it drew even with him, instead of giving it a nudge to the side forcing it to miss him, the Hufflepuff let it bounce off the mental shield he’d made.

 

Instead of ricocheting harmlessly off of Kise’s own, doubtlessly impressive shield as it should have, the spell passed through the barrier as though it wasn’t even there. Kise was taken entirely off guard, and went flying into the wall behind him when the spell hit. The overhwleming force of his own over-powered spell had been turned right back on its caster.

 

The entire room was silent for a minute.

 

The power behind the spell was all Kise’s, and it had been returned full force by Kuroko’s technique. Akashi’s eyes narrowed as he considered the implications of this. That Kuroko could take on the power of any one of his Miracles, for however momentary a period - and perhaps even amplify it. A technique like this would render any enemy shield irrelevant. He remained frozen, thinking through the implications of this new understanding of his little Phantom.

 

Momoi jumped up and down, squealing with joy, before running forward to hug Kuroko and congratulate him on a job well done.

 

Kise moaned in pain on the floor. Midorima ran forward, examining Kise’s head to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself when he collided with the wall.

 

“Ryouta, did you allow that spell through your shield?” Akashi asked. Kise shook his head.

 

“Akashicchi should know better than to think that I’d let anyone, even Kurokocchi, get the draw on me,” he complained. “I lose enough to Aominecchi!”

 

“Oi, what you saying about me over there?” Aomine growled from the other side of the room.

 

“Daiki, Atsushi, could I borrow both of you for a moment?”

 

The two Miracles stopped dueling and acceded to Akashi’s request, walking over to the rest of them. Akashi seemed entirely stymied; Kuroko had never seen the confident Slytherin look so bewildered in his entire life.

 

“Daiki, would you?” Akashi asked.

 

Aomine nodded and straightened up, letting his arms fall to his sides. He looked ready to turn the same power he had brought to bear against Murasakibara against Kuroko, and it made Kuroko’s skin shiver with anticipation.

 

If he could turn back the power of someone as strong as Aomine… well, wouldn’t that be something? It wouldn’t matter how strong he was because this power would always make him just as strong as his opponents and allies were.

 

“Dai-kun, be careful,” Momoi said.

 

“I won’t hurt him, jeez,” Aomine said. “You always think the worst of me!”

“Oh I didn’t mean to be careful of hurting Tetsu-kun, he’ll be fine,” Momoi brushed Aomine’s gruff retort off with a smile. “I meant be careful of getting hurt when Kuroko sends your hex right back at you!”

 

“Satsuki you’re the worst,” Aomine said with a small smile.

 

“Only because I’m you’re better half.”

 

Aomine grumbled at this, turning to face Akashi.

 

“Alright, let’s see what you can do.”

 

He cast. Kuroko countered. He could feel the increased power in Aomine’s spell – more wild and stronger than Kise’s power – but he knew before it even made contact that he would be able to repeat his trick. Again, the spell bounced away from Kuroko smoothly. It passed directly through Aomine’s shield, and hit its mark. After having seen what happened to Kise, Aomine had braced himself.  While he didn’t go flying, he did lose his wand, and grunted with the effort of withstanding the full fore of his own spell.

 

“It’s the nature of the shield,” Midorima said, after watching the exchange intently. “I believe I understand now. Kuroko, cast at me.”

 

“Oh come on Mido-kun, share with the rest of us!” Momoi pouted, but Midorima just smiled slightly back.

 

“You’ll see it in just a second,” he promised. “I want to make sure that my theory is correct first. Though I doubt that it would not be.”

 

Kuroko watched Midorima’s shield go up, but it felt somehow different this time. He readied himself to counter Midorima’s spell. This time when it was sent back towards it’s caster, it bounced off in a flash of bright red light, sending sparks flying around the room.

 

“Oh!” Akashi exclaimed, delighted at having figured it out as soon as he had seen Midorima’s theory play out. The smile on his face spelled true disaster for their opponents.

 

“OH!” Momoi’s exclamation was decidedly louder. “This is wonderful!”

 

“If they don’t know –“ Midorima started.

 

“We’ll crush anyone who stands in our way,” Akashi grinned. “We wont give anyone a chance to figure it out.”

 

“This is something none of them will be prepared for,” Momoi said, her eyes bright with excitement. “Nobody will see Tetsu-kun coming.”

 

“Um, excuse me, but could you tell me what is going on?” Kuroko asked.

 

Midorima turned to Kuroko.

 

“It is the fundamental nature of the magic being used on either side of the arena. Normally, shields are cast protectively, and prevent any magic from passing through them. However, when they are cast when a Wizard or Witch also needs to be able to send spells through one side, that intent shapes the spell. In other words, most Wizards or Witches only guard against magic attacking them from other sources. But the magic you are redirecting at them is _their own magic._ ”

 

“So the shield doesn’t register it, and it passes through easily,” Akashi grinned. “We will have to use this ace sparingly, but I imagine having an immediate way to pierce any shield we encounter in battle will be useful indeed. I wonder…”

 

“If his innate magic might cause him to be able to negate the structure of any shield? If it really requires him returning the magic of the shield’s owner, or if he himself could learn to shape the magic as he moves it and cause it to pass through?” Midorima asked. Akashi nodded, and there was an expectant gleam in his eyes.

 

“That, among other things,” Akashi said thoughtfully.

 

Kuroko didn’t like the way Midorima was looking at him like another Runes project and cleared his throat.

 

“So, practice?” he asked.

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“Let’s work on various battle formations,” he started. “We have a nice balance of offensive and defensive capacities on this team…”

 

What balance meant for Akashi was apparently putting Kuroko together with Aomine to test the limits of Kuroko’s abilities.

 

“Try and get the spell to come back at him without Aomine noticing,” Akashi said, and moved off to talk to Kise and Midorima.

 

“OI, Tetsu, we gonna do this, or what?” Aomine asked.

 

Kuroko nodded, taking a dueling stance. Aomine snorted.

 

“You’re never going to be able to dodge with that kind of form,” he said. “You look like you’re about to try and curse me.”

 

He sounded amused at that. It was pretty much exactly what Momoi had told Kuroko earlier, and Kuroko had the same response.

 

“I _am_ about to try and curse you.”

 

Aomine chuckled.

  
“Look Tetsu, you know why Akashi is the best duelist I know?” Aomine asked. Kuroko shook his head, not knowing what the other boy was specifically referring to.

 

“He’s like me,” Aomine continued. “He’s _fast._ I could probably cast more spells more quickly if we were timing it, but he can set off a spell faster than almost anyone from the beginning of the movement to the point of contact. Does that make sense?”

 

Kuroko thought perhaps it did, but he wasn’t sure what point Aomine was making.

 

“He doesn’t look like a threat because he can be just standing there one minute and the next you’ve been cursed. In your case, you don’t need to be _faster,_ you just have to extend the period of time in which you don’t look like you’re dueling.”

 

_Oh._

 

Kuroko didn’t dwell on the irony of the fact that perhaps the showiest spellcaster in the entire school was giving him advice on how to maintain his misdirection, but it made sense. The eye of a duelist immediately slides away from opponents that don’t register as an immediate threat.

 

Keeping himself braced for balance, Kuroko lowered his arm to his side.

 

“You don’t need to movement to block the spell anyway,” Aomine said. “Now come on, let’s duel!”

 

Aomine’s first spell sent Kuroko’s wand flying. Kuroko stumbled back a few steps under the force of the spell. Aomine sighed and summoned Kuroko’s wand.

 

“Again,” he said.

 

This time, Kuroko reflected the spell, but it went well over Aomine’s head.

 

“Your aim is terrible,” Aomine said. “Come on Tetsu, you’re the only one deciding where the spell goes! You’re not throwing something, you’re telling your magic exactly where it’s target is!”

 

Kuroko centered himself, and managed to land the next spell against Aomine’s shield.

 

“Good.”

 

They exchanged several volleys, with Aomine pushing the power level of his spells higher and higher.

 

“I wonder if Dai-kun could cast a curse powerful enough to blast away his own shield,” Momoi said, wandering over to see how they were doing.

 

Aomine’s eyes glinted with excitement.

 

“Let’s try!” he said.

 

Kuroko grimaced. He was already feeling the press of exhaustion. Even just throwing the spells away from him was immensely tiring, more so than Kuroko would have anticipated.

 

He clenched his hands into his fists. He was actually curious to see what the answer was himself.

 

“Yes,” he said. “We’ll try.”

 

He dug his heels into the ground. He knew he was supposed to be practicing his misdirection, but this was a chance he couldn’t pass up.

 

“Careful Tetsu-kun,” Momoi said.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said politely.

 

“Ready Tetsu?”

 

Aomine cast his shield. Kuroko could see the physical manifestation of the power. It was transluscent and dark blue, making the air around Aomine distort as though he was looking through glass.

 

The Gryffindor held out his hand. He didn’t vocalize a spell, but he sent a white ball of fire towards Kuroko.

 

The second Aomine’s spell made contact with the Hufflepuff’s shield, two things happened.

 

The first was that the spell was thrown back towards its caster. It slammed into the shield with a deafening crack like thunder, sparking impossibly bright in the closed room. Aomine shouted as the shield broke, and he stumbled a few steps back as his shield absorbed the last bit of his own power before dissolving. He dropped to one knee, breathing hard.

 

The second thing was that Kuroko was thrown backwards away from the spell. He was lucky to miss a cross of spells between Akashi and Murasakibara, and he hit the ground like a rag doll.

 

“Tetsu-kun!”

 

“Stop!” Akashi yelled immediately, seeing that at least three of the other Champions were still ready to cast their next spell.

 

“Ah, sorry!” Aomine said, running over. He helped the dazed Hufflepuff off the floor.

 

“That was stupid,” Akashi breathed, looking terrified. His fear bled into anger in a second, his eyes blazing.

 

“Daiki, what were you thinking! We practice the way we do because we know exactly where our own limits are, and how they measure up against each other. You can’t just throw around dangerous curses like that! And Satsuki –“

 

“Ah, Sei-kun, I’m sorry,” Momoi said, looking upset before Akashi had so much as said a single word. “I gave Dai-kun the idea. From my calculations regarding their respective power levels, Tetsu-kun should have been fine.”

 

“He’s been fielding curses from all of us all night,” Midorima said. “He’s a fool for not saying he wasn’t able to do a field test like that.”

 

“Sorry,” Kuroko said, from where he was still standing next to Aomine. “I got too excited about trying out a new power. I’ll be more careful.”

 

“See, it’s all fine,” Aomine said, patting Kuroko on the shoulder. “Everything and everyone is fine, so don’t worry so much. Come on Tetsu, I think you’re done for tonight.”

 

Kuroko privately agreed, and he sat back with Momoi as Aomine took on Kise. The two of them were throwing around spells just like the one that had blasted Kuroko onto his ass, and he couldn’t help but feel a little envious.

 

“I think you and Dai-kun make a good pairing,” Momoi said, looking down at her notes. “Neither of you has any sense of when to quit.”

 

“Momoi, you did that on purpose.”

 

Momoi smiled to herself.

 

“I knew you wouldn’t get hurt,” she said. “If the spell hit you you would only be thrown back into a cushioned wall. You weren’t in any danger of being hurt. I wanted to see where the limit of your strength was. You only know where the edges of your power are when you’ve tested them. Your abilities are extraordinary Tetsu-kun, and I’m going to help you develop them to their fullest potential.”

 

Kuroko looked down, trying to hide the fact that he was blushing.

 

“You’re a bit behind them, but you’ll get there,” she said. “All of them know it too. You’ll stand in the same arena as them and you’ll do great things with your magic, just like they will. Not all strength is loud and brash like Dai-kun.”

 

After practice, Akashi pulled him aside.

 

“While this newfound ability is incredibly effective, I want you to focus on training your misdirection,” the captain said bluntly. “Using your ability to move spells will be most effective if our opponents cannot see you coming.”

 

Kuroko nodded, a little disappointed. Being invisible was kind of cool, but this ability to reach out and touch magic, this newfound skill that he was only beginning to get a grip on, was pain _awesome._ Still, he knew that Akashi was thinking in bigger terms – how Tetsuya could best contribute to the skills of the team they had.

 

“By the time the tournament rolls around, I want you to be able to maintain your invisibility while directing spells in this manner. We will begin incorporating those techniques into our strategies, and I will work with Satsuki to develop a training regimen to achieve this goal. Is that acceptable to you?”

 

Kuroko agreed politely, relieved that he would still be able to work on honing his other skills too, and left their practice in high spirits, determined to meet his captains’ high expectations.

…

 

Before anyone had the chance to realize it, two months had passed since the students had arrived at Hogwarts. It was almost Halloween and slowly, the landscape outside was transforming. The skies remained grey, and a bitter chill was on the air.

 

Since their practice a few weeks before, Kuroko had focused on working with the Miracles in order to refine his misdirection. He developed his reflexes so that whenever he redirected a spell, it would hit its mark nine times out of ten. He hadn't returned to Momoi's theories about how strong this ability would be, mostly because working on moving spells while staying out of plain view was already an extremely difficult task in and of itself. Kuroko had worked with each of the Generation of Miracles extensively, getting used to catching and moving their spells, and working on planned formations they could use in a fight.

 

By a wide margin, Kuroko's most common partner in this was Aomine. The Gryffindor was loud, showy, and drew the eye of anyone watching as they were enthralled by his breathtaking displays of magic. He was Kuroko's perfect foil, and they worked together well. 

 

If anyone had asked Kuroko in September if he would have enjoyed spending lots of time dueling with the Generation of Miracles he might have outright laughed in their face. But now, after weeks of practice with them, Kuroko thought maybe they weren't so bad after all. Actually, he was really fired up to see how their training would far against the teams that would be visiting from all over the world. 

 

On Halloween morning, Kuroko was eating breakfast with Ogiwara and the other Hufflepuffs when an owl dropped a package directly into the redhead Hufflepuff's lap. Ogiwara opened the present from his parents and shouted in excitement.

 

“IT’S HERE!” he yelled – unnecessarily, given that Kuroko was right next to him. Reflexively, several of the older students shushed the excitable fourth year from several seats down.

 

“What’s here?” Kuroko asked, when Ogiwara had finished sheepishly apologizing.

 

“The book on magic tricks!” Ogiwara said excitedly. “Here, my mom sent this for you too, along with the book.”

 

He passed Kuroko a small bag of muggle vanilla sweets wrapped with a blue ribbon.

 

“Your mother is amazing,” Kuroko said, putting the sweets into his bag. Ogiwara had already ripped into the package of chocolates that his mother had sent for him.

 

“Yeah, she’s pretty great,” he acknowledged. “So I used to be super into this stuff, which is pretty ironic given -“

 

Here, he gestured to the Great Hall as a whole, encompassing the entirety of their lives. Kuroko supposed it was pretty ironic to grow up as a muggle, obsessed with illusions and sleight of hand and calling it magic, only to find that you could do the real thing.

 

“Take a look, see if there’s anything useful there,” Ogiwara suggested. “I know there’s a lot of card tricks and stuff and none of that is really useful, but it has a whole section on illusions and stuff.”

 

Kuroko was already flipping thoughtfully through the book, trying to decide if there was anything that could be applied to his dueling style.

 

He did see a few tricks that stood out to him. There were two or three new ideas he already had that he was excited to try with Aomine as soon as he got to practice. He was still engrossed in the book when Ogiwara tapped his shoulder to let him know that it was time for them to head to their first class.

 

Kuroko spent most of Potions practicing ‘palming’ ingredients. He could see the obvious benefit of making his opponents believe that he was dueling with nothing in his hands – even just from a psychological standpoint. Ogiwara was watching and keeping up a low commentary on how Kuroko was doing in regards to hiding the ingredient.

 

Kuroko should have known that his distraction would lead to disaster. Halfway through the class, while attempting to empty a quantity of slugs into the potion, Kuroko realized too late that they had failed to stir the mixture six times clockwise, as recommended.

 

As soon as he heard the splash of ingredients into water, he hit the deck.

 

Their cauldron emitted a low hissing noise for several seconds, followed by a high-pitched whine, before turning black and gurgling ominously.

 

“Congratulations, gentlemen, you have made a cheering drought into a deadly poison. I am sure that as entertaining and ironic as this development is, that you can both do better. Ten inches on what went wrong for tomorrow.”

 

Kuroko didn’t protest their Professors assessment, though Ogiwara made a token attempt at doing so.

 

He was distracted, because he had an _idea._

 

“Shige,” he whispered as they packed up their things. “Shige.”

 

Ogiwara finally looked up, wiping a line of sweat from his forehead.

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Shige, remember that time we blew up Midorima’s cauldron?”

 

Ogiwara chuckled.

 

“Good times,” he said. “That was the last time I remember actually blowing up a cauldron in this class too, so I guess we were overdue for some kind of mistake.”

 

“No, Shige, remember how we pulled it off?”

 

Ogiwara frowned.

 

“Isn’t that what you’ve been doing this whole time anyway?” he asked. “Making people look one way with a distraction and then hitting them from the other?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I think I can take it even farther,” he said. “Listen, I need to go talk to Aomine and see if he’ll try something with me during practice. I’ll catch up with you later!”

 

Ogiwara had never seen Kuroko run quite that quickly through the halls. He was kind of jealous of Aomine for a second, before shaking the intrusive feeling off.

 

After all, Aomine was Kuroko’s teammate and quite possibly his dueling partner. If he took on the role of being Kuroko’s light in the arena, that was fine. Ogiwara was Kuroko’s best friend, and that wasn’t going to change anytime soon. He had no reason to be jealous or to let his feelings get away from him.

 

He did, however, have Quidditch practice to get to.  If he was late again the captain was going to actually kill him this time.

 

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come cry to me about basketball homos at [my tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	8. How Many Hufflepuffs Does It Take To Catch A Sticker Bandit?

…

 

**_Third Year:_ **

 

_“You know what I’ve been thinking?” Ogiwara asked as he pulled open the huge wooden door and let the two of them into the great hall._

 

_“What?”_

 

_“That this castle could use a little livening up.”_

 

_Kuroko had to disagree; he had more than enough classwork to be getting on with, without the added work they would need to put into executing yet another prank. Before the words could get out of his mouth, a group of Gryffindors pushed past them on the way to the great hall._

 

_“Oh look, it’s the klutz!” one of the girls shrieked, theatrically dodging around Ogiwara as though being in his mere presence would cause her to trip. Kuroko seriously considered tripping her himself. This urge intensified when he heard the next words that came out of her mouth. “I bet the invisible squib is around here somewhere too!”_

 

_“Pretty fitting: the worst muggleborn student being best friends with the most embarrassing pure blood,” one of them added cruelly._

 

_The tittering group vanished into the Great Hall and Kuroko had to hold Ogiwara’s arm in a death grip to stop him from going after them._

 

_“Is that what they say about you?” Kuroko asked in a voice that was entirely too calm._

 

_“Eh, they’re not wrong, but I could punch them for calling you a squib!” Ogiwara yelled. “You’re not! They just can’t appreciate how cool your magic really is!”_

 

_While Kuroko felt flattered by his friend’s words, he felt the sting of honesty in his classmate’s insults as well. They weren’t exactly wrong about the fact that he barely had enough magical power to call himself a wizard._

 

_“You know what, I think I agree,” he said, almost as much out of his own frustration as a need to calm his friend down and divert the other boy’s attention to something positive. “We do need a distraction. A prank is exactly what the student body needs to relax a bit. Did you have something in mind?”_

 

_Ogiwara turned back to the blue haired boy with a huge grin, the incident with the Gryffindor girls all but forgotten in his excitement._

 

_“Nothing too disruptive or destructive, maybe just some light chaos and a bit of fun,” he said._

 

_“That’s not a specific idea,” Kuroko murmured. “That’s just another Monday for us.”_

 

_“Well, I’ve been thinking about how we could do a magical take on this classic muggle prank. You put a bunch of post-it notes all over a classroom, and it makes it impossible to use anything. It looks really cool, even if it’s super hard to do without magic. And it’s not destructive at all!”_

 

_“What’s a post-it-note?” Kuroko asked, furrowing his brow._

 

_“Well, it’s a smallish square of paper with – eh, you know what, here. I don’t use them a lot but they’re pretty useful when I do.”_

 

_Ogiwara paused just before they reached the stairs so that he could sling his backpack in front of him and rifle through it. A moment later he uttered a sound of triumph and pulled a small square of paper from its contents._

 

_“They have a slightly sticky end,” Ogiwara said, demonstrating how the paper could stick together at the very top. “You can use ‘em to leave notes in books without actually marking them up, and to easily find places in them.”_

 

_Kuroko thought these were rather ingenious, and said so. Ogiwara beamed._

 

_“Okay, well anyway, the classic version of this prank involves taking each one of these by hand and spacing them evenly over things, but there has to be a way to do it faster with magic. I just haven’t found it yet.”_

 

_“Maybe a variation on the levitation charm?” Kuroko suggested. “Moving many things at once? We could try looking for spells to do five or ten at once to cut down the work. So what do you think, just the Great Hall, or did you have bigger plans?”_

 

_“The Great Hall will be more than enough I think,” Ogiwara hummed thoughtfully. “There’s no permanent duplication spell that would make the paper last for as long as we want, but we could make our own post its. All we need is some adhesive potion and parchment, and there’s loads of that in the storerooms.”_

 

_That was true enough._

 

_“Okay, you get the potion, I get the parchment, and we’ll sneak out tonight to do the deed,” Kuroko agreed. They shook on it before heading downstairs to switch out their books before getting food._

 

_It sounded like a delightfully muggle prank. While Kuroko was more than willing to forgive the girls for only speaking the truth, the slur of ‘squib’ burned him deeply too, especially since it was only just barely untrue._

 

_If the student body wanted to call him a squib, he’d show them just how good at being a squib he could be._

 

_As for Ogiwara, he knew that the other boy had a reputation of his own at stake. Both of them wanted to prove to the entire school that they deserved to be here. Kuroko might not have any power and Ogiwara might not have any control, but together they were completely unstoppable._

 

_As far as motivations go, spite is a pretty solid one. Kuroko was beginning to appreciate what the Sorting Hat had said about his Slytherin penchant for revenge._

 

_That afternoon, Ogiwara had gone up to their fifth year Prefect after dinner and innocently asked the older girl to show him a color changing charm. Somehow Ogiwara had managed to convince her that he needed help learning the spell for class, so she helped him bewitch an entire ream of parchment so that it would flash a bright garish orange at regular intervals._

 

_They had used that mass of parchment to create another mass of post-it notes, which Ogiwara had used to create a giant moving image of a basketball bouncing around the hall._

 

_Ogiwara showed him a test sample of the charm on a smaller piece of paper, and Kuroko agreed that it was a brilliant idea. This was after Ogiwara had managed to explain to him what a basketball was and had assured him that the image would be wholly recognizable._

 

_And so it was that at midnight, Kuroko and Ogiwara met in the Entrance Hall, looking around surreptitiously for any ghosts or professors who might be patrolling in the halls trying to catch out of bound students. In their arms, both boys carried massive, bound packages of parchment, magically transformed into fifty-five thousand post-it-notes._

 

_“So, did you have any ideas for how to get these babies up onto the walls?” Ogiwara asked._

 

_Kuroko nodded._

 

_“I don’t know if it will work,” he admitted. “But we can’t do this by hand, not unless we want to be caught, or still be here by the time breakfast starts.”_

 

_Ogiwara agreed, and listened as Kuroko outlined his idea._

 

_“When light shines through a prism, it breaks up,” Kuroko said. “If spells work the same way we could levitate these into place in no time at all. Theoretically, the more sides the prism has, the more times the spell would be magnified.”_

 

_Ogiwara agreed that this sounded like an effective theory, and consented to give it a try._

 

_“So what’s the plan? Did you find a prism or whatever to make it work?”_

 

_Kuroko shook his head._

 

_“You remember that transfiguration spell that we learned ages ago for changing buttons into jewels on a snuff box?” Kuroko asked. Ogiwara nodded._

 

_“I figured, if you cast a minor shield charm, I could cast the second charm and turn the shield itself into a prism, to move the spells?”_

 

_Ogiwara made a face._

 

_“I’ve never heard of anything like that,” he said. “Are you sure it will work?”_

 

_“Momoi thinks it will.”_

 

_Ogiwara groaned loudly._

 

_“OH COME ON,” he complained. “You had to go and involve her? I thought this was just going to be us doing this prank, like back when we were first years!”_

 

_“Well door number two was that we were going to spend the rest of tonight levitating tens of thousands of tiny pieces of paper up the walls, so I didn’t exactly have a choice,” Kuroko said._

 

_“And besides,” Kuroko continued, “how on earth would you know if you’d heard something about a spell or not? You’ve been studying off my notes since November our first year here.”_

 

_Ogiwara grinned unrepentantly._

 

_“Okay genius,” he said. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”_

 

_Ogiwara and Kuroko laid out a pack of the little pieces of parchment, and Ogiwara cast the shield charm._

 

_It was a minor version of protego that students learned in potions to keep dust and spiders or anything else from falling into a potion with disastrous results. At, Ogiwara had more than enough power and control to manage a stable version of the spell. It was perfect for their needs. It could be cast over an object and would stay even after  the spell was finished. This left Ogiwara free to cast the levitation charm - that is if Kuroko was able to control the shield._

 

_“Okay, we’re good,” Ogiwara said. “Ready?”_

 

_Kuroko nodded, his face narrowed in concentration. He cast the spell, keeping firmly in mind exactly how he wanted the shield to change. He felt the magic - warm and familiar, just like Ogiwara._

 

_Kuroko opened his eyes._

 

_The bubble of distorted air over the parchment was glowing slightly. The scant light in the great hall was broken by the many sharp edges and straight lines that now formed it._

 

_“Are you ready for me to try and levitate them?” Ogiwara asked. After a moment of consideration, Kuroko nodded sharply, not trusting himself to speak without accidentally breaking the spell._

_“Okay, here we go.”_

 

_Ogiwara waved his wand in a precise swish, flicking it towards their makeshift post-it-notes._

 

_“Wingardium Leviosa!”_

 

_The spell sparked against the shield, and Kuroko felt the magic moving through it. A rain of small sparks fell across the papers. The entire pile of some nine thousand pieces of parchment rose into the air, the paper fluttering like wings._

 

_“Wicked,” Ogiwara whispered. “Freaking awesome!”_

 

_Kuroko watched the pile of paper rise in a massive circle around them, stuttering and wavering as Ogiwara fought to keep control over it._

 

_“Okay, I think I’ve got this.” Ogiwara said after a moment. He gestured with his wand, and the entire wall of post-its neatly fitted themselves against the stone at the far end of the hall. Ogiwara grinned._

 

_“Next one,” he said, panting for breath._

 

_“Are you sure?” Kuroko asked._

 

_Ogiwara nodded, looking at the slightly sloppy wall of post-it notes behind the teacher’s table._

 

_“Yeah,” he said. “This is too cool not to finished what we started.”_

 

_Kuroko agreed._

 

_They set out the next batch of papers. And the next. Within ten minutes the entirety of the walls were papered with the little squares. The tables were much easier to do after that. Kuroko felt a little smug knowing that the adhesive potion wouldn’t let the squares be removed without some serious magic, or a counter-agent._

 

_As the last square was put in place, Kuroko slumped against one of the benches at the Hufflepuff table, feeling exhausted and drained. Ogiwara whooped in delight and jumped up on one of the benches to loudly cheer in the empty hall._

 

_“Shige, you’ll get us caught,” Kuroko said blandly, watching his best friend celebrate their magical achievement._

 

_“Oh, right,” Ogiwara said. “Okay, and we need to activate the animation spell-”_

 

_Ogiwara performed the spell that would cause the spelled parchments to activate._

 

_As they watched, a bright orange basketball flashed into existence behind the teacher’s table. It bounced a few times before seemingly being thrown to the next wall, where it bounced twice and moved on. It traveled around the room before returning to the teacher’s table again, where it bounced in place before repeating the pattern._

 

_“This is the best prank we’ve ever done.”_

 

_“That’s a highly disputable assertion.”_

 

_Both boys turned to see Momoi walk into the Great Hall, her eyes roving the walls following the basketball on one of its rounds before turning to the two Hufflepuffs._

 

_“Good job,” she smiled brightly. “I had my doubts that you would manage it, but I came to make sure you both made it back to your common room.”_

 

_Ogiwara huffed at the implied insult that they couldn’t take care of themselves. Kuroko ignored him and quietly thanked her, taking the offered hand to help get off the floor._

 

_With Ogiwara’s support moving Kuroko faster than he might have otherwise, the two Hufflepuff boys made haste back to their common room. Momoi parted ways with them on the stairs to make her way back to the dungeons._

 

_Kuroko was awake with the sun, ready and excited to see what the reaction to their prank would be. He was not disappointed._

 

_The two friends made eye contact across the Great Hall and grinned as the entire room erupted into chaos._

 

_It was delightful._

 

...

 

“There is something I want to try,” Kuroko told Aomine seriously at the beginning of practice. Aomine grinned.

 

“Could you conjure… six targets?” Kuroko asked. “In a circle?”

 

Aomine nodded, and with a flick of his hand, six circles made of stone rose out of the ground, like a circle of targets.

 

“I want you to cast your lightning spell at me,” Kuroko continued. “I have a theory I would like to try.”

 

“If this gets me in trouble with Akashi I’m blaming you,” Aomine warned, but he was grinning.

 

Kuroko concentrated on trying to mimic the spell he had used during the post-it-note prank. Thus far, he had managed to move spells and throw them back at their casters, but this would be something new entirely.

 

It would be a weapon nobody would see coming.

 

Aomine cast his lightning at Kuroko. The Hufflepuff was concentrating hard, and he felt the spell successfully split apart.

 

Unfortunately, his aim was a little off, and six bolts of dark blue lightning went spiraling through the room.

 

“Oh shit,” Aomine said succinctly before ducking and pulling Kuroko with him. The lightning bounced around the room, one of the beams shattering one of the targets Aomine had transfigured.

 

The other five were neatly delt with by the other miracles.

 

“I swear these two get up to more trouble than the rest of you put together,” Momoi sighed, still smiling.

 

“Uh, sorry,” Kuroko said politely. “I’ll get better.”

  
“Tetsuya, Daiki,” Akashi said. “Maybe next time, put up a shield?”

 

“Oh, right!” Aomine said. “Yeah let’s do that.”

 

Aomine cast a powerful shield around them to absorb the shock of the next wave of spells.

 

“One more?” he asked Kuroko.

 

“One more,” Kuroko agreed, his eyes burning with determination.

 

“You’re a little scary like that Tetsu,” Aomine said, fixing the broken target with a blast of magic. “Imagine how terrifying it’s going to be when you can combine this with your misdirection.”

 

That was exactly what Kuroko was hoping to do.

 

...

 

Murasakibara, Kise, and Midorima were facing off against Kuroko and Aomine.

 

To test his new theory, Kuroko needed Akashi to have a bird’s eye view of the field. Plus, Murasakibara was easily worth two duelists and Kuroko only had a tacit need to confirm what he believed would work. He was almost certain he could combine his newly emerging power with his misdirection, but he wanted independent confirmation.

 

Kuroko had explained his idea to Aomine and no one else. Akashi had been extremely interested when Kuroko said that he wanted to try out a theory.

 

“Begin!”

 

Kuroko fell back and let Aomine go on the offense. For this to work, he needed a strong, dynamic, creative distraction: in that regard, Aomine was his match made in heaven. Kuroko had talked to Aomine about the plan after practice last week, and he was ready to put it into action.

 

Kuroko diverted the first wave of spells mostly away from himself. Aomine wasn’t just skilled at shields, but also at dodging spells. He burst into action like a bolt of lightning, firing off powerful curse after curse towards the three other Miracles, who had fanned out and begun launching a full frontal attack. 

 

“Alright nerds, come and fight me!” Aomine laughed, dodging right and drawing their attention with bolt after bolt of blue lightning. Kise yelped and jumped away from where it sparked on the flagstones right next to to him, and conjured several illusions of himself to distract Aomine. Aomine snorted and blasted them away. He slammed Kise into a wall and turned to face the other two wizards on his own. Kise groaned and swore form the other side of the ring, running to rejoin his teammates with vengeance in his expression.

 

“I’ll get you for that!” he shouted.

 

“Come and try!” Aomine taunted him.

 

And then, just as they planned, Aomine cast a series of ice spells.

 

Kuroko, who was standing on the other side of the Miracles caught one of them.

 

_I’m invisible, I’m a shadow, you won’t notice me…_

Kuroko split the spell apart, feeling it weaken as it turned into six smaller spells. Instead of directing it towards their opponents, Kuroko directed them towards the ground. They hit their target, spreading into a half circle of ice on the ground in front of Kuroko. Perfect.

 

Kuroko let himself feel a little proud of it, even if he could already feel the strain in his power from the complicated spell work.

 

He knew however that he couldn’t expect the other three Miracles to forget about him for long, so Kuroko moved so he was standing not far away from Midorima, ready to implement the second stage of their plan.

 

“You three have even forgotten about my partner,” Aomine taunted them.

 

“Eh? Murasakibara asked, pausing and looking around. “Where’s Kuro-chin?”

 

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Kuroko said with a blank face.

 

Midorima rolled his eyes and cast a curse towards Kuroko, leaving Kise to handle Aomine. But Kuroko was ready. He bounced the spell back, just as Midorima expected, only to have the spell rebound off of Midorima’s expertly modified shield.

 

“Ready Tetsu?” Aomine asked.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said, tapping two more spells away from him. Midorima was frowning, looking between the two of them trying to figure out what they were planning.

 

Aomine grined and cast two spells at the same time, one at Midorima and one at Kuroko.

 

Kuroko caught the spell, and just like he and Aomine had practiced, he punched into the spell with his own power, making it glow light blue with his own light.

 

He threw the spell towards Murasakibara and forced the giant to take a step back, onto the ice. Murasakibara’s own weight forced him to slide on the ice, overbalancing.

 

Kuroko quickly rolled forward. Aomine cast a spell that summoned a series of flower petals and blasted them around the arena. Muraskibara whined in annoyance and Kise swore loudly, but the flowers did what they were designed to do – they pushed the Kise back onto the thick ice, where he slid and lost their balance, falling back into Murasakibara.

 

From there it was quick work for Aomine to disarm all three of them, and Akashi called the duel.

 

“Oi, nice work Tetsu!” Aomine said, fist bumping the smaller boy. Kuroko grinned up at his partner, and looked over at Akashi.

 

“Well?” Kuroko asked.

 

Akashi considered the blue haired phantom with interest.

 

“Its very similar to your fog gimmick from the tournament, but you are adding layers of complexity to the arrangement,” he admitted. “Of course, all this is dependent on being able to communicate with your partner before the actual fight. That makes it a rather useless tool in the real world, but a passable dueling tactic. We’ll keep this on reserve. In the meantime, I want you to focus on your misdirection and your capacity for moving spells. We can work on offensive tactics later.”

 

“The tactic aside,” Kuroko said impatiently. “Did you notice the spell?”

 

Akashi chuckled, the intensity of his earlier analysis disappearing from his face.

 

“Not until you were already forcing them towards the ice,” he admitted. “I have a feeling your utility will be strongest when all six of us are in the arena together. But in the meantime, whatever inspiration you are drawing from, continue using it.”

 

Kuroko nodded. Obviously, he was still developing his style of dueling, but he was onto something extraordinary here - something he never could have come up with without Akashi.

 

He still could do better though. Even if he wasn’t able to use this power offensively, the most efficient way he could move spells around the arena was when nobody knew exactly where he was. True invisibility was an option, but Kuroko didn’t have the skill or stamina to maintain a spell like that for any meaningful length of time. This left him to rely on the odd quirk that was his natural misdirection. If he could enhance it, it wouldn’t matter that he couldn’t fight: he could take his opponents out with barely any power at all.

 

He saw the value in the skill set Akashi was emphasizing. And Kuroko was the only person who would be able to pull off a style like that, which made him unique –literally one of a kind.

 

Truly, being able to practice moving and fragmenting the spells of his partners during a duel would be useful. And no matter how good at dueling or moing around spells Kuroko got, he would never be as strong as the Miracles were. This tactic gave him the chance to make their strength his own, and to be more powerful than he could otherwise be.

 

It was a win-win situation.

 

Akashi set them to running practice drillsfor the rest of their allotted time. Kuroko was beat by the end of the night, and stumbled back down to his dorm. He had another ten pages of reading for Charms, but that just wasn’t going to happen.

 

After all, what was class compared to the fact that Kuroko was on the cusp of proving to himself and everyone else that he had deserved this spot?

 

…

 

All things considered, Nijimura was pleased with how training was proceeding. He had seriously considered giving up the position of Head Boy to compete in the tournament (because hexing other students was an inherently more interesting proposition than enforcing school rules), but he had been assured that his responsibilities as captain would not interfere with his ability to remain Head Boy.

 

Honestly, Nijimura even mostly liked the students he was competing with.

 

Kiyoshi was naive and airheaded, but he had an instinct for tactics that worked well with his power, even if the Hufflepuff wasn’t the most creative of duelists and almost always seemed like he was a few birds short of an owlery up top.

 

What Kiyoshi lacked in creativity, Hanamiya Makoto more than compensated for with his own distinctly inventive style of dueling.  Nijimura had been worried about having to work with Hanamiya.The boy was a known troublemaker and potentially a bully (though he had no hard proof of that, not even the complaints of students). However, Hanamiya seemed perfectly content to throw himself into dueling as a creative outlet.

 

The clear powerhouse of the group was Nebuya. After seeing how magically powerful the other boy ways, Nijimura officially had no more comments on the sheer volume of food he packed away on a regular basis. There was no way anyone with that level of magical power could consume a normal amount of food.

 

Mibuchi was, if anything, Nebuya’s exact opposite in so many ways. The boy was respectful to a fault, and was constantly berating Nebuya for his manners. His specialty was based in healing and runes, but he possessed the power and finesse of a talented offensive dueler as well.

 

And then there was Hayama. Hayama Kotaro was small, and childish, and annoying, but he was very, very good at illusions. He was no Kise Ryouta, that Nijimura was quick to admit, but he made up for a lack of power with a level of creativity the fourth year could only dream of. The Slytherin deserved his house several times over with his ambition too, and could always be counted on to have just one more card up his sleeve just in case.

 

If someone had asked Nijimura at the beginning of summer if he would have enjoyed spending the majority of his seventh year at Hogwarts training a group of fifth and sixth years how to duel, he would have laughed in their faces, but he was actually having fun.

 

Any time Nijimura found himself regretting his decisions, he reminded himself that at least he wasn’t in charge of leading the fourth years, and this cheered him up considerably.

 

Today, Hanamiya had asked to try out a technique he had been working on for several weeks, so Nijimura consented to let him run their duel. Hanamiya had set himself up against Kiyoshi, Nebuya, and Nijimura, the three most powerful members of the team.

 

“Alright, Makoto, let’s see what you’ve got,” Nijimura said. “Just don’t make this a waste of my time.”

 

Hanamiya smirked.

 

“Aw, captain, I would never do that to you!” he called back. “You know that I respect you too much.”

 

Yeah, right.

 

Nijimura braced himself, and called the start of the duel.

 

He wasn’t surprised when Hanamiya fell back, allowing his more aggressive teammates to attack first. Nebuya cast three spells before Mibuchi managed to conjure a shield around himself, Hanamiya, and Hayama. It stood up to another barrage of spells from Kiyoshi and Nebuya, while Nijimura drew back slightly, trying to evaluate the situation.

 

And then Hayama was bursting to the left, out of the protection of the shield, throwing spells towards his opponents as he ran.

 

“Stay on Hanamiya,” Nijimura told his teammates, breaking from their tight configuration to chase after the Gryffindor as he tried to flank them.

 

The small boy dived into a roll as Nijimura pursued him, cursing himself as he realized too late that he’d made the wrong call, and should have kept his eyes on Hanamiya himself. He glanced over his shoulder, verifying that Mibuchi and Hanamiya were still preoccupied with Kiyoshi and Nebuya before advancing on his own prey. Nijimura didn’t see the illusion Mibuchi had cast in the wake of one of Nebuya’s more explosive spells nor did he register that the Ravenclaw had taken off in the other direction as soon as Nijimura’s focus had fallen on Hayama.

 

Nijimura had Hayama trapped against the side of their arena, but the other boys’ shield was holding strong as the seventh year fired curses at it. He heard Nebuya casting spells behind him, and felt the ground rumble as Kiyoshi transfigured several of the cobblestones into what had to be giant dogs, judging from the barking behind him.

 

Hayama rushed Nijimura, ducking under his arm and avoiding another round of spells. Nijimura turned and ran after him, but he found himself _stuck._

 

Nijimura cursed and looked down, finding a set of vines winding around his feet and up his legs. He jerked his foot angrily, and the vine constricted, thorns digging deeply into Nijimura’s leg.

 

“What the fuck, Hanamiya!” he shouted.

 

“I call it the spider’s web,” Hanamiya said from the other side of the arena, where he was standing, barely out of breath, between Hayama and Mibuchi. Nebuya and Kiyoshi were both wrapped head to toe in vines. Kiyoshi looked sheepish and amused. Nebuya looked furious.

 

“I let Hayama distract you while I set the snare, letting you focus on the bigger threat,” Hanamiya said, looking incredibly proud of himself at the successful deception. “Do you yield?”

 

Nijimura rolled his eyes. Okay, it was kind of impressive. He was impressed. But he didn’t like other people getting the best of him, especially not cocky fifth years who wouldn’t know the meaning of respect if it punched them in the face. He wasn’t going to yield.

 

With an unspoken spell, he set fire to the vines around him, but Hanamiya didn’t look concerned.

  
Actually, he looked thrilled, which Nijimura should have taken to mean something very bad was about to happen to him. He registered that too late to do anything about it though, and cursed quietly as he felt the ground lurnch under him. Suddenly he felt incredibly lightheaded and dizzy.

 

His vision swam, Hanamiya’s mocking face falling out of view as he hit the ground hard. That was odd. Hitting his knees on the stone should have been incredibly painful, but it didn’t hurt at all.

 

A second later, he was unconscious.

 

Nijimura blinked his eyes open a few minutes later, and he was _pissed._ He came up swinging, looking for Hanamiya Makoto’s blood, but Mibuchi pushed him back down gently, not letting him get any traction.

 

“Easy, Captain,” Mibuchi said calmly. “You’re fine now, we gave you the antidote.”

 

“The antidote to _what?”_ Nijimura snapped, unamused.

 

“The vines release a poisonous fume when cut or burned,” Mibuchi explained, moving aside to let Nijimura sit up. The Head Boy glared at Mibuchi, and at Hayama who looked pretty smug as well, but he reserved his fury for Makoto himself. The boy in question was leaning against the opposite wall looking damn proud of himself.

 

“I didn’t think you would fall for it,” Hanamiya said, barely holding back a smile. “You _know_ me and you still fell for it. Priceless.”

 

This was punctuated by an infuriating snigger.

 

As if Nijimura wasn’t kicking himself enough already.

 

“If you _ever,_ ” he enunciated clearly, “do that to me again, I’ll have you scrubbing cauldrons in detention until you _graduate._ ”

 

Hanamiya smiled, and it was all teeth. Nijimura questioned, not for the first time, the wisdom of teaching a child who was already a borderline sociopath some very complex, dangerous types of magic, and then setting him loose on another school.

 

They could be disqualified if Hanamiya tried to pull something awful without his knowledge during the tournament. Worse, someone might get hurt. And the look on Hanamiya’s face right now was telling Nijimura in no uncertain terms he wouldn’t give a shit if either of those things happened.

 

Well, good thing he still had to answer to Nijimura then. Lucky Nijimura.

 

“I was just trying to develop a working strategy,” Hanamiya shrugged carelessly. “I’m not strong like the rest of you. My specialty is in potions, and I’m not even as good at illusions as Hayama is. How else can I fight against monsters like the bunch of you if I don’t resort to tactics like this? I can’t fight the way the rest of you can, but I can help with this.”

 

Nijimura didn’t believe that sob story for a second. And in that moment, he promised himself that he would never underestimate or overlook Hanamiya Makoto again. The boy was dangerous, and someone was going to get hurt if Nijimura didn’t keep an eye on him.

 

“Now now, Captain,” Kiyoshi cut in lightly, always the peacemaker. “I thought it was some pretty awesome magic.”

 

Hanamiya sneered at Kiyoshi.

 

“Hey, don’t be rude to a Prefect!” Nebuya cut in. “Just because you’re an asshole to the rest of the school doesn’t mean you get to be one to your own teammates without being held responsible for it!”

 

“Hey, now there’s no reason for-”

 

“Go fuck yourself, Nebuya, how about that-”

 

“I oughta pound you into the ground to teach you some respect!”

 

Nijimura’s head fell back in frustration as the majority of his team exchanged insults, not wanting to deal with any of them right now.

 

“I could kill him for you if you want,” Mibuchi said lightly as they watched Hayama trying to curse Nebuya and the Gryffindor retaliating by blasting a hole into the floor next to where Hanamiya was standing. The blonde Slytherin was being even more combative than usual, with was frustrating and bothersome.

 

Nijimura shook his head.

 

“Nah, smart money says that he’s managed to ingest enough of his own poison that he’d just start emitting noxious gasses if he died.”

 

Mibuchi shrugged.

 

“If you’re sure. It would probably get my robes too messy anyway. And it wouldn’t be polite.”

 

Some days, Nijimura wondered if Akashi really had the better deal after all.

 

Maybe he’d ask the other boy to trade spots.

 

In the meantime-

 

“HAYAMA DON’T YOU DARE!”

 

...

 

Momoi did not have any suggestions for how Kuroko could further improve his misdirection. She did, however know exactly who might be able to help him.

 

The irony of her revelation was not lost on any of them.

 

“Are you playing a prank on me?” Kuroko asked curiously. Momoi shook her head.

 

“I would never do anything like that to you, Tet-chan,” she said. “I’m being serious!”

 

Kuroko resigned himself to seeking out Takao Kazunari.

 

It could be worse, he assured himself. At least Takao never had a problem actually _seeing_ him. Trying to catch the attention of someone he didn’t know was a bother Kuroko rarely felt up to dealing with.

 

“Thank you,” he said.

 

Takao was not a hard person to seek out. The Gryffindor was loud, charismatic, and made no attempt to hide at any point. Kuroko found him in one of the outer courtyards, flirting with a sixth year girl wearing a Ravenclaw tie. Kuroko politely waited for the girl to leave before approaching Takao.

 

“Well now, you’ve been waiting quite patiently,” Takao smirked. “What can I do for you?”

 

“Momoi Satsuki said you know about muggle magic tricks,” Kuroko said. “She suggested if I wanted to learn how to properly apply the techniques, that I should come find you.”

 

Takao considered the smaller boy in front of him.

 

“I still dislike you,” he said finally. “But I’m curious now. What on Earth has you interested in muggle party tricks, when you can do the real thing?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I want to be able to use my misdirection to its fullest extent inside of a dueling arena, no matter the number of opponents I have,” he said.

 

Understanding lit in Takao’s eyes.

 

“You’re a cruel man, Kuroko,” he said after a moment, laughing a little. “Making me help you get stronger for the tournament when you got your spot by beating me. I had almost forgotten that you ended up using that fight to catapult yourself into the ranks of the Generation of Miracles.”

 

Kuroko just stared at the other boy until he laughed again, more genuinely this time, and put a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

“Alright, I’ll help you learn how to use some old fashioned muggle magic tricks. Not because I like you, because I don’t, but because I can’t wait to see the faces on those pureblood elitists when you wipe the floor with every single one of them by using muggle trickery.”

 

Kuroko would take that. Really, he’d take anything that helped him strengthen the only real advantage he had in a fight.

 

“When do we begin?” Kuroko asked.

 

“No time like the present,” Takao said. “Take a seat.”

 

…

 

The fourth year Hufflepuffs were getting ready for bed together when Furihata asked which of them intended to stay for the holidays.

 

“Who all is staying for Christmas?”

 

“I’m going home, my mom really wants to see me,” Kawahara admitted. “I think she still really misses me whenever I’m here, and she’s always super worried about me getting sick again, even if I haven’t been sick since that stupid Dragon Pox situation.”

 

Sympathetic nods went around the circle as Sakurai admitted that he was in a similar boat as Kawahara, though this was because his parents were muggles and worried about their wizard of a son, not because he got sick regularly.

 

“Well we all know I’m not gonna be here,” Fukuda said uncomfortably.

 

“Oh right, your family’s _pagan_ , right?”

 

Fukuda nodded stiffly in response to Furihata question, and the awkward tension was only dissolved by Ogiwara’s interjection.

 

“Well, nobody at my house wants me there so-”

 

“Jesus Christ, Ogiwara, stop being melodramatic. Your parents are going to your cousin’s wedding in Japan and _you_ decided not to go with them,” Furihata interjected.

 

Ogiwara laughed loudly, raising his hands in surrender and turned to Kuroko.

 

“Well, Tetsu, are you leaving me here with Furihata for the break?”

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“I decided not to go home for Christmas this year,” he said.

 

“Oh, why not?” Kawahara asked.

 

Kuroko shrugged, but it was Sakurai who provided the answer.

 

“Does that decision have anything to do with the rumor that the rest of the Generation of Miracles are staying for Christmas too?” he asked slyly.

 

Kuroko blushed but didn’t deny it.

 

“Are you serious?” Ogiwara demanded. “You never chose to stay at Hogwarts for the holidays before. It took your parents taking your grandmother to another freaking country to make you spend Christmas here last winter. But Akashi freaking Seijuro asked you and you just decide to stay no questions asked? Who even are you?”

 

“Akashi merely pointed out the value in having extended practice time for the team to work together more smoothly,” Kuroko said. “The schools are arriving in a month. We do not have much time left to prepare for the tournament.”

 

Ogiwara sputtered angrily, but Sakurai looked quite proud.

 

“It’s good that you’re focusing on improving,” he said. “I’m looking forward to watching all of you compete.”

 

Kuroko nodded in thanks.

 

“It’ll be fun having more Hufflepuffs here for the break!” Furihata said. “Usually it’s just me and a handful of older students, but it’s going to be pretty lively around here this year! I’m glad you guys are both going to stay again, last year was pretty fun.”

 

Kuroko looked down, blushing at the reminder that he’d _had_ to spend last Christmas here. Ogiwara had decided to stay to keep him company and found a way to rope Momoi into doing the same. He was grateful, but it was still a little embarrassing.

 

As always, Ogiwara came to the rescue by being loud and seemingly unaware that anything was wrong at all.

 

“That’s right!” he said, ruffling Kuroko’s hair. “We’re going to have the best Christmas ever! Again! You guys should all be jealous of us awesome Hufflepuffs partying it up here every night. Partying for _days_ guys.”

 

“Uh huh,” Fukuda said, eyeing Kuroko and Furihata briefly, assessing their likelihood of assenting to spending all of Christmas break _partying_ and finding it wanting.

 

“Yeah, I kind of wish I was staying,” Sakurai admitted enviously, ignoring that exchange. “We could have a whole Hufflepuff House Christmas! It would be really fun.”

 

“Someday, we’ll do that,” Ogiwara said seriously. “We should find a way to get all of us together for the holidays some time!”

 

This was a popular idea, and even Fukuda admitted that he wished it was something that they could make happen.

  

…

 

Kuroko’s several hour long conversation with Takao had led him to understand some of the concepts he had not been able to visualize just by reading about them. He was interested to note that many of the techniques were concepts he already knew – had been using for years, in fact, to make his pranks work successfully.

 

Takao had used a Galleon coin to show Kuroko some basic muggle tricks, and appropriated a small stack of chocolate frog cards to illustrate some similar elements of misdirection.

 

Takao also had some suggestions for how Kuroko could practice his misdirection, since Kuroko had no control over the magical elements of it. He’d set Kuroko a series of tasks he was meant to be practicing.

 

Today, Kuroko’s game was trying to place a colored marker on each of the members of his house. Takao had merely said four people, but Kuroko had chosen the four he was closest with. After all, they lived with him and thus were more sensitive to his presence.

 

To make the game harder, Kuroko’s goal was to do so not just without their notice, but without them becoming aware of his presence at all.

 

In other words, he was going to disappear for the day.

 

Kuroko was worried he might be stretching the limits of people’s ability to not notice him, especially with this particular group. However, if it worked, he would have an excellent tool he could fold into Akashi’s dueling tactics. He knew that the redhead was already planning strategies best carried out by someone entirely invisible – something even Kise couldn’t do, for all that he was extremely skilled with illusions.

 

Kuroko woke earlier than his roommates, getting dressed as quickly and quietly as he could to avoid waking them up. If they didn’t see him at all today, it would be easier to sneak up on them.

 

He was using a set of bright pink stickers Momoi had lent him for this purpose. He gave himself until dinnertime to successfully get one of those stickers on each of his dorm mates.

 

He got Fukuda when the other boy came down to breakfast and sat right next to him without noticing him at all. Kuroko wondered if he should be insulted about how easy it was. Then again, he usually ate with Ogiwara, and the other Hufflepuff was more than loud enough to catch anyone’s attention. Nobody would be looking for Kuroko without Ogiwara.

 

He caught Kawahara as he left the Great Hall, and decided to lay low for a few hours, so as to not try his luck. After all, it would be even harder to catch his dorm mates if they noticed he’d been missing for a decent part of the day.

 

Kuroko stretched and headed off in the direction of the library so that he could work on practicing the spell they would be using in Monday’s Charms class. The fact was that his low levels of stamina and very small reserves of magical power remained an obstacle to his success in class. As a result he hoped that the stars aligned perfectly in his favor, and prepared diligently for every class and test.

 

As far as Kuroko was concerned, the work was worth it to prove to his teachers he belonged here, even if he was barely more than a squib.

 

His practice with muggle magic tricks and misdirection? That was about proving the same thing to himself.

 

Kuroko swiped his lunch from the kitchens after most of the school had already eaten so that he wouldn’t disturb the House Elves during their busiest period. He took the long way around back to the common room.

 

Kuroko had never been actively trying to avoid attention before. Even when he was practicing for the tournament, he’d been focusing on offensive power. When he worked on pranks with Ogiwara and Momoi, he never spent large amounts of time in public just walking down the halls.

 

It was eerie, to realize how most people didn’t _see_ him at all. Their eyes slid right over him. Kuroko knew that part of it was that very few of them knew who he was. He didn’t speak up in class. He didn’t stand out in any way. He wasn’t strong enough to challenge any of them – or at least, hadn’t been until recently. But this, this had to be his magic, pure and simple.

 

Kuroko entered the common room, noticing Sakurai by the fireplace playing exploding snap with Mitobe – one of the fifth years.

 

Feeling bold, and overly confident, Kuroko went and sat right next to Sakurai.

 

There was no reaction at all.

 

Kuroko watched Mitobe and Sakurai play two rounds of exploding snap, both of them grinning and slightly singed, before he placed a sticker on Sakurai’s shoulder and got up. Neither boy said anything as he walked away.

 

It was like he was a ghost.

 

Kuroko didn’t find Ogiwara in their dorm, or the library, or anywhere in the halls. He was worried that he’d given up his only shot to successfully tag his best friend by leaving breakfast early and skipping lunch in the Great Hall, when he stumbled across the other Hufflepuff purely by accident.

 

Ogiwara was dressed in his Quidditch gear and soaking wet as he made his way through the entrance hall along with two other members of the Hufflepuff team. None of them noticed as Kuroko walked right by them, putting his fourth and final sticker on Ogiwara, ending his game.

 

It was exciting. It was enthralling. But Kuroko’s elation at his victory bled to fear almost as soon as it arrived. Kuroko’s power was also terrifying.

 

Kuroko had a very real concern about the fact that apparently, when he wasn’t actively trying to draw attention, he was all but forgotten. What if he got hurt or lost? He hoped his subconscious magic would know the difference and allow him to eventually cross people’s minds, but what if it didn’t?

 

What if he just walked out of Hogwarts and never came back? Would anyone actually notice? Would they just keep on with their lives as though Kuroko had never been there to start with?

 

That was a terrifying thought.

 

Kuroko was in a black mood as he walked back down towards the common room. He didn’t know why his victory here felt so sour, but in this case, winning felt too much like losing.

 

Kuroko opened the door to his dorm, not expecting any of his dorm mates to be there already, but when he did, he was accosted by all four of them, led by Ogiwara.

 

“Where the hell were you today?” Ogiwara demanded. “I tried to find you in the library, but you weren’t there, and Momoi said she hadn’t seen you either. I even tried to go ask Kise where you were, and he had no idea!”

 

“And none of us saw you today either!” Sakurai added. “We’re sorry! We got so worried when Ogiwara said he couldn’t find you at all, and then we realized that we didn’t even notice you weren’t right there!”

 

Kuroko wasn’t sure what the feeling was that rose up inside him as Ogiwara had confronted him. He was elated and riding high on his victory, yes. But there was relief there too.

 

For all that he was putting a lot of hope on this skill to help him become strong, it was kind of comforting to know that Ogiwara, while he might not always notice Kuroko right away, would always _remember_ him. And since that didn’t appear to be the case with the vast majority of the Hogwarts population – even their own roommates – he was glad Ogiwara was an exception.

 

Kuroko bit the inside of his cheek to keep himself from being overcome with gratitude towards the other boy. Instead, when he felt that he’d collected himself enough, he explained the object and goal of his game.

 

The others were interested, though clearly put out that they’d failed a contest they didn’t even know they were having. Ogiwara proclaimed that if he hadn’t been at Quidditch practice the entire day, that Kuroko would have had no chance of disappearing on him. Kuroko wondered if that really was true. Ogiwara often had trouble _seeing_ him, but he never _forgot_ about him, which was exactly the inverse of Takao’s interaction with Kuroko’s powers. Kuroko wanted to know why that was the case.

 

Even Akashi had to have an exceptional reason to notice and remember him at first. Something Kuroko reminded the redhead of teasingly the next time he saw him in practice.

 

“It’s very interesting that a select few are immune to specific parts of your abilities,” Akashi said thoughtfully. “Takao Kazunari obviously is unaffected by your immediate misdirection, but I have noticed that very few people mention your name at all then they talk about the champions. From your description of your relationship with Shigehiro, he rarely forgets about you, but still often fails to notice your immediate presence. What a mystery.”

 

“It’s not something I do on purpose,” Kuroko said softly.

 

“But what if it could be?” Akashi asked, his eyes glinting with interest. “I wonder if it is an ability you could one day begin to actively control. I have been assuming that your shield merely aids you in going unnoticed, but I am beginning to think it is significantly more complicated than that.”

 

Kuroko wondered the same thing, though he didn’t like the implications. Certainly, he wanted to know why it was that his subconscious mind was somehow using his ambient magic to continually cause people to forget about him.

 

If he could harness that power deliberately…

 

“I want you to try your experiment again,” Akashi said. “But I want to see how you fare against a set of opponents who are prepared for your misdirection, and who can sense your magical signature when they look for it.”

 

Kuroko had a bad feeling about this.

 

“It’s a good thing we have all of Christmas to work on our training schedule,” Akashi said.

  
“Because I believe your misdirection has developed sufficiently enough to make the break an excellent opportunity to test your misdirection against the Generation of Miracles. We’ll call it a test run of your misdirection. If you can go unnoticed by your own teammates, you will be ready to use it in a duel.”

 

Yeah, Kuroko was pretty sure he was doomed.

 

**...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, come cry to me at [my shitty tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	9. The Plotless Fluff of a Christmas Episode You Should Probably Enjoy While You Can

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Squint and you can see the future.

…

 

**_Third Year:_ **

 

_Kuroko got the letter by owl post on December first. It was as formal and removed as any other diplomatic letter he was sure his mother had ever written._

 

Dear Tetsuya.

 

I have been called to oversee a delicate diplomatic negotiation. Grandmother will be joining us in order to holiday in the region. Unfortunately, we will not be able to bring you with us, so I ask that you sign up to remain at Hogwarts over the break.

 

_That was it._

 

_Kuroko didn’t react outwardly to the letter, but he did feel the sinking grip of disappointment. It was the same way it had always been with his mother. She was a diplomat with the International Confederation of Wizards, and he never quite knew where she was or how long she would be. His father was an attaché that would go with her across the world, negotiating difficult treaties and bringing peace._

 

_Kuroko loved his parents and he was very proud of them. Most of the time, they were very good about making sure that on the few holidays he would spend at school, they were in England._

 

_He’d been mostly raised by his maternal grandmother, and even when his parents wouldn’t come home until right before Christmas, or had to leave early the next day to get back to work, she had always been there for him._

 

_Instead of letting his disappointment show on his face, Kuroko pulled out another piece of parchment and wrote a concise letter back._

 

I understand. Happy Christmas.

 

_The Kuroko family was one of few words, and Kuroko was no exception. He wasn’t really all that mad about the situation, just disappointed. He felt abandoned. True, he wouldn’t be the only Hufflepuff staying over winter break – Furihata would be there, as he had been every single Christmas holiday before. But even with another member of his house, Kuroko still thought it was going to be a pretty lonely break. As quiet as family’s house was, Kuroko was going to miss spending the holiday with his grandmother._

 

_Additionally, Kuroko had gotten used to his time at Hogwarts being filled with boisterous classmates, loud friends, and warmth. He didn’t want to think about being on his own in the castle over the break._

 

_Kuroko had retired to an outdoor courtyard which was dusted with snow from the night before, and set himself to practicing the transfiguration charm they were supposed to be perfecting over break – turning a Teapot into a Tortoise and back again._

 

_So far, Kuroko had only limited success with the spell. Grumpily, he waved his wand at the teapot he’d been assigned during class for the purpose of practice._

 

_The teapot began to morph, successfully taking on a hard outer shell (one that still carried the pale floral pattern on the original teapot), and developed into an otherwise mostly white and beige tortoise._

 

_Well, that wasn’t so bad._

 

_For a moment, Kuroko felt his spirits lift as he examined the little creature he’d created out of a teapot. It was almost a shame he had to turn it back. It was honestly kind of cute._

 

_Kuroko was just considering what to name his new little friend when it opened it’s mouth and a loud, jarring, piercing screech came out of it’s mouth, more high pitched and violent than the sound of a boiling kettle. The sound was followed by billowing clouds of bright pink smoke that smelled like rotting eggs and quickly filled up the entire courtyard._

 

_Kuroko coughed, waving his hand in front of his face and scrambling for his wand. He quickly reversed the spell, leaving the teapot mostly intact (though cracked, and issuing an ever-thinning stream of the thick smoke)._

 

_Kuroko kicked the thing into a snowbank and covered his face with his robes until the wind picked up enough to clear away the results of his disastrous attempt._

 

_Kuroko found himself thinking that this was an all too apt comparison to how he felt right now. He scuffed his shoes in the snow under the bench. As his heart rate lowered back to a normal pace and the surprise of the spell had worn off, his earlier melancholy returned full force._

 

_He had counted on a fairly lonely holiday, but as soon as the sign up list was posted, Ogiwara found Kuroko where he was hiding in the courtyard, and confronted him about it._

 

_“Why are you staying this year?” he demanded. Kuroko shrugged._

 

_“My parents won’t be home,” he said flatly. “They got called away for work. It happens.”_

 

_Ogiwara paused for a moment, and then folded his arms._

 

_“What luck,” he said. “My parents are on holiday too, which means we’ll get the castle to ourselves!”_

 

_Kuroko fixed Ogiwara with a glare that could have melted steel._

 

_“You are a really bad liar.”_

 

_Ogiwara shrugged, looking around with a baffled look on his face that was so contrived that Kuroko would have laughed if he wasn’t a little angry._

 

_“I have no idea what you mean,” Ogiwara said._

 

_“You shouldn’t stay here because I am, that’s just stupid.”_

 

_Ogiwara knocked on Kuroko’s forehead with his knuckles, grinning at him._

 

_“Earth to Kuroko, anyone home? I just told you why I’m staying and it’s got nothing to do with you. God, you’ve always got to be the center of attention, don’t you?”_

 

_The words were so clearly sarcastic that any trace of annoyance evaporated, leaving only gratitude behind. Kuroko stared at Ogiwara for a long time, the chilly winter air swirling around them, picking up some flakes of powdery snow from the ground as it did. The look Ogiwara was giving him was determined and just asking for Kuroko to challenge his stated reasons for remaining at Hogwarts over the break._

 

_“You are an idiot,” Kuroko said._

 

_“Oh yeah, definitely.”_

 

_“I know what you’re doing and please don’t,” Kuroko said, his last ditch effort to convince the other boy to go home and spend the holiday with his family._

 

_“Doing?” Ogiwara asked, a large grin overtaking his face. “Tetsu, I’m not doing anything at all! I’m just glad that we’re going to be able to spend Christmas together for the first time! It’ll be fantastic, we’ll unwrap presents together, enjoy the holidays. It’s gonna be awesome!”_

 

_Kuroko felt his breath catch in his throat. His eyes burned in gratitude._

 

_“Oh, brace yourself,” Ogiwara said, clapping Kuroko on the shoulder. “Momoi said she’s staying too – I guess she decided she didn’t want to go to those stuffy pureblood balls all break, and who could blame her? Guess she really does have a head on her shoulders. Anyway, she’ll be here too. We need to come up with an excellent prank to do. See you later!”_

 

_Kuroko watched his friend go, leaving his footprints behind in the snow._

 

_When he was sure nobody was watching him, he sank back down onto the bench behind him and pressed his hand to his mouth, trying to muffle the loud outpouring of tears that came. Kuroko heaved for breath and fought unsuccessfully as a full-blown river of tears flowed down his cheeks and over his hand._

 

_Kuroko had to wonder how on Earth he’d managed to find people with so much kindness in their hearts, and so much loyalty towards him._

 

Make your home in the house of those that will work hard and never give up no matter the odds, among those who will never betray you.

 

_The Sorting Hat had been absolutely right._

 

_Kuroko cried himself out, and he finally managed to force himself to stop as the sun went down completely, leaving the courtyard in darkness. It had started snowing again. His pale blue hair had flecks of snow stuck in it, and his robes were dusted with the white powder as well._

 

_Kuroko sniffed. His cheeks were red from crying and from the cold, and his eyes showed clear signs of his tears. He wiped at his face with his sleeve until he was sure he could blame anything odd about his appearance on the cold outside, rather than having just cried himself silly with gratitude for the strength of his friendships._

 

God, _Kuroko admonished himself,_ I’m such a Hufflepuff.

 

_Still, he did feel a lot better about having to spend Christmas away from home._

 

…

 

Christmas break came in a flurry of snow and freezing air rushing through the castle. The torches were lit around the clock, and the suits of armor all seemed to emanate warming charms, like an army of elaborate heaters.

 

As December started, the entire castle seemed to have taken on a mood of excess festivity. A good portion of the school was staying over the break, including all twelve champions. Gossip abounded whether Nijimura had made the decision to keep the senior champions there before or after Akashi had done so. Within a day of this information making the rounds at Hogwarts, the rumor mill had become convinced that there was some kind of secret dramatic feud between the two captains.

 

None of those rumors actually touched on the truth, which was the fact that Nijimura was making his decisions concurrently with the captain of the junior division. But of course, the idea of two of them having a cordial, professional relationship was significantly less interesting than the lurid, dramatic alternatives being proposed.

 

The weather turned bitterly cold, and soon enough only a handful of midterm examinations stood between the students and several weeks of freedom.

 

Unfortunately, even those handful of midterm examinations were still a pretty hefty load. By the time the Thursday afternoon before their last exam rolled around, everyone in the castle was ready to quit.

 

This was not helped by the fact that it had started snowing Wednesday night and yet to stop. The castle was pretty much entirely shut down by the snow that just kept falling with no end in sight. The already icy ground collected the snow and allowed it to just keep building up into high snowbanks. So trapped in the castle, which was blessedly warm thanks to the use of Merlin knew how many enchantments, the students were able to do nothing but study. It was driving everyone a little stir crazy.

 

“GOD, SOMEONE MAKE THIS END!” Furihata burst out in frustration one afternoon in the library, the day before their last exam of the semester. Several students sitting at the surrounding tables looked up in annoyance and shushed him at the noise.

 

“Sorry!” Furihata whispered back, shrinking at the particularly nasty glare one of the fifth years sent him.

 

“We’re almost there,” Ogiwara said in a hushed voice. He might have sounded convincing if not for the fact that his own eyes were beginning to glass over from staring at his notes.

 

“You know like four professors have started talking about _O.W.L.s already_ and they’re a year and a half away?” Kawahara moaned quietly. “We’re not gonna make it.

 

Kuroko snapped his Potions textbook shut with a snap that drew the eyes of his housemates, though thankfully no glares from the other tables.

 

“We need to be studying,” he reminded them, not quite reprovingly, but close to it. He already knew he had no chance of performing the practical aspect of every exam, which meant this period of cramming was all the more vital for him. “I do not want to fail these exams.”

 

“Why don’t we go back to the common room and quiz each other?” Sakurai suggested. “Maybe moving a bit and not staring at our textbooks will help us get back into the mood to study.”

 

All of the fourth year Hufflepuffs agreed that this was the case, and packed up their belongings to leave.

 

Kuroko reminded himself that as much as he hated this, if he let up for a single moment on studying, he wasn’t going to be able to make up the difference with power, the way most of his housemates could – like the Generation of Miracles could. He had to be technically perfect and extremely well versed in the theory if he wanted to maintain his scores.

 

He could admit to being jealous of them, if only in his own head. But that jealousy wouldn’t make him a better wizard; only hard work could do that.

 

…

 

“Here’s to being done with tests!” Fukuda cheered as they left their classroom, holding a fist in the air in triumph.

 

“Here’s to four whole weeks of nothing but Quidditch!” Ogiwara cheered with him, gaining energy at the thought of being able to spend time away from books and academics for a while.

 

“That’s if it ever stops snowing again,” Kawahara cut in, gesturing to the huge windows they were passing. Ogiwara and Furihata both groaned when they saw that the snow was still falling relentlessly. Thick, heavy flurries of snow were still coming down, reducing visibility through the window to only a couple of feet. From where they were standing, the fourth years couldn't even see the lake.

 

“God, how am I supposed to practice if the weather stays this bad?” Ogiwara demanded. “Quidditch is _important. Some_ of us want to make a _career_ of it!”

 

He screamed this to the window, as if the snow could understand what he was saying and cared enough about Ogiwara’s chosen career field to actually respond.

 

Predictably, nothing happened. The snow continued to come down in thick waves, silently blanketing the world beyond the window.

 

“I don’t know what you expected Shige,” Kuroko said blankly.”

 

“Ugh, I just want to get out of this castle,” Ogiwara moaned as they kept moving through the halls towards their dorm.

 

“I hear that,” Furihata said, running a hand through his already mussed up hair. “I never want to look at another textbook again.”

 

“Sorry, but I’ve got some bad news for you,” Sakurai said. “We’ve still got final exams in a few months, and then we have another three years left to –“

 

“Nope!” Kawahara cut in, putting a hand over Sakurai’s mouth. “It’s _break,_ don’t even _think_ such blasphemy! For now, we are free!”

 

Kuroko fell back towards the tail end of the boisterous group of tired but elated Hufflepuffs. Fukuda fell into step right next to him.

 

“Are you excited for break?” Kuroko asked. Fukuda shrugged.

 

“I kind of wish I could stay here for the holidays,” he admitted. “It seems like almost everyone is going to be here this year, and it would be nice to spend time with friends.”

 

“We all wish we could spend the holiday with you too,” Kuroko said. “But you should also enjoy the time with your family. Those of us that are staying won’t see our parents and families until summer, and that’s a really long time. We get to spend all year together, after all.”

 

Fukuda looked a little comforted by this, so Kuroko hoped he’d managed to say the right thing. He had found that sometimes his overt honesty tended to offend as much as it helped. But it seemed to have brightened Fukuda’s mood here.

 

“You’re right,” he said. “Plus we don’t go home until Sunday morning anyway. We have all of tomorrow to hang out together before we have to part ways!”

 

Kuroko agreed that this was fortunate, and the two walked quietly side by side until they reached the doors of the common room.

 

“So, while we wait for the snow to stop, who wants to play some Exploding Snap?” Ogiwara rubbed his hands together excitedly.

 

“Hell no, the last time I played with you, you somehow set fire to the table _and_ the couch!”

 

“I was _trying_ to get the fire off of _me!_ ”

 

“You do have a habit of blowing things up,” Kuroko said bluntly.

 

Ogiwara squeaked in surprise, having forgotten Kuroko was right next to him, before settling down and grinning.

 

“Damn right,” he said. “So, normal cards then?”

 

Nobody had a direct objection to this, so the fourth years claimed the circle of armchairs by the fire and started dealing cards.

 

A steady stream of older Hufflepuffs trudged in as they played, clearly having just finished their last exams as well. Kuroko had a moment of concern when Kiyoshi walked in, looking like death only slightly warmed over, but he smiled and waved at the fourth years as he walked by.

 

“That Transfiguration exam was tough,” he said with a smile by way of explanation. “See you later.”

 

He, Mitobe, and the female fifth year Prefect Kuroko hadn’t interacted with much all headed up the stairs towards the dorms. All three looked like they were ready to drop and take a nap.

 

Kuroko was sure they would be fine by dinner, or perhaps tomorrow at the latest.

 

He was a little concerned however, for himself. If the fifth year exams could tax someone as powerful as Kiyoshi this much, how on earth was he going to manage to get through them? He’d worked out a way to get around most of his exams by using his unique combination of talents, and a lot of hard work and time spent studying.

 

But would that be enough?

 

“So I think it’s about time one of us sneaks into the kitchen to get some butterbeers,” Ogiwara said. “I vote Kuroko.”

 

“The house elves will _give_ you anything you ask for Shige,” Kuroko said lightly, dealing a card for his turn and looking up at Ogiwara with wide puppy eyes. “They won’t notice I’m there and it will take a very long time.”

 

Ogiwara sputtered, cursed, and threw his cards down on the table.

 

“Be back in five,” he said over his shoulder as he left the common room.

 

Much as he tried to con Kuroko into getting the booze, everyone knew that there was no way Kuroko would have been able to successfully procure butterbeer for them. Somehow, Ogiwara had managed to convince the House Elves help him get alcohol to Hufflepuff without telling on him, but there were only a select few students for whom that was true. Kuroko suspected one of the only others was Kiyoshi, and possibly Mitobe.

 

At any rate, Ogiwara was a highly popular person. While this was mostly due to his friendly personality and generally sunny demeanor, the fact that he was the black market supplier of butterbeer for all house parties didn’t hurt.

 

“Please teach me how to do that,” Furihata said while the rest of their roommates howled with laughter.

 

“I think Sakurai does it better,” Kuroko said bluntly. “It even works on Imayoshi.”

 

Sakurai turned bright pink.

 

“I’ll go help Ogiwara so we can bring back enough for everyone,” he decided immediately, and chased after Ogiwara at a sprint.

 

Another round of laughter ensued at this.

 

The four remaining Hufflepuffs played another round until they got to Sakurai’s turn. They decided to wait for the other boy to get back before continuing. Luckily, they didn’t have to wait long because this discussion was truncated by the reappearance of Ogiwara, bearing the spoils of his quest.

 

The fourth year was levitating what looked like – okay what definitely was - two kegs behind him, and carrying a stack of cups in his arms.

 

“You’re welcome!” he announced to the common room at large, leaving one on the main study table, and bringing the other to the coffee table next to where the fourth years were sitting. Several exhausted cheers broke out from quiet groups of Hufflepuffs as they went to thank Ogiwara, and then Sakurai, who had appeared a moment later with a few more kegs, and was greeted with even more cheers.

 

“See now _this_ is how you start a party,” Ogiwara said, throwing himself back into his armchair. “You should all be lucky you have me around. Whose turn is it?”

 

They played and drank well into the evening, until Kuroko realized he was late to meet his teammates for practice.

 

Ogiwara interrupted Kuroko as he was shouldering his backpack and getting ready to head out into the castle again.

 

“Oi, where are you running off to? We only just started celebrating!”

 

“I’ll be back in a few hours. I need to go meet the team for practice,” Kuroko said.

 

“Now?” Ogiwara asked. “We’re finally done with studying for a whole _month_ and you’re running off to go spend time with the Generation of Assholes?”

 

“Hey, good one!” Furihata complimented him, and Kuroko couldn’t help but smile a little.

 

“I’ll be back in a few hours,” he promised. “Hopefully Akashi lets us out early for once. Any bets on my odds?”

 

“Oh, god, you’re never coming back,” Fukuda moaned dramatically.

 

“Sorry!”

 

“I can’t believe you’re just leaving us,” Ogiwara grumbled.

 

“Kuroko’s allowed to make other friends, don’t be an jerk,” Furihata punched him in the side. “You’re acting like a jilted lover.”

 

“He’s right!” Kawahara chimed in. “Are you and Kuroko _dating?_ Is Kuroko choosing his Miracle boyfriends over you?”

 

“Is he breaking your heart?” Furihata mock demanded.

 

Kuroko rolled his eyes, which predictably had no effect on his friends’ melodrama, not that he’d really thought that it would.

 

“Argh, my heart!” Ogiwara yelled, clutching at his chest dramatically and rolling over onto the floor.

 

“You are embarrassing,” Kuroko said frankly.

 

“You’ve ripped it out of my chest! You’ve killed me!”

 

“I am leaving now.”

 

“I’m bleeding out! I’m dying!”

 

“Goodbye.”

 

Ogiwara mimed some convincing and slightly disturbing gurgling noises as Kuroko left the Hufflepuff common room. Kuroko heard him shout in surprise when Furihata slapped him with what sounded like a roll of parchment.

 

Kuroko padded along the passageways towards their practice room, mind racing.

 

He wondered how Akashi and Momoi were going to test his invisibility. He was actually kind of excited to see what challenge they would put in front of him, and whether or not he would meet it. On the other hand, all six of them had been in exams all day (all week, really), and were tired. He doubted that this meeting would extend for very long, or require them to do anything particularly magically difficult.

 

The corridors were entirely empty – which made sense, since most of the students were sleeping or celebrating the end of their exams for the semester, much like Kuroko’s own roommates. Any mischief tonight would probably be confined to the House common rooms, and would probably be mostly ignored unless it got excessively destructive or problematic.

 

Kuroko didn’t see anyone on his way down to the classroom. In short order, he was pulling open the door, and being greeted by his teammates. Momoi was standing to the side carrying a ream of parchment, her pink hair bound in a ponytail. It seemed that Kuroko was the last one to get to the room tonight.

 

Kuroko greeted each of them quietly, before Akashi took control of the meeting.

 

“Congratulations on the end of the semester,” Akashi greeted Kuroko formally. “I won’t take too much of anyone’s time tonight, since I know we would all rather be enjoying the post-exam celebrations.”

 

Akashi’s carefully neutral tone of voice told Kuroko that he didn’t think much more of the post exam partying than Kuroko himself did.

 

“I really only wanted to be sure, before we go on break, that Tetsuya’s misdirection can be utilized the way I have been planning to make use of it. Unfortunately, that requires all seven of us. Shintarou, could you set the runes?”

 

Midorima nodded and went to their arena space, activating the rune set for their shield.

 

“How will we be testing my misdirection?” Kuroko asked.

 

“You’re going to show us if your misdirection will work even when people are actively looking for you,” Momoi said. “Here’s the way I have set the training for tonight: Each of your teammates has a colored wooden coin in their pocket. I want you to get it from them, without their knowledge. If any of them notices you stealing the coin, you lose. If any of them see you stealing a coin from another person, they will shout it out, and you lose.”

 

This was going to be interesting. Functionally, it was Kuroko versus the Generation of Miracles. He could never hope to win such a matchup based on power alone, but there were ways and _ways_ of fighting. Being friends with Momoi and Akashi was beginning to teach him that.

 

“However, for the most part you’re going to duel normally,” Momoi continued. “While everyone is divided into normal teams, your main goal will be obtaining the coins while they fight – from your teammates as well as your opponents.”

 

That was… not going to be easy. Kuroko’s blood thrummed even heavier with the challenge. He was going to do whatever he could to meet it, to show that he’d honed this odd quirk into a weapon that could help the Generation of Miracles win.

 

“Akashi, Kise, Murasakibara, you’re Kuroko’s opponents,” Momoi said. “Midorima, Aomine, you’ll be with Kuroko. Remember all of you: you must always pay attention to Kuroko. Never take your eyes off him, do you understand?”

 

There was a chorus of agreement, and Kuroko stretched his arms in anticipation. He was already making plans for how to get himself out of the main field of his teammate’s vision in order to successfully steal their coins.

 

With all five members of the Generation of Miracles on the field with him there were sure to be more than enough fireworks for him to drop out of notice while they distracted each other.  It helped that none of them could really hold back when fighting a strong opponent – they always gave their all when fighting each other, unable to hold back in the light of a true challenge.

 

Kuroko realized that this was a trait they had in common.

 

“Let’s take our sides,” Akashi said. “Kuroko, you’ll call the start?”

 

Which precluded him from disappearing before the round started. Akashi was trying to deprive Kuroko of even the ability to capitalize on the few seconds the attention of his opponents would be redirected to focus on whoever called out the begging of the duel. Resigned, Kuroko nodded.

 

He was going to be killed.

 

“Call it whenever you’re ready, Tetsu,” Aomine said, actually sounding comforting for once.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath, gathering his magic around himself, ready to disappear.

 

“Start!” he called, and dodged left.

 

Two spells followed his line of movement. In attacking Kuroko, Murasakibara left himself wide open for Aomine’s attack. The movement obscured Kuroko from the Slytherin’s vision. The second Aomine had engaged Murasakibara, he’d lost focus on Kuroko too.

 

Kuroko cast – not at one of his opponents, but at one of the stones making up the floor on the opposite side of the arena. It emitted a high-pitched shrieking noise and began emitting a foul purple smoke.

 

Wow, he _really_ needed to make time to perfect that spell. Kuroko was sure turning a teapot into a tortoise was going to be on his Transfiguration O.W.L., but this version of the spell was just so much more… useful.

 

Midorima shouted in alarm and bowled into Akashi, which left Kuroko clear.

 

He retraced his steps so that he was on the opposite side of the arena as the smoke.

 

“Oi, where’s Tetsu!”

 

“You were supposed to be watching him!”

 

As Kuroko expected, his teammates were all watching the smoke. Akashi cast several spells at it, but no wind or anything else would help –it just spread the foul smoke more.

 

Kuroko stole Murasakibara’s coin when the other boy was busy sending a ball of fire at the cobblestone-turned-tortoise. He ducked and rolled for cover as it hit, igniting the fumes and exploding.

 

All six competitors yelled as the explosion let out even more acrid smoke, this time bright neon green.

 

“That was _idiotic!”_ Aomine was yelling at the purple haired Slytherin. Kuroko took the opportunity to slip the other boy’s coin out of his pocket.

 

Two down, three to go.

 

Kuroko retreated, letting Akashi cast a spell to douse the affected area in water. The smoke that appeared this time was a normal black smoke. It smelled strongly of ozone, but began dissipating fairly quickly. Kuroko wondered briefly if Midorima had included a rune to filter poisonous toxins from the air in the ward for the shield.

 

“That was pretty clever, Tetsuya,” Akashi called into the arena at large. “Did you do that deliberately?”

 

Kuroko didn’t answer. He had a good thing going on, he wasn’t about to give up the game by calling attention to himself now. If Akashi thought he would fall for that kind of cheap trick, the other boy had a really low opinion of Kuroko’s intelligence.

 

Aomine waved his wand in a wide circle in the rapidly thinning smoke, creating a halo of crackling blue lightning around him. He aimed it straight at Kise, who managed to block it only by a hair’s breadth. The lightning slammed off his shield not half an inch from his face.

 

Midorima retaliated by sending a wave of loose stone and dirt knocked free by the explosion (including the unfortunate remains of Kuroko’s tortoise) towards Aomine. The Gryffindor knocked them to the side easily, only to be thrown back on defense as Akashi cast a spell that let out a whip of fire that sparked more flares of blue lightning against Aomine’s shield. Midorima cast at Kise, causing the other boy to sink down into the floor up to his knees. Kise sputtered and started throwing spells at the stone as he sank into it.

 

Kuroko grabbed the coin from Kise while the Gryffindor was busy trying to free himself. He was sure Kise would not take long to get out, so he kept moving. His eyes marked his teammates to make sure he hadn’t been noticed yet. Sure enough, his motion didn’t draw any of their attentions.

 

Akashi had taken advantage of Midorima’s opening to start throwing spells at the other boy. Midorima was calmly fielding all of them, but while this situation was good for his team, it didn’t suit Kuroko at all. In a clear arena, with the two most observant members of the generation of miracles cursing each other, neither would fail to notice him if he approached them now.

 

Kuroko redirected an explosive spell from Murasakibara to land directly between them, throwing the boys apart. Aomine turned on Akashi to protect his teammate, and Kuroko took the opportunity to relieve Midorima of his coin.

 

That was everyone except Akashi.

 

Kuroko had to end this soon or his friends were going to end up actually hurting each other. This match was escalating quickly in brutality and Kuroko was pretty sure that none of his fellow fourth years were supposed to be throwing around spells that they had probably pilfered from books in the Restricted Section or convinced professors to teach to them before they were supposed to.

 

Kuroko waited just another moment, until he saw that Aomine was about to curse Akashi again, at the same time that Kise was about to curse Aomine.

 

Quickly, Kuroko redirected Kise’s spell, and took off running. It hit Aomine’s spell mid trajectory, just as Kuroko had planned, creating an explosion of light and magic that made Kuroko cover his face with his elbow for the final few steps. He let his sense of pure magic let him know when he was about to run into Akashi, and lowered his hand to reach for the coin in the other boy’s pocket –

 

One moment Kuroko was standing on his feet and the next he was on his back, the breath completely driven from his lungs and the rough, cold flagstones digging into his back. Akashi’s hand was around his throat in a bruising grip, and the point of Akashi’s wand was unforgivingly pressed into his chest.

 

“Not quite, Tetsuya,” Akashi panted. His eyes were red and running with tears from not having been able to look away from the explosion quickly enough, but he looked far from worn out. Kuroko had the feeling Akashi could have kept fighting against the rest of the Generation of Miracles without a problem for quite a while yet.

 

“I’m sorry I disappointed you,” Kuroko said carefully, hyper conscious of the wand at his chest and the knowledge of what Akashi could do with it. Akashi's hand was still around his throat.

 

“Oh no,” Akashi grinned. He looked like a cat that had just caught an extremely annoying Bowtruckle that had been taunting it all morning. “Even I didn’t notice you until almost the last second, and it was only because I felt the trajectory of the spell as it moved. Your misdirection is more than satisfactory. I’m not disappointed at all.”

 

Indeed, he didn’t look it. Akashi was smiling widely, wildly.

 

“Could you let me up, please?” Kuroko asked after a moment when Akashi hadn’t removed his hand from around Kuroko’s throat.

 

“Ah, right,” Akashi pulled back and stood, offering a hand to Kuroko.

 

“Our training can continue as planned,” Akashi told the Hufflepuff, still looking elated. “I’m proud of you, Tetsuya, you’ve come a long way.”

 

Kuroko took the hand, and leveraged himself to his feet.

 

“Thank you,” he said politely. “Are we done?”

 

Akashi nodded, turning to the room.

 

“I can’t wait to see the looks on our opponents faces when they understand how strong of a weapon Tetsuya is,” he said. “Though all four of you-”

 

Here, Akashi looked at each of his Miracles in turn, all of whom were standing with their wands held loosely, pointed at the ground. They were watching Kuroko and their captain warily through the clearing smoke, uncertain whether or not the duel was over. Or maybe they were just uncertain about whether or not they would need to be using those wands to defend themselves from Akashi, after watching him slam Kuroko to the ground.

 

“All of you will be doing triple training over the break, since not a single one of you managed to stop Tetsuya from stealing your coins.”

 

“Oi, mine is right- what the _hell,_ Tetsu, when did you take it?”

 

“Kurokochii! We’re supposed to be _friends,_ why did you take advantage of me?!”

 

Kuroko watched the rest of them exclaim in varying volumes of outrage over Kuroko’s successful duplicity. He felt pretty damn smug as he pulled out the four brightly colored coins. Each one matched the person who had been holding it - green for Midorima, yellow for Kise, blue for Aomine, and purple for Murasakibara. Akashi smiled, flipping his own bright red coin in the air and catching it deftly.

 

Trust Akashi to always look collected and in control, Kuroko thought.

 

“We’re all here for the break. I’ll see you again on Monday. We’ll talk about the schedule for the week and half remaining before Christmas. At this point, we just need to be ready for anything, and to keep our skills as sharp as possible. Well done tonight, everyone, have a good night.”

 

Aomine let out a groan and rolled his shoulders as Akashi went over to Momoi to share some notes.

 

“Are you heading back downstairs?” Murasakibara asked. Kuroko nodded.

 

“I’m stopping by the kitchens. Come with me?”

 

Kuroko agreed to this as well, and the two bid the rest of the room goodnight. Momoi extracted from Kuroko an oath to keep up with his practice with misdirection before they headed out.

 

“Kuro-chin has a pretty useful power,” Murasakibara said. “But it’s not strong at all.”

 

“No, it’s not,” Kuroko agreed politely. “What was it you wanted to ask me about?”

 

“Why did you want to do this?” Murasakibara asked bluntly.

 

Kuroko exhaled deeply before responding.

 

“Because it’s fun,” Kuroko said. “I started because I wanted to prove something to everyone, but Momoi was right. Power isn’t everything.”

 

“But that’s just it,” Murasakibara said, sounding bothered. “Kuro-chin can’t fight the way we can, you can’t duel the way we do. How is this even remotely fun for you when you’re not any good at anything other than hiding?”

 

Kuroko tried not to let that sting. He knew that Murasakibara was just being blunt – much like he himself tended to be. Truth be told, it was something he really appreciated about the Slytherin.

 

“Sometimes strength can mean different things,” Kuroko said patiently. “ I might not be very strong, but when I took your coin I could have stunned you and you wouldn’t have noticed until you were being revived.”

 

“Then why didn’t you?”

 

“Because you’re part of my strength,” Kuroko replied, smiling at the other boy. “I knew that with you on the field, Aomine and Midorima would be more distracted. They would focus more on you and it would make it much easier to beat them. You all are my strength where I’m weak. So long as you are on the court, nobody would ever look twice at me, and that’s where the real threat of my power comes from.”

 

“I guess if we’re Kuro-chin’s strength that’s not so bad,” Murasakibara decided as they reached the portrait that led to the kitchens. Kuroko smiled at this, and bid Murasakibara a good night.

 

“It’s fun too,” Murasakibara said, as the Hufflepuff turned away. Kuroko paused.

 

“What is?” he asked.

 

“Dueling with Kuro-chin,” Murasakibara explained. “I think it’s fun too, just like you think it’s fun dueling with us.”

 

Kuroko was glad he hadn’t turned around because his face was bright red. It felt like a firework had gone off in his chest, the knowledge that a wizard he respected so much enjoyed working with him as much as Kuroko liked working with Murasakibara. For all that the other boy could be childish, Kuroko really liked and respected the Slytherin.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “Goodnight, Murasakibara, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“Good night Kuro-chin.”

 

…

 

Saturday dawned grey and cold, with thick dark clouds filling the sky. The snow had finally stopped, which was a welcome relief, and a calm quiet had fallen over the entire castle as the storm and midterm examinations all came to a close.

 

The snow that had started late Wednesday night had been going strong through Friday, and had not let up all day or through the night. Several feet of pure, untouched snow stretched out across the castle’s grounds, and a layer of thick ice hung above the Great Lake.

 

“GET UP KUROKOCCHI WE’RE GOING TO GO PLAY IN THE SNOW!”

 

Kuroko was woken to loud screaming.

 

“What the hell is _he_ doing in here?”

 

“Make him leave!”

 

“Ugh, someone go wake up Kuroko so that he shuts up, would you?”

 

Kuroko sat up to see Kise in the middle of his dorm room.

 

“Kise, it’s the weekend,” he admonished. “And why are you in Hufflepuffs’ dorms?”

 

“I wanted to come find Kurokocchi to go play in the snow!” Kise said, by way of an explanation that wasn’t actually an explanation at all.

 

“Why are you in the Hufflepuff dorm?” Kuroko asked. It wasn’t a well kept secret of Hogwarts that the barrels in front of the Hufflepuff common room would move aside for any student who asked, no matter what house they belonged to. Helga Hufflepuff had seen every student, even those not in her house, as one of her own.

 

That aside, Kuroko still didn’t understand why his friend and teammate was bursting into his room before nine in the morning on a Saturday, after their exams were all finished.

 

“The _snow,_ Kurokocchi, it stopped snowing so now we’re gonna go play in the snow! We can finally leave the castle!”

 

Kuroko heaved a sigh.

 

“Tetsu, if you don’t get rid of him in the next two minutes I’m dumping you both out the window into the snow he keeps shouting about,” Ogiwara warned Kuroko, his face buried in his pillow.

 

“I’m sorry, could you please leave?”

 

It was the most annoyed Kuroko could ever remember Sakurai sounding, which clued him in to the fact that he was going to have to do something quickly. Otherwise Kise would end up cursing all of his housemates six ways to Sunday in retaliation for them attacking him.

 

“Kise, could you wait outside?” he asked politely. “I’ll come find you in a few minutes.”

 

Kise pouted, but did as he was asked.

 

Kuroko fell back into bed, half intending to go right back to sleep and ignore the Gryffindor waiting for him, but Ogiwara interrupted his attempt at getting comfortable.

 

“No you don’t, if you don’t go he’s gonna come back in and wake us up again. Off you go.”

 

Kuroko rolled his eyes but did as he was bid, and pulled on warm clothing to go meet Kise in the empty common room. He checked his watch before leaving, surprised to find that it was actually almost noon, and that he and his housemates had slept through the morning.

 

“Also, it’s almost afternoon,” Kuroko informed his housemates, who groaned. Sakurai started the process of getting up, as did Furihata, both of them looking unhappy and bleary-eyed. The rest of their roommates remained unmoving lumps in their beds.

 

“See you guys later,” Kuroko said, heading out of the room to go find Kise, who was bouncing on the balls of his feet in the middle of the Hufflepuff common room.

 

“Come ON!” Kise said excitedly, grabbing Kuroko’s arm.

 

Kuroko followed the other boy down the halls and towards the Entrance Hall, where the rest of the Generation of Miracles were already waiting.

 

“Ryouta, you said that you were going to _ask_ him, not drag him with you,” Akashi admonished.

 

“It’ll be more fun if Kurokocchi is there!” Kise bubbled, and Aomine rolled his eyes.

 

“Should have sent fucking Midorima,” he grumbled. “Even _I_ could have told you that he would be obnoxious about it.”

 

“Aka-chin, I’m hungry, can we eat before we go play in the snow?”

 

Seeing as it was indeed almost noon, Murasakibara’s suggestion was accepted widely, and the six of them filed into the Great Hall.

 

The four House tables were still lined up in the hall, not yet having been replaced with the single, larger table that would seat all of the students staying over the break. However, all six of them sat together in the nearly empty hall, following Akashi over to the Slytherin table by default.

 

Kuroko was willing to bet that neither Midorima nor Aomine noticed or cared what table they were sitting at as Midorima poured himself a giant cup of coffee, and ate nothing else, and Aomine heaped a pile of sausages and eggs onto his plate. Kuroko noticed that Midorima had a frilly hair clip in his green hair, and assumed it was his lucky item for the day. Sometimes it was easier to tell than others – these days Midorima was pretty good about not openly carrying his lucky items, though he never went without them.

 

Kuroko wondered if he’d ever been made fun of for it, back in the beginning. He doubted anyone would try to bully or mock Midorima now, but he knew how cruel children could be towards anyone slightly different or obviously strange.

 

He was lucky that although he was strange, people rarely noticed him. It made him a much more difficult target for bullies when they could barely remember he existed, and they couldn’t find him even when they did.

 

After Midorima had managed to get through a cup and a half of coffee, he started a conversation with Akashi about his runes project, which Kuroko listened to aptly, hoping for some ideas to resolve his current dilemma. He had no intention of asking them for help unless it got so close to the deadline that he absolutely had to, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t benefit from their obvious genius and skill in the subject.

 

In short order, they had consumed enough food to head out and explore the snow. By now, a decent stream of students had joined them in the Great Hall, all of them looking quite pleased to be done with the semester and facing a blissful holiday. The fact that everyone in the castle was able to sleep in until noon probably didn’t hurt the genial and relaxed atmosphere either.

 

Someone had cast a warming spell on the pathway up to the castle in order to keep it clear, but the snow was packed four feet high on either side of it. Kuroko stared in awe at the snow, having never seen it piled so high.

 

“You should have seen the snow in Akita,” Murasakibara commented, taking a bite of a scone he’d brought with him. “My parents were originally going to send me to school there, but when we visited there were ten feet of snow on the ground and I refused to get off the train.”

 

“Why, because you didn’t want to go to school anywhere where something might be taller than you?” Aomine teased.

 

“I will crush you,” Murasakibara said, not sounding like he was going to crush Aomine at all. In fact, he hadn’t moved more than a few steps from where they’d stopped to admire the snow, and he was still eating his scone.

 

“Guys, look! It’s so pretty!”

 

“Akashi, can I hit him?”

 

Akashi was precluded from answering Aomine’s question as Kise dived headfirst into a snowdrift and started making a snow angel, shouting in delight.

 

“Oh for fuck’s sake,” Aomine muttered. He drew his wand and pointed it at the snow right next to Kise, picking up a sizable collection into a giant pile.

 

He levitated it about a foot over, and let it hover for a second before letting it drop.

 

Kise yelped and jumped up, tripping over the snow, and fighting to get to his feet. With an exasperated curse, he melted the snow around himself, and faced Aomine, a malicious glint in his eyes.

 

“You realize,” he said, grinning maniacally. “That this means war, right?”

 

Snow clung to every bit of his clothes and hair, and yet it somehow failed to make him look ridiculous. In fact, he still looked like a model on the cover of Teen Witch Weekly, even with his hair mussed and his features half obscured by snow. Kuroko made a mental note to definitively determine exactly how Kise managed this, because it could be nothing short of actual magic.

 

Aomine had no warning before a massive snowball hit him square in the face.

 

It fell to the ground with a thump, and everyone stared at the Gryffindor, wondering how he could retaliate, trying to hold in their laughter at the fact that he had quite a bit of snow still stuck to his face. Some of it was breaking apart and falling, right onto the bright red and gold scarf he had wrapped around his neck.

 

For a second, it seemed like he might let the offense pass as fair retaliation for having picked a fight with Kise to begin with.

 

“Mine-chin looks really stupid,” Murasakibara observed.

 

“Oh, that’s fucking it,” Aomine said, and an explosion of snow was let off behind him, directed right at Kise.

 

Kise dodged that one, letting the snow hit the bank behind him with a dull sound.

 

“Hey, come on it was just-”

 

“Would you imbeciles just shut up?” Midorima asked, annoyed. Unfortunately, none of his powers of prescience had indicated to him that this could possibly be a bad idea. Both Gryffindors turned to him with a grin, and lobbed a volley of snowballs at him, nearly burying the boy. Midorima wasn’t quick enough to shield himself, and was quickly thigh deep in snow.

 

“You-”

 

“I guess it’s true that you can be as smart or as powerful as you like and still have no common sense at all.”

 

The Generation of Miracles turned to face the new arrival – or arrivals, as it were. The Head Boy smiled at them, accompanied by Hayama, Nebuya, and Mibuchi, all of whom looked like they’d already been outside for a while. Further down the path, Kuroko could see the break in the snow bank where the other Champions had climbed up into the snow.

 

“I guess it had to be you lot braving the cold out here,” Nijimura continued. His hair was frosted with snow and his cheeks were pink with cold, but he looked more content and relaxed than Kuroko had ever seen him. It was the first time he realized how much of a toll the other boy’s various responsibilities put on him during the year, and how well he managed to cope with them.

 

“Of course,” Akashi replied. “We are… bonding. Ryouta suggested it.”

 

“Of course he did,” Nijimura smiled. “Kiyoshi woke all of us up. I think he’s still trying to drag Hanamiya out.”

 

“I see.”

 

Nijimura picked a handful of snow, pressing it together into a ball.

 

“I couldn’t help but see that your teammates were blowing off some steam with a snowball fight,” Nijimura continued lightly, paying more attention to the snowball than Akashi. “Snowball fights are always more fun when more people are involved.”

 

“I wouldn’t know,” Akashi said carefully. Nijimura paused in his shaping of the snowball, considering Akashi’s words.

 

Kuroko thought that statement said a lot of sad things about the Akashi heir and his childhood, but held back any comments.

 

“Well, I guess it wouldn’t do for you to not have a proper challenge for a snowball fight. What do you say? Up for a friendly game?” Nijimura asked, looking up at Akashi, tossing the snowball up and down in his hand. Akashi smiled back, a smile that Kuroko was tentatively prepared to call a genuine one.

 

“Of course,” Akashi replied politely. “But our honor dictates that we will drive you into the ground and destroy you so thoroughly that children will weep with lamentation for decades to come at the tragedy of your defeat.”

 

Midorima made a choking sound, and Murasakibara snorted with laughter. Aomine and Kise looked fired up and ready to fight though.

 

Nijimura ruffled Akashi’s hair, mussing the perfectly styled red locks.

 

“There’s that murderous fighting spirit! So how are we going to do this then? Two bases, and whoever takes over the other team’s base first wins?”

 

“Very well,” Akashi agreed. “We’ll each set up on opposite sides of the grounds in front of the castle.”

 

“And, if you get hit between the bases, you have to drop to the ground, make a snow angel, and go back to your base.”

 

Akashi agreed to this term as well.

 

“How will we tell if one of the bases has been conquered?” Kise asked. “When all of one team gets there, or if nobody is left in the base?”

 

Nijimura thought about it, but it was Nebuya who came up with a solution to the problem.

 

“We could do it like capture the flag,” he said with a wide grin. “Both teams conjure flags, and whoever gets the other team’s flag back to their base wins!”

 

“That is acceptable to me,” Akashi said, looking back at Nijimura. “Shall we?”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Nijimura said lightly. “And cheer up Akashi, this is supposed to be _fun_. I know you’ve heard of it.”

 

“It should be an enlightening training experience,” Akashi said, and it was Aomine’s turn to scoff at him.

 

Nijimura shrugged and turned around, muttering to Hayama to go find Kiyoshi and Hanamiya for the fight. Once it was just the six of them standing on their side of the snow, Aomine turned to Akashi, looking furious.

 

“I swear to god, Akashi, if you’re just using this as some stupid excuse to get us to train over Christmas break-”

 

“Calm down, Daiki,” Akashi said gently. “I just think we should have some fun. As I said to Nijimura this is a good… bonding activity.”

 

The last few words were a little forced.

 

Trust Akashi to turn an ordinary snowball fight into an all too serious competition. Honestly, it was practically pathological.

 

“Well now we have to crush them,” Murasakibara said, sounding resigned to their fate.

 

“Let’s get to work,” Akashi said, taking out his wand, Kise followed suit, looking far too excited. “We’ve got a fort to make.”

 

“And a flag to design!” Kise shouted, jumping up and down in the snow.

 

“Shut up,” Aomine growled, shoving him over into the snowbank, where Kise shouted expletives at the top of his lungs.

  
“Fools,” Midorima muttered, walking straight past the two of them, who were now wrestling in the snow.

 

The Akashi fort ended up being three entire stories tall, supported by heavy beams of ice and a whole bunch of magic. Kuroko wasn’t sure about how he felt standing on top of the whole monstrosity, but Akashi and Aomine had both spent some time casting powerful cushioning charms all around it, so even if something did collapse, nobody would get hurt.

 

As the forts began to take shape, students ran out of the castle, begging to join in on the fun.

 

“Hey can we join?”

 

“Us too!”

 

“Aida, you gonna help me make sure that idiot doesn’t hurt himself?”

 

Akashi and Nijimura both sent representatives to help turn students one way or another, keeping track of how many people each team had. Neither captain had a problem taking on more soldiers – this was only going to be more fun the more people that participated. Besides, more wands and creativity only made the fight all the more interesting. Both captains had runners moving through and around their teams as well, making sure that everyone knew the rules of the game that was about to start.

 

Kuroko was helping add extra layers to the protective battlements on the top floor of the fort when Akashi came up to see what weapons his team had managed to craft.

 

Kise, the architect of their air support, immediately accosted him to gush over the brilliant idea he had managed to rope a small group of students into helping him with.

 

“Look, Akashi! We made machine guns!”

 

“I have no idea what those are, but they look impressive,” Akashi replied. Kuroko thought he sounded weary, like he’d been providing the same compliment to far too many people that day. To Akashi’s credit though, his interest did seem genuine, if confused. “What do they do?”

 

“They fire twenty snowballs a second when powered by one student and aimed by another!” Kise chirped. “I just showed Aominecchi how they work, and we can use these to open fire on the other team!”

 

Akashi complimented him on the creativity, looking more interested in the design than he had a moment ago. Kuroko was just shocked that Kise and Aomine had worked together for more than ten minutes without destroying anything. But then again, their mutual desire to destroy things together must have been a pretty compelling force.

 

“I look forward to seeing how these work,” he said. He inquired a little more about them and the spellwork behind them as Kuroko turned away to see if he could help fortify their battlement any more before the time ran out.

 

At one point, a runner from Nijimura’s fort came over to clear with Akashi that they would start when the bell on the Hogwarts clock tower tolled two pm. Akashi agreed, and Nijimura announced to all of the students now present that the fight would start at that time, and repeated the rules that he had cleared with Akashi before they had started building their forts.

 

There was a group of girls that had united across all four houses to deem themselves the “decorating committee” and were solidifying the fort by adding pillars and covering them with vines and mini ice sculptures. They were frosting the outside in several inches of solid ice, while one first year boy was helping the Head Girl shape an incredibly realistic dragon curling around the base of the fort. Akashi stopped by and spoke to them for a few minutes, and helped them slightly change the sculpture so that the entrance to the fort was inside the dragon’s mouth. Kuroko saw Akashi aim some more spells at the dragon’s head while the two ran off to help the committee that was fortifying the last of the battlements. He had the thought that anyone who tried to enter that way was going to get a really nasty surprise.

 

The fort grew another story and gained several more wings as students joined in and started producing heavy artillery for the fight. Akashi gave up on trying to oversee every detail and appointed a head of each wing to report to him about what weapons were being built and what functions they would have.

 

Kuroko heard Haizaki cursing as he stomped back inside, and later found out that the boy had been trying to convince their weapons production manager to enclose icy spikes in their snowballs that would explode upon contact. That was Haizaki all over, but neither Akashi nor Nijimura was looking to have someone seriously hurt. No professors had come out to stop them thus far, but they would shut everything down immediately if people were being harmed, and nobody wanted their fun to end like that.

 

Students continued to trickle out onto the grounds, some just to watch, but most decided to participate in some way, digging trenches in front of each camp, helping to magically create snowballs for the artillery, or just cheering loudly from the roof of the fort.

 

“FIVE MINUTES!” Akashi and Nijimura yelled, both of them using spells to project their voices and make sure that everyone heard them. Anyone caught out in the middle of the grounds when the fight started would probably regret it shortly thereafter.

 

Shrieks of excitement rang out from everyone as the students finished up whatever they were doing and got ready to fight.

 

Kuroko found himself relegated to one of the ground crews, which suited him just fine. It sounded like a great deal of fun, and he honestly doubted he had the power to help run any of the specialized weapons that students were using up above.

 

The clock tower tolled twice, and the fight was on.

 

Kuroko rushed out with the rest of his team, meeting the enemy force head on. Snow went flying in every direction, and Kuroko was glad that his misdirection allowed him to avoid attention almost entirely. He took great pleasure in altering the path of magically thrown snowballs to hit unsuspecting people on the other team.

 

They fought on, shouting and cheering, supported by artillery from both sides. Kuroko thought Nijimura’s team must have come up with something similar to Kise’s machine guns because they were also firing snowballs at an alarming rate.

 

About ten minutes into the fight, Kuroko took three snowballs to the face at once. He sighed, laid down to make a snow angel as many other students were, and then jogged back to his fort. He caught a few stray snowballs on his way back, and returned to the protection of the battlements covered in snow and needing a break. He joined Akashi on the now no longer top floor of the fort to watch Kise and Aomine run their heavy artillery and catch his breath before getting back to the fight.

 

It was about then that a group of twenty students tried to join in, squabbling over which team each of them wanted to join. It quickly became clear that something needed to be done to more efficiently allocate the teams unless they were willing to accept a gross mismatch of numbers.

 

“Wait, HALT!”

 

Nijimura’s voice, magically amplified, caught the attention of every single person on the grounds. For several seconds the firing of snowballs continued as each captain attempted to exert authority over their team, until finally the last snowball hit the ground with a very faint thump.

 

All activity stopped.

 

“We need a system for drafting new warriors and taking into account the ones who are leaving,” Nijimura said sensibly. “Seijuro, Send over your top three runes students, we’ll do the same, and set up a quick barrier for the field. It will tell anyone entering what side they’ll be joining, otherwise this is just too confusing.”

 

Akashi considered that.

 

“Okay, five minute break,” he agreed, and turned to his generals.

 

“Shintarou, Tetsuya, let’s go,” Akashi said, pushing his hair out of his face again, where it had fallen limp from snow. Whatever gel he used to style it was completely useless now.

 

“Where’s Kuroko?” Midorima asked, knowing better, because a second later the blue haired Hufflepuff appeared at his elbow.

 

“Right here,” he said.

 

Ten minutes later, the area in front of the castle had a very weak ward over it, assembled with the collective power of Mibuchi, Akashi, Kuroko, Midorima, Momoi, and Kasamatsu.

 

Kuroko wondered exactly why it was Momoi had decided to side with the other team, but from the expression of savage satisfaction on her face, it was probably something really stupid that Aomine had said or done. He hoped Momoi managed to clobber him in the face for it.

 

“Oh and give this to Mu-kun,” Momoi said, throwing something at Kuroko. He caught the hair tie mostly by accident. “He ran out this morning and is probably already pretty annoyed by now.” Kuroko nodded his acquiescence to this, and tucked it away in his pocket where it wouldn’t be lost.

 

“Okay, back to killing each other,” Momoi immediately grinned, dashing off back through the snow, followed at a run by Kasamatsu and Mibuchi, who waved apologetically at his opponents before taking off after them.

 

Akashi, Kuroko, and Midorima barely managed to make it to cover before the time was called, and the war was back on. Kuroko slipped the hair tie to Murasakibara as he ran by, and was the last of the three to get beyond the dragon’s jaws as the artillery around them whirred to life.

 

Ogiwara, Furihata, Mitobe, and Koganei were overseeing the snow turrets while Aomine and Kise were pouring power into the spells.

 

“God, don’t you have any aim?” Aomine complained to Furihata.

 

“Sorry, but could you not be so mean to my roommate?” Sakurai asked, delivering another pile of snow from outside the fort.

 

Aomine made a face.

 

“Fucking Hufflepuffs,” he muttered under his breath, but limited himself to exchanging insults with Kise while they pelted their enemies with snow.

 

Murasakibara was manning their shield with Tsugawa. Kuroko watched them from above while Tsugawa paused, and murmured something to Murasakibara, who – shockingly – pulled out a bag of snacks to offer the Gryffindor.

 

Kuroko had to wonder what the hell the boy had said to make Murasakibara so pleased with the Gryffindor boy, but he had his answer a moment later. The two of them directed their wands at a giant pile of discarded snow that had been building up as they reused ammunition sent towards them by Nijimura’s troops.

 

Two huge catapults were built out of the snow, the surface of the machines of war hardening into ice with another spell. Each of the catapults was roughly twice Murasakibara’s height, and could take a lot of ammo.

 

Kuroko heard Tsugawa shouting a war cry as a hardened pile of snow was levitated into one of the catapults and thrown full stop at the enemy battlements, collapsing an entire side of the building. Cushioning charms prevented anyone from getting hurt, but it didn’t stop them from yelling out in surprise and agitation.

 

Akashi’s troops cheered, and pressed their offensive advantage.

 

“Daiki, Ryouta, each of you take two students. Go right and left,” Akashi said to the two wizards manning their turrets. “It’s Ryo and Koki, right?” he addressed the two runners who had just brought up another drive of snow. “You’ll take charge of the concussion spell.”

 

Akashi spoke through the communication spell, calling up two second year girls to run more snow back and forth. They cheerfully agreed, and Aomine and Kise were off to build their teams and join the fight on the ground.

 

“Tetsuya, when they get halfway there I’ll give the command for both of them to send up a spray of snow,” Akashi said. “You’ll go straight down the middle and take the flag without being seen. Can you handle that?”

 

“I can,” Kuroko agreed. “But I thought you said this wasn’t a training exercise?”

 

Akashi grinned back, unpretentiously, and so earnestly that Kuroko was taken aback.

 

“Who’s training?” he asked. “This is a snow war!”

 

Covered in snow and shivering lightly from the cold, Kuroko felt warmed from head to toe. Akashi looked like the fourteen year old he was for once, as did the rest of his Miracles.

 

It was sometimes so easy to forget that as powerful as they were, the Generation of Miracles was just a bunch of immature children who enjoyed throwing snow at each other just as much as any other child.

 

“It’s not fair they get Riko _and_ Momoi,” Koganei complained as he started firing snowballs again. “The two best strategists in the school, and we’re stuck with-”

 

“Yes?” Akashi asked. The glint of menace in his eyes was entirely contrived, Kuroko knew (he had seen what real menace looked like when the boy was in a dueling arena, and this wasn’t it). However, neither Koganei nor Sakurai knew that, and the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff quailed under the intensity of the glare.

 

“We have you which is much better!” Koganei squeaked while Sakurai apologized repeatedly for the older student.

 

Akashi couldn’t hold it in and laughed. Kuroko smiled widely and let out a rare chuckle, because this was just too funny.

 

“You’re absolutely right,” Akashi told them when he’d caught his breath. “My apologies, I didn’t mean to scare you. Riko and Satsuki truly are gifted tacticians, and Nijimura did well to snap them up right away. I only hope that Satsuki manages to work whatever anger and frustration she has towards us out of her system before I go apologize for whatever made her angry.”

 

The two students relaxed, and went back to pelting their enemies with snow.

 

By now, Kuroko noticed that the rules about getting hit in the middle of the battlefield had completely degenerated, and the war had narrowed into a single objective – destroy the enemy and take their flag. Every other rule was falling by the wayside, and neither side was holding back. Any students who dared brave the path between the forts was being brutally pummeled, sometimes by their own side, as everyone ended up covered in increasing amounts of snow and became increasingly harder to identify.

 

“Ryouta and Daiki are almost in place,” Akashi said, glancing over the turret, quickly ducking back down to avoid a hail of snowballs sent directly at him. “Tetsuya, it’s your turn to play.”

 

Kuroko fist bumped the other boy and ran down the stairs, and out the door.

 

He slipped out between the dragon’s fangs unhindered, walking out into the open.

 

Kuroko really hoped he wasn’t about to get doused with snow.

 

He’d made it to the very edge of no man’s land – right at the edge of where the path to Hogwarts had once been cleared, but had since been covered by the snow being pelted between both sides of their miniature war.

 

He could see Aomine up ahead to his right, and Kise almost as far ahead to his left. The two boys were exactly where Akashi wanted them, and he heard the command echoing out across the snow as their commander amplified his voice to make sure his orders were heard.

 

“NOW!”

 

Kise and Aomine both cast powerful concussive spells at the snow in front of them, sending a cloud of powder into the air to cover their enemies entire base with snow. Their partners contributed by summoning a cloud of their own snow, producing a mini storm aimed directly at the other side.

 

Kuroko was amazed.

 

Kise cast with perfect form, his movements textbook as he sent snow flying into the air. Aomine pushed forward with his hands, and the wild and explosive force of his magic did the work without wand or spell.

 

For a second, the Hufflepuff was transfixed by the force of their magic, feeling the force and power of it down to his very bones.

 

And then he remembered that he was supposed to be moving, that his team was counting on him to pierce the enemy’s defenses unseen and leave with what they needed. Kuroko took his cue and ran through the airborne powder, trudging through the haze as best he could.

 

Perhaps he was imagining it, but he felt the ground shaking a little as he moved. Maybe he was just loosing his footing in the slippery snow Kuroko thought, concentrating doubly on getting across no man’s land and towards the other castle.

 

He had passed the two groups of attackers by the time an icy wind cleared the battlefield.

 

Kuroko looked up and stared, frozen.

 

For a second, he was struck by the fact that as powerful as the Generation of Miracles might be, Nijimura had a team of older, more mature, more creative, and better-trained wizards on his side. He was fighting with the five strongest duelists among the top years of Hogwarts, a cadre that included quite a few extremely powerful individuals.

 

Plus, whatever Kuroko was looking at now was definitely a product of Momoi Satsuki _._

 

It was a pretty radical take on Operation Ice Princess as it had been planned on the lazy summer days at the end of their first year, and Kuroko hated how much he admired her for the creativity. Mostly he was annoyed that she’d gone and used the prank they’d planned together for this snow war, which meant that if they actually ever implemented it, everyone would know where the idea came from.

 

Four massive – and by massive, Kuroko meant as tall as either battlement and then some – _giants_ made of snow and ice were standing guard over the enemy fort.

 

Nijimura’s team let out a roar of approval.

 

And then he heard Akashi’s voice, magnified by magic, echo across no man’s land.

 

“ _Attack!”_

 

Aomine and Kise sprang into motion, taking on the closest ice monster as the four creatures started moving, slowly picking up one foot and then the other, moving towards the castle.

 

Kuroko heard Akashi’s warming spell and actually felt the heat it radiated as he burned straight through one of the ice monsters, which was reduced to a mostly melted pair of legs.

 

Two of the ice monsters had already crossed over, and the students on Akashi’s side were doing their best to blow pieces off. Kuroko watched as one of the snow monsters’ arms was torn off.

 

One of the snow monsters standing right in front of the entrance to the fort tripped Akashi’s trap with the dragon. A giant ball of ice and snow was expelled from the dragon’s mouth, an icy blast that entirely destroyed the giant’s leg.

 

The dragon’s teeth bit into its shoulder when it fell, keeping it down, and some of the younger students fell on it while screaming battle cries, ripping at the snow that made it up with bare hands or casting weak warming charms to melt down the ice, trying to dismantle it the rest of the way as best any of them could.

 

And then something very large and heavy landed in the snow next to Kuroko. The thing looked like a miniature version of (probably Momoi’s) snow monsters, but then it shook its head, revealing tanned skin and navy blue hair.

 

“Tetsu, move!” Aomine growled, and then he took off in a blur, heading back towards the fort to help handle the snow monsters. Kise was leading their merged groups in attacking the other side, and as Kuroko watched, he summoned a small army of (probably illusions) of his own snow monsters.

 

They were shouting and attacking and the air was thick with snow flying everywhere.

 

Kuroko could hear Nijimura laughing maniacally. Students were yelling and cheering it was impossible to tell which side anyone was on.

 

This was wonderful. It was magical.

 

This was one of the best afternoons Kuroko had ever spent at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

 

Kuroko put his head down and made it the last few yards to the gate. The last ten feet involved dodging carefully around some very sharp, icy spikes that were probably Hanamiya’s demented idea.

 

He cast “ _reducto_!” at the snow above the entrance, collapsing it into the two guards. When four students ran to the entrance he dodged to the side and melted his way through the wall a few feet to the left of the door.

 

He banished a wall of snow into his would be attackers and turned and ran.

 

The flag would be in the heart of the castle, probably next to Nijimura himself. If Kuroko’s misdirection failed to work, he was probably about to get destroyed by a significantly more powerful seventh year student.

 

It would be the ultimate test of Kuroko’s invisibility, in a high stakes battle for who would be named king of the snow fort.

 

He wasn’t going to lose to Nijimura just because the other boy was older and more powerful.

 

Kuroko lost his pursuers by turning several corners, and heading up a set of stairs. He walked straight past two Ravenclaws who were chatting in hushed tones – their house affiliation only obvious because of the brightly colored scarves proudly wrapped around their faces. Both girls, judging by their voices, were too bundled up and covered in snow to otherwise identify.

 

Kuroko walked passed them without incident, and came out onto the top of the fort. Kiyoshi and six other students were focused on controlling the giant snow monsters while Momoi and Aida Riko were directing them. Momoi, predictably, did not have a single flake of snow on herself, while Riko looked just as much like a snow monster as the creations she and Momoi were helping direct.

 

Nijimura was talking with Mibuchi, both of them working with the line of people running – were those _cannons?_ – of snow, pelting the small valiant group led by Kise.

 

Behind Nijimura, their flag hung proudly.

 

Kuroko took a few tentative steps out into the open.

 

Nobody looked his way.

 

Confidently, Kuroko walked the rest of the way, and picked up the flag.

 

Nobody was looking at him. Of course, they were all so complacent that nobody had breached the defenses of their fort that they wouldn’t be paying attention to the flag, because that would be a waste of resources. While they were busy with the perceived threat outside their walls, Kuroko slipped it out from right under their noses.

 

He walked straight back down the stairs, feeling pretty pleased with himself, though drained at the large amount of magic he’d used.

 

Okay, all he had to do now was get back to the base and then –

 

But as Kuroko burst into the snow, a chorus of cheers and screams came from the other side of the field, and as Kuroko watched, Hyuga Junpei vaulted straight over Kise’s head, narrowly avoiding a huge explosion of snow that landed exactly where he had been a moment ago. He landed in a roll that he was unable to control, only avoiding the spikes because someone vanished them at the last second, before the Gryffindor prefect slammed straight into the wall of the fort.

 

A second later his hand appeared in the mound of snow, clutched in a death grip around a bright red flag.

 

“I HAVE IT!” he shouted, pulling his face clear. “I GOT IT, I HAVE THE FLAG! IT’S ALL OVER!”

 

Kuroko looked down at the flag in his own hand, frowning a little. He’d been so close.

 

“Ah, it’s alright Kurokocchi!” Kuroko hadn’t noticed Kise until a snow covered arm slung around his shoulders, sending snow down the back of his robes and making him wince.

 

“We fought well! We will be remembered in song and name…”

 

The rest of the battlefield around them was erupted into chanting “THE DRAGON IS DEAD! THE DRAGON IS DEAD!” repeatedly. Kise glowered, but took it in good enough humor as the two of them walked back towards their own team as stragglers climbed out from behind what was left of the guardian dragon Akashi had helped build.

 

Kuroko tuned it all out and shrugged, leaving the flag to be blown away on the wind. Having been magically conjured, as it slipped farther away, it disintegrated into snow and fell back down to the ground once it had travelled far enough.

 

It didn’t matter anyway, because today had been more fun than Kuroko could ever remember having in his entire freaking life.

 

He was so glad Momoi had convinced him to compete in the tournament.

 

He was so glad he’d fallen under the scrutiny of Akashi Seijuro, the captain that had given him _this._

 

Akashi and Nijimura met in the middle of the field to shake hands while the teams around them cheerfully made friends after pelting each other with snow, and staggered back up the path to the castle.

 

Kise told Kuroko he would find him again and went to go search out Aomine. Kuroko joined the throngs of students headed back towards the castle, too tired for the excited chatter filling the air around him. Every student was recounting their favorite moments of the battle. A few feet away, the tiny first year boy who had helped the Head Girl make the dragon was bouncing up and down recounting every last movement it had made to anyone who would listen for even a fraction of a second. It was pretty cute.

 

And then Kuroko watched as Akashi swooped down and patted the boy on the back, telling him he had done an excellent job helping shape the teeth that had brought down the monstrous ice giants. The boy’s eyes turned the size of dinner plates as Akashi stood up and moved on after giving the first year a last smile.

 

“Tetsuya,” Akashi said, placing a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

Kuroko turned.

 

“That was very kind of you,” he said, gesturing his head towards the first year. Akashi made a face, but otherwise refused to acknowledge what Kuroko had said. His persona as the Emperor of the Miracles was being built back up, piece by piece. It was a shame, Kuroko rather liked this side of Akashi, which was no less intense but softer. It wasn’t that Kuroko didn’t appreciate Akashi’s intense, battle ready personality, but sometimes he thought that side of Akashi had too many sharp barbs. This side of Akashi was gentler, and happier with himself and the world around him.

 

“Shuzo told me that his flag was gone when he ran down to thank his spy for bringing back our flag,” Akashi said, oblivious to Kuroko’s musings. “Nobody saw you take it at all. Had our timing been a little better, we would have won, and it would have been thanks to you. I apologize for not providing the support you needed to shine as you should have today.”

 

Kuroko was stunned.

 

Literally stunned beyond words.

 

“All I did was walk through,” he said finally. “They practically left the door open for me.”

 

Akashi chuckled.

 

“You’re amazing, Tetsuya.”

 

“Well now, I guess you and I _can_ agree on something after all.”

 

Ogiwara appeared at Kuroko’s other shoulder, slamming his hand into Kuroko’s back.

 

“Well done,” he said. “You were almost home free, it was incredible! I’m so bummed Hyuuga got there first. Stupid Gryffindors always have to steal the glory from the rest of us!”

 

Akashi nodded in agreement with this statement, but his smile suddenly looked a little fixed.

 

“Come find us later, okay? I want to check on Sakurai, he got nailed by an ice ball to the face. It was pretty brutal, Furihata was helping him get to the hospital wing last I heard.”

 

And then Ogiwara took off, speeding through the crowd.

 

“You have interesting friends.”

 

“I like them,” Kuroko defended. “All of my friends are interesting and strange in their own way, even the controlling Slytherins.”

 

He had a small smile on his face though, and the amazement on Akashi’s face was worth being blunt about that too.

 

“Oi, Tetsu, what did you do to Akashi? You gotta teach me how to do that!”

 

Aomine had caught up with them followed immediately by Kise, and it wasn’t long before Murasakibara found them with Midorima trailing behind him.

 

“Let’s go inside and get warm,” Murasakibara said, stretching his arms over his head. “That was fun.”

 

Kuroko agreed, and the two of them took point, discussing what they had seen in the fight. They had seen the most after all; Murasakibara having manned the base the whole time, and Kuroko having spent the vital moments of the fight out on the front lines.

 

“Oh, Shintarou,” Akashi said, as they fell into step together towards the rear of the group. “I almost forgot to tell you, but you were absolutely right.”

 

“About what?” Midorima asked, frowning.

 

“Shuzo told me he had Nebuya do the shield.”

 

Midorima’s eyebrows narrowed in confusion, before his eyes sought out the back of Kuroko’s head, which was only mostly in focus right now.

 

“But Kuroko got up to the top without a problem and managed to get their flag without any help.”

 

“He said he walked right in.”

 

“But-”

 

“He wasn’t even aware there was a shield, Shintarou,” Akashi said. “Let’s let that be a surprise to our own enemies.”

 

“Should we tell him?”

 

“In due time.”

 

Midorima nodded, and would have responded if it hadn’t been for Aomine falling back and demanding to know why he was being so standoffish and dragging him into the conversation at the front.

 

Akashi smiled, watching his team interact. They were really coming together. This was a team now, not just a group of powerful individuals. They knew each other’s strengths and effortlessly filled in each other’s weaknesses. Sure, it was an eclectic bunch, but Akashi wouldn’t have them any other way.

 

Not only was this the group that was going to take the upcoming tournament by storm, but he rather liked all of them.

 

The group found Momoi in the Entrance Hall, which was covered in a thin sheen of water from the melting snow falling off students.

 

“Nice try, boys,” Momoi said, flicking her (perfectly dry and entirely unruffled) hair at them. “Now you know that if you want to win, you should _ask me first_ instead of simply assuming that I won’t help your opponents.”

 

She strode off, the Miracles following.

 

“Mine-chin, why did you insult her again?” Murasakibara whined. “It’s so bothersome to have to make plans without her. And she’s got all my hair ties.”

 

Aomine snorted, but didn’t say anything, glowering at the ground in front of him. Murasakibara had probably hit the nail on the head with that diagnosis of why Momoi had mysteriously decided to show up and join the other team right before the fight had begun.

 

Honestly, Kuroko could have told his team that Momoi was someone who should never be underestimated or underappreciated. God knew why she still decided to hang around with Kuroko and Ogiwara anymore, but he was grateful for the Slytherin’s friendship just as much as he was grateful for Ogiwara’s.

 

A mass of students was entering the Great Hall, and the Miracles followed to see what was going on.

 

The Great Hall had been transfigured. A massive fire pit was in the center of the room, surrounded by squishy armchairs and couches. Several smaller fire pits scattered the room, keeping huddled and drying groups of valiant warriors warm as they returned to the safety and protection of the castle.

 

Half the school was gathered by the massive fire pit in the middle of the Great Hall, sipping cocoa and hot cider out of cups while small tables of s’mores and winter snacks were set up between the groups of huddled students.

 

All in all, it was an excellent end to the day.

 

The Generation of Miracles had gathered in a spot by one of the mini fire pits, warming their hands and talking about the challenges that lay ahead of them. Kuroko was sitting with his legs crossed in front of him, content to remain quiet while he listened to his friends talk, his hands curled around a warm cup of cider.

 

Even when the talk turned to their upcoming tournament, his warm mood could not be chilled, even a little bit.

 

“Akashicchi, do you have any idea what the tasks will entail?”

 

Akashi shook his head, his expression neutral.

 

“I have been informed that there will be seven official tasks that we must complete, the last of which will be an exhibition tournament game between the schools,” he said.

 

“Shuzo and I have been going over all the potential tasks, and we both believe that our teams are more than up to the challenges we will face.”

 

“Seven seems like too much,” Murasakibara muttered, sipping at his hot chocolate. Akashi’s smile softened a little.

 

“Don’t worry, Atsushi, I expect that the tasks will focus on different types of magical power and control, and so your abilities will not be needed in every task.”

 

Kuroko was kind of relieved to hear that he probably wouldn’t have to compete in every round of the competition - he doubted he would have the power for that _and_ the subsequent tournament. Murasakibara nodded in response to Akashi’s statement, appeased, and managed to fit an entire s’more into his mouth from the plate in front of him.

 

Kuroko couldn’t blame him – the amount of magic required to power those catapults had probably taken a lot out of the larger boy. Even Tsugawa had to bow out to take a break after a few minutes of continuous casting. He’d learned after the fact that Murasakibara had manned both catapults by himself for almost half an hour, all the way to the end, before abandoning his post to help chase after Hyuuga. Kuroko was willing to bet that the explosion of snow that had forced the other boy to dramatically leap over Kise and nearly barrel straight through his own fort had originated from Murasakibara.

 

“Do you think the other schools will have duelists that are powerful?” Aomine asked, excitement written into the new tension in his muscles.

 

“Hey, we have strong duelists _here!_ ” Kise shouted back, outraged.

 

“Really?” Aomine asked, making a big show out of seeming incredibly surprised and looking around eagerly. “Where?”

 

Kise leaped forward, managing to avoid getting a single drop of hot cocoa on himself as he tossed the cup to the side and let it land neatly on the table while he raised his wand with his other hand.

 

“Oh come on, you wanna fight on Christmas?” Aomine asked, not moving from where he remained sprawled on the couch. “Seriously, do I need to hand you your ass _every_ day of the year?”

 

“I’ll beat you this time!” Kise insisted.

 

“Boys, boys, you’re both pretty,” Momoi said, cutting between them deliberately to sit down on the couch.

 

“Why are you encouraging him?” Aomine grumbled.

 

“Because encouraging you turned out so well,” Momoi shot back, smiling sweetly.

 

“Hey!” Aomine shouted, insulted though not sure why.

 

“It was a compliment, Daiki,” Akashi said, before taking another sip of hot chocolate.

 

“Some people just can’t hear nice things about themselves,” Midorima noted. Kuroko snorted into his cup, wondering if he should point out the irony in the statement. Fortunately, Momoi’s sharp wit was in fine form, and she was more than ready to say something for him.

 

“You’re absolutely right Shin-chan – hey, speaking of which, how’s Takao?”

 

Midorima turned bright red and coughed.

 

“Oi, what’s this about Takao?” Aomine asked. “Are you messing with Gryffindors now, Midorima?”

 

Murasakibara hit Midorima on the back to help him get through his choking fit. When Midorima regained the ability to breathe, he glared at his teammates.

 

“You’re all assholes,” he said eloquently. “And you’re all going to die.”

 

“Wow, insightful,” Kise said, impressed.

 

“Yeah it was deep,” Momoi agreed. “Deep as a shower.”

 

Everyone dissolved into laughter again. It was peaceful and warm, and everything was wonderful.

 

…

 

Christmas, in comparison to the chaos that immediately preceeded it, was quiet. After over half the school had abandoned the castle, the hallways and grounds seemed far too deserted.

 

Ogiwara, Kuroko, and Furihata had the fourth year dorm to themselves, and woke up to piles of presents on their beds, placed there by the House Elves. They ripped into the packaging, sharing sweets from home and good wishes cards from their housemates. Carrying bags of some of those sweets, the three Hufflepuffs went down to the common room to enjoy them and share them among any of the other students who were awake.

 

They found a group that consisted of all of the third years, several fifth years, including Mitobe and Kiyoshi, one sixth year, and all of the seventh years (most of whom were grudgingly making an attempt to look like they were studying from the textbooks they’d brought down with them), and a handful of second and first years already gathered around the massive tree in the middle of the common room. Furihata ran back up for more sweets, which were swapped around with the rest of the Hufflepuffs, each of whom was determined to share around the caches of candy and baked goods from home.

 

They sipped cider and tea and told stories until it was time for Christmas lunch, which they reluctantly agreed that they should attend, even though everyone was quite happy and comfortable where they were.

 

Kuroko greeted the rest of the Generation of Miracles as they filed into the Great Hall, and it seemed like even Ogiwara made a good faith effort to be nice to them (or at least not rude).

 

They ate their fill and spent the rest of the day pulling crackers, daring to trudge back out into the snow to make snowmen, and ended the day exhausted, but satisfied that it had been spent doing nothing productive whatever.

 

It was the best Christmas Kuroko had ever had, but soon enough, it was over, and it was time to get back to work.

The tournament was almost upon them.

 

….

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed christmas in May
> 
> As always, feel free to come cry to me about basketball homes [at my Tumblr here](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	10. Akashi Acts Like An Adult For Once And Surprisingly It Doesn’t End In Disaster

…

 

 ** _Third Year_** :

 

_Kuroko stared at his final marks for the year, and fought the urge not to cry._

 

_He remembered what he’d felt this time last year, and the year before._

 

_He’d worked so hard, he’d studied every waking second, had even let Momoi drill him until he literally dropped from exhaustion in the middle of the library, but he just hadn’t been able to succeed._

 

_His first two years, Kuroko had taken “Acceptable” in every single class except Potions, which he had managed to achieve an “Exceeds Expectations” in, both for first and second year. He could have raised that grade even higher, but had he sacrificed studying time for any other class, Kuroko was sure he would have failed – especially in such a power focused class as Transfiguration._

 

_His mother had sat him down after first year, running a delicate finger down the list of Kuroko’s scores._

 

_“I know what is concerning you,” she said soothingly. “But not everyone succeeds in every class.”_

 

 _“It just feels like I’m not succeeding in_ any _of them,” Kuroko had whispered. “Maybe they made a mistake letting me in, maybe-”_

 

_Kuroko’s mother placed a gentle hand on his shoulder._

 

_“Now there, I won’t have anyone say such things about my son,” she said sternly. “How would you feel if anyone said such a cruel thing about one of your friends?”_

 

_Kuroko sniffed._

 

_“I’d be really angry,” he admitted._

 

_“And I’m sure they would feel the same to hear anyone say that about you,” she said. She leaned back, pulling Kuroko’s marks back in front of her. “Your potions score is good. Do you like the class?”_

 

_Kuroko nodded._

 

_“There are many careers that use potions as a base skill,” his mother said. “You could take on a mastery in Potions and do research. It’s certainly a well respected and intellectually challenging field. If you pull up your scores in Herbology and Charms to take your O.W.L.s you could go into healing. You have many options, and you don’t have to think about it yet. But you should think about where you find yourself enjoying the time you spend working, and make note of it, because that will help you find a place where you will love what you do the most.”_

 

_“What did you love to do?” Kuroko asked. His mother beamed, bright and slightly embarrassed._

 

_“I liked to play Quidditch and get into fights,” she replied with a warm laugh. “Merlin knows I’m pleased you don’t cause a fraction of the trouble I did.”_

 

_Kuroko hadn’t told her about his extracurricular adventures, which Ogiwara had basically dubbed as “studying the fun way.” He had a feeling that she wouldn’t approve even with her earlier admission of getting into trouble, but their adventures really had helped Kuroko study, especially in potions. He learned quickly from his mistakes, and took meticulous notes about them._

 

_He had had a similar conversation with his grandmother the next year after opening his marks at the breakfast table. It had been on her advice that he’d decided to take Ancient Runes and Arithmancy as his electives (“Power isn’t everything boy, what on earth do they teach at that school these days?” she had grumbled, tapping the parchment more forcefully than his mother had. “You’ve plenty of time to pull your academics together, don’t worry.”)_

 

 _But now at the end of this third year at Hogwarts he was staring at a list of results that just_ didn’t. Make. Sense.

 

_Well, in context, maybe they made more sense than Kuroko wanted to believe. He had left all of his exams feeling more confident than he ever had leaving a test, and he had been able to physically perform each of the spells they were asked to demonstrate. Professor Nakatani had asked them to, among other things, successfully perform a Cheering Charm. Kuroko had cast it with fairly little difficulty and left feeling good about it._

 

_When Professor Shirogane had asked Kuroko to turn a stone into a rabbit on the exam, Kuroko had felt the magic flowing through him the same way it had when he and Ogiwara had completed their prank. He felt – more in tune with his own magic, more in control over it – and the bunny hopped around the entire classroom before the spell dissipated._

 

_Actually, that had been the case across the board. Of course, Momoi had also drilled Kuroko on Potions and Ancient Runes until he dropped, insisting that it was a travesty of justice if he allowed two potentially “Outstanding” scores to slip away from him due to negligence in studying. She’d even provided him with a chart he would later realize had been compiled by Midorima Shintarou in order to make sure he passed._

 

_And passed he had._

 

_Kuroko pressed his hand to his mouth and stared._

 

_His lowest score was in History of Magic, which he hadn’t been willing to put any effort into more than passing. It was rarely considered a critical O.W.L or N.E.W.T course for any career, plus it was as boring as all hell. He had multiple Outstanding scores._

 

_For the first time, he had actual, physical proof that he was a wizard. That he wasn’t just half a drop of magical power away from being a Squib._

 

_Neither of his parents had been home to celebrate with him, but his grandmother had beamed with fierce price, and told him that she’d never been happier, seeing how pleased he was with his own success._

 

_He was still riding that high four months later, when he’d returned to Hogwarts and was cornered in the library by a redheaded Slytherin determined to break Kuroko out of his shell._

 

…

 

Once the Christmas break was all but spent, the tournament was again the only thing on anyone’s minds. The other schools would be hosted for in the castle for the three weeks of competition, starting a few weeks after the beginning of the January term.

 

Kuroko enjoyed the last few days of peace and quiet before he and the rest of the Generation of Miracles were thrust into the thick of it with duties relating to the tournament.

 

The school and its grounds were being aggressively prepared for the arrival of twenty-four schools. Space within the castle was being made for each of the school’s champions and cheering teams for the three weeks the students would be staying there. A large dueling arena was being set up out in the middle of the grounds by stern faced tournament officials in robes with bright orange stripes indicating their roles. Wizards were travelling in and out of the forest on a regular basis, which was making more than one student excited for what was waiting beyond the tree line for the champions. Kuroko refused to engage in any of the speculation about what type of challenge that might be.

 

Kuroko worked on his spell work every day. He practiced his aim. He practiced new spells and new illusions.

 

He spent the most time working on the muggle magic tricks Takao had showed him. He practiced becoming completely invisible.

 

Akashi was satisfied with the progress Kuroko was exhibiting. He had a pleased expression on his face every time their group met to train. He had been wearing the look since their exercise right before winter break when Kuroko’s succeeded at using his misdirection during the snowball war.

 

Kuroko didn’t have any idea how strong their opponents might or might not be, but it seemed to him that Akashi had every reason to be pleased with himself.

 

After all, the boy was captaining a team that was almost certainly going to sweep the tournament, no matter what challenges were placed in front of them.

 

Kuroko just wished that he’d had time to prefect some of his other moves. He’d hoped by this point that he would be able to split Aomine’s spells without drawing notice, but with anything stronger than a minor charm he couldn’t do it. Akashi was pushing him to focus on strengthening his fundamentals anyway, and he barely had time to work on it.

 

Two weeks into the new semester, Akashi called them for their last meeting before the rest of the schools were due to arrive.

 

“You have each fought hard to get to where we are now,” he said. “You have all worked hard to improve, to strategize, and shore up your weaknesses.”

 

Akashi gave his teammates a genuine, bright smile.

 

“We will take this tournament by storm,” he said, confidence in every word. “Atsushi’s shields will protect us. Daiki’s explosive power will cut down every opponent in our path. Shintarou’s healing powers will keep us strong, and his runes will bring down even the strongest shield. Ryouta’s illusions will distract and confuse them. And Tetsuya-”

Kuroko straightened under Akashi’s gaze.

 

“Tetsuya will catch our enemies with their pants down, and make them regret not noticing him sooner. I could not ask for a better assassin.”

 

Kuroko smiled in pride at this assessment.

 

“We can do this,” Akashi said. “We _will_ do this. This room has the most magically powerful and talented wizards in the school. Soon enough, we will demonstrate that we are among the most powerful wizards in the _world._ Our victory will be _absolute._ ”

 

It was the first time Akashi said that that Kuroko didn’t internally roll his eyes.

 

He was ready. Adrenaline was racing through his blood, and he was excited beyond belief for what was to come.

 

They would be fighting against some of the most talented witches and wizards in the world. And here, at Hogwarts, in front of all their peers from multiple countries, they would have the chance to prove themselves.

 

Kuroko had no need or desire for glory, but he wanted to win this tournament. For himself, partly, but also for his friends – the ones who would be fighting side by side with him, and the ones who would be watching from the sidelines, screaming their support to the rafters.

 

…

 

On Sunday afternoon, the challenging schools arrived.

 

Most of them did so without a great deal of fanfare, as they needed to get settled into their rooms at Hogwarts, shower, and change before dinner. They would be having their first challenge that night.

 

The only ones actually required to greet the incoming students were the two teams of Champions that would be representing Hogwarts, and Professor Aida. The headmaster had however roped Professor Harasawa into joining him so that he didn’t have to stand there and be social with the headmasters of the visiting schools alone.

 

This part was mostly a blur for Kuroko. He shook hands with so many people, students and professors who looked straight through him. Kuroko had the odd sense that none of them could really actually process that he was there. He wondered if he had been standing at the end of the line of students if anyone would have registered his existence for long enough to shake his hand.

 

They stood out in the winter chill to welcome the delegations from each team, and a team of House Elves showed each to the quarters they would occupy for the trip. This was a little startling to one of the three Japanese schools, and the two American ones – Kuroko supposed there was a cultural difference there – but they all seemed to take it in stride.

 

Dinner was a boisterous affair. Two tables had been added to make room for the visiting school Champions (who almost doubled the number of students in the school just from the champions alone), and the staff table had been magically extended to house their professors and representatives. The Great Hall seemed to have expanded in length too, but maybe that was a trick of the light, combined with the fact that Kuroko had never seen this room so crowded before.

 

The Headmaster finally stood, walking to the podium in the front of the room.

 

“Your attention,” he said shortly, and the room went quiet. Hogwarts by now knew their Headmaster was a man of few words, and students learned quickly to be silent when he spoke.

 

“I am Headmaster Aida Kagetora, and I would like to welcome you all once again, to Hogwarts.”

 

The Hogwarts students cheered in welcome for their peers, high on the excitement of new faces and new people. Most of the girls at the Hufflepuff table seemed to have their heads together planning on how to get one of the other school’s Champions on their own to ask them out. Kuroko was sure that the other half of his house was probably plotting the same thing; he just figured they would be less vocal about it.

 

He was willing to bet that they would be listening to Fukuda reading a sonnet to some American girl’s lips before bedtime.

 

“I hope you will find this castle a comfortable home for the next three weeks of this tournament,” the Headmaster continued. “I trust you will find our students eager to get to know you, and aid you if you are in need of assistance getting from one place to another. This is the first time in recent memory that so many schools, from so many countries, have united under our roof, and I hope that we are all able to take advantage of this amazing opportunity.”

 

Kuroko was beginning to wonder who had written the Headmaster’s speech for him. Likely his daughter, since Kuroko doubted that he would trust anyone else to do the job for him.

 

It continued on for far longer than Kuroko had ever heard his Headmaster speak, touching on cultural diversity, thanking the schools for participating in this amazing opportunity, briefly discussing sportsmanship and fair play, before finally winding down. It was a solid six minutes of extremely sensitive, perfectly appropriate for the occasion, well worded fluff.

 

Kuroko was impressed.

 

“Now since I’m sure you’d like to stop hearing the sound of my voice-”

 

Ah, there was the end of the prepared material and the return of the surly, reprobate Headmaster they all knew and loved.

 

“I think its time to talk about what you’re really here for. The tournament.”

 

Empahtic cheering on the part of the student body followed this simple statement. None could contain their excitement for what was to come.

 

“The overall structure of the tournament will be exactly the same for both divisions,” The Headmaster said. “To explain, our tournament director will elaborate from here.”

 

Aida Kagetora looked like he wanted to be anywhere other than introducing an official for this tournament right now. The scowl on his face wasn’t quite at it’s most impressive potential, but it was definitely getting there. He stepped back to allow the other man to take over.

 

“The schools will face seven tasks,” the tournament director said. “Six of those tasks will be used to rank the teams for the purposes of creating two evenly matched brackets in the seventh task: an all out dueling tournament. Strong performances in the tasks leading up to the tournament will guarantee being seeded against teams with weaker performances.”

 

Everyone was listening with rapt attention as the director laid out the structure of the tournament that would define their lives for the next two and a half weeks.

 

“The tournament will have two brackets, and will be fought elimination style, with half of all remaining teams dropping out of every round. The final round will be against the winners of each bracket, and that victor will be named the champion of the tournament.”

 

So seven tasks, as Akashi had said over Christmas. Six challenges to prove their worth in various and as yet unknown ways, and one tournament to fight and win together, if they could manage it.

 

“Some of these challenges will be the same for both divisions,” the director continued. “Most will be tailored to the age group that is facing them. All of the tasks will be overseen both by a panel of tournament officials sent as representatives of the various governments, as well as a full staff of trained and competent mediwizards. We do not intend for students to be harmed in rising to the challenges they will face, though most of them will involve at least some degree of danger.”

 

That somber statement out of the way, the director carried on.

 

“For the next two and a half weeks, let’s have seven clean rounds,” he said. “Speaking of which, as you all know our very first challenge will be taking place tonight in approximately half an hour. It will be taking place here in the Great Hall. Speaking now directly to the competitive teams: tonight’s test is one of pure magical power. Volunteer your strongest teammate to show off the magical power of your team. They will be asked to perform a simple spell, during which their power will be measured and compared to the power output of each of their opponents.”

 

This was greeted with a low hum of excitement. Straight out of the gate, the schools would define themselves either as powerhouses, or as weak schools to be easily overcome. Of course, power wasn’t everything, Kuroko knew that. But it certainly helped, especially in a duel.

 

He doubted, for example, that he could take on any of his teammates one on one and win. Even without Akashi’s preternatural sixth sense that let him know whenever Kuroko was there, the rest of the team could overwhelm him with power all on their own. None of them had wanted to, because they’d been training specifically to _utilize_ Kuroko’s talents, but he doubted he would win in a throw down between him and any other member of his team.

 

“You will have half an hour to decide which of your teammates will compete on your school’s behalf, and inform us of that choice. Good luck to all of you.”

 

He stepped down, and the noise level rose a few decibels as everyone started talking at once.

The Headmaster took the podium again, and with a sweep of his wand, all the tables vanished. Kuroko realized he hadn’t been wrong – the Great Hall had indeed already expanded in size, and was doing so again.

 

Another wave of the Headmaster’s wand and bleachers were set up all around three of the four walls to create an arena in the middle. The bleachers went back seven rows, seemingly beyond the boundaries of the walls as they existed, testing the limits of the ceiling.

 

Kuroko mused that practicality alone must have placed them here for tonight, so as to not force everyone to walk out into the cold after having just arrived.

 

The students were duly impressed by this show of magic and cheered dutifully. They began clamoring up the steps to try and get good seats, only partially organized by the professors who had placed themselves strategically so as to prevent total chaos.

 

Akashi held up a hand and gestured to his team to follow him. There was a section of the bleachers designated for the competing students to sit and watch when it wasn’t their turn in the arena, and the Hogwarts captain led them towards it, deftly navigating through the excited crowd.

 

As soon as they were somewhat separated from the gaggle of noise, Akashi turned to the team, smirking a little bit. He had a reason to – on power alone, nobody could compare to any of the Generation of Miracles, even the weakest of them.

 

For this challenge, Kuroko expected Akashi to make a decision based on whichever one of them was best qualified to establish immediate, unquestionable dominance. He partially expected the Slytherin to inform them that he would be taking on this challenge himself, just to be sure that they won.

 

There were so, so many people who would have killed to find out exactly which of the Generation of Miracles was the most powerful. Kuroko believed (quietly, without saying a word to even Ogiwara) that Akashi was not as certain in his overwhelming power advantage as he wanted the rest of the school to believe. Kuroko had spent a lot of much time manipulating his teammate’s spells, so he knew the flavor of their magic. He knew they often held back during their mini duels, not putting all their power into a single spell and dueling more strategically as a result. That might affect what he knew, but still...

 

At any rate, and for whatever private reasons he may have had, Akashi did not take the first challenge for himself.

 

Instead, Akashi nodded to the largest member of the Generation of Miracles, his fellow Slytherin Murasakibara.

 

“What do you think, Atsushi? Would you like to go and greet our counterparts on our behalf?”

 

Murasakibara cracked his neck in both directions.

 

“That sounds so bothersome,” he whined.

 

“If you complete the challenge to the highest extent of your power, I am sure Tetsuya would be willing to help you pilfer some snacks from the kitchens.”

 

Kuroko didn’t know how he’d gotten roped into this, but he said nothing as Murasakibara appeared to consider Akashi’s offer.

 

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll go crush them.”

 

“Be sure that you do,” Akashi said. “Use all of your strength for that one spell, as much as you can muster. By the end of tonight, every team here will know that we are as powerful as the rumors say we are.”

 

Murasakibara actually grinned, and there was an excited glint in his eyes. Kuroko felt Akashi’s challenge thrum in his blood, and he knew Murasakibara would feel the same. The Slytherin wanted to be the best, and here Akashi was all but telling him to go out there and take what was his.

 

The wizard rolled up his sleeves and stood, walking over to the tournament official to let the man know that he would be competing for Hogwarts. The man put his name down on a list of parchment, and Murasakibara returned to the bench where his team was sitting.

 

“They said we’re first up, as the host school,” he said lazily. “I wonder if any of them will come close.”

 

Kuroko honestly doubted it. Right now, the only true challengers to Murasakibara’s strength were sitting on the bench next to him, and none of them had any desire to fight him.

 

“I’ll be back in a few minutes I guess,” Murasakibara shrugged, and loped down to the entrance of the arena. Kuroko watched as at least one team eyed the massive wizard with a little bit of trepidation.

 

He didn’t blame them. Murasakibara could be terrifying if you didn’t know that he was actually a giant child.

 

“What do you think Akashicchi? Do you think any of them are as powerful as Murasakibaracchi?”

 

Akashi’s eyes scanned their competitors.

 

“Tetsuya, what do you think?” he asked, surprising their teammates. Kuroko frowned. He couldn’t feel any of their magic well enough to know for sure, not with so many students in one place. Not to mention, trying to spot any other powerful wizards while sitting next to the Generation of Miracles was like looking for stars in the daylight – their light obscured everything.

 

“In terms of pure power, there might a few,” he said, nodding his head to a team from the United States, all of whom bore their country’s flag on their shirts.

 

He turned his head a little. There was another American team in the far right of the stands that also might have a few powerhouses they would have to fight to overcome. The wizard Kuroko thought might be their captain by the way he was ordering the others around was pretty distinctive given the black tattoo of a rose on his neck. Shifting his focus, Kuroko thought the team from Brazil might have the potential to be contenders. The team from Tokyo also had some powerful players. Some of the other schools were deliberately raising shields so that their magical power couldn’t be measured, and Kuroko was at a loss to guess whether they were hiding weakness or strength.

 

At any rate, it was too soon to tell.

 

“It’s hard to say for sure, but there are at least some powerful students here,” Kuroko said. “I don’t know if any of them could challenge you, but they might be difficult.”

 

Akashi agreed with that assessment.

 

“Keep in mind that they may decide not to fight for a heavy seed, but rather hide their true strength until the actual tournament,” he advised them. “A team that appears weak in these initial challenges may be trying to get the other schools to underestimate them.”

 

“Then I guess this really doesn’t mean anything,” Kise mused. “Hey, why aren’t we doing that? Hiding our strength and then sweeping the tournament?”

 

“Because I don’t want to,” Akashi said plainly. “And because there is no need. I would prefer to establish our unquestionable dominance in every arena, not just at the final tournament. While that strategy may be a winning one for some teams, eventually they will have to answer to us. Then they will be forced to reveal their true strength or go home. And frankly, when they do, we will be ready. We have _other_ cards up our sleeve, after all. If I wanted to hide our true power, I would have sent out Tetsuya.”

 

Ouch. That was kind of rude, even if it was true, but Kuroko didn’t let himself react to it. Akashi was just being honest, after all. It wasn’t like he was saying something Kuroko didn’t know for himself to be true. He _was_ the weakest member of this team.

 

As they watched, the tournament officials set up a device on one end of the arena, a glowing crystal in the center of it. The Champions were supposed to hit the target on the front of the device, and the crystal would register their power levels and turn a certain color that would indicate the reading. The judges would record the exact measurements from the crystal in order to more definitively rank the 24 competitors.

 

The officials announced the commencement of the tournament to the sounds of children cheering. The crowd hushed as Murasakibara took to the arena, walking up to the white line that was marked in front of the Magical Measurer.

 

Akashi didn’t lean forward in his seat like the rest of his team, but his expression gained intensity as he watched the other Sltyherin. Murasakibara crack his neck to each side and tied his hair back, getting ready to cast his spell.

 

When the tournament officials declared that Murasakibara could cast whenever he wanted, the boy simply widened his stance and stared right at the target, raising his hand.

 

It took Kuroko a moment to realize why Kise whispered an appreciative curse down the bench from him.

 

Murasakibara wasn’t holding his wand.

 

Whispers broke out among the crowd. Murasakibara, while large, was only fourteen, after all. Was he really going to compete in a contest of magical power while handicapping himself?

 

Kuroko smiled as he thought of the answer he knew Murasakibara would give to that question: _Wands are bothersome. And you are bothersome. I’m strong with or without my wand. I don’t need it to crush anything._

 

Murasakibara cast his spell. It exploded from his hand in a visible ball of white light and hit the target so hard that a deep gong echoed around the arena. A second later, the crystal turned white and shattered, pieces of shrapnel hitting the shield around the crowd with a spark.

 

Kuroko leaned forward, tense for Murasakibara’s sake, but the boy had brought up a shield before any of the shrapnel had hit him.

 

 _Had he been expecting that outcome?_ Kuroko wondered as Murasakibara nodded once and left the arena to rejoin his teammates. He didn’t even stop to apologize to the tournament officials who scrambled past him to go clean out shattered remains of their Magical Measurer and replace the crystal.

 

It seemed like only seconds had passed before Murasakibara was climbing up the steps of the risers and rejoining his team.

 

Akashi shook the boy’s hand and Aomine clapped him on the back, grinning smugly.

 

“What spell did you cast?”

 

“Wingardium Leviosa.”

 

Kise was laughing so hard he fell sideways off the bench.

 

Akashi looked as composed as he ever did in most public situations, but Kuroko could read every line of self satisfied smugness on the boy’s face.

 

They watched as the tournament officials finished cleaning up the mess of crystal that littered the floor, and replaced the device with a new one.

 

The girl who entered the field next, the flag on the side of her shirt declaring her school to be in Indonesia, looked pale and shell-shocked as she stepped up to the line and cast her spell.

 

Kuroko felt bad for her, having to go after Murasakibara. He felt her intent waver as she cast the spell, and it wasn’t as strong as it could have been if she had focused on the spell, instead of the competitor that she had just watched.

 

The next few competitors came and went. The first team from America that Kuroko had identified sent out a duelist with dark hair covering one eye. He smirked when he stepped up to the marker and cast his spell.

 

He was the highest scorer of any that had gone so far, save Murasakibara. Kuroko looked over at the board that announced the competitor’s name and school – Himuro Tatsuya.

 

He would be someone worth watching, especially if his team was as powerful as he was.

 

Several competitors later, a tournament official walked over to where the Hogwarts team was sitting, and asked if Akashi and Murasakibara would join him.

 

Kuroko, Aomine, Kise, and Midorima exchanged confused looks, as their captain and first representative followed the man back towards the judges’ table.

 

“That can’t be good,” Midorima murmured.

 

“What do you think the problem is?” Kise asked, a worried expression on his face. “Do you think they’re going to disqualify Murasakibaracchi because he destroyed their stupid crystal?”

 

“Maybe,” Midorima hedged, sounding thoughtful. “Libras are not ranked poorly today, but they would do well to tell the truth.”

 

“What, do you think they think he was lying about something?” Kise asked, still watching the tall boy’s retreating form. “Like that he somehow cheated?”

 

“It’s possible,” Midorima conceded. He took off his glasses and cleaned them, though the movement was completely unnecessary.

 

“Think of it from the perspective of another team here,” he said. “Out walks this massive boy from the host school, and you are already hard pressed to believe that he is fourteen years old. Not only does he shatter a Magical Measurer with a single spell, he does so wandlessly and wordlessly with a _levitation_ spell.”

 

“You’re not saying _you_ think he cheated?” Kise demanded, looking outraged.

 

“No,” Midorima quickly replied. “Obviously I don’t. I’m saying that I have competed against Murasakibara all year. I have shared food with him and trained with him. I have had class with him since we were eleven. None of these tournament officials have that benefit of knowing his character or the true measure of his power so well. I believe not even we know the true potential of his strength; how are we to ask that they take his power at face value without even questioning it?”

 

Kise pouted, falling back into his chair.

 

“This sucks.”

 

“We don’t even know that’s what the issue is,” Midorima replied tersely. “We don’t need to jump to conclusions. It’s quite possible that this was a completely innocent query or they just wanted Akashi and Murasakibara to go shake the hands of the other competitors. We are the host school and everything we do now reflects back on Britain and Hogwarts in particular. There is no use gossiping and speculating like a bunch of fools without any further information.”

 

Aomine finally decided to weigh in as well.

 

“If they do think he cheated, they can just ask him to do it again,” he said. “And again and again and again. He’s not hiding anything at all.”

 

Kuroko agreed with Aomine. No trickery had been utilized to allow Murasakibara to break that crystal, and he would have no trouble repeating the effort until the judges were satisfied, should that truly be the driving worry that had caused the judges to delay Murasakibara and Akashi.

 

What felt like an eternity later, as the last competitor was walking to their mark, Akashi and Murasakibara returned to them.

 

Murasakibara looked bored. So did Akashi, but when he sat down his hand tightened into a white knuckled fist where nobody save his teammates could see it.

 

He smiled, widely and falsely, pretending to relax.

 

“Akashicchi, what-”

 

“Not here,” Akashi said, shaking his head. He took a deep breath that Kuroko could hear, one person down the bench from him, as he fought for calm. “I will explain. Later. I don’t want this conversation to be public.”

 

The last competitor cast his spell, and the crowd cheered dutifully as he bowed and stepped out of the arena.

 

A tournament official went to the stage and thanked them, letting the school know that the second task would be taking place the next evening, and bidding them a good night…

 

It went on for significantly longer than it should have, and finally Akashi stood.

 

“We’re going to mingle,” he said. “Kindly, respectfully, and letting each school know that you think their competitors performed well. Is there anything about that I need to clarify?”

 

Four heads shook in dissent, and Akashi smiled tersely.

 

“Atsushi, you will not leave my sight for the rest of the night,” he said. “As your captain, I forbid you from speaking to any tournament officials or coaches unless I and our Headmaster are present until tomorrow morning, is that clear?”

 

Murasakibara nodded once, looking a little perturbed. Kuroko’s confusion and worry bled into actual fear, and then anger as he realized that somehow, someone had managed to do something that had unsettled _Murasakibara. Murasakibara_ who was easily the only person Kuroko knew that he could definitively say had no fear (except maybe Kiyoshi).

 

Whatever had happened was bad. Kuroko found himself incredibly glad for the protection that Akashi’s strict captainship provided.

 

“We’ll meet tonight in the practice room. I’ll see you in about half an hour.

 

It was the longest half an hour of Kuroko’s life. Kise, of course blossomed under the scrutiny of the crowd and was friends with half the room in minutes. Midorima, bless his awkward heart, hung back unsure of how initiate a conversation. Aomine stayed back with him, as did Kuroko.

 

Murasakibara had, predictably, followed Akashi, sticking to his side like glue. They made a hilarious pair, with over a foot of difference between their heights.

 

“We should go mingle,” Kuroko said.

 

“Yeah,” Aomine agreed, not moving.

 

“Definitely,” Midorima said, clutching at his lucky item (a piece of his birthstone, ruby, set into a pendant). Kuroko was surprised he hadn’t cut his fingers with how hard Midorima was clutching onto the item.

 

“I could just walk away and nobody would notice,” Kuroko theorized. “Do you think Akashi would realize it if nobody remembered meeting me? I could just tell him I was here the whole time.”

 

“Okay loser, but that doesn’t help the two of us!” Aomine burst out.

 

“You could pretend to be sick.”

 

“Akashi’s being pissy and you want me to lie to him? Yeah that sounds like a terrible idea, and I’m not even Midorima.”

 

Midorima didn’t even shoot back a retort. He was looking a little queasy – almost as green as his hair.

 

“This is absurd,” he said. “We’re _Champions,_ we’re some of the strongest wizards-”

 

“Oh for shit’s sake all of you,” Kise had returned to them. “Akashicchi wants us to act normally-”

 

“Normally I don’t like to socialize with hundreds of strangers,” Midorima said, sounding like he might actually be ill.

 

Kise’s expression shifted in concern. He looked from Kuroko, who was standing too straight, to Aomine, who was frozen in place, and back to Midorima who looked like he was about to pass out.

 

“I can fix this,” Kise said brightly. “I know what the issue is. Hold on.”

 

A second later he was back with a girl who might have had as much muscle as Aomine did.

 

“Aomine, meet Victoria, she’s one of the Brazilian competitors. Victoria, this is our Ace, Aomine. He likes muggle basketball. Aomine, Victoria is a fan of muggle basketball. Discuss.”

 

Kise grabbed Kuroko and Midorima by the arms and dragged them away from Aomine, who sent them a pleading look begging for their help.

 

“I know that you all hate this,” Kise said bracingly, “But Akashi wants us to behave and act normal for a little bit so can we do as he says? Clearly there’s something wrong and he doesn’t need to deal with the stress of us not doing what he needs us to do, okay? And the senior division will be out any moment so you can go flock to them and stick by their sides if you need to.”

 

Kise deposited Midorima with a competitor who looked like he was all of twelve years old. The young wizard had mentioned in passing in an earlier conversation with Kise that he wanted to be a ward master and was already taking advanced courses in Ancient Runes and their modern applications. All Kise had to do to provoke a lively discussion out of Midorima was to repeat the boy’s thesis that computer based models provided more accurate mapping of runes. They were both embroiled in a heavily academic discussion in seconds.

 

“Are you going to pawn me off on a stranger too?” Kuroko asked, turning the expression that Ogiwara had dubbed his ‘puppy dog eyes’ on Kise.

 

Kise sighed.

 

“No,” he said. “You’re probably right that nobody will remember even if I did send you off to socialize with people. You might as well stay with me and practice being invisible if you want to. Otherwise I can just let people know I’m watching out for you since you caught a cold and they’ll have forgotten a minute later anyway.

 

Kuroko remembered why he loved his misdirection so much – social interaction was a lot easier when he didn’t have to do it at all. He hated any kind of spotlight, and hiding in Kise’s shadow would allow him to avoid it for the rest of the night.

 

True to Kise’s word, it wasn’t more than ten minutes before the doors to the Great Hall opened again. A new stream of competitors rolled in, immediately seeking out their younger counterparts in the crowd.

 

Kise and Kuroko immediately flitted to Nijimura’s side.

 

“Do you know what’s happening with Akashicchi?” Kise demanded. Nijimura rolled his shoulders and glared at the blonde.

 

“You fourth years have no respect - no nice to see you, no how did the first task go-”

 

“Hello, senpai, it’s good to see you. I hope your first task went well. Do you know what has Akashicchi so shaken?” Kise recited, his expression unchanging. Nijimura sighed and glanced around.

 

“No idea,” he said. “I know a tournament official asked to speak with Professor Aida while he was with us, and that was it. Why, did something happen?”

 

“Murasakibaracchi broke the Magical Measurer and we think they believe he cheated!” Kise whispered, leaning forward a little to prevent them from being overheard. Nijimura mouthed the words as Kise backed away, his eyes wide with shock as he took that in.

 

“He _broke_ – _wow_. Shit. Okay. That makes a lot of things make more sense. Well at any rate, you should trust your captain to deal with it.”

 

As he walked away, Kuroko distinctly heard the other boy mutter “Thank fucking god it’s _his_ job. _Broke the Magical Measurer my –_ Hello, Headmaster!”

 

Kuroko might have smiled if the situation weren’t so serious. Nijimura was a straightforward kind of wizard, and Kuroko appreciated that. Kise looked as confused and anxious as ever, and both of them had an eye on the clock, praying that soon they would be able to slip away without it being considered too rude.

 

Finally, _finally_ the crowd started to thin as several teams began taking their competitors up to the quarters that Hogwarts had set up for them. It wasn’t until more than half the teams had left that Akashi tracked down Kise and Kuroko, and nodded that they were free to leave.

 

Nobody said a word to each other as the six junior Champions gathered by the doors and left after making their excuses and bidding their fellow champions a good night.

 

They walked in silent unison towards their practice room, filing in after Akashi. As soon as the door was closed Akashi let out a yellow spell that raced to every corner of the room and created a glowing web that surrounded them for a moment before disappearing.

 

It was only then that their captain exhaled and leaned back against the wall behind him, looking extremely young and extremely vulnerable.

 

“Akashi, what happened?” Aomine was the first to break their silence.

 

“There was apparently a complaint,” Akashi said, his eyes still closed. “One of the other schools – I don’t know which one before you ask, and I wouldn’t say even if I did – lodged a formal complaint against Hogwarts because they believed that we lied about Atsushi’s age. They also thinly suggested that he had somehow cheated, but after Atsushi broke their other three Magical Measurers, the officials shut up.”

 

There was a little dark chuckling at this, but mostly everyone was frozen in shock.

 

“Wait, so they thought Murasakibaracchi was an older student?” Kise asked.

 

Akashi laughed. There was absolutely no humor in it. When he opened his eyes, the bags under them seemed particularly pronounced.

 

“They claimed that he was an adult competitor who had been snuck in under the guise of a student,” he said. “It was a particularly absurd claim, but the officials had to look into it, otherwise they would have been accused of favoritism. After it became clear that Atsushi hadn’t cheated the Headmaster was called. They asked for him to provide verification of his age, which the school did, and they made him provide a blood sample to check for potions or spells that might have altered the results of the spellwork they did to prove that Atsushi is of age to compete.”

 

“Merlin’s pants,” Aomine said. “What a bunch of fucking sore losers.”

 

“I agree,” Akashi said. “But remember Daiki, they don’t know Atsushi the way we do. If we saw a competitor at a tournament we did not believe to be of an age where it was appropriate for him to compete, I doubt we would have done anything differently. And perhaps we would be the ones being cursed out for rudely suggesting that another school might have cheated.”

 

Aomine huffed, but he still looked offended.

 

“To this end, I have set up an appointment for the Headmaster and three tournament officials and any random sampling of coaches they feel is appropriate to join us tonight and perform the same tests on each of us,” Akashi continued. He held up a hand to forestall the objection that he knew was going to come from all of his teammates.

 

“I know,” Akashi said, sounding very tired and sad. “I know. I am sorry. It is not a choice I wanted to make, but I would invite the entire world into this room to prove that you have done nothing wrong. To prove that each of you has come by your gifts solely based on your luck and hard work alone. That no outside factor could produce what each of you can.”

 

“I won’t have a single person at this tournament suggesting we have done wrong. We must be above reproach, because I want the world to marvel at the gifts you have, and I want them to do so unequivocally without even having the option of calling your honor into question.”

 

There was a long moment of silence between them all before Murasakibara spoke.

 

“Thank you, Aka-chin.”

 

Akashi smiled thinly. Some of the darkness seemed to lift from behind his eyes, and he relaxed a little.

 

“You’re welcome, Atsushi.”

 

The rest of the team followed Murasakibara’s lead in thanking their captain, and then they all fell back in silence until a knock sounded at the door.

 

“Well, I guess it’s time to put on a show again,” Akashi said, and the weary expression on his face was replaced by one of steely determination. Kise smiled a billion watt smile, and Aomine managed to uncross his arms and look vaguely less threatening. Akashi cancelled the spell that had made it impossible to overhear their conversation before opening the door to their new guests. The Headmaster entered, scowling and followed by three tournament officials and five coaches. Kuroko couldn’t tell by their expressions if any one of them was the one who had lodged the original complaint, but he’d be willing to bet that Akashi had arranged it so that that coach at least caught wind of this, even if he or she wasn’t one of the coaches that had been brought as witnesses.

 

“Thank you for your time, Akashi. I know that you would all rather be getting some sleep before the second round of the tournament,” the Headmaster said.

 

“It’s no bother,” Akashi said lightly. “I’m just sorry to keep our busy tournament officials from their rest, and five coaches away from their teams.”

 

Two of the coaches nodded tersely at this.

 

“I will be recording this session for the tournament records, in case we need to review anything from tonight. Are there any objections to this?” the female tournament official said, getting straight down to business. Nobody objected, and Kuroko thought Akashi probably preferred it that way. The woman nodded to her colleague, who pulled out a bright blue stone and tapped it with his wand. It emitted a low blue light, signaling that its recording devices were functioning normally.

 

“Well then, shall I go first?” Akashi asked, his eyes gleaming.

 

“If you would like,” the female tournament official said, opening a kit that had several vials for blood and sterile needles. “For the record, please state your name and birth date.”

 

“Akashi Seijuro, December 20th, 1998.”

 

“That would make you fifteen as of this December?”

 

“Yes ma’am. I turned 15 over winter break. Because my birthday is in the middle of the fall semester, I missed the cutoff date for the year ahead of us by half a year.”

 

“Your wand arm, please.”

 

Akashi extended his arm, allowing the official to draw his blood. She placed a piece of potion soaked paper on the injection site. It would react if there was any age altering spells or potions acting upon Akashi’s DNA.

 

When the slip was removed with a pair of tweezers it was perfectly blank. The woman cast an age spell on Akashi, and the glowing number 15 appeared above his head. She checked his name off her list and turned to the officials.

 

“I’m satisfied to declare Akashi Seijuro of legal age to compete in the junior division of the tournament, falling within the 12-15 age bracket and enrolled as a fourth year at Hogwarts. Is there any objection?”

 

After a moment of silence, she made a notation on her paperwork.

 

“No objection,” she said aloud. “Next?”

 

Kise stepped forward, already unbuttoning the sleeve of his button down shirt and rolling it up to expose his arm.

 

“Kise Ryouta,” he smiled winningly at her. She didn’t smile back. “June 18th, 1998.”

 

The woman drew his blood and went through the same testing procedure. It went smoothly, the glowing number 14 the only difference between his and Akashi’s test. The woman confirmed that he was a fourth year, and moved on.

 

Midorima was next, stating his birthday and holding his arm out for the needle, though he refused to watch as it went through his skin, his eyes closed tightly.

 

Nobody had any objection to Midorima’s age – 14 – or his year, and they moved on to Aomine. He shuffled forward reluctantly and bit out his name. He bitterly stated his birthday – August 31, 1997. He’d missed the cutoff for going to Hogwarts by a whole month, only turning eleven the day before the train was supposed to leave. That made him the oldest student in their year across any house, and it wasn’t something he was proud of.

 

However, it also wasn’t something that was a tournament violation, as despite his age he was still a fourth year student, and there was no objection.

 

“Very well, if the committee is satisfied-”

 

“You’ve forgotten our sixth teammate,” Akashi cut in. “I apologize for my rudeness, but I wouldn’t want you to leave and have to come back and do this again at another time.”

 

“Who-”

 

“Hello,” Kuroko said bluntly from right in front of her. The woman yelped and jumped a foot in the air.

 

“Ah, Kuroko, there you are,” Headmaster Aida said. His tone was neutral but his scowl had lifted somewhat at the woman’s reaction. “My apologies, our final Champion can be a little difficult to spot.”

 

All of the coaches looked a little spooked at this. Kuroko felt kind of smug that none of the adults in the room had even noticed him until now (it was a sign of how successful Akashi’s training had been after all). Kuroko obligingly held out his arm and recited his name and birthday for the tournament official.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya, January 31st.” When the glowing number 14 appeared above his head, the woman asked for any further objection, and receiving none, began packing up her kit for real.

 

“Let the record reflect that the Hogwarts team possesses three individuals who are of the age of fourteen, and three fifteen year olds that meet the criteria for competing within the junior division due to their placement in the schools grade system. Is this statement contradicted by any facts known to any party in the room currently?”

 

With no objections or interruptions, her colleague taped the recording device with his wand, turning it off.

 

“Thank you for making yourselves available to verify your ages. I apologize for the inconvenience that you have put yourselves to in order to defend yourself against the accusations of misconduct.”

 

She actually sounded human for a moment. She and her colleagues were about to take their leave, when Akashi stopped her again.

 

“Ma’am, I’m sorry, but would we be able to take the blood samples in order to destroy them? I’m not comfortable with anyone having a sample of my blood, even contaminated by the testing paper.”

 

The woman looked to the Headmaster, who shrugged, before she handed the case with the vials of blood in it to the captain of the Generation of Miracles.

 

“It’s no problem,” she said. “Gentlemen, goodnight.”

 

She swept out of the room, followed by her colleagues who were obviously hoping they wouldn’t get called back again.

 

Their headmaster remained still until the doors closed before turning to the junior Champions.

 

“What the tournament asked you to do tonight was disgraceful.”

 

He wasn’t a man to mince words, at least in private, apparently.

 

“It was disrespectful to you, our school, and our country. Your parents will be informed tonight of what transpired to make sure that they can respond should more of these… shenanigans… from visiting teams occur.”

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“Thank you,” he said gratefully.

 

“You have handled whatever the hell this night has been with a great deal of maturity,” their headmaster said. “All of you. I, at least, am proud to see that such fine students representing our school. Get some rest, tomorrow you have a day of classes and then another big fight to win. I’m looking forward to watching you beat their asses into the ground.”

 

He smiled at each of them individually and turned to leave, probably as happy as any of them were that this night was over.

 

“If Fate is kind to any of us this goddamn fucking tournament will be over before any other goddamn disasters can befall us,” the Headmaster muttered as he pulled the door open and strode through. Aomine snorted as the door closed behind him.

 

“Do you think that’s the end of it?” Kise asked quietly.

 

Akashi shook his head.

 

“I doubt it, not when we haven’t even begun to show them what we can do,” he said. “But jealousy isn’t a pretty color on any of them. Let’s make sure the whole world knows we are above even the thought of reproach. Behave yourselves, all of you. _Especially you, Tetsuya.”_

 

Kuroko’s eyes widened and he stared at Akashi in outrage, hoping that his response came off as innocently as possible.

 

“What did _I_ do?” he asked.

 

“Satsuki gave me a list, should I read it back to you?” Akashi said without missing a beat. “I’m aware of your penchant for causing pranks, Tetsuya, and be warned, I _will_ have my eye on you.”

 

“Now _that’s_ libelous and unfair,” Kuroko shot back. “And she better not have given you a list.”

 

“Want to roll the dice?” Akashi asked, eyes glinting with challenge. “I won’t have anyone on this team tarnishing our name.”

 

Kuroko looked away first, and Akashi exhaled loudly as he turned back to the group as a whole, looking a little self-conscious.

 

“I am sorry that this is how the first night of the tournament has ended. We should be celebrating Atsushi’s success, but instead we are angry and frustrated because some idiot couldn’t help but be a sore loser. But we need to focus on what is important, and though I don’t believe anyone else too the time to say it, Atsushi, you were amazing.”

 

Murasakibara smiled at his captain, blushing pink.

 

“I just did what you said,” he said. “I put all my strength behind it.”

 

“I can’t believe you broke a Magical Measurer with Wingardium Leviosa,” Kise snorted. “That’s the funniest thing ever!”

 

“I bet I could do it too,” Aomine said, a calculating glint in his eyes. Kise opened his mouth in outrage, clearly ready to start a competition.

 

“Don’t start, either of you,” Midorima warned. “We don’t need you to wear yourself out when we may need you to compete in full form tomorrow.”

 

“I’m just saying,” Aomine said defensively. “I think we should have a challenge among ourselves, since it’s clear we’re the only real competition any of us have.”

 

“Don’t be stupid,” Kuroko said, entering the conversation for the first time. Midorima, Akashi, and Kise all jumped at the second reminder that Kuroko was in the room.

 

“You are not the strongest wizard in Britain, or the west, or even the world,” Kuroko said, rolling his eyes. “You will find a rival. Maybe not here at Hogwarts or even at this tournament but you will. And in the meantime, I suggest that you speak with your deeds instead of leaving your mouth open to catch flies.”

 

Aomine looked a little put out at this, though the expression on Akashi’s face was approving.

 

“Oh come on, Tetsu, you know I was just playing around,” he wheedled.

 

“Then don’t be a jerk,” Kuroko said plainly. “Last time I checked you actually have to prove yourself before you go running at the mouth about being the best at anything. And even if you are the most powerful wizards here, don’t you think that our opponents might have some kind of specialization like me that could help them beat you anyway?”

 

Akashi chuckled, and put an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders.

 

“Tetsuya,” he said honestly. “You are one of a kind, of that I can assure you.”

 

He paused, and glanced down at the case of blood in his hands.

 

“I’d rather destroy it in fiendfyre,” he murmured.

 

“Please do not burn down the school,” Kuroko said at once. “Please. We were just saying that we need to avoid getting in trouble.”

 

“It shouldn’t be necessary,” Akashi said. He placed the case in the middle of the arena.

 

“Shintarou, would you?”

 

Midorima activated the runs around their dueling arena, and Akashi summoned a ball of ordinary fire to burn in the center of it. It burned white hot for a full minute before Akashi extinguished it with a jerk of his wand, leaving only charred dust behind.

 

“I don’t mean to be paranoid,” Akashi explained as Midorima deactivated the shield. “But we obviously have enemies here and I would prefer to avoid giving them such an obvious advantage over ourselves.”

 

This statement was met with murmured agreements from every member of the Hogwarts junior team. None of them were very comfortable with the idea of vials of their blood being out there when there were clearly teams here that already held grudges against them.

 

“Now, shall we head to our dorms before we end up losing time to sleep over this nonsense?”

 

The team agreed, and they went their separate ways, their melancholy mood only somewhat lifted. Kuroko watched Murasakibara loping towards the dungeons, Akashi had his side, and felt anger and outrage twist in his gut.

 

Murasakibara was often underestimated, not the same way Kuroko was, but for similar reasons. People looked at Kuroko and saw a slip of a boy who couldn’t possibly be a threat. People looked at Murasakibara and assumed he was childish, dumb, and unable to do anything without Akashi’s say so.

 

The problem with that assessment was that Murasakibara was smart, and an extremely astute observer of people. But proving it, over and over and over again just got tiresome, so he let people assume what they wanted. With Akashi by his side, he didn’t need closer friends, and was entirely willing to let the redhead serve as his shield from the rest of the world. Nobody, after all, would make fun of him if they thought Akashi would hear about it. The fact that another team had looked at Murasakibara and immediately decided he was the kind of student who cheated just because of the way he looked rankled at Kuroko’s sense of injustice so strongly he felt like his anger might make him physically vibrate.

 

This tournament had only just begun, and Kuroko was already sick of this.

 

He couldn’t believe they had to deal with two and a half more weeks of this bullshit. He wanted this tournament to be over and done with. But first, he was going to cheerfully help Akashi tear through their competition like wet parchment.

 

Nobody this dumb would ever be able to see Kuroko coming, after all.

 

…

 

Morning came all too soon.

 

Ogiwara and the rest of the fourth years had been asleep by the time Kuroko had returned to his dorm. It had been long past curfew at that point, not that he would have actually gotten in trouble for violating it for legitimate, tournament related reasons. That was even if anyone managed to notice him. Kuroko’s roommates interrogated him all the way down to the Great Hall.

 

“Oh hey, I thought I saw one of the tournament officials talking to Akashi and Murasakibara. They both looked really angry –what was that about?”

 

Kuroko was sure that Akashi didn’t want them telling tales about what had happened (especially when he had gone to so much trouble making sure they behaved normally the night before). However, this was _Ogiwara,_ his best friend. His light.

 

“They were angry at us for breaking the Magical Measurer,” Kuroko said dully. “They brought extras, but it was really inconvenient for them to have to replace it.”

 

The lie tasted like ash in his mouth, but Kuroko swallowed it anyway and kept walking, not looking Ogiwara in the eyes.

 

“That makes sense,” Ogiwara said thoughtfully. “Those things are probably wicked expensive. Anyway, do you guys have any idea what the next challenge will be?”

 

“Hopefully the next challenges are a little more exciting,” Kawahara complained. “I guess it’s kind of cool and all to see what each teams power levels are, but there wasn’t any action last night!”

 

Kuroko privately thought that Hogwarts had seen more than enough action for now. However, they had classes to get to. While participating in the tournament had allowed Kuroko to be excused from his homework for the duration of the competition, that didn’t mean he could just stop focusing on the material.

 

As their professors loved to remind them all, it wouldn’t be long before they would be revising for their official examinations. Plus, the material they were learning now would be part of the O.W.L.s they would be taking next year. Kuroko couldn’t afford to goof off, even if he now had an excellent reason for doing so.

 

“What spell did Murasakibara cast to break the Magical Measurer?” Fukuda asked.

 

“Wingardium Leviosa,” Kuroko said with a flat expression. Sakurai choked in astonishment.

 

Ogiwara huffed, folding his arms and muttering about ‘show offs’ but the rest of the Hufflepuffs just seemed impressed.

 

“That’s insane,” Kawahara said. “Did Akashi tell him to use that?”

 

“He can make decisions on his own,” Kuroko snapped. Kawahara shifted uncomfortably at the clear upset in the other Hufflepuffs tone.

 

“Uh, sorry,” he said. “Didn’t realize I was hitting a touchy spot.”

 

“I’m with Fukuda,” Ogiwara said grumpily, changing the subject. “I can’t wait until you actually get to dueling so we can watch you kicking butt. These individual-based challenges _are_ pretty boring.”

 

The smile he sent towards Kuroko was a little shaky, and Kuroko wondered what he’d said to put his friend in such a bad mood. Obviously, Ogiwara wasn’t happy about the fact that they had barely spent any time together in the last week, but that was hardly a permanent situation. Surely Ogiwara realized that things would go back to normal as soon as the tournament was over. Right?

 

The five of them entered the Entrance Hall, only to be greeted by the very subject of their conversation: the Generation of Miracles. Akashi greeted Kuroko’s roommates and politely asked if Kuroko would join him for a quick conversation. Kuroko went, telling Ogiwara and the other Hufflepuffs he would catch up with them soon.

 

“Headmaster Aida has suggested to the senior team that they sit with the other schools. It would be a show of solidarity as champions, and a way that we can get to know our counterparts from the competing schools,” Akashi said. “He offered us the option of declining, but-”

 

“But that would be rude,” Kuroko agreed. “I will let my friends know.”

 

Kuroko quickly caught up with Ogiwara, getting his attention to explain what Akashi had asked of him. Ogiwara made a face, but agreed. Kuroko joined the Generation of Miracles as they walked into the Great Hall.

 

Akashi greeted several of the other Champions as they approached the table. Clearly, he’d made no shortage of acquaintances the night before. Several of the Champions even looked genuinely pleased to see Kise, who had spent more time keeping an eye on the least social of the Miracles than socializing himself (though having hidden under Kise’s elbow for most of that evening, Kuroko knew that Kise had done quite a bit of the latter too).

 

It took roughly half the meal for Kuroko to realize that not a single of the students had so much as looked Kuroko in the eye. The realization made him pause, look up, and catch Akashi’s eye. He glanced around the table, still mid conversation, and a very, very small smile appeared at the edges of his lips.

 

Kuroko made eye contact with Midorima across from him, who scowled, and shrugged. As far as he was concerned, if their opponents were fool enough to be unable to see what was right in front of him, then they would get what was coming to them from their complacency.

 

Kuroko decided then and there to avoid drawing the other Champions into conversation if it was at all possible. As he had told Ogiwara, he was sure Akashi wouldn’t squander the opportunity to spring him on their opponents mid-duel, an invisible sword that none of them would even know to look for.

 

Kuroko mused over this all day until lunchtime, when the Headmaster made the announcement that the second challenge would be taking place after dinner in the arena that had been set up on the Hogwarts grounds.

 

“You nervous?” Ogiwara asked Kuroko, catching up with him on the way to class. Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I doubt Akashi will send me into the individual competitions,” Kuroko said thoughtfully. “It’s one thing to reveal how powerful the others are – anybody could tell the other schools that, there’s really nothing to hide. But he won’t make me compete on my own unless he has no other choice.”

 

Ogiwara made a face.

 

“Too bad, it would be cool to see you kick their asses one on one,” he mused. Kuroko smiled warmly at his friend’s faith in him.

 

“Even if I was our only choice, if I did go and win, it might create complications for my misdirection during the final dueling tournament,” Kuroko replied. “I think as far as most of these teams are concerned, the Hogwarts dueling team has only five members. And a good portion of them might leave thinking the same thing.”

 

“Excuse me if I want the rest of the world to see how awesome my best friend is,” Ogiwara muttered.

 

“Even if my greatest strength as a duelist is the fact that they can’t see me at all?” Kuroko asked.

 

“You have other strengths.”

 

Kuroko stared at him.

 

“You’re really good at potions. And runes. And you kick ass on the theory portion of every test.”

 

“Runes are rarely helpful in a high paced competitive dueling environment, and most official competitions ban them or the use of potions,” Kuroko replied. “I checked.”

 

“You want to be a professional duelist?” Ogiwara sat up straighter. “When did that happen?”

 

“Just exploring my options,” Kuroko said. “Momoi was right when she said it was fun. I… I really like it, especially fighting with the Generation of Miracles.”

 

“Yeah well… just don’t let your fame get in the way of doing your homework. Merlin knows one of us has to or we’ll both fail.”

 

“You could always copy Momoi’s homework,” Kuroko replied. Ogiwara blinked.

 

“I think I’d rather dive headfirst into the lake while it’s still frozen,” he shot back. “It would probably be less painful.”

 

Kuroko wanted to tell Ogiwara he was exaggerating, but he was pretty sure that the other boy wasn’t. Anyone who tried to copy Momoi Satsuki’s homework was a dead man – Aomine confided in Kuroko that he’d tried only once. Given the degree of depth to which the Gryffindor’s academic underachievement ran, that was saying _something._

 

“I’d rather try copying Akashi’s next time,” Aomine had muttered.

 

Kuroko believed that too. He knew exactly how much Momoi had contributed to their pranking efforts. Akashi might be scary, but Momoi was _creative._

 

“Don’t worry, I already hate this stupid tournament,” Kuroko muttered to Ogiwara under his breath. “Akashi keeps telling us to go hang out with the other schools-”

 

“Yeah well, you don’t have to do everything he says you know,” Ogiwara shot back.

 

“I know that,” Kuroko said. “I just hate that he’s right.”

 

“At least half of them don’t even know you exist,” Ogiwara offered.

 

That probably shouldn’t have been as comforting as it was, but Kuroko found solace in the fact that some of the strongest students in his age group couldn’t find a way around his misdirection. Hell, there were students who _weren’t_ competing in the tournament here at Hogwarts who could do that just fine.

 

Case in point, his best friend. As long as Ogiwara could see him, Kuroko was fine with this state of affairs.

 

…

 

All too soon, Kuroko had rejoined the Generation of Miracles sitting in the tournament arena, bracing themselves to find out what their next challenge would be.

 

The school fell silent as a tournament official stood in the judges’ box. It was probably needless, since a second later his voice rang out over the stands, magically magnified so that everyone present could hear him.

 

“The second challenge will force you to face what you fear,” the tournament official said. “As in the first challenge, only one member of your team may compete. You have ten minutes to decide as a team who it will be before informing the staff.”

 

As soon as he stepped down from the podium, the teams burst into a flurry of noise as they negotiated who would be responsible for completing this task.

 

“Volunteers?” Akashi immediately asked, turning to his team.

 

“Who do you think would be best?” Midorima asked.

 

“Why don’t you tell me?” Akashi asked. “You’re the prescient one after all.”

 

“Gemini are in a favorable house today.”

 

Akashi’s eyes fell to Kise, along with those of all of his teammates.

 

“What, me?” Kise asked. “So because Midorimacchi thinks the stars favor Gemini, I have to go deal with the things that are designed to make me afraid?”

 

Akashi sighed. He grabbed Kise’s arm and pulled the other boy away from the group gently so that he could speak to him.

 

“Listen, Ryouta,” Akashi said bluntly. “I don’t have time to have this conversation properly, but I am going to be very short and blunt. Whoever Midorima had suggested, you would have been my first choice to face a task like this. I don’t want to put Midorima out there because his reactions under pressure are mixed and I do not believe he would remain composed when faced with his worst fears. I don’t know that Kuroko has the power to face this task, or Murasakibara the will. Aomine is too short tempered and won’t keep a cool head. You make the best choice.”

 

“What about you?” Kise asked accusingly. “You’re always so proud of your control and iron will in the face of fear why don’t you-”

 

“Ryouta.”

 

Kise stopped at the serious expression on Akashi’s face. He was immediately silenced.

 

“You are right that I am not afraid of many things,” Akashi said quietly. “But I suspect that this challenge is designed to get inside our heads and examine those things we genuinely fear most. In that case I will reveal a terrible Akashi family secret that I will be punished for sharing, even if it is against my will.”

 

Kise stared at the redhead with wide eyes.

 

“It would not behoove the wizarding world to discover that my greatest fear is my own father, do you understand?”

 

Kise’s eyes shone with tears for a moment before he nodded and swallowed them back.

 

“Yes,” he said. “Akashicchi – I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

 

“I know that,” Akashi said gently. “I just needed you to know that I wasn’t putting you forward for no reason. You can shine here where I simply cannot. You have more courage than I do to face the things that scare me most.”

 

Kise stared at the other boy, wanting to offer support, but not knowing how.

 

Instead he took a deep steadying breath and placed his hand on his friend’s shoulder.

 

“Akashicchi, I will win this for you,” he promised. “And then I will make sure that you never have anything to fear again.”

 

Akashi opened and closed his mouth once or twice before he found the voice to speak.

 

“Ryouta,” he said warningly. “There is nothing I can do about the decisions the patriarch my of family makes, do you understand?”

 

“Bullshit!” Kise burst out. He’d forgotten about the task, forgotten about everything except the bombshell that had just been dropped on him. “Akashi, that’s fucking bullshit! You don’t have to-”

 

“I do,” Akashi said, holding up a hand to forestall any further objection. “You need to leave this alone, Ryouta. There are some things that just aren’t done in pureblood houses, and rebelling against your father, no matter the reason, is one of them. What I _need_ is for you to return to our team and defeat whatever the task in front of us is. Do you understand what I’m saying?”

 

Kise’s expression was rebellious, furious. But he wasn’t going to fight Akashi. The blonde hung his head in defeat.

 

“Yes,” he said softly. “But if you ever-”

                                                     

“Aka-chin, they want our representative for the task,” Murasakibara had walked over while Kise was speaking.

 

Akashi gave Kise a pointed look, and the Gryffindor straightened up, fixing a smile into place.

 

“I’ve got this,” he said, sounding much more confident than he had only seconds ago. The act was almost flawless. Kise was probably lucky that Murasakibara was engrossed with a pack of Bertie Botts’ Every Flavor beans, or he would have been forced to explain why it was that his smile didn’t quite reach his eyes and he looked a little wild around the edges.

 

“Alright, Ki-chin, but we gotta go.”

 

Kise followed Murasakibara over to the table where the tournament officials were collecting the names of the students who had been sent by the Champion teams to represent them. Kise had managed to smooth out his smile into something more natural and winning as they went, letting the past conversation move away from his conscious thought.

 

If he let himself dwell on it now, he would let his friends down.

 

“If you’ll just join the rest of the competitors this way,” the tournament official gestured for Kise to move along and join the Champions being herded into a room off the side of the arena. It seemed Kise would not get to watch his competition face their fears until he had already done so himself.

 

The Gryffindor considered the challenge before him logically for a moment. How would they test Kise’s reaction to fear? Would they force him to endure situations that would terrify any normal person? Make him face some monster in the dark?

 

Kise wasn’t afraid of the darkness. He was light incarnate: he brought it everywhere he went. He’d lived in the dark, grown up in a slum, and fought to be here as hard as he could. He’d nearly lost, but this was his chance to show that he hadn’t beaten Haizaki by a technicality. He was strong too.

 

But what did he fear? Not the dark, nor monsters. He didn’t fear heights or snakes or fire or loneliness or clowns or tests or teachers or vampires or anything else that came to mind. His musing was cut short by one of the other Champions, who had caught Kise’s eye.

 

“Ryouta, right?” One of the American competitors waved Kise over. Kise couldn’t remember if he was the captain of the Salem school or the New York one, but it was one of the two. Gold was his name. Kise remembered that, but he had a much more clear memory of the tattoo on the side of Gold’s neck.

 

“Yep, that’s me!” Kise smiled and waved, letting any tension bleed out of him as he greeted the competition.

 

Gold smiled winningly back.

 

“I was curious which of their Champions Hogwarts would send,” he said. “Your captain seemed like he had a pure iron constitution. Did he decide he didn’t want to face his fears?”

 

Kise recognized the subtle psychological warfare for what it was, and smiled back.

 

 _Murasakibaracchi may be the strongest, Aominecchi may be the fastest, Midorimacchi the smartest, Akashicchi the best, and Kurokocchi the strongest willed of every one of us, but this is_ my _arena. And I won’t have anyone talking shit about my friends in our own damn school._

 

“No, he just wanted to make sure it was a fair fight.”

 

Gold’s smile didn’t falter in the face of Kise’s confidence.

 

“Glad you see you’ve got some spunk,” he said. “I think I’ll enjoy beating it out of you.”

 

“I think I’ll enjoy watching you try,” Kise said, all smiles in return for the hyper aggressive American.

 

“Now now boys, save it for the arena,” one of the girls- the other American captain – came over to separate them. “Talk with your wands not your mouths.”

 

The smile on Gold’s face promised that he would leave nothing on the table when he faced Kise, but Kise’s expression was no less fierce.

 

“Oh I intend to,” Gold promised.

 

“Kise Ryouta, Hogwarts!”

 

“Whoops, hate to leave you hanging, but I’ve got to go win this challenge,” Kise delivered his parting shot and headed for the door, where the tournament official who had called his name was waiting.

 

“I’m ready,” he said.

 

When Kise walked through the door, he was struck by how dark the arena was. He looked up and realized that he couldn’t see the sky, or the audience. He was alone.

 

There was a dim light around his immediate area. Kise realized it was coming from the floor, moving with him, and leaving most of the room in shadow.

 

 _Lighting from below, how unflattering,_ Kise thought disapprovingly.

 

He returned his attention to the ceiling. No way the judges had several hundred students watching the blank roof of this enclosure. He was sure it was an illusion of some kind.

 

Kise felt for the magic built into the ceiling, and reassured himself that it really was just an illusion. It was designed to put him alone in a box, but everyone else could see him.

 

He waved up at the audience for good measure, and blew a kiss at where he knew the judges’ booth was.

 

He wished he had the skill right now to actually see straight through the illusion, but that was neither here nor there.

 

Something moved beyond the dim light around him, and Kise drew his wand, on guard. The light drew back with him.

 

Kise leveled out his breathing quickly. He wasn’t afraid of the dark, and anything that wanted to take advantage of the lack of light to attack him, well. They would regret it.

 

“Is this what this is?” he shouted into the darkness. “You put me alone in the dark, scamper around like a coward, and expect me to wet myself like a child? I’m not scared, and this is stupid. Come and face me if you want to fight!”

 

Kise might look like an air headed model, but he was just as dangerous as any one of his friends. He wouldn’t have been here if that weren’t true. He heard whatever this creature was moving again, and closed his eyes, keeping himself calm.

 

_It’s right behind me, just-_

 

“Hi there.”

 

Kise whirled around, eyes wide.

 

Stepping out of the darkness into the dim light provided by the glowing floor underneath Kise was an exact, perfect copy of himself.

 

Ah, that was unexpected.

 

“What is this?” Kise demanded, but the copy didn’t seem to hear him. At least, it didn’t acknowledge that Kise had said anything.

 

“What are you even doing here?” the copy asked. “Shouldn’t you be off signing autographs for your trashy teen magazine? That’s all you’re good for anyway, that pretty face of yours.”

 

 _Oh._ Kise felt like he’d been punched in the gut.

 

“It should be Haizaki standing here, you know? I bet he has _interesting_ fears, useful ones. You’re so pathetic that your greatest fear is your own stupid face-”

 

Kise shut his eyes in a panic.

 

_You’re worthless! Pathetic!_

 

“Even if you put on the front of a brave, chivalrous Gryffindor, you’re nothing but a selfish, _narcissistic_ coward. You’re so obsessed with yourself that even though your captain is out there counting on you the only person you can think of right now is _yourself_.”

 

He’d heard the words in his own voice so many times, from his own lips, his own throat. It wasn’t something he was unfamiliar with.

 

He swallowed against how true they were, but he refused to cry.

 

“They all say you’re a failure, that you’re barely one of them. That you’re immature, worthless, _useless._ The entire school and representatives from all over the world are watching you standing there, about to cry like a little girl, paralyzed by your own fear of yourself!”

 

The copy’s eyes had grown frantic in their criticism, taking on a malicious gleam. His voice maintained that calm, reasonable quality, however. Never wavering in volume as he laid out the long list of Kise’s many faults.

 

Kise’s mouth twisted into a flat line.

 

This wasn’t amusing for him or anyone else. It wasn’t scary anymore. He’d lived with that monster inside his own head for fifteen years now. He knew it better than other, more terrifying monsters and challenges that he had faced in his life.

 

So he swallowed back his pride and his anguish and the surface level fear that had forced his pulse to elevate and his gut to twist. He looked the copy straight in the eyes, because he knew what kind of ridiculous stunt this was, and he was done.

 

“Is this really the best you can do?” he asked the boggart, raising his wand deliberately. His hand didn’t even shake. “You don’t scare me. You’re nothing that I don’t see in the mirror every morning or hear in my head every day. I already know that I’m completely _Ridikulous_!”

 

The boggart vanished, and then its form twisted. It was still Kise, but it was the Kise that interacted with the world every day. The mask that Kise had shaped for himself since the first time he’d modeled for Teen Witch Weekly.

 

The copy grinned and blew a kiss full of real glitter. Kise didn’t feel much like laughing, but he did anyway. The dry chuckle was strangled from his throat, not at the sight of his ridiculous double, but at this challenge, at this tournament. His whole life was a huge fucking joke and if he couldn’t laugh at the punch line, what else did he have? He felt so removed from that mask right now. So raw from being thrown up against his own insecurities, darkest angles, and from the knowledge that Akashi had dropped on his head before he had entered this challenge.

 

 _Better this than exposing wounds that Akashicchi hasn’t healed yet,_ Kise thought grimly.

 

Well, it didn’t matter. The Boggart went running at the sound of Kise’s pathetic, but genuine, laughter. Kise turned around sharply, striding out of the arena with quick steps, not even stopping to see his score.

 

His heart was pounding, but he wasn’t sure it was fear – maybe rage, frustration, something that felt like having his entire insides squeezed until he couldn’t breathe anymore –

 

“Well done, Ryouta.”

 

Akashi’s words stopped Kise in his place, and he turned on the balls of his feet, ready to run at the slightest provocation. Flight or fight was settling in too late now that he’d already left behind the danger in the arena.

 

“Thank you,” Kise acknowledged his captains praise. “I just need to run to the restroom.”

 

Akashi nodded, moving out of the Gryffindor’s way.

 

“Of course,” he said knowingly. “Take all the time you need.”

 

He didn’t ask if Kise was alright. He was grateful for that at least, because Akashi had to know there wasn’t anything that was okay about this entire situation.

 

Kise forced himself to slow down so as to not attract any further attention as he walked at a more normal pace towards the closest bathroom. He shut the door behind him with a snap, and after a quick check that nobody was still inside, he locked the door and went over to the sink.

 

The Gryffindor splashed some water on his face, trying to clear his mind of the hateful words the Boggart had spewed at him during the challenge. After a moment he looked up, meeting his own eyes in the mirror hanging above the sink.

 

His reflection looked too pale and a little wild. Kise could picture his own face splitting into a mocking grin.

 

_Immature, selfish, empty-headed, worthless, weak -_

 

“Told you,” Kise murmured. “Nothing I don’t see every day.”

 

“What did your Boggart say to you?”

 

Kise yelped and jumped about a foot in the air, whirling around with his wand in his hand, ready to curse –

 

Kuroko.

 

“Did you follow me here?” Kise demanded.

 

“No,” Kuroko deadpanned. “I’ve been here this whole time.”

 

Kise didn’t know if he believed that or not. Kuroko walked over to the sink and washed his hands, not taking his eyes off his blond friend.

 

“After your challenge you looked upset,” he said. “Do you want to talk about it?”

 

Kise shook his head, putting away his wand and drying his face and hands quickly.

 

“It was nothing,” he said.

 

“It looked like something,” Kuroko replied stubbornly, and Kise smiled wanly but genuinely at that, because that stubbornness was just Kuroko all over.

 

 _I wasn’t lying when I said you had the strongest will of any of us, even Akashicchi,_ he thought fondly.

 

“Why are you afraid of yourself?”

 

Kise sighed.

 

“It’s complicated,” he said. “I’ll tell you someday. But not today. We need to go back to the tournament anyway. There are dozens more champions who need to go, and I should watch them compete as the competitor from the host school. It’s only polite.”

 

He pushed away from the sink and gave Kuroko a beatific smile. He looked like an angel. If Kuroko hadn’t known how skilled Kise was with illusions, he might have convinced himself that Kise was fine.

 

“See you back in the arena, Kurokocchi,” he said, sounding as though nothing had happened in the bathroom at all, and sauntering away.

 

Kuroko stayed there for some time longer, trying to process what he had seen.

 

This tournament seemed hell bent on tearing them all apart piece by piece. Kise was clearly fighting to maintain his shields. Murasakibara had already withdrawn from everyone in the school except the Generation of Miracles.

 

Kuroko just wondered who would be the next to crack.

  
  
...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come share your tears and hopes and dreams with me over at [my tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	11. Twenty-Four Students Get Severely Poisoned All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt

_..._

 

**_First Year:_ **

 

_It was just after Christmas that Ogiwara identified the perfect opportunity for them to carry out their second prank._

 

_“Tetsuya, my friend, I have a proposition for you.”_

 

_“No.”_

 

_“Oh come on, you didn’t even hear it!”_

 

_“I’m not planning a prank, do you have any idea what’s going to happen if I don’t master this charm before tomorrow?”_

 

_“Uh, nothing? Because Professor Nakatani has about the same chance of realizing you didn’t actually manage to finish the transformation as he does of going an entire class without giving points to Slytherin.”_

 

_Kuroko rolled his eyes at the bitterness in his friend’s voice. It was hard to compete for points against any of the Miracles, because they would_ always  _invariably get the spells right first. He wondered what the mixed Slytherin/Gryffindor classes must be like, overtaken by four of the five magically talented students. Sometimes Kuroko was extremely grateful the hat put him in Hufflepuff._

 

_“They always complete the spells first, would you rather he abandon fairness just to make you feel better?”_

 

_Ogiwara frowned._

 

_“Of course not, I just wish someone else would be able to beat them to it for once.”_

 

_“Well, maybe_ I _could if I could just_ have some quiet time to practice _.”_

 

_“That’s not your problem and you know it. You might as well skive off and do something more fun instead.”_

 

_Kuroko huffed, debated cursing his insensitive friend, and snapped his book shut. He hovered on the fence between deciding to take serious offense at the remark, and letting it slide and actually doing something fun for a change. The deciding factor was the fact that even if he really did try and curse his friend, it probably wouldn't work anyway._

 

_“Fine. What.”_

 

_Ogiwara sent the blue haired boy a knowing smirk, and Kuroko hated himself for giving in to what was essentially blackmail. But it wasn’t like he had much of a choice. Ogiwara would pester him until he gave in no matter what._

 

_“Did you notice what potion we’re making tomorrow?”_

 

_“No, why?”_

 

_Kuroko was still struggling to get the practical elements of the levitation charm down, he wasn't anywhere near ready to start his potions homework yet. However, he knew he'd have to switch over eventually, if only to avoid throwing away his only chance of a decent grade anywhere in the curriculum._

 

_“We’re brewing the Forgetfulness Potion, which uses Valerian Springs and Mistletoe berries as part of the base.”_

 

_“Okay,” Kuroko said, not sure where this was going._

 

_“Well, I read in the study guide notes that if you mix a properly made Forgetfulness Potion, in the final stages of brewing if you add a mixture of crushed slugs and poppy flowers, you end up with a very interesting, but harmless, explosive reaction.”_

 

_“Oh,” Kuroko caught on. “The poppy seeds neutralize the active ingredients of the potion while the slugs act as a reactor, exploding the contents of the cauldron while it simmers under low heat.”_

 

_“Exactly,” Ogiwara replied. “Now, what if you added, say… powdered food coloring to that mixture and dumped it into the cauldron as well?”_

 

_“You’d have an explosive reaction spreading a harmless, but semi-permanent color that will rub off on anything – oh I see. Clever. And bound to be misused by all who are given the opportunity to do so, which is what makes it even better.”_

 

_“So, what do you say? I distract the masses, you do your invisibility thing, and then - BOOM.”_

 

_“Boom,” Kuroko agreed in a much more subdued tone. “The beauty of course is that the reaction is entirely harmless, just impossible to remove for a bit. Alright, I’m in. Who’s cauldron are we dumping this into?”_

 

_“Well, there is one person who definitely will have a perfect potion at exactly the right stage,” Ogiwara said thoughtfully. “That way we wouldn’t have to worry about having our intervention accidentally interacting the wrong way with someone’s improperly completed potion.”_

 

_“I thought we weren’t targeting anyone?”_

 

_“Eh, if it’s his cauldron nobody will know, plus Midorima’s least likely to end up doused with potion if he ducks in time. We can just make sure he’s looking for something under his table when it happens.”_

 

_That sounded fair enough, especially if the other boy wasn’t going to get into trouble for what they were doing._

 

_Kuroko abandoned all thoughts of practicing the spell in favor of pulling out his potions book, meticulously figuring out exactly what proportions of what they would need in order to successfully complete the prank._

 

_“The perfect crime,” Ogiwara agreed. “Funny, targeted widely, and nobody gets hurt. Operation Light and Shadow is a go!”_

 

_And so at Potions that next day, the two boys put their plan into action. Ogiwara and Kuroko deliberately ensured that they would not be working together. About halfway through class, Ogiwara made his move._

 

_Pretending to be on the way to gather some extra poppy seeds, he deliberately stumbled into one of the first year Ravenclaws who was carrying a jar full of Mistletoe Berries ready for crushing._

 

_The jar shattered across the floor, drawing the attention of pretty much the entire classroom._

 

_“Hey, look where you’re going you klutz!” Ogiwara yelled, grabbing the attention of anyone who hadn’t been looking their way before. The first year Ravenclaw started to stammer out apologies, and Kuroko took his cue._

 

_Carrying the carefully crushed and powdered mixture that they had prepared the night before, Kuroko dodged around the back edge of the classroom._

 

_Ogiwara was still shouting, under the pretense of anger. He’d attempted to get up, purposefully slipping around in the slimy mixture of preservation fluid and Mistletoe Berries with deliberate clumsiness._

 

_Kuroko knocked Midorima’s ladle off the side of his table. As the Ravenclaw bent down with a curse, Kuroko slid the powdered ingredients into the cauldron._

 

_The reaction was as immediate as it was explosive._

 

_The entire Potions class was coated in a bright red, slimy substance._

 

_Under his breath, Kuroko uttered the simple spellwork that would seal the effects of the potion into place._

 

_Up at the front of the classroom, the Professor was calmly taking charge. With sparks coming from the edge of his wand, he called the room to order and asked Midorima (the only person clearly not affected by the mishap at the front of the classroom or the exploded potion) to go up to the infirmary post-haste._

 

_Kuroko had been expecting a little bit of disruption, but he wasn’t prepared for what followed._

 

_The beauty of the prank was simple: by inducing a chemical reaction, Kuroko and Ogiwara had managed to splatter almost everyone in the class with semi-permanent magical yellow dye that they could rub off on anything._

 

_First of all, Kuroko was extremely thrilled that he and Ogiwara had only planned for them and their classmates to be effected. Later on, he would wonder why he hadn’t expected his fellow students to use the opportunity to draw bright yellow dicks on the wall, or spell out lewd profanity everywhere. He would also thank his lucky stars that it took until the last few hours of the prank for anyone to realize that they could spread the magical paint to other people via hand to hand contact – which minimized the damage the other students did when they finally got a hold of it._

 

_Luckily for everyone, the first years mostly just doodled on the walls until the spell wore off. One particularly talented first year did a whole pseudo-realistic scene on the fourth floor corridor depicting a knight with long, untamed hair daringly fighting a dragon._

 

_It had been pretty cool, and exactly the distraction Kuroko and the rest of the school needed. The very best part of the prank, however, was three days later when Kuroko got his graded paper on the Forgetfulness Potion back. He had received full marks for describing the ways in which the ingredients interacted on a chemical level, and what minute changes might upset the entire potion._

 

_It was a pretty gratifying score, due entirely to the research Kuroko and Ogiwara had put into their prank._

 

_Maybe he and Ogiwara were really on to something here._

 

…

 

One thing Ogiwara (and by extension the rest of their dorm, because Ogiwara’s excitement was practically infectious) _was_ excited about with regards to the tournament was the fact that Hogwarts had scheduled an exhibition quidditch match between the top two teams in the intra-school schedule.

 

For the first time in a long time, Hufflepuff was one of those teams. Slytherin was the other.

 

Despite Slytherin’s distinct disadvantage this season, they had fought their way to be first in the rankings. Kuroko hadn’t expected any less of a team captained by the ruthless Imayoshi. Despite having lost the best Seeker and Keeper in the entire school, Slytherin carried on the fight.

 

Kuroko was impressed. Regardless, he was still obviously rooting for Hufflepuff as his best friend strode out onto the field, Quidditch robes billowing behind in in the breeze.

 

Down the line, Furihata was nervously twitching. He was their new Keeper. The #7 that would be facing the heavy offensive lineup of Imayoshi, Kobori, and Wakamatsu. All three were broad, violent, powerhouse players with a great deal of individual skill.

 

Ogiwara and the other two chasers would need to keep the battle fast paced and avoid physical contact as much as possible. They were all technical flyers with strong fundamentals. All of them had worked hard under the watchful eye of their seventh year captain to prove themselves.

 

Kuroko was sure it would come down to a battle between their seekers.

 

Mochida Reiji was smart and fast, but Haizaki was downright violent. Kuroko was certain that if Hufflepuff didn’t shut down the other team quickly, they would lose. Plus, the other boy was playing to fill Akashi’s shoes. Kuroko was sure that he would want to thoroughly demonstrate that he had no problem doing that.

 

Professor Takeuchi called the captains up to shake hands. Aside from being a relatively strong Seeker, Mochida was a seventh year and the captain of the team. He’d held the position of Seeker since his third year, and the reigns of the team had fallen to him by default as its longest standing member this year. He didn’t have Ogiwara’s enthusiasm for Quidditch, nor was he intending to make this his career, but he was no less ardent about the sport for it.

 

In fact, Kuroko knew from what Ogiwara had said that Mochida had been running the team into the ground to win this game. He had drilled them endlessly on fundamentals until Ogiwara wanted to scream. Plus, he had put in hours and hours nobody else did practicing dodging Bludgers and diving for the Snitch. Mochida and the rest of this team had spent four years getting their asses handed to them repeatedly by every team in the school, and this was the one year they had the chance to stand out. For the four current members of the team looking to make their careers in Quidditch, this would be an important game.

 

Despite all this, Mochida was smiling pleasantly as he met Imayoshi’s handshake.

 

Down on the pitch, Ogiwara could feel nerves fluttering around his stomach. Not only were so many other schools here watching, a victory here could do wonders for his career as a Quidditch player.

 

“I’m sorry we don’t have our full team today,” Imayoshi said to Mochida, smiling self-consciously. “Our Miracles unfortunately decided that they had better things to do this week than train. I couldn’t insult you by putting people onto the pitch who weren’t at their best and hadn’t worked to compete. Hopefully you won’t take too much advantage of our normal Keeper and Seeker not being here.”

 

“Imayoshi, you’re not fooling me for a second,” Mochida said plainly. They all knew it would be only slightly less brutal a fight without Murasakibara and Akashi. Imayoshi laughed and clapped the other boy on the shoulder.

 

“Me? Trying to deceive anyone? I would never.”

 

Mochida snorted.

 

“Right,” he replied. “You know I wasn’t born yesterday, right? That line might work on someone who’s never seen you fly, but I’ve been playing against you since day one.”

 

“Let’s have a good, clean game,” Professor Takeuchi said.

 

“You heard the ref, let’s have some _good_ , _clean_ _fun_ ,” Imayoshi said mockingly to the Hufflepuff captain, who nodded sharply. They mounted their brooms, and at the call of the whistle, they were off.

 

Imayoshi quickly fell back into an offensive attack with his chasers, taking immediate hold of the Quaffle.

 

Mochida rose high above the fray as the Chasers raced for the Quaffle. It was clear what his strategy was – find the snitch and score.

 

Imayoshi took control of the Quaffle, and the other two chasers swooped around him, keeping any of the Hufflepuff chasers from interfering. He dive-bombed the hoop on the far right, and Furihata missed catching it by inches.

 

“And that’s ten points to Slytherin!”

 

The Hufflepuff section groaned, while the Slytherin one loudly cheered.

 

Kuroko glanced over at the stands, but he couldn’t locate either Akashi’s bright red hair, or Murasakibara’s purple. Perhaps it was too far away in the sea of silver and green for him to be able to pick out their faces, but both Slytherins were pretty distinctive.

 

“Did you hear if Akashi was planning on coming to watch the game?” Kuroko asked Sakurai, who was becoming almost as well connected as Momoi when it came to gossip. Kuroko had grown close to his teammates over the last few months, but not close enough that he was this embroiled in their personal lives.

 

“I heard Imayoshi complaining about it on the way up,” Sakurai replied. “Apparently he wanted them to at least come _watch_ the game since they hadn’t had time to train with the tournament going on, and Akashi just outright quit! Which of course means Murasakibara did the same.”

 

“You mean they’re not going back to Quidditch after the tournament?” Kuroko asked. Sakurai nodded.

 

“Imayoshi was furious,” he said. “Momoi was with him and she didn’t look too happy either.”

 

Kuroko mulled that over as Slytherin scored another ten points, despite Ogiwara’s particularly impressive steal and Furihata’s best attempts at getting the ball.

 

“This is painful,” Fukuda muttered. “We’re getting our asses beat even without the damn Miracles.”

 

“Hey, fourth years, why don’t you cheer on your team instead of getting glum!” Kiyoshi dropped down from the row behind them. “They’re your classmates, and they’re doing their best. So let them hear you having fun too!”

 

The large fifth year certainly had a pair of lungs on him.

 

The cheering section, led by their fifth year Prefect, rallied and started shouting encouragement to their team.

 

Ogiwara did an impressive and extremely showy loop on his broom before taking possession of the Quaffle.

 

Imayoshi grinned and sped up from below. He moved to back tip the Quaffle towards Wakamatsu, who was approaching from the left.

 

Kuroko held his breath as the blur of green and silver approached his friend, but he needn’t have worried – at least not for Slytherin’s chances of possessing the Quaffle.

 

At the last second, Ogiwara jumped off his broom. Free of its rider, the broom fell with him, and Ogiwara dropped thirty feet in the blink of an eye. Kuroko felt like his stomach was dropping with him.

 

Ogiwara executed a roll that put him back on his broom and skimming the grass at top speed.

Imayoshi was grinning as he went into a dive to follow the other boy, but Ogiwara threw the ball into the air and spun, slamming the tail end of his broom into it.

 

The ball got halfway across the court before it was picked up by one of the seventh year Chasers. She dodged a bludger and Kobori’s aggressive attempt at a steal. Coming out of her swerve, she dropped the ball down to the other seventh year Chaser, who passed it to Ogiwara. The fourth year was a blur of yellow as he sped ahead and slammed it into the center hoop.

 

Hufflepuff exploded in cheers and Ogiwara looped around the hoops, fist held high in victory.

 

“That boy has no fear,” Kawahara shouted over the din of excitement. “Completely crazy!”

 

“I could never do that,” Fukuda agreed, looking as pale as Kuroko at the incredibly dangerous play. “I can’t believe Mochida has them running such risky plays.”

 

Kuroko was almost certain both that Mochida had no idea what Ogiwara had been about to do, and that Ogiwara had never practiced that move before - he had just seen the opening and taken it.

 

“What a man,” Kawahara added, eyes wide as he watched Ogiwara get his head back into the game.

 

Slytherin regrouped and scored again. Furihata was blocked by Wakamatsu, who had slammed into him while Imayoshi scored.

 

“You know,” Sakurai said, his expression darker than Kuroko had ever seen it before. “I had thought Imayoshi was becoming less of a jerk.”

 

“He has a bad personality,” Kuroko agreed as Furihata struggled to get his broom level, looking, even from this distance, like he was going to vomit.

 

“Hope Koki can keep it together with Slytherin continually trouncing him,” Kawahara said fearfully. “He was fine against Gryffindor and Ravenclaw.”

 

“That’s because the only scary player Gryffindor has is Hyuuga Junpei,” Sakurai replied. “And since their captain quit, Ravenclaws’ oldest player, aside from Midorima, has only been on the team a year before this. With Midorima backing out, they’re playing all newbies and reserves.”

 

Before anyone could respond to this, the fourth year Hufflepuffs were distracted by the sound of the entire stadium erupting in angry yelling.

 

“What happened, what happened?” Kawahara demanded.

 

Mochida was in freefall and Professor Takeuchi was calling for a time out. Mochida managed to pull his broom back under control, but not in time to avoid hitting the ground - hard.

 

“Haizaki hit him with one of the Beater’s bats,” Fukuda growled, and stood up to shout angrily down at the pitch. “Foul, come on!”

 

Professor Takeuchi awarded the penalty for the obvious foul, which only slightly mitigated the anger of the crowd. Imayoshi was shouting something at Haizaki, who was just grinning back.

 

“He’s okay,” Kiyoshi said encouragingly behind them. Mochida had straightened up and gotten back on his broom after being given a cursory examination by the ref.

 

He took the penalty and made it, before heading back up to the skies to watch out for the snitch, Haizaki close on his tail.

 

“I hate that guy,” Kawahara grumbled.

 

Nobody disagreed.

 

It was only a second later, however, that Slytherin scored another ten points, courtesy of Imayoshi. Furihata finally made his first save of the game a few moments after that, as Wakamatsu tried and failed to make a run at him.

 

Bolstered by their Keepers’ success, the Hufflepuff Chasers executed another full field play. Ogiwara led, shooting the Quaffle directly between the Slytherin Keeper’s legs, getting another jubilant cheer from the crowd.

 

And then Mochida was diving, Haizaki right next to him. Kuroko saw the blur of green and silver slam into the Hufflepuff Seeker twice before Mochida slammed his own broom to the side, throwing the Slytherin into a tailspin. Haizaki was cut off by a well-timed Bludger as he made to catch up with Mochida. By the time Haizaki was back on track and had located the Hufflepuff Seeker again, Mochida was pulling out of the dive, Snitch in hand.

 

The crowd went wild.

 

Ogiwara was red faced and screaming with triumph as he and the rest of the team all converged on their seeker, screaming and cheering wildly.

 

Their victory was narrow. 170-160, with Hufflepuff only having scored twice the entire game. In fairness, it had been a short game. Hufflepuff had needed to shut their opponents down quickly if they had wanted to win.

 

Kuroko was happy that Ogiwara had been responsible for both of Hufflepuff’s goals, and had done so by displaying exceptional skills handling his broom. If this game was going to make any difference for team drafters down the line, the name Ogiwara Shigehiro might soon become synonymous with a very unique - if perhaps a little reckless - style of play.

 

Kuroko liked that idea, of Shige basking in the sun where he belonged, even if he couldn’t tell the boy that himself. Right now Ogiwara was surrounded by people and excitement. Kuroko doubted even a live dragon could catch the boy’s attention right now.

 

That night almost nobody in the Hufflepuff dorm slept, as the celebrations lasted well into the early hours of the morning. It was the first victory that Hufflepuff had won in a long time, especially on the Quidditch pitch. Even the appearance of the Headmaster at three in the morning did little to dampen the celebrations. He just shook his head and warned them all that they wouldn’t be excused from classes for having stayed up all night. He left with a parting comment to the Prefects to ensure that none of the shenanigans spilled out of the common room, which they had already been doing. As soon as he left, the celebrations started all over again with new vigor at the Headmasters’ implicit blessing.

 

If any of the professors had managed to put together what had happened from the tired expressions on every Hufflepuff’s face the next day, well. At least none of them got in any trouble for it.

 

All in all, Kuroko thought it had been a really good day.

 

…

 

Two peaceful days passed, and by the time Thursday rolled around, Kuroko was already anxious to get back to the tournament. He was itching to get out onto the field, even though he knew that Akashi would hold him in reserve for as long as possible. He was fired up and ready to fight.

 

The third challenge was to take place before dinner. Afternoon classes had been cancelled in order to allow students to watch the round take place (or in the case of the Champions, compete themselves). After lunch ended, the Great Hall was again transformed into a huge arena in order to accommodate all of the spectators.

 

The structure of this arena was a little different however, and Kuroko couldn’t help but wonder if this was truly meant to be the set up for some kind of battle.

 

If it was, this was going to turn out to be the strangest fight he had ever seen.

 

In the middle of the arena, a long table stretched from one wall to the other. A deep purple cloth had been draped over it, and in a neat line on top of it were twenty-four goblets. Each was identical save for the unique sigil carved into each one of them. Some of the goblets were smoking or bubbling ominously. One was emitting a noxious yellow smoke.

 

The tournament director stepped out to stand in front of the tables, facing the three sides of the arena.

 

“Your third challenge is one of mental acuity while working under stress,” the tournament director continued to explain. “Captains, come forward in a line facing our spectators. You will not have the opportunity to confer with your team as to which of your teammates will face this challenge. Tonight, you must display the same good judgment and quick thinking under pressure as your teammate will in facing this task - by making your choice alone.”

 

Kuroko didn’t like the sound of that.

 

Akashi didn’t react to the announcement, but he moved forward to stand at the front of the room with the twenty-three other captains, most of whom looked pretty nervous. Akashi allowed his arms to hang at his sides, neither fidgeting nor displaying any outward signs of agitation.

 

He looked entirely in charge.

 

“In front of you are twenty-four unique poisons,” the tournament director said. “Your captains will select a member of your team to ingest the poison resting on the table directly before you. After drinking it, the chosen champion will be required to discover what the properties of the poison are, and brew the antidote alone, within the period of an hour. All of these poisons cause some detriment to physical or mental acuity which will serve as an additional challenge during this task. Should you become incapacitated or unable to continue, mediwizards will be standing by with the treatment for each poison.”

 

Murmurs broke out in the audience, and several of the captains gulped, glancing nervously to the stands where their teams sat. Akashi nodded his acceptance of these rules, his eyes flitting briefly to his teammates. His expression was entirely and utterly confident. Either he was sure in his expectation that the Hogwarts staff and tournament mediwizards would not let him die, or more likely, he was absolutely certain he could brew the antidote himself. 

 

Either way, Kuroko knew Akashi well enough to clearly see that Akashi made his decision already. Kuroko wasn’t sure he loved the idea of his captain already knowing exactly which one of them he was going to have poison themselves. Then again, it meant he had full faith that whoever he selected would do well, so maybe it wasn’t such a bad thing after all.

 

“I hope Akashicchi knows what he’s doing,” Kise said worriedly.

 

“He does,” Midorima assured him. “Just look at his eyes, he already has a plan.”

 

A tournament official went down the line allowing each captain to name the competitor from their team that would be drinking poison. Down the line it went until finally, it was Akashi’s turn.

 

“I choose Akashi Seijuro,” he said. “I will bear this task for my team.”

 

The din rose to a higher level as this became the subject of mass commentary. Akashi was the last of the captains to speak, but the first of them to volunteer himself to ingest poison.

 

“Is he really – that fool,” Midorima hissed under his breath.

 

"Aka-chin," Murasakibara murmured quietly.

 

“You said I can pick any member of my team,” Akashi told the official, who had hesitated when taking down his name. “Am I not a part of my team?”

 

The tournament official recorded Akashi’s name dutifully after admitting that yes, a captain was counted as part of their own team, and no, it wasn’t a problem, just unexpected.

 

“Is Aka-chin really going to drink poison?” Murasakibara asked. “That’s not good.”

 

“No, it’s not,” Kuroko agreed.

 

“This is so stupid,” Kise whispered. Kuroko agreed with that too.

 

Akashi waited while each of his competitors called up their teammates and switched places with them. Once all twenty-four competitors were in place, the tournament officially continued.

 

“You will have an hour to counteract the effects and develop an antidote after you drink your poisons. Each of them is unique, so it is not recommended that you attempt the same antidote as one of your peers. All have antidotes that are within a moderate range of difficulty to brew, so there will be no unfair advantage to any of you.”

 

This explanation seemed to make some of the competitors even more nervous. Many were pale or twitching already.

 

“Ah, and your workstations-”

 

The director raised his wand, and twenty-four cauldrons slid out from under the table on stands that included a well stocked potions kit and all the tools any potioneer could ask for. Kuroko was willing to bet they were of good quality too. He wondered if there was any way he could secret any of these ingredients away without the tournament noticing for the use of pranks. Most antidotes included several class II and III restricted items… But before he could plan a way to get his hands on some of the ingredients, he remembered the seriousness of the challenge ahead: his captain was about to drink poison.

 

He tried to calm his own fears for his captain. Akashi was strong, smart, and resourceful. If any one of them could be trusted with a task of this nature, it was Akashi Seijuro, the absolute captain of the Generation of Miracles.

 

“Your time begins, NOW!”

 

Akashi strode forward with purpose and gently lifted the goblet in front of him him. The carved sigil of a lightning bolt flashed as he picked it up and glanced into the contents, processing what he could about the poison in its finished state. He raised the glass to his teammates, and drank.

 

The second the poison hit his system, Akashi reacted violently.

 

His throat closed up and he fell onto his hands and knees. A choked noise escaped that was so loud that his teammates could hear it from where they were sitting in the stands.

 

“Aka-chin-” Murasakibara had pushed forward, but Aomine and Kise held him back, each grabbing one of his arms.

 

“We can’t butt in,” Aomine said lowly. “If we go over there he’ll be disqualified and then he’ll have drunk poison for nothing.”

 

“We can’t just leave him there in pain!” Kise hissed through his teeth, fists clenched at his sides. Akashi’s body shook, and the redhead pulled himself back up to his feet, taking several steadying breaths.

 

The initial effects of the various poisons had only seemed to immediately slow a handful of unlucky students. All however showed some immediate signs of struggle. Some had shaking hands, others were blinking as though disoriented or swaying in place. One of the competitors was shaking and crying hysterically, but he seemed to be pulling himself together well enough. Kuroko would have recognized the signs of early stage Alihosty poisoning from a mile away. He wondered if the boy knew what he’d ingested, or if he was too far into his panic to get that far.

 

Some bore relatively minor effects that would become almost impossible to bear unless the poisoning was dealt with quickly (Kuroko was willing to bet that the student with the Alihosty poisoning would be out of the challenge permanently if it took him more than twenty minutes to identify his poison and counteract the effects, if only because he would be too incapacitated by his own panic to continue).

 

Akashi quickly pulled it together.

 

His movements were overly slow and exaggerated, but Akashi got to work.

 

Not three seconds into the process, a loud explosion of red smoke came up from one of the cauldrons on the other end of the line. Eyes fell on the unfortunate witch, who was looking both frustrated and sheepish.

 

“Each of your poisons has been enchanted to not react to Scarpin’s Revelaspell. You will need to identify the components of your poisons through cunning and creativity, without the use of such a crutch.”

 

There was a generally unfavorable reaction to this comment, but Akashi hadn’t looked up once. His face – pale and sweating – was turned towards his cutting board, working meticulously. His only reaction to the comment was to place his wand back into the folds of his robe, where he likely would have no further use of it during the challenge.

 

Only Akashi’s intelligence would save him here. Good thing he had so much of it to spare, Kuroko mused.

 

Kuroko could see the Slytherin’s hand shaking as he chopped up ingredients. He knew at once what the other boy was doing.

 

Akashi had retained several drops of the original poison and was building three highly reactive potions. He was going to try and force one of them to destabilize. Based on the color and the effects, Kuroko could only think of a few combinations of substances that would produce the poison Akashi had consumed. The options would be narrowed down significantly by Akashi’s experimental process.

 

Within fifteen minutes, Akashi had three potions in small bowls simmering on the single fire in front of him.

 

He picked up a dropper and filled it with the remnants from the goblet he had drunk from. Akashi’s hand was shaking noticeably as he dropped one single drop of the poison into each of the three bowls.

 

The first two didn’t react at all. The third bubbled and hissed. Akashi’s eyes widened, his reactions were slow, but at least they were not completely dulled. He cast a shield around the bowl before it exploded entirely in a shower of yellow goo.

 

That was the bowl that had contained a mixture with a base of Neem Oil, Kuroko thought. Mentally, he calculated how high the temperature of each of the bowls were and came to the right conclusion at the same time that the poison dulled Akashi had.

 

_Jobberknoll feathers and Neem oil react explosively at a temperature of seventy degrees without a stabilizing element_ _such as Elm root._

 

Kuroko had spent almost every waking moment of his first years at Hogwarts focusing on the subjects he could learn by studying alone. A lack of magical power wouldn’t prevent him from knowing the theory in all his classes cold. And it wouldn’t stop him at all in a class like Potions, where rising to the top only required a meticulous and detailed understanding of how chemicals and substances combined together in various reactions.

 

But this was something Kuroko knew because it had been only last September that he, Ogiwara, and Momoi had been experimenting with the explosive properties of just such a mixture for the purposes of a prank.

 

Kuroko knew there were only so many materials that could be combined with Jobberknoll feathers to turn toxic.

 

Angels Trumpet was one, but it wouldn’t have turned the potion yellow, nor did it tend to produce extremely painful effects. Arnica, which was generally used as an anti-inflammatory in small doses, might be combined with Bloodroot to overly sensitize the nerves and then-

 

Kuroko’s eyes widened in fear. That mixture was highly toxic, and Akashi was just standing there. He swayed under the effects of the poison, lips moving as he reasoned through this in his head. Kuroko was almost certain he was right. However, if he was wrong, the same effects might be mirrored by a mixture of powdered Moonstone, Hellebore Syrup, and Baneberry root. If Akashi produced an antidote for the Arnica when he had Hellebore Syrup in his bloodstream, he could turn his own blood to tar in a matter of seconds.

 

Would the tournament officials be able to react quickly enough? Kuroko had already watched two students collapse and be treated by medi-wizards on the spot. But the reaction between an antidote and the Hellebore might kill Akashi before they had the chance to reverse the effects or purge the potions from his system.

 

Kuroko’s fists clenched and he looked around at his teammates, wondering if any of them knew exactly how close their captain was to potentially making a fatal decision. Only Midorima’s face showed any true level of fear, and Kuroko moved to his side immediately.

 

“Is it Arnica or Hellebore?” Kuroko asked quietly. Midorima didn’t look surprised by the question, although Aomine did.

 

“The color of the poison was likely due to the Jobberknoll feathers, so it’s hard to say,” Midorima said tersely. Kuroko thought maybe he was leery of letting on too much and terrifying their teammates. Akashi still hadn’t moved after the potions results, still considering his options.

 

Three more students had collapsed. The remaining ones were working frantically, the effects of their poisons all the more pronounced after fifteen minutes. The crowd was yelling encouragement, a deafening roar of noise that couldn’t be singled out as support for any single Champion.

 

“Is there a way to tell the difference?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Aside from picking one and producing an antidote?” Midorima asked. “Mandrake roots and mint will produce a reaction if it has Hellebore or Baneberry. There will be no reaction if it is simply the Arnica.”

 

“I’m calling bullshit. There’s no way you know that off the top of your head,” Aomine butt in angrily. “What, did you just memorize a chart of every known potions ingredient and how it reacts with others individually and in combination?”

 

“Don’t be stupid,” Midorima snapped, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger. “I _created_ a chart of that nature in first year and have been altering it every month since based on our class notes and my independent research.”

 

“Fucking nerd,” Aomine whispered under his breath.

 

“You better hope Akashi is as much of a nerd as I am, or he’ll be dead before a mediwizard can help him,” Midorima said sharply. Kise whimpered quietly. Murasakibara stopped eating.

 

“What do you mean?” The tall Slytherin asked.

 

“Akashi will be fine,” Kuroko said, breaking the tension. “Look.”

 

Akashi pulled out a jar of mandrake roots and put it on the table in front of him. Looking worse for the wear, it was obvious what the last twenty or so minutes had done to him, Akashi carelessly squeezed out the rest of his poison into the entire jar. Aomine snorted.

 

“Yeah, he’s gonna die,” the Gryffindor boy said.

 

Akashi was peering closely at the spot where the poison had come in contact with the mandrake root.

 

“Did you see it react?” Kuroko asked.

 

“It may have, but it’s hard to say when he used the whole damn jar,” Midorima murmured.

 

“He _is_ technically dying right now,” Kuroko returned.

 

“We’re _all_ technically dying all the time. It does not stop the rest of us from not being fools,” Midorima muttered.

 

His eyes were still wide with fear, and Kuroko knew that the Ravenclaw was just deflecting. He was one of Akashi’s closest confidants, maybe even his best friend. After all, Midorima was the only person Kuroko had ever met who could keep up with Akashi.

 

“He’s preparing an antidote for the Hellebore,” Midorima whispered, watching Akashi. “If he’s wrong… the Arnica will react to the neutralizing agent for the Hellebore and Baneberry by liquidating his internal organs.”

 

“So if he picks this and he’s wrong he will bleed out. If he goes the other way and brews the antidote for the Arnica, his blood crystallizes and turns to tar,” Kuroko summed up.

 

Midorima nodded shakily. His hands were clasped together, perhaps in prayer.

 

“He’s going to be fine,” Kuroko said evenly. “We have to trust his judgement. If he thinks that it’s one of the two options, he’s right. He’s always right, remember? He’s absolute.”

 

Midorima let out a shaking, sputtering laugh.

 

“Don’t,” he said. “Please- not right now.”

 

Akashi was done brewing. His eyes were lidded and his movements uncontrolled, slow and overly exaggerated.

 

Akashi spooned out the antidote and drank it straight from the ladle; a man dying of thirst taking his first sip of water travelling through a desert. Hot as that mixture had been, Kuroko was sure it had burned Akashi’s throat and mouth going down, although he doubted the other boy was thinking of anything other than counteracting the effects of the poison he’d ingested.

 

Akashi shuddered, the ladle falling to the ground and splattering the floor with the rest of the antidote. He fell forward, catching himself on the table in front of him. His hands clenched into white knuckled fists. Midorima and Kise let out strangled sounds of fear as their captain’s body shook uncertainly.

 

Two mediwizards ran forward, but Akashi straightened before they got to him. He unclenched his hands and blinked into the light, already seeming more coherent.

 

One of the tournament officials ran forward to cast a diagnostic spell on Akashi before giving a thumbs up to the moderator of the challenge.

 

“The Hogwarts Champion has completed the challenge first!”

 

Relief flooded Kuroko’s veins as he fell back, feeling weak. He didn’t care about finishing the challenge first, just that Akashi was okay. Midorima stood up, straightened his glasses unnecessarily and scoffed.

 

“As we knew he would,” he said, his voice back to being contemptuous. But Kuroko had seen the real fear the other boy had held for Akashi. Much as Midorima might try and avoid personal entanglements, his fear for the Slytherin had gotten under his skin.

 

Aomine and Kise were shouting and cheering loudly, screaming their support for their captain: the first student to successfully identify the poison and brew their antidote successfully. About a minute later, another girl had managed it, and a few minutes after that, several more came forward.

 

Akashi was sitting to the side stoically as he watched his competition finish the task. A mediwizard was checking him over fully, to make sure he had managed to be completely successful and avoid any permanent damage to himself.

 

As the challenge ended, Akashi shook off their ministrations and walked back to his team. His steps were sure, and he already seemed much better.

 

“Aka-chin…” Murasakibara said softly as Akashi came within hearing distance.

 

Akashi smiled grimly.

 

“That,” he said, “was not the most fun I’ve had brewing potions.”

 

“You fool, you should have sent me,” Midorima hissed. “You didn’t need to poison yourself for this team!”

 

“Shintarou, I know that,” he said. “I didn’t do it because I thought I had to. I did it because the thought of asking any of you to swallow poison on my behalf was so abhorrent I didn’t think I could bear it. I… could not do it.”

 

Midorima actually gaped.

 

Akashi patted him on the shoulder and kept walking.

 

“You’re an idiot,” Aomine said. Akashi didn’t stop.

 

“I know that, Daiki,” he said. “I made a purely emotional decision without a single base in rationality. I did it twice today, actually.”

 

Akashi stopped and turned around.

 

“I couldn’t tell if the Mandrake roots had reacted or not, so I went with my gut instinct. I thought, maybe, I’d tasted Hellebore.”

 

Midorima’s eyes went wide, and Murasakibara stiffened besides Kuroko. Aomine’s expression darkened, but it was Kise who started shouting.

 

“If this is because of what you said yesterday-”

 

“What did Aka-chin say?”

 

“Oi, what are you talking about, idiot?”

 

But Kise kept yelling over the rest of them.

 

“You _moron_! You ASSHOLE! You could have _died_ sacrificing yourself for some stupid, _pointless_ tournament challenge! Don’t you value yourself enough to even look out for your own well being? We’re your _friends_ , you giant bag of dicks, AND WE WERE _THIS CLOSE_ TO WATCHING YOU DIE!”

 

Kise was shaking and his eyes were red and streaming with tears.

 

“Ki-chin, people are staring,” Murasakibara observed. “You’re making a scene.”

 

“Ryouta, are you done?” Akashi asked. His expression had closed off as Kise yelled. The blonde subsided, blushing hard.

 

“Yeah, I’m done,” he said quietly, swallowing against the harshness of his throat after screaming. “I’m sorry, Akashicchi.”

 

“Apology accepted,” Akashi replied. “Now if we could all agree moving forward to get through a single one of these challenges without any drama, that would be delightful.”

 

He turned sharply on his heel, striding away from his team.

 

“That was harsh, Kise,” Kuroko observed.

 

All four miracles jumped in the air, startled.

 

“KUROKOCCHI!? Why are you being mean to me too?”

 

…

 

“Now that was dramatic.”

 

Kuroko turned.

 

The boy behind him was wearing a shirt that, in addition to his accent, identified him as one of the American wizards. He looked familiar, especially the way he’d parted his hair to fall strategically over one eye.

 

“Seems like you’re all a little bent out of shape over nothing,” the wizard continued. “Especially since your captain is fine.”

 

“Mind your own business,” Murasakibara said grumpily. “Aka-chin shouldn’t have let himself get hurt in the first place.”

 

“The way I see it,” the American said, standing and stretching, “nobody _asked_ to get poisoned. I think your captain did a good job. You should tell him that instead of yelling at him because of your misplaced worry.”

 

“Thank you for the advice,” Kuroko said, because Murasakibara was looking particularly ominous at being told how to handle his friends. Kuroko would rather avoid a fight if he could.

 

The American wizard looked at Kuroko, and his eyes widened. Rather, the eye not hidden by the low hanging fringe of hair widened, and Kuroko had no reason to believe the other, hidden one didn’t either.

 

“Oh hey there, where did you come from?” he asked.

 

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Kuroko explained patiently. “I’m Kuroko Tetsuya, and this is Murasakibara Atsushi He competed for us during the first challenge.”

 

The American looked back at Atsushi.

 

“Ah, I remember,” he smiled. “Himuro Tatsuya. I’m here with Salem.”

 

Himuro Tatsuya… Kuroko remembered the other boy now. He had also represented his school in the first challenge. He’d felt powerful, and Kuroko had the feeling he’d held back when he cast his spell. Salem had come in second for his performance in that challenge.

 

He extended his hand. Murasakibara took it after Kuroko glared him into it, dropping it as quickly as he picked it up. Then he turned to Kuroko.

 

“Heh, Tetsuya and Tatsuya,” the Slytherin said, and chuckled. “You’re the same!”

 

“Not if he’s anywhere nearly as strong as his teammates,” Himuro said to Murasakibara. “That was pretty awesome.”

 

Murasakibara looked slightly appeased at this.

 

“Your captain’s kind of scary,” Himuro continued.

 

“Well _yours_ is pretty cute,” Kise said, coming over to join the conversation. “Think you could introduce me? I only got the chance to speak to her for a short second before the last challenge, but an extremely rude American got in my way.”

 

“Let me guess, stupid name, worse blazer, and tacky tattoos?” Himuro asked raising his eyebrows, and Kise laughed.

 

“Sounds about right,” he said.

 

“That’s Nash Gold Jr. then,” Himuro replied. “We travelled here the muggle way, and I had to sit next to him the whole six hour flight from New York. All these old East Coast American schools have their heads shoved so far up their asses they’re coming back out their shoulders again, but even by those stuffy standards, the New York institute sucks. They’re a real piece of work, that whole team. Oh hey, Captain!”

 

“Tatsuya, what did Coach tell you about gossiping about other teams?”

 

A girl walked up with her hands on her hips and an exasperated expression on her face.

 

“Uh, not to?”

 

“Come on, I swear I didn’t think being your captain would mean being your full time babysitter. I’m pretty sure you still have to do at least one of the worksheets we were supposed to hand in this morning too…”

 

She grabbed one of Himuro’s arms, and with a brief hello and goodbye to the Hogwarts team, dragged him away. Himuro turned and waved at them, giving them a big smile as his captain pulled him back towards their team.

 

“He’s right though; that Nash kid really is something,” Kise said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly.

 

“I don’t think we should be gossiping about other teams either, Kise,” Kuroko said. Kise laughed and put his arm around Kuroko’s shoulders.

 

“But, Kurokocchi, that’s not fun!” Kise whined.

 

“You can tell Akashi that when he gets back,” Kuroko replied. “He won’t be happy if he has other teams complaining about us talking badly about them.”

 

Kise let out a frustrated noise, but Murasakibara nodded in agreement with Kuroko, and the three of them headed back towards Midorima and Aomine.

 

“So, any bets on who goes under the wire tomorrow?” Aomine asked. “Because I’m just as tired as Akashi with all the drama that’s been going around lately.”

 

“I bet they make us do something in the lake,” Kise said. “Hey, maybe we’ll have to save someone in the water!”

 

“You can’t even swim, you asshole,” Aomine replied, shoving Kise’s shoulder.

 

“I could if I had to be heroic and save Kurokocchi!”

 

“Hey, when did we say you’d have to save Tetsu? If anyone would save him it would be me!”

 

“Mine-chin is an ass,” Murasakibara replied. “We all know Aka-chin knows I’m the most powerful. If we had to save Kuro-chin I would be the one he sends to do it.”

 

“Nobody is saving me!” Kuroko said loudly, putting his hands up. “Why on earth would you even think that?”

 

“But it would be so cool!” Kise said. Kuroko wanted to put his hands over his face just to block out the sunshine and sparkles coming off of the Gryffindor.

 

“Don’t be fools, they wouldn’t make us save our own teammate,” Midorima said, and Kuroko was infinitely grateful to the other boy for taking his side. “And I agree with Akashi. We should get some sleep so that we can deal with whatever we’re doing tomorrow. I for one am already ready for this tournament to be over, and we still have four tasks to go, including the actual dueling portion.”

 

“What about the senior division?” Kise asked. “Do we know how they’re doing?”

 

“They had the same challenge, just with more complex potions,” Midorima replied. “And they’re already done. Nijimura chose Hanamiya to do it for them. I think he came in second.”

 

“You mean he even needed an antidote?” Aomine asked, sounding surprised. “ I thought he had more than enough poison inside his own bloodstream for him to have complete immunity.”

 

“I bet they just gave him pure water,” Murasakibara added sagely. “Melted him from the inside out.”

 

The raucous laughter that followed was interrupted by the return of their captain. Akashi seemed to have recovered from his near poisoning. The color of his skin had returned to a healthy pink instead of the almost greenish gray it had been right after the challenge, and he was standing straight and unsupported.

 

“We’re needed in the Great Hall,” he said shortly. “Let’s go.”

 

Kuroko had to wonder how much of Akashi’s projected health was actual improvement, and how much of his own frailty he was still hiding. Only Akashi Seijuro would think that he would be judged for still being weak only hours after having been poisoned, but that was the nature of the other boy. He demanded only the best of himself.

 

The tournament director had assembled all twenty-three junior teams in the hall, and smiled at the arrival of the Hogwarts delegation.

 

“Now that the Hogwarts Champions have arrived, we can begin,” he said. “Tonight, you are being told what the challenge tomorrow will be. You will have a short amount of time to prepare and make your decisions about which competitors will be representing your teams.”

 

Whispering broke out among the students, but the director held up his hand to forestall any further interruption.The outbursts slowed to silence again before he spoke.

 

“You will have to make your way through an underground maze,” he said. “Two Champions from each of your teams will represent your school in this challenge. As partners, they will navigate the maze, dismantle traps, and solve the puzzles presented to them. Your challenge will begin at eight in the morning. Good night.”

 

A roar of noise followed his words as the tournament director stepped down from the Headmaster’s podium. The students stood as one, talking loudly over each other as they did so.

 

“Practice room,” Akashi said, loudly enough to be heard over the din. Murasakibara stood, and students parted around him like the red sea to give him space to move. In his wake, Akashi was followed by the rest of the Miracles like a line of ducklings, with Kuroko trailing at the back.

 

“So how are we doing this?” Aomine asked as soon as they’d reached their practice room.

 

“Dismantling traps sounds like Shintarou’s specialty,” Akashi said lightly. “Shintarou?”

 

Midorima nodded tightly.

 

“I can do that,” he said.

 

“So Shintarou is one,” Akashi said. “I -“

 

“Nobody needs you to justify sitting out this round,” Aomine waved his hand dismissively at his captain. “Obviously we’d all rather have you there. But none of us are going to let our captain compete at less than his best, so don’t even try.”

 

Akashi flushed almost as red as his hair. Kuroko felt vindicated in his realization that Akashi had been hiding how affected he really had been from the challenge. However, he was also concerned for the other student.

 

“Fine,” Akashi said without any other fight. The lack of argument only proved Aomine’s point. “Shintarou, what do you think?”

 

It seemed like a strange question. The way Midorima glanced at Kuroko before answering, a concerned furrow in his brow, was also strange. Kuroko wondered if he was supposed to have had an insight about who would do best paired with Midorima, but he couldn’t think of anything that would help.

 

“Not yet,” Midorima said shortly, interrupting Kuroko’s confusion. “It’s not time.”

 

“Not time for what?” Aomine interjected.

 

“Yeah, Akashicchi, what do you mean?” Kise asked.

 

Akashi waved his hand, dismissing the questions with an easy smile.

 

“Shintarou and I have been working on a contingency strategy. I don’t think it will need to be implemented, and we are obviously in agreement about that. If it becomes necessary to use this strategy, we will make sure you all know what it is well in advance, I can assure you.”

 

Murasakibara, who had looked up with interest, shrugged and looked back down at the pack of Liquorice Wands he was eating.

 

“More importantly,” Akashi said, cutting off Kise, who obviously was not as satisfied by this explanation, “we need to decide who will compete with Shinatrou.”

 

There was no obvious pairing there, Kuroko agreed. The nature of Midorima’s strengths made him something of a lone wolf. It was also unclear that any of them had specific strengths that would contribute meaningfully to the completion of this task more than another.

 

“Dismantling traps and solving puzzles sounds like a great challenge for Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said.

 

“I’m not competing with someone still recovering from late stage Hellebore poisoning,” Midorima snapped. “I can smell the Invigoration Potion on your breath from here, and I’d go easy on the mints trying to hide it. They can cause a nasty reaction.”

 

Akashi took a step back, eyes wide. Kuroko wondered if he was more shocked at being caught in the deception, or the fact that Midorima was actually calling him on it out loud.

 

"I thought you of all people would be above acting like a fool, but risking your health to protect an image of control is pointlessly extending your recovery time for no benefit," Midorima continued, his green eyes blazing with either fury or concern. "Your pride is-"

 

“I’ll do it,” Murasakibara cut in, not looking up from his Liquorice Wands.

 

“Excuse me?” Akashi asked.

 

“I’ll do the stupid task if it will stop you guys from fighting and bullying Aka-chin,” Murasakibara repeated. “You’re being really mean Mido-chin.”

 

“What?”

 

“You heard me.”

 

“I’m not-”

 

“You are,” Murasakibara cut in, crumpling the empty pack. “And I’m out of snacks. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

 

“But you don’t know anything about runes!”

 

Midorima’s voice was more confused than contemptuous, but Murasakibara had already decided that he’d had enough of this debate.

 

“And _you_ can’t break a rune chain in ten seconds or less by overpowering it. That’s why you’ll have me and I’ll have you. You’re being really stupid today, Mido-chin. Get a better horoscope for tomorrow.”

 

He turned around and left, the door closing gently behind him.

 

Aomine stared, eyes wide, at it. Akashi also seemed stunned into silence, as did Midorima.

 

“Sorry,” the Ravenclaw finally said shortly. “I’m just - I was worried-”

 

Akashi held up a hand.

 

“Refrain from embarrassing both of us, if you would,” he said. “I am aware of why it is you felt the need to speak out the way you did. Thank you for your concern, Shintarou, but I think we should all be getting to bed. It’s been a long day for all of us.”

 

Akashi followed Murasakibara out. It was a sober and quiet group that left in their wake.

 

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> COME TO ME WITH YOUR TEARS [ at my tumblr ](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	12. If You’re a Child, and I’m a Child, Who’s Going Through the Maze?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PSA, we have now crossed the 1/6 mark on this fics length and I am loving every second

 …

 

The watery sunlight shone weakly through a thin cover of clouds as the Champions strode out into the arena. Midorima could hear the frozen dirt crunch under his boots as he walked side by side with his Slytheirn teammate.

 

“Champions, take your positions by your markers.”

 

Murasakibara and Midorima went to stand by the number 24, which had a small sigil of the Hogwarts crest below it.

 

“The spectators will watch the progress of the Champions through the eyes of tracking spells. Champions, if you would please stand still.”

 

Midorima felt the magic settle around him and his partner, a fairly complicated spell that would allow those watching to see what they were doing as though they were walking right next to them. From the overly flat and somewhat blurry surface of the stadium, Midorima could guess that their images would be projected into a grid of 24 boxes for all of the spectators to watch.

 

Delightful.

 

A second later, the ground by their marker opened up into a perfectly round hole. Midorima couldn’t see all the way to the end, which meant that it was probably pretty deep. How unsettling.

 

Hiding his discomfort, Midorima pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and looked around, seeing that similar holes had opened up in front of each of the competing pairs of Champions.

 

“Ready for this Mido-chin?”

 

“Cancer is in second house today,” Midorima replied by way of answering, finally looking at the Slytherin beside him. He extended his fist towards the other boy. “I am more than prepared. Are you?”

 

“Let’s crush it.”

 

Murasakibara tapped Midorima’s fist with his own, and fixed his expression on the hole they were about to dive into.

 

“I know you’d rather have Aka-chin here, and so would I,” Murasakibara said, reaching into his pocket to pull out a hair tie. “But we’ve got each other, and I’ll do my best.”

 

The massive Slytherin pulled back his long purple hair into the tie, leaving his face clear.

 

“Actually right now, I’d rather none of us be here at all,” Midorima said, glancing at the other boy. Standing next to him, he could sense the pure power radiating off of him. “But in the absence of being able to avoid this task entirely, I believe we should do the best we possibly can.”

 

Murasakibara nodded.

 

“Champions, you will have three hours to get through the maze below. Should you become entangled in one of the traps and need rescue, you need only send up red sparks, and you will be removed from the maze. Should you do so, your team will be disqualified from being scored for the round.”

 

Several teams gulped at this.

 

“Your challenge is not based on speed,” the director continued. “You will be scored based on your quick thinking and logical reasoning. You must keep a cool head, and display strong problem solving skills. Thus, the order in which you reach the finish line will not count for or against your score in this challenge.”

 

Midorima grit his teeth. He was sure Akashi would not allow their team to reach the finish line second. Their victory would have to be _absolute._

 

He and Murasakibara would be looking to make it through as fast as possible.

 

“Good luck, Champions. Your three hours begin now.”

 

Murasakibara saluted the audience, and jumped into the hole.

 

Midorima stared down the hole for a moment, fists clenched, finding his courage.

 

_This is fucking stupid and I’m probably going to die for this stupid tournament and-_

 

He jumped.

 

Midorima cast a cushioning charm and landed gently on his feet. It took him several moments of blinking to adjust to the sudden darkness.

 

Midorima heard something move overheard. He looked up just in time to see the round circle of sky above him disappear as stone closed over it.

 

It seemed they would not be permitted to leave the way they had come in.

 

They were sealed in here, dozens of feet underground, like they had been entombed. Midorima struggled with his immediate, panicked reaction.

 

 _Get it together,_ Midorima reminded himself. _Cancer is in the second house today. I have my lucky item. I cannot lose._

 

He took a deep steadying breath, and repeated these facts to himself.

 

“Mido-chin, are we gonna move?”

 

Midorima opened his eyes.

The way was already lit by Murasakibara’s spell, which had summoned a purple ball of light to his side. Midorima cast his own spell silently, and a ball of green light left his wand to float along beside him.

 

“Yes, let’s go,” he said, looking around the cave they were in distastefully. The combination of green and purple light left it glowing eerily. At least the ceiling was high enough for both him and Murasakibara to stand comfortably. Midorima didn’t think he would have been able to take it if they’d needed to crawl through this maze.

 

He looked around, and quickly spotted the only way out – an archway that led into a dark tunnel.

 

“Do you see anything?” Murasakibara asked. Midorima shook his head.

 

“I think we should keep moving,” he said after a moment. He took an experimental step through the archway into the tunnel.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Midorima exhaled, and his breath misted in front of him. He could feel a dank chill on the air and smelled the musty, earthy smell of upturned dirt and enclosed spaces.

 

The tunnel in front of them led straight, turning off to the right after just a few yards. Midorima took the lead, walking cautiously. His wand was out and ready to respond to any traps or rune configurations that he had missed.

 

The only sound either of them could hear was their own heavy breathing, and the crunch of soil underfoot. Neither of them felt much like talking.

 

They followed the curve in the path, only to see it snake around again to the left. There were no tributaries or any other ways to go. Midorima didn’t like the idea that they were being led somewhere, but where else could they go but forward?

 

The path sloped down into another curve, and the temperature dropped another several degrees. Midorima shivered.

 

As they moved further in something sparked his consciousness. He stopped, holding out an arm for Murasakibara to do the same.

 

“Hold on,” he muttered. “There’s something here…”

 

Midorima directed the ball of green light down towards the floor, revealing a complicated ruin sequence carved into the stone. It wasn’t active – yet – but reading out the sequence, Midorima was really glad neither of them had taken a step forward.

 

“This should be simple enough,” he said, directing his wand at the binding link in the sequence.

 

He performed a severing charm, carving deep into the stone to the base of the runes. Midorima felt the pressure of the rune sequence fall away from his awareness, and nodded, rising back to his feet.

 

“Nice catch.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

The two wizards moved forward. Midorima tried not to focus on how narrow these tunnels were - narrow enough for them to only be able to pass single file through them. He expected that this was probably to ensure that none of the Champions avoided any of the traps that had been set. Not a minute later, they broke through another archway into an open room. It looked exactly like the one they had just come from, except for the fact that the path continued in front of them. There had only been one way out of the room they’d started in.

 

“Someone’s been here,” Murasakibara observed. Midorima followed where the Slytherin was pointing to see a rune sequence on the wall that had been defaced just as he had done.

 

“And footprints as well,” Midorima added as his gaze fell down to the floor.

 

“We need to move more quickly,” Midorima said decisively after a moment. “At least one team is ahead of us right now, and as far as we know, this whole damn maze could just be a line with us at the end of it.”

 

He strode forward purposefully, Murasakibara following close behind.

 

A few steps out of the second room, they finally came to an intersection.

 

“Left or right?” Midorima asked.

 

“The footprints go right, and there’s another room that way.”

 

“Then we’ll go left.”

 

“So contrary, Mido-chin. You always have to do whatever nobody else is doing.”

 

“Be quiet, fool.”

 

They fell silent again, walking in silence for several more minutes. They didn’t come across another rune sequence, any other Champions, or even another crossroads. It seemed the path they were going on was a completely straight line. Midorima hoped that it wasn’t about to end in a dead end, forcing them to turn back after wasting so much time and falling even farther behind.

 

Lost in his musing, Midorima missed the rune set until it was already too late. He  felt the spark of magic that signified a rune sequence being activated right beside him.

 

“Mido-chin!”

 

Midorima shoved Murasakibara back with magic as a wave of fire came spewing out of the wall next to him. He dropped to the floor, feeling the intense heat right above him, and realized just in time that the spread of the fire was widening.

 

Shouting a spell, Midorima raised his wand and let out a blast of ice that formed a massive dome around him. The fire turned to smoke as it hit, but the ice stretched along the length of fire, freezing it to the base.

 

“Get it now!” Midorima yelled from inside the dome of ice.

 

Murasakibara put his hands on the rune configuration and blasted it apart.

 

“I thought you were looking for the runes?” he demanded. “You were supposed to be careful!”

 

“Sorry, I missed it,” Midorima gasped, evaporating the ice with a wave of his wand.

 

“You really need to be more cautious or you’re going to get hurt.”

 

“Yeah. Thanks.”

 

“You ready to keep going?”

 

Midorima nodded, feeling his breath and heart rate slow to a semi-normal pace. They took off at a light jog, trying to get away from the rune sequence as quickly as possible. Midorima wasn’t quite sure it wasn’t going to reactivate again and neither of them wanted to be close by when it started spewing fire for the second time.

 

They reached another tributary and turned left, almost running straight into another trap.

 

“Watch out,” Murasakibara said, stepping ahead of the Ravenclaw. Midorima scowled as the Slytherin put a hand on the rune sequence. It glowed purple for a second before the stone underneath it cracked.

 

“See?”

 

Midorima sighed.

 

“Very well,” he pushed his glasses up his face. “I get it, okay? I am an elitist. Can we have this discussion when hundreds of people aren’t watching us and we are unlikely to destabilize an entire system of tunnels with misplaced aggression? Would that be an acceptable alternative for you?”

 

Murasakibara shrugged.

 

“No, now that you’re aware we can stop,” he said pleasantly. “After you, Mido-chin.”

 

They entered the room just beyond the trap, only for it to fill with a colorless smoke. It shone green and purple around the witch lights, giving the room a creepy aura.

 

“What should we do?” Murasakibara asked.

 

Midorima’s immediate instinct was to cast a bubblehead charm and run full speed the other way, testing both of them thoroughly for poison as soon as they had the chance.

 

But something about the play of light on the fog just didn’t seem right…

 

Midorima moved his hand through the fog. Where ordinary mist or smoke of any kind would have been disturbed by the air moved by Midorima’s hand, this smoke didn’t move at all.

 

“It’s an illusion,” he said, forestalling Murasakibara from turning around and leaving. “Smart. Designed to make anyone passing through here panic and waste time trying to figure out if they were about to be poisoned when it was just some stupid trick.”

 

“Huh,” Murasakibara said. “That was pretty clever of you to figure that out, Mido-chin.”

 

Midorima fought to keep the flush out of his cheeks at the compliment. He valued the other wizard’s opinion about himself and his magical abilities, and the vindication was kind of nice.

 

The two wizards walked through the illusion, trying to ignore the smoke entirely, and made it to the other side of the room unmolested. Midorima let out a breath, feeling gratified for recognizing the trick in time to avoid a serious back track. He didn’t know where anyone else in the maze was, but he doubted they had the time to mess around.

 

He had a feeling they were getting close. The tricks and puzzles were getting more complex.

 

They kept walking, hanging right at another intersection. They rounded a bend only to see that the entire hallway in front of them was covered in water.

 

“Should we go back now?” Murasakibara asked.

 

Midorima sent his light out over the water. It shone black, betraying none of its depth.

 

“We would have to backtrack too far,” he replied. “This is nothing.”

 

Midorima cast a spell on the water, turning the surface closest to them into thick ice.

 

He had no idea how deep it went, but he was fairly certain this measure would support himself and his partner, despite the fact that neither of them were particularly light or small.

 

“Good idea,” Murasakibara said, sounding entirely unimpressed with this solution. “Why don’t you try it first.”

 

“If you insist,” Midorima muttered, putting a cautious foot forward. The ice held as he took one step, then two, then three.

 

“It’s safe,” he breathed out in relief. “Now let’s just get to the other side.”

 

“Fine, but we’re switching,” Murasakibara said, stepping past the Ravenclaw again. “I can waste the power to freeze the whole thing. We never know when we’ll need you in reserve to heal either of us.”

 

True to Murasakibara’s claim, with two more icy blasts, the water underneath them was solidly frozen, and held as they cautiously made their way across it.

 

After several minutes of walking, the air even colder than it had been before, they finally stepped back onto solid ground.

 

“Thank Merlin,” Midorima muttered.

 

“We have another crossroads,” his partner observed. “Which way do you want to go?”

 

Midorima considered this. Off to the right, there was nothing but empty space. He could see what looked like another archway, demarking a room just like the one they had started in. To the left, he could feel the latent buzzing of another rune configuration.

 

“Let’s go left,” Midorima said. “I think the traps are getting more frequent the closer we get.”

Murasakibara broke apart the trap with another glow of power, and they stepped through the next archway.

 

Six pinpoints of green light glowed in the darkness.

 

A growl reached Midorima’s senses. He could hear breathing and shuffling up ahead.

 

Something howled.

 

The two wizards froze. Thankfully, Murasakibara moved first, conjuring a powerful shield. But the massive wolf that leapt forward jumped straight through the shield. It landed in front of Murasakibara with its teeth bared, growling viciously.

 

Murasakibara cast a stunning spell at it, but the red spell just hit the ground beneath it and bounced away.

 

“Another illusion,” he said, sounding bored. “They used the same trick twice, did they think they would be able to fool us?”

 

And then the wolf bit down on his leg and Murasakibara _screamed._

 

The other two wolves came running out of the shadows as the wolf biting down on Murasakibara’s leg shook its jaw angrily. Murasakibara cried out again, but Midorima was cut off from helping him as the other two wolves leapt in front of him, driving him back.

 

_Corporeal, but at the same time not, clever as shit – these are Mist Wolves._

 

Midorima heard a spine shuddering _crack_ from where Murasakibara was sobbing in the dark, and the Slytherin cried out again.

 

Midorima dodged one of the wolves as it jumped forward. He was trying to think, trying to find a way to get them out of this, but nothing was coming to mind. His brain was a blank slate of _run run run run –_

 

Suddenly, Midorima remembered how he had known that the gas in the earlier chamber was a mere illusion, and he raised his wand in the direction of the wolf whose jaws were fixed around Murasakibara’s leg.

 

He summoned a tornado of air. It rushed down the corridor, ruffling his hair and raising dust and dirt from every corner. The wind picked up the mist that the wolves were made up of, and spirited them far away. Soon they were down the corridor and out of sight, their angered howls and squeals echoing behind them. Midorima quickly cast a barrier that would prevent any air from passing it. He didn’t want them coming back.

 

Murasakibara groaned again, and Midorima ran to his side, falling harshly to his knees.

 

“Don’t be such a child,” he admonished, bringing his light closer so that he could get a better look at his teammate’s mangled leg. “You’re hardly dying, and your leg will be fine.”

 

“Your… bedside… manner… is terrible,” Murasakibara ground out through the pain, clutching at his leg just above his knee, eyes shut tight in fear, not wanting to look at the wound. “You’re supposed to make me feel better.”

 

And with good reason – the Slytherin’s leg was horrifically broken, white bone poking through the skin in a jagged break. Dark blood was pooling in the dirt below them.

 

“You’re going to be just fine,” Midorima replied. He cast a spell to set the bone. Murasakibara screamed as it snapped back into place, leaving loose skin and muscle hanging around the site where it had been torn.

 

Silence fell again, and the Slytherin’s heavy breathing was the only sound that was echoing in the cave around them.

 

“I think you made it _worse,_ ” he moaned.

 

“Yes yes, I’m awful,” Midorima said in a voice that was actually pretty calm compared to the panic that was racing in his brain. He was focusing on the task in front of him. He needed to do something to fix Murasakibara’s leg and get him moving again so that he could find a real healer.

 

Of course, he could concede the challenge and call for aid. He was pretty sure that after watching Murasakibara writhe in agony under the wolf’s teeth, nobody would blame him. They were probably _expecting_ it. Even Akashi couldn’t fault him for making this decision.

 

Nobody would blame him. But Midorima could see Akashi’s face when they were removed from the maze, and set his jaw angrily. Another spell began to knit the damage to the muscle, and a third and fourth began repairing the nerves and skin that had been damaged.

 

“As soon as I’m done, I can call for help,” Midorima said. “We can back out if you want to. We could get you to a healer almost instantly.”

 

“No freaking way,” Murasakibara replied, looking angry at the very suggestion that they surrender this task. “We’re doing this to the end. It’s what we’re here for. I’m not letting us back out because of me.”

 

Stubborn to the end, both of them.

 

In a matter of minutes, the wound was almost closed up, with only a rapidly fading scar to indicate where he had been hurt.

 

“Alright, we need to get you moving again,” Midorima said. He splinted the Slytherin’s leg with a final spell to keep the bone in place. “This will hold for now.”

 

Midorima pulled Murasakibara to a standing position, his own muscles straining against the weight of the much larger Slytherin. Once Murasakibara was on his feet, he managed to find his balance between Midorima and the side of the tunnel. After a few seconds, he looked over at Midorima with a nod, indicating that he wasn’t about to fall back down.

 

“I doubt this will be much fun for you while your leg heals, but we need to keep going.”

 

“I’m right behind you,” Murasakibara promised. “Sorry I messed up. I thought they were illusions, like the fog. I was wrong.”

 

“I thought so too,” Midorima replied. “I was just a little farther away.”

 

“Thank Merlin,” Murasakibara asked, limping along the pathway behind Midorima.”I mean, imagine _me_ trying to splint _your_ leg.”

 

“Don’t be stupid,” Midorima replied. “You would have done an adequate job fixing my leg if our positions were reversed.”

 

“Mido-chin-”

 

“We’d have managed,” Midorima said tersely. “We have so far.”

 

The path twisted several more times before they passed under an archway into an empty room. They quickly ascertained that it had no more traps in it, before moving forward again.

 

They hung right at another break in the path, but Midorima stopped them before they went too far.

 

“I think,” he said, peering into the darkness, “I think there’s a trap up ahead.”

 

“Well let’s crush it then,” Murasakibara said. “I want to get out of here as soon as we can.”

 

Midorima didn’t give his friend the reply he wanted to give, which was that he too wished to get out of this maze as soon as possible, and that it was definitionally impossible to physically crush a rune configuration as a pure structure of magic rooted in symbolic links. Midorima told himself his silence was rooted in the fact that he didn’t have the breath to correct Murasakibara’s foolishness, and he was not even lying to himself. But the real truth was that he didn’t have it in him to correct the other boy right now. The Ravenclaw was sure they were getting closer. He could feel it. Soon enough, they would be out of here and they would both be fine.

 

“I’m going to trip the rune sequence,” he said after a second of examining what he could see of the runes. “There are some traps laid into the sequence itself to prevent us from tampering with it. I’m not going to take a chance setting off some of the nastier curses when the effect of tripping it from here shouldn’t be that bad.”

 

Murasakibara didn’t react, except to lean back against the wall and close his eyes.

 

Midorima picked up a stone from the ground next to him and threw it into the pathway. As it hit the ground, the floor vanished, revealing a pit of nasty, sharp spikes.

 

“I’m going to levitate you over, and then you will do the same for me, okay?” Midorima asked. Murasakibara nodded, tapping his fingers on his uninjured leg nervously.

 

Midorima cast the levitation spell on his partner, careful not to let Murasakibara’s head hit the ceiling. As carefully and steadily as he could, he lifted the Slytherin up over the spikes and set him down gently on the other side of the corridor.

 

“Alright, Mido-chin, are you ready?”

 

Midorima nodded shortly, shutting his eyes tightly.

 

“Please be careful,” he said. “I would prefer not to be slammed into any walls.”

 

“Mido-chin, do you always have to judge people? I’m hurt, not stupid.”

 

Midorima huffed in exasperation, but didn’t get the chance to respond as Murasakibara lifted him precisely an inch off the floor and pulled him forward over the spikes below. Midorima didn’t open his eyes until he could feel dirt underneath his feet again, and let go of the breath he’d been holding the whole time.

 

“I apologize,” he said stiffly. “Are you prepared to continue?”

 

Murasakibara shrugged, and stood up, brushing dirt off his pants.

 

“We shouldn’t be too far now.”

 

They turned the next corner. It turned almost all the way back the way they’d originally come before snaking into another bend.

 

The floor was steep enough that both boys were holding onto the wall for stability as they walked.

 

“Do you think the other teams are ahead of us?” Murasakibara asked.

 

“Maybe,” Midorima said. “There could potentially be several routes to our goal. My guess is that we’re the first to come this way. And with the frequency of the traps-”

 

The two wizards came out of another turn to see that the pathway leveled out completely into a totally straight passage.

 

However, standing between them and the end of this straight tunnel was a series of bright blue lights, floating innocently at random intervals and slowly moving in various directions.

 

“Another illusion?” Murasakibara asked.

 

“Maybe,” Midorima replied. He looked around for the rune sequence powering the spell, his eyes falling on the ground.

 

“We’re gonna have a problem,” he said slowly, kneeling and examining the dull metallic shine. The floor here was some sort of metal or steel with the runes were carved into it instead of the stone. Hesitantly, Midorima drew his wand to alter the rune sequence.

 

The runes glowed, and the metal sheet they were carved into shone dimly.

 

“Let me try.”

 

Murasakibara put a hand on the rune sequence. Instead of breaking when he shoved power towards it, the sheet of metal just glowed even more brightly. Murasakibara glared and poured more power into it, but the runes just glowed brighter and brighter.

 

“Stop!” Midorima said suddenly, pulling the Slytherin’s arm back roughly. The contact broke Murasakibara’s unspoken spell, and they both fell back into a heap on the floor.

 

“What-”

 

“The runes are carved into a copper sheet at regular intervals, powering whatever spell this is,” Midorima explained. “If you had tried to pour any more power into the spell it would have drained you dry until you passed out. A lesser wizard would have been unconscious by now.”

 

Murasakibara seemed slightly out of it, and was breathing roughly. Midorima was concerned by the slightly glazed look in the Slytherin’s eyes.

 

“That wasn’t fun,” he replied.

 

“I can’t imagine it was,” Midorima said dryly.

 

“So if we can’t overpower it, how do we end the trap?” Murasakibara asked.

 

“I’m going to cross to the other side, and we’re going to work together to levitate the plate. I believe based on what I can see of the sequence that the spell should only work between it and the ceiling, so you can crawl under it while I hold it up.”

 

“Why can’t I go through with you?”

 

In the dull green light from his spell, Midorima’s face looked even more serious than usual.

 

“Because you’re injured, you fool,” he replied, turning to the task in front of them.

 

He took a deep breath, and edged a single foot out onto the copper platform.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Midorima exhaled, and ducked under the first ball of blue light. It passed peaceably over his head without reacting to his presence, as he had known that it would.

 

He stepped again, moving in between two balls that were floating slowly away from each other, and lifted up his leg just in time to avoid one floating by his knee.

 

He turned, but not in time to avoid the glowing little blue ball that came in contact with his shoulder.

 

Midorima screamed, jerked, and fell to his knees.

 

“Mido-chin!”

 

“Stay there!” Midorima ordered, his voice rough from pain.

 

The ball floated away on its path, and Midorima grabbed a hold of the wall, focusing on the path in front of him with blurry vision.

 

“What happened?”

 

“It’s the trap,” Midorima said. “They’re designed to shock anyone they come in contact with.”

 

“Mido-chin-”

 

“I’m almost there,” Midorima said, ignoring the Slytherin and taking several more stumbling steps forward. He twisted to avoid three balls passing right beside him, and fell to his knees to avoid several more that moved overhead.

 

He was almost there.

 

Midorima crawled the last several steps of the way, eyes focused only on the back wall in front of him.

 

He arched his back to avoid the ball moving slowly underneath his stomach. The Ravenclaw jerked his leg forward to move the last foot of the way, but was brought to a stop when his thigh was brought into contact with an electrocuting sphere.

 

Midorima grunted, clenching his teeth to avoid screaming again, and lunged forward to throw himself off the copper sheet.

 

He landed roughly on his shoulder and rolled, hitting the back end of the tunnel as he did.

 

For a second, Midorima lay there panting, the wind knocked completely out of him. He could feel a dull ache everywhere where he had been shocked by the insidious balls of light, and now his shoulder felt bruised all the way down to the elbow from his graceless landing. He was probably lucky it wasn’t outright broken.

 

“Mido-chin?”

 

“I’m fine,” he gasped out. “Just give me a second.”

 

It took another full minute before he could stand. There was a throbbing pain in his leg where the sphere had shocked him, and Midorima wouldn’t have been surprised to discover he’d been burned when he came into contact with it. There was a matching ache in his shoulder where the first sphere had hit him, but it was fading somewhat.

 

Well, they’d probably be done with this asinine challenge soon enough, and then the Ravenclaw could lick his wounds. He tried very hard not to think about the fact that the entire school and then some was watching him limp painfully forward right now. He was pretty sure his dignity was in tatters, but whatever he had to do he was going to make it through this task with Murasakibara. He could salvage his dignity later.

 

“On three, we’ll levitate the platform together,” Midorima said. “My count. One, two, three – _Wingardium Leviosa_!”

 

Murasakibara’s wandless, wordless spell met the copper plate at the same time as Midorima’s spoken one did. For a second, nothing happened, and then a low rumble signified that the metal was being pried free from the stone beneath it. The floor shook worryingly, and then the plate began to rise.

 

Luckily, Midorima’s theory was right and the balls of light rose with it, none of them venturing below the metal. They continued to float in their languid random patterns in the space above.

 

As soon as there was two feet of distance between the flat metal sheet and the earth below, Midorima took on the full force of the spell.

 

“Go,” he said, and Murasakibara had no trouble complying.

 

The Slytherin crawled forward, his purple light leading the way. It wasn’t long until he had crossed the space underneath the platform.

 

By the time his partner reached the other side, Midorima’s arms were shaking with the effort of holding up the spell. As soon as Murasakibara was entirely clear, he released the spell.

 

The metal plate hit the ground with a heavy clang, and the Ravenclaw sagged back into the wall.

 

“Almost there,” Midorima said breathlessly. “I hope.”

 

“We can’t have much time left,” Murasakibara replied, extending a hand to Midorima. “We should get moving again.”

 

Midorima nodded, and followed behind Murasakibara as they quickly turned another corner. The Slytherin quickly overpowered the rune sequence here, and they kept moving. Around another bend and down another dark corridor, the two students said nothing at all. It was terribly cold now, and Midorima was shivering. Murasakibara’s limp had improved as Midorima’s healing spells continued to work their magic on the deep gash that the wolf had bitten into his leg. The larger boy kept glancing behind him to make sure Midorima was behind him.

 

They rounded another bend and stopped short.

 

The room in front of them was massive. It looked like it had been here for ages.

 

Half of it was flooded. A veritable lake of water rose between where they stood at the raised doorway, and some space about fifty feet away where the room rose up in a series of steps leading to a dais. Midorima could have cried at the sight of true daylight shining down at the back end of the room.

 

Six columns, three on each side, lined the room. The first four rose out of the dark water, and the last two stood at the top of the stairs opposite them.

 

They stepped out into the massive cavernous room.

 

“Something tells me we’re almost at the end,” Midorima murmured.

 

“Really? What makes you think that?” Murasakibara asked sarcastically.

 

“The ladder –  oh I see. That was sarcasm.”

 

“Yes it was. Aka-chin would be proud of your growth as a person for recognizing it.”

 

Midorima snorted, and didn’t bother asking how many times Akashi had lamented his overly literal interpretation of conversation. It was probably more times than he cared to know.

 

The two of them stared out over the water. Not knowing how deep it was, Midorima wasn’t exactly keen to wade through it. He was also sure that there would be some sort of trap lying in wait for them if they were to try just that.

 

“Should we freeze the water again?” Murasakibara asked. “Or will that trigger something?”

 

Midorima forced himself to analyze their surroundings more closely for any sign of tampering. The water itself had a thin sheet of ice around it, which made sense given the terrible cold that surrounded them.

 

Midorima pointed his wand at the water in front of them and cast a heating charm, before directing his light to move through the hole in the ice.

 

The water went down much deeper than he had thought, probably expanded by magic. As he forced his light to move around the water below, he noticed several large, behemoth shapes moving in the darkness.

 

“Um,” Murasakibara said. “You see those too, right?”

 

Midorima moved the light slightly closer to one of the moving shapes, trying to figure out exactly what it was.

 

He had gotten it just close enough to get the impression of enormous jaws with extremely large teeth, before the jaw snapped shut and all of the shapes were moving at once.

 

Five huge creatures broke the surface of the water, long alligator-like jaws snapping, eyes glowing in the purple light of Murasakibara’s spell.

 

“Bunyips,” Midorima said breathlessly, pulling Murasakibara back, heart pounding, mind racing.

 

Bunyips, bunyips…

 

A chorus of terrifying howls filled the cavern, echoing off every single surface.

 

Murasakibara cast a spell banishing the five creatures away, throwing them back into the water.

 

“We’ll freeze them in and then run for it,” he said. “Come on.”

 

Midorima agreed, and pointed his wand at the water as the surface was broken by the Bunyips yet again. Their snarls and howls spelled death for the two wizards that had disturbed them.

 

“Hey, Mido-chin, you think they’d have come gotten us before we were attacked if we didn’t signal for it?” Murasakibara asked, a powerful freezing spell icing over several inches of the water. It cracked and broke around the monsters, but neither gave up.

 

Midorima grunted and cast his own spell, aiming directly at the beasts. They cast again and again, the ice thickening with each repetition The Bunyips continued to snarl in fury, but moved slower now, with the sudden drop in temperature.

 

Soon, the monsters were completely frozen, falling into the water as the surface iced over. When the water beneath them was a solid block several feet down, Midorima lowered his wand and Murasakibara smiled in pride.

 

“Almost there,” he said, and strode forward.

 

Midorima followed, glancing down at the faces of the Bunyips in the water as they did. Their alligator like jaws were frozen open in angry snarls, furry limbs ending in dangerous claws extended and ready to tear.

 

He shuddered.

 

“Murasakibara,” he said as they crossed the water, “I’m very glad you’re here.”

 

“Thank you, Mido-chin,” Murasakibara replied politely. “I’m very glad you are too.”

 

They had crossed the room, their footsteps crunching on the solid ice below, and climbed up the steps to the dais.

 

The end was so close. They were almost there.

 

But when Murasakibara took another step, he ran headlong into something invisible that stopped him in his tracks.

 

“It’s a shield,” Midorima said. “A massive shield.”

 

“Stand back,” Murasakibara said, rolling up his sleeves. “I can handle this one.”

 

The Slytherin held his wand in front of him, concentrating intently. He raised it up, the air around it rippling from a concentration of pure magic.

 

“Murasakibara-“

 

He brought it down with a snap, and the magic hit the shield with a deep sound like a ringing gong.

 

Purple sparks ran up and down the shield, racing towards the ceiling and walls.

 

“Merlin, Morgana, and Morgause,” Midorima whispered reverently. A chill ran down his spine.

 

Of course he’d known that his friend was powerful. It had been thrown in his face since the very first day they had met and been paired together in class. Murasakibara was probably going to be one of the most terrifying adult wizards of their generation.

 

But knowing that was completely different from experiencing the boy’s sheer magical power firsthand. The knowledge that Murasakibara still had _this much_ power, even after all of the challenges they had faced. After all the magic he’d already used to save them time and time again. After freezing the Bunyips in place like it was nothing at all. This was _frightening._

 

The Slytherin rarely brought his entire magical arsenal to bear – he just couldn’t be bothered. It was egregious and unnecessary. He was using it here. Midorima didn’t know if he was more terrified by the power he sensed in his friend, or at the thought of what kind of power must have been involved with the creation of this shield.

 

Because whoever the rune master was that was responsible for this shield was stronger than even Murasakibara was. And that was saying something.

 

Murasakibara had stopped glaring at the shield, and was smiling.

 

“Someone’s clever,” he said.

 

“I can’t believe that they made a shield even you couldn’t break,” Midorima said. _This would be an excellent moment to have Kuroko here,_ Midorima thought regretfully. If his and Akashi’s theories were correct, Kuroko could have just walked through that shield, potentially taking anyone he wanted to with him.

 

Of course, in this challenge overall, Murasakibara was still the best partner he could have had.

 

They would just have to break the sequence of the shield the hard way.

 

“I believe this one’s on me,” Midorima said dryly. “Do us both a favor and keep an eye on those Bunyips to make sure they stay down and frozen, would you?”

 

Murasakibara agreed, and Midorima turned his attention to breaking the warding that was standing between them and the end of this ridiculous challenge.

 

The Ravenclaw cast a spell to reveal the runic sequence of the shield.

 

His eyes widened as he saw the runes flashing up and down in the air in front of him. This was some of the most complicated work he’d ever seen. This was…

 

Midorima was awed.

 

Well, he wasn’t getting through by breaking the runes, which left the second option for a curse breaker trying to get through any kind of runic obstacle.

 

Midorima found the binding sequence that tethered the shield to the floor directly in front of it. This was a matter of simple stone and blood. As complicated as the rest of this array was, the binding link itself was pretty simple. Midorima found exactly what threads he needed to pull and magically tugged on them, destroying a vital sequence.

 

“Alright Murasakibara, come on,” Midorima said. The effect of his magic had pulled up a segment of the shield in front of them.

 

Murasakibara ducked through the hole in the shield, sensing its corners with his magic and making sure to tuck himself into a space that would fit through the opening. The image of the huge Slytherin crouching awkwardly would have been funny, but Midorima didn’t have the time or mental space to truly appreciate it. Instead Midorima followed his teammate through the shield, letting the sequence snap back into shape behind them.

 

Midorima felt uncertain on his feet as he staggered towards the ladder up ahead. He fell forward onto it when they finally got there, and it seemed to take forever to force his body to pull himself up onto it. His arms shook with the effort of pulling himself up, one rung at a time.

 

He didn’t notice his light spell blinking out of existence, nor did he have the focus for anything other than the circle of light above him.

 

They were almost _done_.

 

The feeling of his head finally breaking free of the oppressive darkness and being hit with the clear light of outside day was better than anything Midorima could remember experiencing so far in his life.

 

Midorima heaved himself up onto the grass to rousing cheers. It sounded like buzzing in his ears. He wasn’t able to rise above his knees, or even focus on any part of the stands around him.

 

The last thing he saw was Murasakibara’s face before his vision started graying out. The Slytherin was asking him something. There were hands on his shoulders, shaking him. Midorima tried to force his mouth to open to respond, but his body wouldn’t obey him.

  
And then the world faded away.

 

…

 

Midorima came to in a tent of some kind. The world was blurred and uncertain around him. Midorima realized quickly that this was because he was missing his glasses. Weakly, he reached out to grab them, and made contact with the lenses on a table beside the cot he was laying on.

 

“Here, I’ve got them,” a familiar voice said. Akashi.

 

A moment later, Midorima’s glasses were placed on his face, the sight of his Captain was brought into sharp focus in front of him.

 

“Akashi,” Midorima greeted.

 

“Well done, Shintarou.”

 

Midorima blushed at the praise, looking away so that he didn’t have to face the Slytherin. To his left, he saw a figure in another cot, and frowned.

 

“Atsushi is still unconscious,” Akashi said. “The amount of power you both utilized today was impressive and irresponsible. Both of you went into magical shock.”

 

Midorima didn’t know how to respond to that. He was angry at himself for failing to realize what Akashi had laid out so blatantly in front of him.

 

“I did what I had to do,” he replied shortly. “We won, didn’t we?”

 

“No.”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“You didn’t come in first,” Akashi said. His expression was unreadable.

 

“You can’t be-”

 

“You were second,” Akashi said sharply. “You exited the maze twenty minutes after the Salem team. It was a full ten minutes before the New York and Brazilian teams, but it was _embarrassing.”_

 

“No, that’s not possible,” Midorima said, frowning.

 

“Shintarou, I know your pride-”

 

“I’m not talking about my pride, the damn rune configurations in the last chamber hadn’t been tripped at all!” Midorima snapped. “I know for a _fact_ that nobody went through that room before us!”

 

Akashi sighed.

 

“I know,” he said shortly. “The Salem school didn’t exit through the end of the maze. I’ve been listening to Tatsuya brag for several minutes now. I’m sure he would love to regale you with the story himself.”

 

Midorima turned to see the dark haired American smile and wave from the bedside of a blonde girl, his captain and partner.

 

Himuro Tatsuya looked extremely pleased with himself, and Midorima had to fight the urge to wrap his hands around the other boy’s pretty throat.

 

“You,” he snapped at Tatsuya. “What is your sign?”

  
Tatsuya glanced at Akashi, wondering if this was normal behavior for the newly awakened wizard. When Akashi shrugged, Tatsuya returned his attention to Midorima, smiling.

 

“I’m a Scorpio,” he said, not reacting at all to the oddness of the question even though his voice was dripping with sarcasm. “It means I’m passionate and intense.”

 

Midorima glowered. Scorpio was in first house today, no wonder he had managed to get through the maze first. Even with as much preparation and skill as Midorima had, luck had been in Scorpio’s favor today, more so than Cancer. It had been luck that had guided Himuro Tatsuya past another potential exit.

 

“How did you get out first?” Midorima asked.

 

“They put an escape stairwell in the maze,” Himuro said, coming over. “It was pretty heavily warded. When my captain and I found it, we decided unraveling the shields around it would be easier than wandering around in the dark for hours. It only took about half an hour to crack between us, even though it sapped up most of our power.”

 

Midorima glowered.

 

All that work, Murasakibara getting inured, Midorima taking several violent shocks to his body, and it was all for nothing? They’d come in _second_ to a pair of wizards that had found an easier path to the surface by pure luck?

 

“Now now, Shintarou, there’s no need to get angry,” Akashi said with a smile. “You did will. I don’t know how the scores will rank each of you, but both of you displayed extraordinary talent at this task. Tatsuya, it will be a pleasure to compete against you in the tournament.”

 

“If we manage to ever hit a top seed like you, I think we’ll have a satisfying match,” Tatsuya replied, looking happy for the first time since Midorima had woken up. “I got to see the last few minutes of your challenge, and man – those Bunyips were terrifying! If we’d ended up getting to the end I’m pretty sure that my captain and I would have gotten our asses kicked.”

 

“Himuro Tatsuya, I taught you better language than that!”

 

“Sorry I couldn’t think of anything more vulgar,” Himuro replied dryly. “You must have been a pretty terrible teacher.”

 

Himuro turned while he said this, his smile widening even further at the blonde woman in the doorway.

 

“Alex!” he greeted. But before he could run to hug the woman, she smacked him on the top of the head with a roll of parchment.

 

“I told you to look after my sister and yourself, and I get all the way here from America to see that I’ve left absolutely no impression on you!”

 

She sounded exasperated, but Himuro didn’t look even the slightest bit apologetic.

 

“Alex, this is Akashi and Midorima, two of the competitors from the Hogwarts team,” he said, introducing the two other competitors in the tent. Alex’s attention was diverted by the two of them for a moment before Himuro spoke again.

 

“So what are you doing all the way up here?”

 

Alex rolled her shoulders.

 

“They asked me to come help with the warding for the tournament,” she said. “I’ve been here for three days, but they said I couldn’t come see the competitors before, in case I gave away my secrets.”

 

“ _You_ did the warding sequence in the tunnels?” Midorima asked, astonished. Alex’s attention fixed on him again and she strode forward.

 

“That’s right,” she said happily. “Alex Garcia, ward master by trade.”

 

“You’re a ward master?” Midorima asked. She didn’t look more than twenty at the most. “That shield was _incredible._ You must be amazing.”

 

Alex blushed.

 

“Thank you,” she said. “And you, you are a warding student. I saw how you got around my obstacle at the end – it was quite clever.”

 

Midorima nodded jerkily as he shook her hand.

 

“Midorima Shintarou,” he said.

 

“Big name in potions ingredients and apothecaries,” Alex replied, raising her eyebrows. “Aren’t you intending to seek a mastery in Potions?”

 

“With all due respect Master Warder,” Midorima said, “I’m seeking a mastery in Runes.”

 

“It’s just Alex,” she said firmly, but with a broad smile. “I don’t let anyone get away with calling me ward master, it’s too formal for my tastes. Do you have a master you would like to study under yet?”

 

Midorima shook his head.

 

“I was told none would even consider an application from a student who had not completed their O.W.L.s or some other equivalent testing.”

 

“I’m sure you’ll have your pick of teachers after that display,” Alex said. “You might get offers from ward masters overseas too. They tend to be more interested in examining the individual power and potential of applicants, rather than the quality of the testing and education they’ve completed.”

 

“Alex, I’m beginning to think I’m being displaced in your affections,” Tatsuya complained, and Alex turned to the American.

 

“And _some_ ward masters regret taking on students,” she said, mock glaring at the boy.

 

“Speaking of your students, where’s Taiga?” Himuro actually sounded interested in the answer to this question.

 

Alex looked distinctly uncomfortable.

 

“Who’s Taiga?” Midorima asked.

 

“My brother,” Himuro said. “He and I went to grade school together, but when we got to high school he stayed in LA and my parents sent me to Salem. Alex snatched him up as an apprentice right before the competition started. You’re an ass, by the way. If you’d convinced his parents to send him up north with me he’d be heres, and we could have blasted through half these challenges in an instant.”

 

His last statement had been directed back at Alex, with a disapproving glare at the older woman.

  
“Well, his parents aren’t _thrilled_ at the current arrangement,” Alex said, looking unhappy to be having this conversation at all. “I have the feeling that by the time I return to America I won’t _have_ an apprentice anymore.”

 

Ah, that was quite a bit of drama that Midorima thought was more than enough to be getting on with.

 

“Anyway, I wanted to congratulate you on your success, so I’m glad I ran into you,” Alex said to Midorima, abruptly changing the subject. “Your partner is incredible too, but it looks like he’ll be out for a while yet.”

 

“I’ll pass along the compliment,” Akashi said smoothly. “We don’t want to keep you from your business any longer.”

 

Alex nodded farewell and headed to the cot on the other side of the tent.

 

“The next round is tonight,” Akashi informed Midorima. “You and Atsushi will likely be cleared to watch by then, but I doubt that either of you will be in any shape to compete.”

 

Midorima was beginning to question the need for them to get a top seed in the tournament. At this rate, they were all going to be exhausted by the time they actually had to face another team. It wouldn’t matter how well they were seeded if they wouldn’t be able to compete.

 

Still, they had plenty of teammates who had done nothing at all yet. Midorima suspected he and Murasakibara would be taking a back seat for most of the challenges to come anyway.

 

Not that there were many left. The fifth challenge was be tonight, the sixth the day after, with a week to recover before the tournament.

 

They were almost at the end.

 

Thank fucking Merlin, honestly.

 

….

 

That evening they assembled for the fifth round of the tournament. Kuroko could feel himself on edge, wishing for the chance to compete and prove himself. Watching his friends compete had been exciting, but he couldn’t wait to step into the arena himself. To fight with the tools Akashi had given him.

 

Midorima and Murasakibara hadl joined them for dinner, both of them looking weary and worn from their participation in the fourth challenge. They had used a great deal of magical power, and both ate ravenously to compensate for it. Neither spoke much, even when other champions from the assembled teams came over to congratulate them on their showing in the tournament.

 

As they arrived at the arena, they discovered that it had been radically changed for the next task.

 

The arena had been changed from a massive oval into a narrow alley, seven or eight feet wide and about forty feet across. Kuroko could see that walls had been set up at random intervals along it making it impossible to see from one end to the other if you were standing in it.

 

“Now that’s interesting,” Aomine said, his eyes narrowing in excitement as he took in the changes to the arena.

 

“This challenge will test your speed and accuracy,” the tournament director said. “So pick your two fastest and most reliable duelists to represent your team. They will be required to get from one end of the arena to the other. You will be scored based on the amount of time it takes you to finish the course. _Both_ Champions must make it to the other side of the arena, or they will receive a score of zero. Failing to eliminate all of the obstacles that appear in your path will result in a score of zero. You have ten minutes to choose your Champions and send them to the judges table.”

 

“Another pair, huh,” Aomine said lazily, turning to the team. “Who’re you going to put in this time?”

 

Kuroko watched Akashi as the redhead looked from one member of the team to another. He knew that Akashi was quickly calculating the combined strengths and weaknesses of each champion, weighing each combination of powers against the other. It didn’t take more than a second to come to the obvious first conclusion.

 

“Daiki,” Akashi said, looking to the Gryffindor. That Aomine would compete in this challenge was a given, since this challenge would require speed and accuracy. Aomine was the only one who would be able to give them that advantage. Kuroko wasn’t surprised by that choice, and neither was Aomine. He grinned, leaning back in his chair with an easy confidence Kuroko wished he could share.

 

Nobody was prepared for Akashi’s second choice, however.

 

“Tetsuya. I believe it is time to make your appearance.”

 

“I thought we were saving Kuro-chin for the tournament?”

 

“I don’t think this will disadvantage Tetsuya’s misdirection overmuch,” Akashi said. “And it will provide an adequate field test of several of Tetsuya’s skills. Daiki, how much do you feel like showing off?”

 

Aomine grinned broadly like a child that had just been told they could purchase anything they wanted from a candy store.

 

“As much as you’ll let me. I’ll give them a show none of them will ever forget.”

 

“Shine so brightly you blind them,” Akashi said shortly. “You will be the light that eclipses Kuroko, and he will be the shadow behind you, supporting your magic.”

 

Aomine nodded eagerly, and turned to Kuroko, who hadn’t reacted to Akashi’s statements at all. Actually, he looked pretty hesitant about the pairing.

 

“Oi, are you up to this or what?”

 

Kuroko slowly smiled at the larger boy. It was a small, but it was confident. They’d been working together for months. Akashi had helped Kuroko narrow his Misdirection into a weapon that he could wield against his opponents. The Hufflepuff had a unique relationship with magic that would serve Aomine today, making the wizard faster and stronger.

 

“I am.”

 

“Good,” Aomine grunted. “Let’s go kick their asses and show them what a pair of real wizards can do.”

 

The two of them stood, and Kuroko followed Aomine to the judges’ table where their names were recorded. They were sent to wait in the room off the arena to ensure that they couldn’t watch any of the other Champions compete.

 

They were immediately accosted by two students representing one of the American schools.

 

“Aomine, don’t tell me that Hogwarts only sent one of their Champions to compete,” the blonde one said.

 

“Oh look, it’s Junior,” Aomine said distastefully, looking at the other boy. Kuroko supposed this must have been the student Himuro and Kise were empathizing with each other about after the third round. Nash Gold Jr., captain of the New York junior Champions. “Don’t tell me you’re the best New York could send out here.”

 

The other boy only grinned pleasantly back.

 

“Oh I believe Jason and I are more than up to the task of beating a single Hogwarts Champion,” he sneered. “Where is your partner, anyway?”

 

“Excuse me,” Kuroko said politely.

 

Both American boys jumped.

 

“What the hell?” Gold demanded.

 

“I’m the second Champion from Hogwarts,” Kuroko said firmly.

 

“Where have you been?” the second boy asked rudely.

 

“I’ve been here this whole time,” Kuroko said, and both of them narrowed their eyes at him.

 

And then Gold started laughing.

 

“He’s so weak you can’t even notice him! What the hell, Aomine, is this some kind of joke? Did your school really send a _squib_ to compete against us?”

 

He roared with laughter, drawing attention from other schools.

 

“Look, they’ve got a squib!”

 

He moved away, still laughing loudly, his partner chuckling as well.

 

Kuroko’s only reaction was to tighten his wand hand into a fist.

 

“I could beat him up for you if you want,” Aomine offered lightly. “I mean, only if you want.”

 

“I’d settle for leaving him behind eating our dust,” Kuroko replied blandly. “But thank you. I will keep your offer in mind. If I hit every person who mocked me for being difficult to notice I’m afraid that I would have very little time in the day to do anything else.”

 

“Yeah, well that sucks,” Aomine replied. “Nobody should make fun of you. If they talked to you for thirty fucking seconds they’d know you’re incredible. It’s their loss they don’t even try.”

 

Kuroko’s heart was warmed by this unilateral declaration.

 

“Do you think Gold making a fuss about me being a squib will make my misdirection less effective?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Nah, they’ll have forgotten by the end of the round,” Aomine replied. “Isn’t that how its always been? You know half the school couldn’t tell you who our sixth champion is, and they’ve been taking classes with you for _years_. It’s fucking infuriating.”

 

“Aomine, you and I have been in class for years too,” Kuroko reminded the other boy. Aomine huffed dismissively.

 

“It’s different,” Aomine defended himself. “I notice you now, don’t I?”

 

Kuroko smiled a little.

 

“Yes, that’s true.”

 

“So like I said, I wish they would get to know you and respect you just as much as the rest of us do,” Aomine barrelled through, not to be deterred in his extremely Gryffindor defense of his friend.

 

“Well, that’s my strength isn’t it?” Kuroko asked dully. “Like Akashi said, I’m a shadow. I support from the darkness and help you all shine brighter.”

 

Aomine’s jaw tightened, but he looked pissed.

 

“You’re great and they’re going to eat their words,” he said lowly.

 

“Thank you Aomine,” Kuroko said genuinely.

 

Aomine was prevented from arguing with the other boy further though when the Hogwarts Champions were called forward to compete.

 

“Time to put on a show,” Aomine said seriously. “If they’re so determined not to notice you, well then, let’s make sure you’re fucking invisible. The time will come for you to hit them where it hurts when you’re standing right in front of them and they won’t even be looking.”

 

Kuroko nodded, determination seeping into every part of his being.

 

“This one’s ours,” he agreed. They were waved out onto their end of the arena.

 

Kuroko had been correct in thinking that the Champions wouldn’t be able to see from one end of the arena to the other while standing at the starting point. They would be running almost completely blind, with only a second to react to anything coming their way.

 

“Your time begins _now!”_

 

Kuroko and Aomine had only half a second before a small golem, seemingly made of clay, appeared around one of the walls.

 

Aomine blasted it with a wandless, wordless spell, and did the same to the next one to appear as they advanced.

 

Three of them appeared in a line, and Aomine rapidly fired off three spells, sending bits of them flying through the corridor.

 

“Come on,” he said roughly, and they advanced around the next few walls, attentive for anything that might get in their way.

 

“Behind us,” Kuroko said, dodging out of the way as Aomine turned. The Gryffindor fired off four spells at the golems behind them, before turning to fire three more at a group advancing up ahead.

 

A steady stream of the things were coming forward, and despite Aomine’s best efforts, there were just more of them than he could keep up with.

 

The golems were surrounding them, closing in on every side.

 

With only a half formed plan he had to hope was good enough to work, Kuroko reacted on instinct.

 

“Aomine! Duck!”

 

Aomine didn’t even ask. He dropped to the ground and cast without looking, white hot lightning slamming towards Kuroko.

 

They had practiced a less spectacular version of what Kuroko was planning to do. They had repeatedly drilled having Aomine casting spells at Kuroko so that the Hufflepuff could redirect them around the field of battle to the point where it was second nature. This time, Kuroko had another idea in mind. They had practiced this too, though less thoroughly, but Kuroko knew deep down this was the time. Under the pressure of this fight, he was absolutely sure of his capacity to do the spell.

 

Kuroko managed to get his own spell up in time. He hit the deck as Aomine’s lightning shattered into dozens of fragments in a wave of magic that exploded the entire ring around them. Kuroko’s eyes widened as he stared at the net of blue lightning that passed overhead. It raced towards its targets, crackling with magic and leaving behind the thick scent of ozone and smoke.

 

And then everything went quiet.

 

Kuroko and Aomine pulled themselves up cautiously, Kuroko ready to duck behind Aomine at the first hint of another wave of golems.

 

For a moment, neither moved, staring at the smoke that was rising in a ring around them. Only the ring of soot and burned earth indicated were the golems had once stood.

 

“Tetsu, what the fuck did you do?” Aomine asked.

 

“I solved our problem,” Kuroko replied. “With a one hundred percent accuracy rate, so thanks for the compliment.”

 

“I didn’t think you were just gonna go ahead and try that tactic out when we’ve only managed to do it a couple of times- MERLIN I THOUGHT YOU WERE JUST GOING TO MOVE THE SPELL!”

 

“I was confident,” Kuroko said.

“YOU WERE GIVING ME A HEART ATTACK IS WHAT YOU WERE!” Aomine shouted back.

 

“It worked, didn’t it? I got rid of the golems.”

 

“It was _my_ lightning – look out!”

 

Kuroko dropped and let Aomine cast a chain of five curses, blasting away another two golems and the spells that they had produced.

 

“Move,” Aomine ordered, and Kuroko didn’t need to be told twice.

 

They had gone maybe a quarter of the way. The two of them made a break for the other side, dodging around another set of walls. The golems were appearing at a steady pace, but Aomine was keeping up with them. It didn’t even look like he was out of breath as he ducked and dodged their spellfire.

 

He was a blur of spells and motion. Kuroko was quite satisfied to believe that Aomine could have completed this challenge on his own.

 

Kuroko saw a golem advancing from behind and aimed his wand. He shut his eyes tight, and whispered “ _Reducto!”_

 

The spell was weak in comparison to Aomine’s, but the golem went down, a significant portion of its body too shattered to function.

 

“Come on, Tetsu, we’re moving!” Aomine said, grabbing Kuroko by the back of the shirt and dashing another few yards. They darted around a wall that blocked off two thirds of the arena, and straight into another dozen golems advancing on them. Aomine spit out a line of four curses, but all of them bounced off a magical shield protecting the golems. He had to duck a line of retaliatory spell fire as they continued forward, unabated by his attacks.

 

Aomine ducked back, dragging Kuroko with him as they fired a line of spells at the small gap between the obstacle and the side of the arena.

 

“Damn it, they’re shielded,” Aomine cursed, looking over at his partner.

 

They didn’t have a good angle, but Kuroko might be able to get one. If his misdirection held, he could do something even Aomine could not.

 

“Tetsu!”

 

Immediately Kuroko knew what the other wizard wanted, and readied himself. He took a deep breath, affirming his invisibility to himself, willing whatever force that controlled the magical aspect of his misdirection to stay strong.

 

_I’m invisible. You can’t see me. You’re a golem, you’re only trained to shoot spells at wizards. Silly golems, I’m not a wizard. I’m a shadow._

 

He walked right over to the gap.

 

The golems were frozen, obviously still waiting for one of the Champions to show themselves. It was eerie to gaze at their completely frozen bodies, cut off mid motion. Kuroko turned and made eye contact with Aomine. His partner nodded sharply before bracing himself where he stood.

 

Aomine cast an explosive spell, aiming the curse not at their targets, but at Kuroko.

 

The audience gaped, and then gasped in shock.

 

Right before the spell made contact, Kuroko changed its course, as he had been doing this entire battle. This time, he slammed all of his own might into the spell as well, not just changing it’s course, but it’s velocity and power as well.

 

Spell met the shield around the golems and shattered it. Aomine’s bright blue fire exploded around the last two golems still moving.

 

It hit in a burst of smoke and lightning, obliterating stone and wood around them as it went. Kuroko ducked down covering his ears, thrown to one knee from the force of it exploding outward.

 

The dust settled.

 

Kuroko was drained from the force of moving the spell in the way that he had. He was out of breath and had pushed his magic farther and harder than he had ever intended to in his entire life. He looked up, eyes widening somewhat as he realized that the entire audience was staring at him in total shock.

 

Hell, _he_ was pretty damn shocked.

 

But they still needed to move, as Aomine reminded him, grabbing him by the arm and dragging him forward. Kuroko found his balance and ran with his partner, the entire stadium cheering them on every step away.

 

Breathless, drained, satisfied, exultant, he felt his hand come in contact with the opposite wall. Aloud buzzer went off, signifying that they had completed the challenge.

 

He had a sheer moment of terror before he felt the warm sting of pride deep in his chest. Dueling like this – it wasn’t just fun, it was _magnificent._ It forced him to the limits of his creativity and ingenuity, giving him more and more reason to use the talents that had allowed him to stay hidden for so long.

 

He’d never been so universally praised for doing something he loved so much, and was actually good at.

 

Kuroko looked to his partner.

 

Aomine Daiki was staring at the Hufflepuff in shock. But as they met eyes, Aomine smiled brightly, his face overcome with sheer joy.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya, that was _brilliant!”_ he cheered, sweeping the smaller boy up in a massive hug. “You are positively _amazing!”_

 

This, this was amazing. This was worth anything, everything. His magic was thrumming in his veins, practically alive and restless now that it had awoken. _So this is victory. This is power. This is what Akashi offered me._

 

He’d rejected it out of hand, but this was nothing like what he’d assumed it would be. This wasn’t cruel or malicious – if anything, it was the opposite, pure and fierce and honorable in the truest sense. For the first time in his life, he wanted to be the _best._ He wanted to rise to the top of the world with this team, these people, by his own work and power.

 

He wanted the world that Akashi Seijuro had offered him, wholeheartedly and without reserve.

 

Kuroko didn’t even know how long it had taken them to complete the challenge. If the sheer volume of cheers still loudly rising from the crowd of wizards around them was an indication, they had done a good job.

 

He met Aomine’s smile with one of his own, wide and unapologetic. He had no need to hide, no motive to put up the mask that kept him in the dark anymore.

 

Aomine held out a fist, and Kuroko met it with his own.

 

“That was awesome!”

 

He couldn’t hear anything except the cheering crowd. Kuroko felt like he was flying, like he had grown ten feet in a single instant. He was exhausted, but he felt like a god, like he could do _anything._

 

And _maybe he could._

 

Maybe he would be able to do incredible, unbelievable, remarkable, memorable things.

 

For the first time in his entire life, he had faith in what he’d been told this whole time: maybe he was someone who had a right to stand next to the legends known as the Generation of Miracles.

 

Maybe he deserved to be called one of them.

 

…

 

After the fifth task, dripping with sweat and sagging from the energy drop, Kuroko and Aomine returned to their team to watch the senior division compete.

 

Kuroko had found Ogiwara in the crowd and was sitting with him and the rest of the Hufflepuff fourth years in the row behind the Generation of Miracles. The Champions had vacated the section for competing teams for the senior division competitors., The upperclassmen were now watching their teammates compete with rapt expressions on their faces.

 

Kiyoshi and Hanamiya were representing the Hogwarts senior champions in a similar contest to what Kuroko and Aomine had just faced. Instead of golems, however, their opponent was another school. Their goal was to get to the other team’s side of the alley in as little time as possible. As with the rules for the junior division, if both of the Champions didn’t make it to one side, then the school would receive a score of zero.

 

Kuroko had to wonder what on _Earth_ Nijimura had been thinking with this particular pairing of wizards. Had the seventh year just decided that he didn’t care at all about winning the tournament?

 

It didn’t take very long for the Ravenclaw and the Hufflepuff to establish their dominance over the court.

 

“They’re fantastic,” Kise whispered, stars in his eyes.

 

“Kiyoshi’s not bad,” Murasakibara said dismissively.

 

“In any other generation, he and the others would have been the ones called the Generation of Miracles,” Akashi objected. “They’re the best of the older students, potentially some of the strongest wizards of our age.”

 

Kuroko had no doubt that was true.

 

“Just not as strong as us,” Murasakibara said. Akashi didn’t respond to that, but Kuroko saw the thoughtful look on his face.

 

Kiyoshi and Hanamiya made a _bizarrely_ , surprisingly, and yet astoundingly good team. Kuroko supposed it was mostly due to Kiyoshi’s ability to get along with pretty much _anyone._ He watched as Kiyoshi rolled under Hanamiya’s extended arm, the Ravenclaw cursing right over the larger boy as he moved underneath. Neither worried about being in the other’s way, so aware were they of their partner that they had eyes only for their opponents. They were advancing steadily, moving from one side of the alley to the other.

 

A bright orange spell went flying towards Hanamiya and Kiyoshi cast a spell that raised up the flagstones in front of them, forming a shield that shattered on impact.

 

Hanamiya produced a wave of fire that concealed Kiyoshi as he advanced, cursing all the while.

 

Their opponents cast again and again, and Kiyoshi continued to slam their spells out of the way. Their opponents’ spells ricocheted off his shield and hit the walls in sparks of lightning and flashes of fire, leaving scorches and spell residue that smoked in their wake.

 

Hanamiya, under the cover of his own fire, cast a sticking spell on his own feet. He ran up the wall, crossing around to the other side of their opponents before they realized that he had moved.

 

Hanamiya cancelled out the spell on his shoes and hit the ground gracefully on all fours. He raised his wand and cast a summoning spell on the rubble from Kiyoshi’s stone shield, which had been discarded around and behind the Hufflepuff.

 

The rubble neatly moved around Kiyoshi without harming him and then sped up, slamming into the shield one of the two other students was producing. Hanamiya laughed, the look on his face wild and almost unrecognizable as he summoned the stone into the shield repeatedly, drawing power and focus away from his partner. The student not casting the shield turned around and was trying to curse Hanamiya. But they were surrounded and Hanamiya’s shield was holding just fine.

 

Kiyoshi sent a particularly powerful hex at the shield being cast by the opponent facing him, and the entire arena felt the fallout as it shattered.

 

As one, Hanamiya and Kiyoshi stunned their opponents, and then stared at each other, heaving for breath.

 

Together they took off running. The two wizards hit the wall on the opposite side of the arena as they’d started, palms slamming into the stone.

 

The arena exploded into cheers, and Kiyoshi held a fist in the air, pumping it up and down in excitement. Next to him, Hanamiya just looked surprised. His eyes were wide, his arms shaking. He looked like he’d just been handed some new truth about the universe.

 

It was probably one of the only times Kuroko had ever seen him without a sneer on his face.

 

Kiyoshi grinned at his partner as the two were declared the victors and their opponents were revived. Kiyoshi shook their hands, saying something to each. Hanamiya still looked stunned, but shook their opponents’ hands as well.

 

As they left, Kiyoshi held out a fist to Hanamiya. The other boy stared at it for a moment before the dazed look on his face faded again and he pushed Kiyoshi’s fist away.

 

“Huh, for a second it looked like Hanamiya was going to behave like a normal human being,” Ogiwara commented dryly. “What a shocking turn of events – he’s actually just a giant dick.”

 

Kuroko started laughing.

 

Kise turned around, eyes wide.

 

Kuroko was a reserved boy, not one to generally laugh loudly or express emotions so viscerally. But here he was, practically howling with laughter, not an hour after Aomine had managed to evoke one of the most powerful reactions any of them had seen from Kuroko.

 

Kise hit Aomine on the arm. The other Gryffindor cursed and was about to hit him back when Kise nodded his head towards Kuroko. Aomine turned just in time to see Kuroko catch his breath and smile back at Ogiwara.

 

“You know, I’m not sure we’ve confirmed that he’s _not_ some kind of vaguely malicious, sentient, poisonous plant yet,” he shot back, and Ogiwara hit him in the shoulder.

 

“Dude, don’t be rude. Why are you prejudiced against plants?”

 

The two boys started giggling again.

 

“This is serious you idiots,” Fukuda cut in. “The countryside belongs to the plants, we just gentrified it from them.”

 

All of the Hufflepuffs giggled at that one. By now, even Akashi had turned to see what Kise and Aomine were looking at.

 

The Miracles looked kind of dazed at the sight of the five Hufflepuffs laughing raucously, all huddled together in an adorable pile with Kuroko at the center.

 

“Kuro-chin, shouldn’t you be cheering for our senior team?” Murasakibara whined, finally drawing Kuroko’s attention.

 

“Oh, sorry!” Kuroko said, looking back up. “I think the next teams are taking the field though.”

 

And so they were. The students settled in for another round, satisfied that their counterparts had done as well as Kuroko and Aomine had.

 

….

 

The final challenge before the tournament itself was right before dinner Sunday evening. With a full day to recover from the challenges on Saturday, all of the teams looked refreshed and ready to continue the tournament. Kuroko thought that even Midorima and Murasakibara looked much better, though Murasakibara’s skin still looked pretty gray, and Midorima was even more short tempered than usual. His lucky item for the day – a brooch shaped like a bee – was pinned proudly to the front of his robes, and he kept looking down to reassure himself of its presence.

 

The group of Champions headed down to the arena together, prepared for whatever this tournament would throw at them now that they had almost reached the end.

 

“Welcome to the last challenge round,” the tournament official said as soon as they had all seated themselves and a hush had fallen over the ground. “Today is the penultimate time our Champions will compete, and the last time they will do so before they are seeded for the tournament next weekend.”

 

This was greeted with several rounds of cheers, and Kuroko couldn’t help the excitement rising in his stomach. He wanted it to be next weekend already. He wanted to be competing against another team, to have another taste of that adrenaline fueled victory that Aomine had showed him yesterday. He wanted to stand in front of the school and have them see that he was strong, the same way his friends could.

 

He wanted Hogwarts to _win,_ but he couldn’t wait for the fight that would come before the end. He wanted that rush of battle, fear and determination and the hail of spell fire all in one. It was what Momoi had given him by convincing him to compete in this tournament. She had suggested that it would be fun, and she had been absolutely right.                

 

“You will select three competitors,” the tournament official said as the cheering crowd grew quiet again. “They will each complete one third of the obstacle course set for them within the school. This is a challenge of physical endurance and teamwork. You will demonstrate your team’s capacity to trust one another and to move quickly together. When you have selected your competitors, they should report to the judges’ table so that they can be escorted to their positions in the course. The spectators will watch the progress of each Champion projected onto the field below.”

 

“Daiki,” Akashi said the moment that he was done speaking, turning to his teammates. “Shintarou?”

 

Midorima cocked his head, considering Akashi’s offer.

 

“Yes, I think so,” he agreed to the unvoiced question, meeting Aomine’s gaze with a solemn nod. “Do you believe it is time?”

 

Akashi shook his head.

 

“Not yet,” he smiled. “I think Kise will do fine paired with you and Daiki. Daiki will provide us a substantial lead out of the gate, Shintarou will blast away any remaining obstacles.”

 

Kise’s smile became a little fixed at this.

 

“I’ll do more than just finish it, I’ll double our lead!” Kise said proudly.

 

“Just do your best, don’t let anyone pass you, and that will be acceptable enough,” Akashi said, and Kuroko frowned. Even Murasakibara looked a little taken aback at the oddly worded response.

 

Kise’s smile vanished.

 

“Fine,” he snapped back, and strode off. Aomine shrugged and followed him, while Midorima went after the two of them at a more sedate pace.

 

“Aka-chin, that was pretty mean,” Murasakibara said. Akashi scowled.

 

For a long time he glared down at the pitch, not saying anything.

 

“If I had my preference, I would not have even placed Ryouta in this challenge,” he finally spoke, sounding tired. “Hopefully Daiki and Shintarou will be able to provide us a strong enough lead in the event that Ryouta falls short.”

 

That was kind of harsh. Especially considering that only yesterday Midorima had been in the hospital wing for magical exhaustion. If any of the three were to be the weak link in this relay, it would be him.

 

Akashi’s face said that he wasn’t going to listen to any further discussion about this, and Kuroko wasn’t going to be the one to try and argue with him right now. Whatever had Akashi in a mood, Kuroko just hoped things didn’t go badly now, just as they were about to reach the end of this tournament.

 

As the Champions were shown to their spaces, the magical screens in the arena flickered to life. The videos came together to create one huge image showing the obstacle course that the students would be running.

 

It was the equivalent of an extremely intense relay race. The Champions would each complete a single leg of the race, passing off a baton that the very last Champion would need when crossing the finish line.

 

The first challenge would require the Champions to climb. The Astronomy Tower had been magically gutted, and in place of the various floors, there were rows of moving platforms that magically moved across the single level they were on. The champions would have to climb their way up one platform at a time, and cross a rope bridge between the the Astronomy Tower and the West Tower, which usually housed the Owlery.

 

Kuroko had hoped they’d moved all the owls from it for the purposes of the challenge, and was happy to see that they had been.

 

Once at  the top of the West Tower, the Champions would hand off their batons to the second runner. Upon trading of, the next champion would head down a maze of moving staircases. A short series of landings were on each floor, but they were merely platforms on which you could wait until another staircase came your way.

 

They would have to follow the staircases into a cave underground and climb out towards the lake, where the Champions would be forced to swim. The finish line had been set up just inside the forest. The last leg required the Champions to run up the embankment of the lake and along a winding path in the forest filled with obstacles (and Kuroko was willing to safely assume, some kind of magical creatures waiting to slow them down).

 

It looked simple enough, but Kuroko would be sure that traps would be sprung on the wizards to confuse and slow them down.

 

“This should be interesting,” Murasakibara said, leaning forward intently.

 

Once the screen showed the crowd what the course looked like, it split into twenty-four even screens, each one taking on a perspective right behind each Champion. All twenty-four of the first leg competitors were standing in a circle at the bottom of the Astronomy tower, listening patiently as the rules were doled out.

 

Aomine was bouncing up and down on the balls of his feet, a confident smile on his face. But then, it was natural for him to be confident. His interaction with magic had always been more physical, more instinctual than that of anyone else Kuroko had ever heard of.

 

There was no doubt that Hogwarts would quickly take the lead with Aomine as their first runner in the relay.

 

The challenge started with the sound of cannon fire, and the Champions took off. A couple quickly realized they were going to need the assistance of magic to be able to complete the challenge and cast feather-light spells on their shoes in assist in jumping from platform to platform. Several more floundered trying to get to the right platforms below. As Kuroko watched, two Champions landed on the same platform and sent curses at each other before diving away, one of them landing luckily on the moving platform below while the other leapt ahead.

 

Several minutes in, most of the Champions had cleared the halfway point or were about to, and about a quarter of them had already almost finished the first segment of the challenge.

The Champions in the last third of the tower had triggered one of the traps and most of them had slowed to a halt.

 

Birds were diving down, attacking the Champions as they tried to leap from one platform to the other. The students were cursing the birds, and a flurry of motion was happening overhead.

 

“More illusions,” Akashi scoffed. “They’re getting distracted. Daiki should be well ahead of them by now.”

 

But he wasn’t. Aomine was still on the ground, looking murderous. He took another running start, and landed on a platform, only for it to vanish underneath him, and him to tumble back down to the ground once again.

 

Aomine tilted his head back and yelled in frustration before he got back to his feet and took yet another running jump. He managed to get onto one of the real platforms, and jumped again. His next choice turned out to be another vanishing platform, and he fell fifteen feet back to the ground.

 

“Unbelievable,” Akashi hissed. “Hogwarts is going to come in last place if he doesn’t get it together. What doesn’t he understand about that?”

 

Kuroko didn’t want to answer that.

 

Several of the Champions had made it past the birds and were running across the rope bridge to the West Tower.

 

Aomine was still on the ground.

 

Almost all of the Champions had cleared the halfway point on the tower by now.

 

Aomine made it up three platforms, before hitting the ground hard. He’d landed on his hands and knees. Despite the cushioning charm, it looked like he was taking longer to get up from each fall.

 

He tried two more times, never making it above the third platform, before falling back down to the ground. It had been almost ten minutes now, and every single Champion except Aomine had cleared the tower.

 

They were going to lose.

 

Worse, they were going to come in last place. The annoyance was written all over Akashi’s face. There was a wild edge to his eyes that spoke of fear, too. Fear of failure maybe, with so much riding on him as Aomine’s captain and the face of the Hogwarts team to all the other schools.

 

“We’re in last place,” Murasakibara observed unnecessarily. “What is Mine-chin doing?”

 

“Losing, apparently,” Akashi growled under his breath. He had leaned forward, one hand clenched into a fist.

 

Aomine shouted in frustratuon. With a blast of power, all the illusions above and around him melted away and he ran forward with a snarl. He jumped onto the first platform and let his momentum carry him to the second, and third. Kuroko thought he’d probably cast an exceptionally powerful featherlight charm or something similar on his own feet in order to make the jumping easier, as he had seen some of the other champions do in the beginning.

 

Combined with the cushioning charms that Kuroko was willing to bet had been placed on the moving platforms, Aomine was making good time now.

 

Aomine didn’t take much time after that to complete a running jump to the last platform. He used his momentum to carry him forwards, bouncing off the side of the tower, and landing securely on the ledge at the top. He didn’t look pleased, despite having made up quite a bit of time his peers had wasted with the illusions.

 

It didn’t matter, because Hogwarts was still in last place thanks to Aomine’s slow start. It would be up to Midorima and Kise to fix that.

 

Aomine ran across the bridge stretching from the Astronomy Tower to the West Tower. He burst through the door, breathless, arm outstretched with the baton, eyes searching for his teammate.

 

Midorima took the baton with a contemptuous look on his face. He didn’t bother saying anything to Aomine, but took off running. As he moved, Midorima enlarged one of the belt loops on his pants and shoved the baton through, skirting it so that he would be sure of not losing it. He reached the top of the staircase, and without so much as looking to see where he was going, jumped over the railing, going into a free fall.

 

“Mido-chin is pretty cool,” Murasakibara said.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed, watching Midorima land on a moving staircase two stories down, cushioning his fall only seconds before he landed with a whispered spell. He’d taken off running down the staircase as it began to lurch into another position. Despite the fact that it was moving, and had yet to reach it’s destination, Midorima jumped up onto the railing a full floor down and leapt to the next landing, rolling to his feet and continuing to move. With that single jump, he’d overtaken three Champions, all of whom were still making their cautious way down the maze of moving stairs.

 

Glancing at Akashi, Kuroko saw that his Captain’s eyes were wider than usual. Was Akashi – _afraid?_ Kuroko hesitated to call it that, because Akashi’s calm expression was only slightly different, and yet his grip on the armrests of his chair was white knuckled.

 

Was he concerned for Midorima’s safety, with the Ravenclaw pulling such ridiculous stunts? Or was he just terrified that Hogwarts could lose?

 

Neither of those seemed like the whole story. Kuroko frowned, but without any further information to puzzle through the enigma that was Akashi right now, he turned his attention back to the screen displaying Midorima’s progress.

 

Midorima ran, his form precise down to each movement. The Hogwarts crowd cheered him on, a rising cacophony of noise as he gained time on the competitors who were in front of him.

 

Midorima dove over the edge of another set of stairs, overtaking two more Champions with the dive. He landed feet first on a platform covered in ice. He struggled for balance and once he found it, let himself slide down the side of the staircase, not even bothering to slow his speed. He went flying off the end of the staircase and hit the ground one platform below with enough force to drive him to one knee. He sprang back up quickly, not letting it slow him down for very long.

 

“Nineteenth place now,” Murasakibara said. “I don’t think we can place much higher than this even if Mido-chin runs as hard as he can.”

 

To his credit, Midorima didn’t even look out of breath. The green haired Ravenclaw didn’t appaear even slightly fazed from the delay as he kept moving, his eyes glued to the path in front of him. Midorima overtook another student in the hallway. The Ravenclaw ducked and jumped over a barrage of spells from a set of orbs shooting out a line of bright red stunners, not even bothering to waste the magic on a shield.

 

The last floor took him underground again. Midorima didn’t so much as flinch as he turned the corner and found himself facing a giant pile of boulders, a small exit on the other end of the cave.

 

Midorima jumped from rock to rock, his balance certain, never staying in contact with the ground for more than a second.

 

He overtook a Champion that was struggling to pick their way across the field of sharp rocks, and made for the pile at the end, scrambling up it.

 

Kuroko could see that climbing up it was taking its toll on the Ravenclaw. As he moved up, dark red splotches of blood stained his recently vacated handholds.

 

Midorima gave no indication of being injured, and Kuroko wondered just what the hell he thought he had to prove to anyone.

 

Midorima beat out yet another student sliding through the hole, and slid down to the embankment were Kise and exactly half of the Champions were still waiting.

 

“You kept me waiting!” Kise smiled brightly, arm extended as Midorima ran towards him.

 

“RUN!” Midorima shouted back, and Kise nodded, flipping backwards into the water without another word.

 

Midorima bent over, heaving for breath. As he watched his teammate swim away, a satisfied look on crept onto his face.

 

They could still place in the top percentage of teams, Kuroko thought.

 

But he had seen Kise’s face too, right before the Gryffindor had dove into the water. Kuroko knew what the blonde was thinking right now.

 

If he had the opportunity to change how this would come out, Kise was crossing that finish line first. He wasn’t going to accept anything less.

 

None of the other competitors had reached the finish line yet, but most of them were already in the forest, making their way along the winding paths the screen had displayed earlier.

 

Kise crossed the water with firm, confident strokes. The water must have still been freezing, but he didn’t hesitate as he swam as fast as he could.

 

He overtook another, slower swimmer, before shaking the water off and making his way up the embankment. A quick spell dried him off, and then he was running again.

 

Kise climbed up the bank and broke through the tree line.

 

The Gryffindor paused, eyes narrowed. He took off in a completely straight line, leaving the path.

 

“What on earth is he - oh. It’s an illusion.”

 

Akashi’s quiet exclamation made Kuroko look more closely at the scenery that Kise’s opponents were fighting their way through.

 

They were crawling through brambles and running into trees as though they were part of the main path, but Kise had seen that each of the tributaries was just a diversion. The path ahead of him was mostly clear, with very few obstacles in the way. On all the other paths, trees were spelled to reach out and trip the Champions, random animals would appear, forcing them to slow, and a myriad of illusory obstacles would force them to slow their pace.

 

With his eye and talent for illusions, Kise wasn’t fooled by the temptingly clear paths that lead away from the trees. He walked forward, knowing the true path was up ahead. The winding path the spell had shown them before was merely a diversion.

 

As soon as he hit the dirt path, Kise ran full tilt. He dodged around a tree, and jumped over a low bush in his way. Using the force of his momentum, he lept up, using a low hanging, sturdy tree branch to swing over a stream passing in his way. This was the straightest course to the finish line, and Kise had the advantage now.

 

Kise hit the ground on the other side of the river, just as the first place runner from Indonesia turned around the bend.

 

It was down to the wire. The finish line right was ahead, manned by three tournament officials who were monitoring the magical boundary at the very end of the pathway.

 

Kise threw himself over the finish line with as much force as he could muster.

 

He wasn’t able to stop before he went tumbling straight into a tree. He slammed into it with his shoulder, cutting open his lip as he bit into it to keep silent.

 

Akashi exhaled, leaning back.

 

“I suppose I was wrong,” he admitted, sounding extremely surprised. “Without Ryouta and his capacity to see through illusions, we would have had absolutely no hope at all.”

 

Kuroko wholeheartedly agreed, and he was shouting as loudly as everyone else, surprised, but pleased at the upset.

 

Kise staggered to his feet, holding the baton up with a victorious smile on his face. His blonde hair was plastered to his forehead with sweat and he was covered from head to toe in dirt and leaves. Blood dripped down the side of his mouth and covered his arms, where brambles had torn at him as he ran and rocks had cut him as he’d fallen. Still, he looked no less pretty for any of it. The smile on his face was almost mocking as he looked up at the sky, heaving for breath.

 

Whatever he’d hoped to prove here, he’d certainly managed to walk away with a Hogwarts victory, snatching it back from the very jaws of defeat.

 

Quite a bit later, sitting at the Champions table and basking in the praise and glory that the school was offering him, Kise turned to Akashi with murder in his eyes. He leaned towards the Captain and whispered something in his ear that made Akashi’s face flush the same color of his hair.

 

The Captain nodded. Kuroko saw him mouth the words “I’m sorry,” and saw Kise smile blindingly, clapping the Slytherin on the back.

 

Whatever was between them that had caused the animosity Kuroko had witnessed this morning, it was now in the past. It definitely hadn’t been forgotten, but it was behind them, and it would stay that way for now.

 

Kuroko was just honestly pleased that his friends weren’t fighting anymore. Whatever it was, he was happy it was done with.

 

…

 

It was hours later, after dinner, that Kise was cornered by the sixth year Gryffindor Prefect, Kasamatsu Yukio.

 

“Kise, you better have gone to the hospital wing to get those bruises checked out,” Kasamatsu said grumpily. “You took a pretty bad tumble at the end.”

 

“Not as bad as Midorimacchi!” Kise chirped, smiling widely. “I’m fine, I promise.”

 

“That wasn’t an answer,” Kasamatsu snapped back. “You didn’t even go see a healer from the tournament, did you?”

 

“I told you, I’m fine,” Kise said, pushing off the wall and away from the sixth year. “It’s really not a big deal.”

 

“Right. Take your shirt off.”

 

“What? Senpai shouldn’t you buy me dinner first or something?”

 

Kise’s initial surprise was concealed by his immediate sarcastic remark.

 

Kasamatsu made a face.

 

“I’m going to be a healer dumbass,” he said. “And right now I’m making sure that my Gryffindor underclassman doesn’t need to go to the hospital wing to be treated for internal injuries. Now take off your damn shirt and drop the glamor that you’re using, because the only person it’s fooling is yourself.”

 

Kise looked like he wanted to bite back a response, but instead he rolled his eyes and took off his shirt.

 

“See, it’s fine,” he said, spreading his arms. “Can I go now?”

 

“I told you to take off the glamor too,” Kasamatsu said, putting his hands on his hips.

 

“But-”

 

“Yeah yeah, you’re not using an illusion to hide your bruises and I’m the goddamn tooth fairy. We both know I saw you limping out of the common room and you’re still favoring your right side. So don’t play fast and loose with me.”

 

Kise’s lips thinned into a frustrated line, but he shook his head, displacing the glamor he’d set into his own skin. The mottled network of bruises that extended across the right side of his ribs where he’d come in contact with the tree were revealed, accentuated by the additional injuries wrapping around his arms where he’d taken the steep dive towards the finish line.

 

Kasamatsu took Kise’s arm, examining the bruises.

 

“Most of these aren’t serious,” he said finally, giving the bruising around Kise’s ribs a very critical eye before determining that it wasn’t a symptom of deeper injury below.

 

“Fine, you’re right,” Kasamatsu raised his hands in surrender, taking a step back. But even as he did, he noticed something not quite right about the pattern of bruises, especially around Kise’s arms and stomach.

 

“Hold on, not all of these are recent.”

 

Kise shrugged, suddenly very interested in the ground.

 

“They’re from training,” he said. The words were hollow.

 

“Training my ass, even I don’t believe that your Captain would let you get hurt and not even be responsible enough to heal you,” Kasamatsu said bluntly. “What. Happened.”

 

Kise shrugged again, trying to pull his arm out of the other boy’s grip but failing.

 

“Are you being bullied?”

 

“What? No!”

 

“Look, do you want me to go find your captain and make you tell him? Because I hear his father came to watch the last challenge and he’s going to get snippy with me if I…”

 

Kise stopped listening for a second, because that one fact suddenly made everything Akashi had done and said earlier make more sense. His captain wasn’t just under pressure from the school, his peers, and himself. He had the Akashi patriarch to answer to if he failed to bring home a Hogwarts victory. It must have grated terribly on him, having to put Kise into the challenge. The whole time not knowing if the weakest member of the Generation of Miracles could hold his own weight with Akashi’s father watching everything.

 

He was brought back from his musings by Kasamatsu putting a gentle hand on his shoulder.

 

“Listen, if someone is hurting you, even if it’s that bastard Akashi-”

 

“I can take care of myself,” Kise said, eyes blazing, his response to that suggestion a hair too fast for Kasamatsu to believe that the Slytherin was completely innocent. He couldn’t know that Kise’s reaction was solely out of fury that nobody seemed to bother helping the redhead the way Kasamatsu was trying to care for him now. Everyone assumed that Akashi could just take care of everything himself, when the truth was that he needed as much support as anyone else. He just hid it better. Something about that pissed him off and offended his Gryffindor sensibilities about right and wrong. It grated on him that his friend was being mistreated, and nobody could help. That his friend didn’t _want_ help.

 

Kise pulled his shirt back on over his head, still scowling. “Thank you for caring, but I don’t need anyone to save me, or whatever the fuck you think this is. I’m one of the school Champions, and I’m more than able to handle whatever comes my way.”

 

He stalked past Kasamatsu, his shoulder slamming into the older student’s arm as he did. Kasamatsu didn’t so much as wince.

 

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” he muttered to the empty air, before heaving out a breath and turning around to head back to the common room.

 

Kise could come to him when he was ready, or he could reach out to any of the upperclassmen. But Kasamatsu promised himself he’d keep a closer eye on the fourth year. This kind of shit wasn’t supposed to be happening. It was why they had Prefects, to protect the younger students from the kind of bullying that it was so hard for teachers to see.

 

It seemed like a lot of people had failed to see what was happening to Kise, and Kasamatsu was determined to make sure that he put a stop to this, whatever it was.

 

 

...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a reminder, my tumblr is [MercurialInK](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) and nothing makes me happier than you nerds showing up there  
> #600korbust


	13. Buckle Up Kids This Is The Last Time Anyone Will Be Happy For A Long Time AKA Kuroko Is Wrong

…

 

The Hogwarts junior division was the number one seed in the tournament.

 

It was pretty gratifying, Kuroko had to admit. It was an affirmation of their strength, a testament to their will, combined magical power and creativity. While it wasn’t a definitive declaration that they would certainly win, Kuroko appreciated the assurance that they had the capacity to be strong contenders.

 

Now they just had to fight against strong teams with something to prove. These teams a chip on their shoulders, who had trained to work together. They were here to duel, not play at the esoteric challenges that had been designed to test various elements of their power. No matter how the seeds had come out, not one challenger on this schedule could be taken for granted.

 

It was likely a lot of schools would do much better in the tournament than they had in the earlier challenges.

 

Well, they would just have to wait and find out.

 

All too soon however, there wasn’t much waiting left to do. The last weekend of the tournament had arrived and the first round was upon them.

 

Kuroko felt like he was buzzing with nervous energy as he donned the dueling uniform Hogwarts had given its champions. His roommates wished him luck with wide smiles on their faces. They walked down to the arena with him decked out in every piece of Hufflepuff gear they owned. It was like an honor guard of yellow and black.

 

Kuroko was touched by the gesture, even if the tie Kawahara had tied around his head in all serious looked ridiculous.

 

“We’ll save you a seat to watch the senior round after,” Ogiwara promised. Kuroko nodded his agreement, before breaking off to join the Generation of Miracles.

 

The junior division would fight several consecutive duels. The first round was likely to be the least contentious, at least in theory. The tournament had created two brackets based solely on the performance of the teams during the first six challenges. Hogwarts was at the top of one division – the New York Institute, which had the number two seed, stood at the top of the other. Both would be fighting their first rounds against the bottom seeds in their divisions. There was no real reason for anything to impede either team’s progress.

 

A coin was flipped to decide which division would be the first to take to the arena. The coin flipped high in the air before it ultimately came up heads.

 

Hogwarts was up first.

 

The six Champions were gathered in a room off of the arena. It was almost time for their first round as a team to begin.

 

“Alright huddle in,” Akashi told them, unable to hide the smile on his face. “It’s time. _This_ is what we’ve trained for. _This_ is why we competed in each of those challenges to the best of our abilities. So that we could stand here, at the top of the seeded schools, and tear through every single person still standing in our way.”

 

The five of them cheered loudly at this, and Akashi brought them back to order after a few seconds.

 

“Hogwarts is our home and we will not lose here,” Akashi said seriously. “This is our house, and it’s time for these challengers to pay their rent.”

 

Aomine and Kise burst out laughing at the same time.

 

“Akashicchi, that was really cheesy!” Kise huffed, wiping tears from his eyes.

 

“It was pretty bad,” Aomine agreed, howling with laughter.

 

"Aka-chin, you may be absolute but you're not great at pump up speeches," Murasakibara observed dryly.

 

“Put your damn hands in the middle of the circle and yell fight,” Akashi growled, and the two immediately stopped laughing and did as he bid. A moment later both their hands were covered by Murasakibara's much larger one.

 

“Hogwarts, FIGHT!”

 

The six shouted in unison, ready to take on their last opponents.

 

Everything they had done so far would be useless if they stumbled or faltered here. They had not come all this way to surrender first place to another team.

 

They crossed to the middle of the arena to face their challengers opposite them. From the showings in the earlier round,s the school from Indonesia had a couple of strong individuals among them., But unless they were deliberately concealing some kind of secret weapon, Kuroko thought this round would be over soon.

 

Pity. Kuroko had really been looking forward to being able to fight the strongest teams here.

 

The two teams bowed to one another and then drew back to opposite sides of the arena.

 

Hogwarts fell into the formation they had practiced together. Aomine and Kise were at the front as their offensive duelists, Akashi behind them, and Midorima and Murasakibara holding down the defense.

 

Kuroko took his place in the formation near the edge of the shield, out of the main field of vision of their competitors. It wouldn’t take them long to bring their focus solely on the Generation of Miracles, and then he would step in as their support.

 

Across from them, their opponents were taking their places, settling into dueling stances with their wands at the ready.

 

Kuroko smiled.

 

The cannons went off.

 

The smallest member of the other team fell back, casting a net of runes over the ground where his teammates were standing.

 

Kuroko felt the shield go up, and heard Midorima snort as Murasakibara cast their team’s own shield.

 

It had been a mistake to rely on a runes-based configuration to protect them. The Indonesian team learned this the hard way when Midorima ripped through the shield in seconds.

 

It was just what Kise and Aomine had been waiting for. The two of them ran forward, each engaging a different opponent.

 

Kise cast a bright spell, blinding their opponents temporarily. Akashi walked forward, casting a chain of spells towards the other captain.

 

Or he tried to. Two of her teammates jumped in his way, taking him on first. For a second, Kuroko thought that it was one duelist casting an illusion spell, because they looked exactly the same. He counted their opponents twice and realized that they were indeed two opponents. Twins.

 

They were fast too. Fast enough that Akashi was barely managing to get a spell in while the captain was alternating between backing the twins up and helping her teammate engaged with Aomine.

 

The Indonesian student Kise was fighting ducked down and threw him backwards with a concussive spell. When Kise hit the ground he came up fighting, not minding the fall. With a grin he cast an illusion spell.

 

In the place where Kise had been standing, it looked like four or five Kises had been smeared together, moving so quickly it was nauseating to follow any one of them. The champion Kise was fighting took a step back, preparing to cast another spell, but he’d lost his chance. Kise knocked him out with a stunner.

 

“First one down!” he said, sounding incredibly pleased with himself.

 

“Don’t be rude Ki-Chin,” Murasakibara reminded Kise. “Besides, you’re taking too much time.”

 

Murasakibara knelt down to the ground and tapped the floor. A section on the other side moved very quickly, destabilizing two more members of the other team.

 

The captain had jumped the second she realized the floor was moving and landed on solid feet. She cast a spell at Akashi, surrounding the redhead with a pack of small, vicious birds.

 

There were dozens of them. They distracted Akashi enough that he had trouble dealing with both them and the two Indonesian champions.

 

Kuroko saw his moment as the two of them regrouped. He’d been moving around the edge of the action. The other team’s expert in runes was fighting with Midorima. The Ravenclaw had managed to create a configuration that had locked the small boy in place, unable to move while he sorted through the mess of runes Midorima had used.

 

Kuroko cast a disarming spell on one of the twins, causing both of them to turn and return spellfire towards Kuroko.

 

Aomine quickly cast a concussive spell that shoved his opponent into the path of the two spells. He hit the ground cold. Aomine grinned at the twins, who were suddenly sinking into the stone underneath them. When they were both calf high in the ground, Aomine disarmed the one still holding his wand, and knocked them both out.

 

“Nice work, Tetsu,” he said, grinning down at Kuroko. “I think our captain’s got the rest of this though.”

 

The words were barely out of Aomine’s mouth before their captain proved them to be true. Akashi let out a spell that incinerated the birds around him and promptly overcame the Indonesian captain’s shield. She didn’t have the chance to dodge his stunner, and went out like a light.

 

With Midorima’s opponent entirely incapacitated by the runic configuration he’d created, all six of them down and out for the count.

 

The cannon fire went off a second time, signaling that the duel was over.

 

Kuroko wasn’t sure that it had lasted more than three minutes max. He was almost disappointed that it had been so easy. He hadn’t had the chance to actually do very much.

 

Still, they had won.

 

They were in the top half of teams remaining, and that was a good feeling. Kuroko had known going in that their first round would be more quickly decided than the following match ups. After all. it was a matchup between the weakest and strongest teams here.

 

He and Aomine bumped fists, grinning at the victory before the Gryffindor helped their captain revive each of their opponents. A team of mediwizards was on standby to heal any injuries they’d incurred the second they had left the field, but all of them were able to stand on their own. They shook hands with the Hogwarts team, seeming resigned to this outcome.

 

“Well fought,” their captain said to each of the Hogwarts students before turning away with her own team. They bowed to their spectators and coach and left the arena.

 

Akashi led their team over to where their senior counterparts were sitting. They bowed to them and then again to the school at large for supporting them.

 

Kuroko could still hear the cheering long after they had left the arena.

 

Just like that, twelve schools had been eliminated, six from each bracket. Their journey was over. Half of the schools that had come here to compete were knocked out.

 

Kuroko didn’t have the luxury of dwelling on that, however. They would be eating lunch and then getting back to work that afternoon.

 

The meal at the Champion’s table was a little awkward, given that half of the teams there would not be progressing. However, all of them were staying  to watch the end of the tournament at the behest of their teachers and schools.

 

Akashi made a point of locating their opponents from the round before and complimenting them on a round well fought. He joined his own team shortly after, loading his plate with food.

 

“We are facing one of the German schools in the next round,” Akashi said when he sat down. “Be prepared. Ours will be the second battle once lunch is over.”

 

Kuroko felt a burst of excitement at the thought of their next duel.

 

“Oi, we’ll be ready for anything,” Aomine said. “Now can we forget about this stupid tournament for a minute and eat?”

 

“The only one stopping you from eating is yourself, idiot,” Midorima snapped back.

 

“Boys, you’re both pretty,” Kise cut in with a dramatic, put upon sigh. “Not as pretty as me obviously, but-”

 

Midorima and Aomine made the exact same contemptuous, pissed of sound simultaneously, and then glared at each other.

 

“All of you should just shut up and eat,” Murasakibara said sagely.

 

“I see things are functioning normally with all of you,” Nijimura said, walking up to the group. Akashi turned and smiled at the older boy.

 

“More or less,” he admitted. “I assume you won?”

 

“We did,” Nijimura said casually. “Everyone even got along for thirty seconds. I see that’s not true with your lot.”

 

“They get along just fine in the arena,” Akashi replied. “How do you feel about this afternoon’s round?”

 

Nijimura rolled his shoulders.

 

“We’re the last scheduled round for the day,” he said. “Come check it out yourselves when you’re done with your opponents.”

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“It would be our pleasure,” he said. “Good luck.”

 

“To you as well,” Nijimura replied, clapping Akashi on the shoulder. “I’ll pass on your best wishes to my team.”

 

Lunch went quickly after that. The teams returned to the arena out on the grounds, stretching and trying to get themselves back into the proper dueling headspace.

 

“Don’t let your guard down,” Akashi told the team once they were waiting to enter the field. “I know our last victory was not exactly hard won, but it is critical that you keep yourselves on task. We cannot afford to slip up accidentally now.”

 

“We know, Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said. “We’re all ready to do our best.”

 

“Don’t worry, Akashicchi!” Kise said brightly. “All of us are going to take this round seriously!”

Aomine huffed, but agreed, as did Midorima.

 

“Good,” Akashi said finally, smiling against his will at the show of support from his own team. “Then let’s go out there and take our next victory.”

 

The Hogwarts team was still cheering as they exited the stands, riling up the crowd even more. The German team was already waiting for them on the other side of the arena.

 

Akashi shook hands with their burly captain. Both teams took up defensive positions, waiting for the fight to begin.

 

Kuroko could feel his pulse racing as he waited for the fight. None of their opponents stood out as being particularly strong, but from the way they stood, their confidence told Kuroko that they were sure of their abilities nonetheless.

 

The other team might not have any powerhouses, but Kuroko knew firsthand how much damage even a weak wizard could do against a strong opponent. They only needed the drive to do it.

 

He wasn’t going to let this team catch any of them off guard.

 

Kuroko’s pulse skyrocketed as the cannons went off.

 

As one, the German team cast a series of spells creating an interlocking line of runic shields.

 

The look on Midorima’s face wasn’t exactly pleased as he set to work untangling them.  He hadn’t gotten very far when Aomine and Murasakibara lost their patience. Both of them attacked, throwing powerful curses at the barrier.

 

What one wizard couldn’t do alone, six managed just fine. The barrier held.

 

Aomine swore and started casting a line of hexes and jinxes, trying to break down the shield.

 

It wasn’t working.

 

And then the other team started to cast.

 

They went in bouts of two, targeting Aomine first. The Gryffindor was forced on the defensive, taking several steps back as the curses bounced off his own hastily conjured shield.

 

“Tetsuya, if you would,” Akashi said from right behind Kuroko. The redhead sent Midorima a warning look to make sure he was ready to take advantage of their surprise attack.

 

Kuroko smiled.

 

He positioned himself next to Kise. As the blonde ran forward to help their beleaguered teammates, Kuroko went with him. When the next line of spells fired at them, Kuroko was ready.

 

He sent the spell right back at the caster.

 

It passed through the shield harmlessly and collided with its progenitor. The boy flew backwards and hit the wall at the edge of the arena.

 

A second later, Kuroko felt the rune barrier fall as Midorima exploited the break in the shield to bring the entire thing tumbling down.

 

This didn’t seem to be a problem for the Germans.

 

One of the team members fell back, reviving their fallen comrade before both running back to their teammates to join them in defense.

 

With a united front, all six of them sent out wave after wave of offensive curses, forcing Aomine and Kise to retreat behind Murasakibara’s powerful shield.

 

“Akashi?”

 

The six Hogwarts Champions could all feel that the interlocked runic shield was once again firmly in place around their opponents, protecting them from any continued assault.

 

But Akashi was smiling.

 

“Kise, distract them for a few minutes,” he said.

 

Kise obliged, waving his wand. A bright wheel of color appeared in the air between them and their opponents. As they watched, it fractured into smaller and smaller pieces and started to move in random various patterns.

 

“Good,” Akashi said. “Midorima?”

 

Midorima grinned as their opponents fell back, trying to determine if the massive shield of moving colors was dangerous in any way.

 

With a flick of his own wand, the Ravenclaw caught his teammate’s illusion into a web of runes. It moved towards their six opponents at an alarming pace, capturing them in a dome of even more quickly moving color.

 

“Daiki, would you mind running… oh about fifteen feet around them to the left and yelling extremely loudly to get their attention?”

 

Aomine’s eyes narrowed, but when he looked at the other side of the dome, he smirked as well.

 

“You’re a bad man, Akashi,” he said. “On it.”

 

“Hey idiots, I’m over here!” Aomine started shouting as he ran. A line of spellfire followed him, which he cheerfully sent in various directions.

 

“No no, over _here!_ Come on, I’m moving. I’m two feet to your left now come on, it’s not that hard, I’m not even running that quickly!”

 

When Aomine reached the opposite side of the dome, he stopped, letting the line of curses rushed towards him. Right before the curses were about to make impact, he dropped, letting the spell pass directly over him.

 

Kuroko had been standing on that side of the arena for several minutes, waiting for his moment. When Aomine had run over, he’d started getting ready to field the spells that were about to rain down on both of them. Kuroko caught the volley of curses cast by their opponents and sent them all back at the same time, the powerful blow once again piercing their shield.

 

This time however, the power of Kuroko’s return fire had an explosive effect. Every single one of the six Champions was thrown away from the site, hitting the shield surrounding the arena and dropping. Most of them were unconscious before they even hit the ground.

 

Aomine laughed, sticking his fist directly up in the air from where he was still lying on his back, letting Kuroko touch his own to it, dazed.

 

“Oi, Tetsu, remind me to stay on your good side!” Aomine said loudly. “Come on, help me up already, would you!”

 

Kuroko did, clasping Aomine’s hand and pulling the other boy up.

 

He had felt the German Champions getting ready to raise their shield for the second time, and had made the conscious decision to stay where he was instead of retreating with Aomine and Kise. The other team had been so focused on the two powerful champions they hadn’t even noticed the boy standing right behind them.

 

Akashi had been the only one to realize that Kuroko had put himself into the perfect position to deliver the final blow. He had organized his team so that they would work together to make sure he that he used the opportunity to it’s fullest potential.

 

Kuroko felt lightheaded with excitement knowing that they had overcome such a strong team.

 

Murasakibara lifted Kuroko up in a hug, scolding him halfheartedly for not getting back behind his shield. Kise ruffled his hair and told Kuroko he was amazing.

 

“It was an excellent tactical move,” Midorima agreed, bright pink with embarrassment at expressing genuine feelings.

 

“Yes yes, well done all of you,” Akashi said. “And good work thinking on your feet Tetsuya. I’m proud of you for taking advantage of the opening as soon as you saw it.”

 

Once their opponents were revived the Hogwarts team walked across the arena to shake their hands. They all eyed Kuroko warily when he was brought to their attention and they were told that it had been the small boy to deliver the blow that destroyed the shield.

 

“You must be quite the expert with runes,” one of them said in heavily accented English.

 

“One of the top of our class, actually,” Akashi said with a proud smile. “It was an extremely clever shield though, I’m amazed by that level of coordination. You must train together extensively to have that level of interwoven spell work.”

 

The other captain smiled and thanked Akashi politely for the compliment.

 

“Nothing like the work your green friend pulled on us,” he shot back, nodding to Midorima.

 

“It was merely a ward to move my teammate’s illusion, nothing special about it,” Midorima blushed, looking at the ground.

 

“We look forward to seeing your next rounds,” the captain said. “But now I think we are all going to rest.”

 

Akashi wished them well, and led his team out of the arena.

 

Kuroko thought he could get used to the sound that followed them – the thunderous cheering and applause of their peers.

 

“Akashi, why did you let them think Tetsu tore their shield apart?” Aomine asked.

 

“Because if they can’t figure out for themselves what happened, I’m certainly not helping any of our opponents figure out what our ace can do,” Akashi replied. “Tetsuya is the killing blow that is never seen coming. Letting even those we have beaten in on the secret defeats the point, don’t you think?”

 

“I bet ten bucks they don’t even remember what he looks like right now,” Aomine rolled his eyes. “By dinner they’ll be sure it was the ‘green one’ that tore a hole in their shield and beat them all.”

 

Midorima glared at this characterization, but didn’t dispute it.

 

“And if that’s true?” Akashi asked. “Don’t you think that if Tetsuya is to compete after this tournament it is for the best that his misdirection and lack of presence continue to benefit him?”

 

Aomine glowered but didn’t say anything.

 

“So long as my teammates value what I can do, I don’t care if every duelist in the world forgets who I am the second I walk away,” Kuroko said suddenly, causing his teammates to start. Even with the Hufflepuff the object of conversation, Aomine, Midorima, and Kise had all forgotten Kuroko was there.

 

“Never think for a second that we don’t,” Aomine said fiercely, putting an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders. “Are we done now? Because I would like to grab a seat in the stands so that we can watch Nijimura and his team fight their next round.”

 

“Yes, let’s get moving so that we can watch our seniors fight,” Akashi agreed.

 

“Sure thing, Akashicchi!” Kise chirped.

 

Having comfortably defeated their first two challengers, Kuroko and the Generation of Miracles retreated to the general stands to watch the senior Hogwarts team fight. Even with the assurance that Hogwarts would have at least one team advancing to fight tomorrow, hopefully it there would be two.

 

The senior team was doing well. Their fourth seed in the senior tournament had placed them up against the older division of the Chinese school in the second round. Their team seemed to have a pretty strong collection of powerhouses who had had a string of extraordinarily bad luck with the prior challenges. They were bringing all their strength to bear, but the senior Champions were keeping them in check. It was a much more contentions round than their respective seeds should have indicated, but the institute from Beijing was a strong school fighting for a title. They weren’t going to give Hogwarts an inch they didn’t earn.

 

That’s when it happened.

 

Kuroko had been watching Kiyoshi coordinating with Hanamiya, still amazed by the camaraderie that had developed between them. Hanamiya called out to Kiyoshi to move back, and the Ravenclaw dived over him to cast a spell that produced a thick, gray-purple mist.

 

As it spread Kuroko saw it. His eyes had been on Hanamiya and so he had a clear line of sight to the fifth year.

 

He saw it right down to the glint in Hanamiya’s eyes and the malicious smile on his face as he turned. He wasn’t aiming at any of their opponents: he was aiming at _Kiyoshi._

 

Kuroko’s eyes widened and the breath caught in his chest.

 

Everything that happened next was a blur that Kuroko spent a great deal of time wishing he could forget.

 

Black ice shot out from Hanamiya’s wand, each shard hitting the ground or walls of the arena and spreading like plague as it went, leaving a wide berth around Hanamiya and the Hogwarts players.

 

Kuroko watched the ice race across the arena, freezing their opponents. And he watched as one of the black shards was embedded into Kiyoshi’s left knee.

 

The Hufflepuff fell as if in slow motion. Kuroko’s eyes widened in horror as he lay unnaturally still, his leg bleeding profusely. Black ice crawled across his limbs, rupturing skin where it burst out from his veins to claw at his skin.

 

It was eating him alive.

 

Kiyoshi screamed in agony. The sound was rough, guttural, and harsh. The noise itself was terrifying.

 

The match was over.

 

Hogwarts had won, and Kiyoshi had stopped screaming.

 

The cannon fire went off, signaling the end of the match and healers rushed onto the field, making a beeline for the injured fifth year.

 

Kiyoshi screamed again as he was levitated onto a stretcher. One of the healers waved his wand, and Kiyoshi fell still. A few quick spells on his leg put it in stasis, but the expression on both healers’ faces was grim.

 

They were moving out of the arena almost as fast as they came in, speeding off with the stretcher, likely making haste towards the nearest curse specialist.

 

Kuroko found himself frozen in place, almost as though he too had been trapped by Hanamiya’s ice.

 

His eyes went back to the Ravenclaw. Hanamiya was shrugging casually at Nijimura as the Gryffindor yelled expletives at the top of his lungs. Kuroko could hear shouting from the stands and he watched a small Ravenclaw girl restraining the Gryffindor Prefect Kiyoshi hung out with frequently.

 

Clearly, the Gryffindor had seen what Kuroko believed he had as well.

 

Perhaps Hanamiya had merely been careless and hadn’t looked before he cast. Perhaps he hadn’t been as able to control the spread of the spell as he wanted to, or had missed and it had all been an accident. Kuroko had no proof to the contrary.

 

It was quite possible Kuroko had imagined the entire thing. That this was all based only on his knowledge of Hanamiya and desire to have someone to blame for his friend being hurt.

 

But he could see the satisfied look on Hanamiya’s face and that was enough to _know._

 

“Do you think he’ll be alright?”

 

Momoi sounded worried. Kuroko wondered if it was her natural sense of empathy or if she was close with his housemate. Honestly, he couldn’t think of any reason anyone would dislike Kiyoshi, or want to hurt him.

 

Sure he was scatterbrained and sometimes acted like an idiot, but he was a good person with a warm heart. Kuroko just couldn’t believe that Hanamiya was so needlessly cruel, or that he would so blatantly sabotage his own chances of winning the tournament just to get at Kiyoshi.

Then again, maybe winning the match had only ever been a collateral benefit.

 

Kuroko shook his head. He was spending far too much time with Akashi. Hanamiya was weird and creepy, but people said that about Kuroko too. He was unlikeable, but he wasn’t a sadistic sociopath. There was no conspiracy here, just an accident. Kuroko was jumping at shadows, seeing assassination attempts in accidents and murderers hiding in every shadow. He was like a muggle child that had just seen a scary movie – seeing monsters everywhere.

 

It was irksome.

 

Kuroko just hoped his friend would be okay.

 

…

 

Hours later, the schools were gathered in the Great Hall for an announcement.

 

“Kiyoshi Teppei, one of the Hogwart’s senior Champions, is currently being examined by a curse specialist. They are optimistic about his chances of a full recovery, in time.”

 

Kuroko breathed out in relief. Thank Merlin.

 

There was some muted cheering at this as every student shared in the joy at knowing Kiyoshi would be okay. This relief was devoid of any real enthusiasm, however; the memory of Kiyoshi, injured and screaming, wasn’t likely to recede any time soon.

 

“Unfortunately, it _is_ extremely unlikely at this time that Kiyoshi will be able to continue in the tournament this weekend, leaving our host school short a champion. Without a qualified competitor, Hogwarts will also be unable to continue in the tournament. Due to this development, and in accordance with the original rules set out, Hogwarts will be disqualified-”

 

A chorus of angry voices rose up. Kuroko found himself equally irritated. Kiyoshi was their champion! While no other champion had been prepared to fight, a replacement was better than being kicked out entirely!

 

Hogwarts students were not the only ones protesting this injustice. Several members of other schools looked outraged, including Himuro Tatsuya. His captain had a heavy hand on his shoulder while he shouted something that was lost in the din of angry noise. Even the senior team’s opponents from the last round were shouting angrily. The institute from Beijing, which would have advanced in Hogwart’s place did not look happy about the situation at all.

 

“Perhaps we can work out a solution,” Headmaster Aida said, just quietly enough that Kuroko could barely hear the words. “We need to meet with all the Headmasters and tournament officials and make a decision.”

 

The official hesitated, glanced around at the crowd, nodded solemnly, and stepped down.

 

“For now, consider our participation in the tournament disqualified,” the Headmaster took over. “We will see what we can do so that Hogwarts can continue to be represented in the senior division.”

 

The outraged babble quieted somewhat, students turning to each other with wide eyes and fearful whispers.

 

…

 

Kuroko had been taking a walk to clear his mind, trying to convince himself that he hadn’t seen what he thought he had. Most of the school was still waiting anxiously in the Great Hall for any news about Kiyoshi, or what would happen to the senior division team, but Kuroko couldn’t be there for even a second longer. He felt like he was suffocating, and he needed to breathe.

 

Somehow he’d ended up wandering around the second floor when he heard the sound of a body slamming against stone, and a low growled threat that sent chills running down Kuroko’s spine.

 

“What the _fuck,_ Makoto?”

 

Carefully, Kuroko peered around the corner to see two shadowed figures. One was Hyuuga Junpei, the male fifth year Gryffindor Prefect, and the other was Hanamiya Makoto.

 

Kuroko watched the Gryffindor prefect slam his fist into the Ravenclaw, eyes wide. He had no way of stopping the older boy– and there was real murder in the fifth year’s eyes. Kuroko wasn’t sure he wanted to stop Hyuuga either, not with what he suspected to be the truth about Kiyoshi’s injury. That didn’t mean he was in favor of beating the other boy up in a shadowy hallway either though.

 

“Aw, Junpei, I’m flattered you’re so interested in me but-”

 

The Gryffindor kneed Hanamiya in the stomach, hard. Kuroko heard it make contact from where he was standing.

 

Hanamiya groaned as he tried to bend over to cradle the injured part of his body, but Hyuuga had him pinned to the wall hard enough that he couldn’t move.

 

“Why did you even do it?”

 

“I told you, Junpei,” Hanamiya said, getting his breath back, “I didn’t do anything at all.”

 

The smirk on Hanamiya’s face spoke volumes.

 

The Gryffindor looked like he was gearing up for another punch when the sound of running footsteps reached them. Kuroko watched a blur race past him and drag the Gryffindor back.

 

“Junpei, what the hell!”

 

Kuroko could recognize the sharp, commanding tones of Aida Riko, Ravenclaw prefect, and only daughter of the Headmaster, from a mile away. She was not only loud, but was also _terrifying_ to boot, almost as much so as Momoi. She barely came up to either boy’s elbow in terms of height, but she was at least twice as intimidating as the two of them combined.

 

Vaguely, Kuroko registered that it must have been Riko trying to stop her friend from attacking Hanamiya down on the field.

 

“Riko, he hurt _Teppei_!”

 

“It doesn’t matter! If you attack him now, you’ll be forced to resign as Prefect, they’ll kick you off Quidditch - you’ll loose everything!”

 

“I DON’T CARE ABOUT ANY OF THAT RIGHT NOW!” Hyuuga roared. “TEPPEI IS IN THE HOSPITAL AND THIS PIECE OF DIRT-”

 

“Is a Ravenclaw and a student. If you have any _proof_ of what happened, take it to the Headmaster or the Aurors. In the meantime, refrain from doing something I’ll have to write up.”

 

“Don’t you care about him?”

 

Hyuuga’s question sounded heartbreakingly lost and helpless. It was so quiet Kuroko almost didn’t hear the other boy speak.

 

“Don’t,” Riko snapped. “Don’t throw that in my face. You know how I feel. But I won’t let you throw away your future when you can’t prove anything. Teppei wouldn’t want you to do that, and I’m not going to let it happen either. So go back to the Gryffindor Tower, _now.”_

 

“Riko-”

 

“Junpei. Please go.”

 

Riko sounded like she was physically wounded. Kuroko couldn’t see her face, but he could see the rage on Hyuuga’s even in the shadows where he was standing. Hanamiya’s smirk was in sharp relief beside them, as he was standing right beside the torch set into the wall.

 

Hyuuga looked like he was going to argue for a moment longer, but faced with the much smaller Ravenclaw’s glare, he did exactly as she asked. Kuroko watched him leave, only relaxing once the other boy was gone.

 

“Aw, Riko-san-”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Riko turned back to Hanamiya, her hands on her hips.

 

“If I could prove you did it on purpose, you would already be dead,” she said frankly. Hanamiya only smiled wider. It was a smile that didn’t reach his cold, merciless eyes.

 

“Of that I have no doubt, trust me. But as all I was trying to do was win us the stupid tournament-”

 

Riko made a frustrated sound in the back of her throat and stormed off after the Gryffindor prefect.

 

Hanamiya chuckled, leaning against the wall.

 

“Well little phantom, did you come here to berate me too?”

 

Kuroko was startled at being addressed by the Ravenclaw, but stepped out of the shadows all the same.

 

“Hanamiya,” he greeted the other boy.

 

“You’ll have to forgive me if I don’t have the patience to listen to any more self righteous speeches about self control and bullying,” Hanamiya said wearily. “I swear, the one time I try and do something on my own to help, it all goes belly up. Just shows you how bothersome it is to fit into the little boxes they try and shove us in.”

 

“ _Did_ you do it on purpose?” Kuroko asked curiously.

 

“Now now little phantom, even if I did, what makes you think I would tell _you?_ ”

 

“Because you’re a sadist that wants nothing more than an audience,” Kuroko shot back before he could filter himself. Hanamiya thankfully looked more amused than angry.

 

“A sadist eh? Well, you’re not entirely wrong about that. But I really do prefer to play in the shadows, without everyone telling me what to do. We’re similar that way.”

 

“I’m nothing like you.”

 

“Aren’t you? We’re both pariahs. Everyone wishes that our spaces as Champions had gone to anyone else. We live in the shadows and we do our best work when no one else is looking.”

 

“You call sending Kiyoshi to the hospital your best work?” Kuroko demanded.

 

“It was just an accident,” Hanmiya said darkly, dropping his mocking persona. “I can’t fight the same way your Miracles can, I’m nowhere near as powerful as they are. So I have to be twice as clever and do whatever I can to make up the difference.”

 

There was a beat of silence in which Kuroko actually fucking felt a little bad before Hanamiya started laughing mockingly.

 

“I’m sorry, I mean can you even imagine? I swear, I should have known better, you’re a fucking Hufflepuff. Of course you’ll believe everything you hear.”

 

Kuroko felt irritation run up and down his spine.

 

“You’ll see,” Hanamiya said cheerfully, patting Kuroko on the shoulder. “One day, you’ll realize it’s no fun just being invisible, and you’ll start getting _bored._ They’ll turn against you too, and you’ll realize you might as well do whatever you fucking want. You’re going to be crucified either way.”

 

“You’re wrong.”

 

Hanamiya paused, looking back at Kuroko.

 

“What did you say?”

 

“You don’t hurt people because you have no other outlet, you do it just because you want to.”

 

Hanamiya beamed.

 

“That’s exactly right.”

 

“I’ll stop you.”

 

Hanamiya laughed outright at the Hufflepuff’s words.

 

“Sure. I hope you have fun with that. I’ll see you around, little Phantom. Or maybe not. I don’t really care.”

 

The Ravenclaw actually sauntered away.

 

Well, that was illuminating.

 

Kuroko clenched his hand into a fist. He wished Riko wasn’t right. He wished there was something he could do to prove what had happened, but “Hanamiya Makoto is the world’s biggest asshole” didn’t exactly qualify as evidence by any standard.

 

All it meant was that he was going to have to keep an eye on the other boy, because the next time he caught Hanamiya hurting someone, it would be the last.

 

…

 

“We have come to a decision.”

 

Nothing more than that was required to silence the entire crowd of students. The crowd had dispersed after the tournament officials had informed them that they would consider an alternative,but they had gathered once again when the announcement was due to come. Word had gone out quickly by way of the prefects that the officials would be assembling for another announcement, and in extremely short order, all of the schools were gathered in the Great Hall.

 

“With unanimous approval from the representatives of each of the participating schools, Hogwarts will continue on with the seventh place challenger from our selection tournament in September,” Headmaster Aida said unceremoniously. “Hogwarts, lend your support to our new champion, Gryffindor fifth year Araki Masako.”

 

Masako was a stern faced fifth year with a solid amount of power to back up her authoritative presence. She had Nijimura’s seriousness and Akashi’s lack of tolerance for failure. The Gryffindor strode forward out of the crowd, her expression solemn and her posture straight.

 

“I will do my best,” she said, and that was it. The scattered rounds of applause that followed this announcement spoke less to the enthusiasm about her appointment specifically, and more to the general black mood that had descended on the school when Kiyoshi had been carried away. She didn’t look like she took it personally, but then she usually didn’t give much away about her feelings.

 

“Technically, Araki wasn’t in seventh place,” Sakurai said conspiratorially to the Hufflepuff fourth years when they got back to their rooms.

 

“Hold up, how could you possibly know that?” Kawahara demanded. “I’m calling bullshit. There is no way you know what the full ranked results of the tournament were.”

 

“Imayoshi got Momoi to give up the tournament statistics after we closed the betting pool. He wanted to do some large scale ranking of students’ power levels by using the tournament results or something. I just asked him for a peek because I was curious.”

 

“What on _earth_ did Imayoshi do for a girl like Momoi to get her to owe him a favor?” Furihata wondered out loud.

 

“Probably offered to hit Aomine,” Ogiwara said. All of the fourth years chuckled at that. Whatever had caused the two of them to fight before Christmas seemed to have been a recurring subject of contention for Aomine and Momoi, as neither had seemed particularly close to the other since the snowball fight.

 

“Wait, so who was the next champion supposed to be?” Kawahara asked, looking back to Sakurai, who blushed bright red at the sudden attention.

 

“Uh, actually, it was Imayoshi,” he smiled, and he actually looked a bit proud. “They went to him first and asked if he would take the spot. He told them to shove it up their asses. I think the Headmaster was really hoping to get Imayoshi to control Hanamiya.”

                                                                                                                           

“Nobody controls Hanamiya,” Ogiwara said darkly. “I didn’t see the spell, but you don’t fuck around with dark magic without looking where you’re casting unless you’re hoping someone gets hurt, or you just don’t care. And if it’s true that he’d send another student to the hospital just to win the tournament even with Nijimura on his back, I doubt anyone’s going to be able to get him to behave.”

 

Sakurai’s face turned even more red.

 

“Sorry, but I think Imayoshi does have something on Hanamiya. When we were running the betting pool I saw-”

 

The rest of this sentence was drowned out by a chorus of angry and disgusted yelling.

 

“Oi, you apologetic mushroom, nobody wants to hear that kind of gross shit! I don’t even wanna guess what kind of disgusting crap those two would do together.”

 

“Imayoshi gave him flowers once,” Sakurai mused, when the group had settled down. “He made me write the card. It said “fuck you” on it.”

 

“And there it is,” Ogiwara crowed. “They’re both sadistic assholes, it’s a match made in the weirdest, creepiest part of hell.”

 

“At least Imayoshi doesn’t deliberately damage his own teammates-”

 

“What I saw happening between him and the Head Girl last week was definitely damaging –“

 

Another round of yelling accompanied Kawahara’s gleeful announcement. The fourth years ganged up on him, throwing pillows at him while he shouted for mercy.

 

“It could be worse,” Sakurai said from under the mountain of pillows. “The next place duelist after Araki was Seto.”

 

“Hey, it wouldn’t be that bad - he could just drown the rest of the competition in hair gel!” Furihata shouted, and they all started laughing again.

 

“Merlin’s saggy Y fronts, this has been a pretty dark day, huh,” Ogiwara said under his breath to Kuroko.

 

Kuroko nodded back fervently.

 

“I hope Kiyoshi is ok,” he said.

 

“He will be,” Ogiwara said confidently. “He’s the Iron Heart, remember? Nothing could keep him down for long.”

 

Kuroko really wanted to believe his friend. Ogiwara got up off Kuroko’s bed, and stretched his arms above his head.

 

“Besides, after a day like today, the only place to go is up, right?”

 

Kuroko smiled up at the top of his canopy bed at his best friends’ optimism.

 

Maybe Ogiwara was right. Maybe after the darkness of the last few hours, they were due for brighter days ahead.

 

….

 

The last morning of the tournament was overcast and chilly. Kuroko woke to a cold dorm, wanting nothing more than to stay in bed all day.

 

The thought of the tournament is what finally got him moving, getting ready to face the day and the challenges it was sure to bring.

 

As the highest ranked seed still in the tournament, Hogwarts would be excused from the next round. Instead, because three teams remained in each of the junior divisions, the bottom two seeds in each bracket would fight each other, and then challenge the top seed for the top spot in the tournament. The schedule was such that there was a large break between each stage, so as to not unfairly handicap the winner among the two lower seeds when they entered the second round.

 

The other bracket was looking as fiercely contentious as their own. The top seed on that side was the New York Institute, who had brutally beat their opponents in both rounds on Saturday.

 

Kuroko hoped that they earned the right to face New York this afternoon. If they did, it would be an amazing round, one to be remembered for a long time.

 

The Hufflepuff fourth year dorm was quiet as Kuroko dressed for the day. It was still early, and everyone was asleep after the excitement of the day before. Kuroko wished he could have stayed in bed later himself, but Akashi wanted them to meet for an early breakfast. So here he was.

 

He wondered for a moment what would happen if he just flopped back down in his bed and didn’t show up until the match, but decided that he respected his captain too much to do that.

 

Kuroko quickly slipped out and left his slumbering roommates to their peaceful lie-in. He glanced down towards the fifth year dorms, wondering if Kiyoshi had come back the night before, or if the prefect was still in the hospital.

 

He really hoped that Kiyoshi would be back to full health soon. He’d looked awful, sheet white and frozen the night before. Kuroko clenched his hand into a fish remembering Hanamiya’s blatant lack of empathy for what had happened.

 

Even if it _was_ an accident, which Kuroko doubted, the Ravenclaw certainly didn’t feel even the slightest bit of remorse for it, and that made Kuroko’s gut twist in anger.

 

The trip from the Hufflepuff common room up to the Great Hall wasn’t very long. In what felt like no time at all, Kuroko had climbed the stairwell and was greeting his teammates.

 

When Aomine was made aware of Kuroko’s presence he stared at the Hufflepuff for several seconds before bursting into laughter.

 

“Tetsu,” he said, bent almost fully in half, gasping for air, “What. On earth. Happened to your hair?”

 

This drew the attention of the rest of the team, who also burst out into giggles.

 

“Kurokocchi, your hair looks ridiculous!” Kise got out when he finally caught his breath.

 

It was Midorima who rolled his eyes and shot a spell at Kuroko’s head, neatening his bedhead and bringing it back to it’s normal style and shape.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said blandly. “It’s just my hair.”

 

“You have one wicked problem with bedhead,” Aomine said, clapping Kuroko on the back. “Like, you should see someone about that.”

 

“Mine-chin is right,” Murasakibara contributed.

 

Akashi looked ready to strangle all of them, and it was barely seven in the morning.

 

“Okay let’s go sit down,” he suggested. “I need coffee before we discuss anything further.”

 

“It’s too early,” Murasakibara complained.

 

Nobody disagreed with him.

 

The Great Hall was still mostly empty when they sat down together. Akashi greeted some of their competitors sitting at the Champions table as they walked down to the other end. Kise turned to Kuroko as they were sitting and got his permission to tame Kuroko’s serious bedhead with a simple spell. Kuroko agreed, and a few seconds later he was looking much less ridiculous.

 

When the Miracles had gotten themselves seated and doled out impressive amounts of food, Akashi began outlining his strategy.

 

“Today we are either going to face the Beijing School or the Institute of Paris,” Akashi began. “They’re both dynamic teams with aggressive tactics, so we can comfortably plan for either one.”

 

Aomine rolled his eyes and made a face at Kuroko, who tried very hard not to laugh into his pancakes.

 

Akashi proceeded to line out several plans that Kuroko was pretty sure they’d already practiced at least a dozen times each. At one point he reached into his bag to pull out a board to remind them what each movement of the team should look like.

 

At that point, Midorima thankfully put a stop to Akashi’s scheming.

 

“Akashi,” he said very seriously. “Please. Shut up.”

 

Akashi was stunned into silence.

 

“Sagittarius sits in first house today,” Midorima snapped. “We have trained for hours upon hours. We know every single one of your strategies by heart except for Aomine who was always going to do what he wanted anyway.”

 

Aomine grinned entirely unrepentantly at this. The effect was somewhat ruined by the mouthful of bacon he was in the middle of chewing.

 

“Anyway, if you would put your _blasted_ charts and strategies away, I would like to finish my coffee and breakfast in companionable conversation. Please. Captain.”

 

Akashi sighed.

 

“I think your strategies are really cool, Akashicchi!” Kise said kindly and brightly. “But we do all know what those charts mean. And people are staring at us.”

 

He wasn’t wrong about that list bit either. The Great Hall had begun to fill as their Captain had lectured them at length about his strategies. Looking around, Akashi finally relented, putting the charts back in his bag.

 

“I may have gone overboard.”

 

“Aka-chin you dived headfirst off the ship,” Murasakibara said with a gentle pat to the other boy’s shoulder. “We’ll keep you anyway though, replacing you at this point would be pretty bothersome.”

 

From where he was sitting, Kuroko could see his captain’s ears turn almost the same exact color of his hair.

 

He wondered when Akashi would really internalize the fact that they were in this together, as a team. Akashi supported them with his strength, but that cut every single way too.

 

They finished their breakfast not long after that, and headed to watch their two next potential opponents fight.

 

…

 

Paris won the fight, taking the lead and maintaining it quickly. Akashi had not been wrong about them being a dynamic team; they were all extraordinarily fast and creative spellcasters.

 

Kuroko knew instinctively that their next round would be much harder than the ones that they had faced before.

 

The team had a three hour break before facing Hogwarts, and they holed up somewhere in the castle to sleep, recharge, and get ready to fight again.

 

Just before lunch, Kuroko and the rest of the Generation of Miracles stepped out onto the field to fight what could very well be their last round in the tournament.

 

“I want to stand in the arena with you again after this,” Akashi had told them plainly as they had been waiting to walk out into the arena. “Do not disappoint me.”

 

“How do you say embarrassing emotional things like they’re threats?” Aomine asked.

 

“Because he’s a softie at heart!” Kise said happily, hugging Akashi around the shoulders.

 

“Ryouta, let go before I curse you,” Akashi said dangerously. Kise leapt back, hands in the air stuttering an apology.

 

“Let’s just go,” Akashi said.

 

And so they had stepped out into the chill of the late Scottish morning, and prepared to fight.

 

Akashi shook hands with the French captain, greeting the boy and wishing him and his teammates well in the match to come.

 

The other boy smiled tightly and replied in kind before they both turned and walked back to their teams.

 

At the sound of cannon fire, the French team burst into motion. All six of them fired on the Generation of Miracles at the same time.

 

Kuroko flinched away, but Murasakibara was quick on the uptake and had a shield ready.

Aomine and Kise took this as their opportunity to go nuts and ran forward, exchanging high paced spellfire with the other team.

 

Midorima knelt down out of view behind Murasakibara, working on a rune configuration.

 

Akashi, to Kuroko’s surprise, joined the fray almost as quickly as Kise and Aomine. He conjured a cloud of inky black smoke that he sent at two of the French duelists. They dispelled it with fire and tried to freeze Akashi in place with an ice spell.

 

Akashi neatly leapt over the creeping ice, coming down on the ground a few feet away. His movement was assisted by magic as he sent a concussive spell at the two competitors, pursuing them further away from the main fray.

 

Spellfire was flying in every direction.

 

Kuroko was doing his best to redirect the spells in the most useful ways he could, but he had no way of knowing with only a momentary glance which of the dozens of spells he was redirecting belonged to who. Most of his spells rebounded uselessly against the shields of various competitors. While it was a useful distracting tactic, it was not very effective at incapacitating their opponents.

 

Kuroko did manage to redirect a spell that caused vines to crawl up and attack one of the competitors, a distraction Kise capitalized on as an opportunity to stun the captive boy.

 

Unfortunately, the duelist was almost immediately revived by one of his teammates. He jumped back into the fray, ready to get his revenge on the blonde Gryffindor.

 

A fire spell was redirected back at its owner, causing a shout of a alarm and an immediate wave of water from one of the other French duelists. Akashi was engaged with a petite girl who was almost his size, exchanging blows, but she wouldn’t stand still long enough for Akashi to actually attack her. Kuroko was pretty sure she was being aided by some pretty powerful illusion magic.

 

The next spell Akashi cast, Kuroko rebounded it from behind the girl, disarming her. Akashi stunned her and nodded thanks to Kuroko before running to help Kise.

 

Midorima was busy healing a gash on Aomine’s arm while Murasakibara was holding off three members of the other team at once. Kuroko was about to make his own way over when a spell crossed over his shoulder.

 

Kuroko’s heart rate spiked and he turned. He brought up a weak shield just in time to have it destroyed by the other student’s spell.

 

“This kind of fight is no place for little boys,” the towering student said. “You should stop here.”

 

Kuroko slammed the other boy’s concussive spell back into him, turning to run towards Murasakibara before he got back on his feet. Kuroko didn’t have the power to take him on and he wasn’t going down this early in the fight.

 

Glancing towards his teammate, Kuroko realized that Aomine, his arm healed, was off fighting one of the French duelists on his own. Midorima was detangling Murasakibara from a runic configuration that looked like it was going to take some time, and Akashi and Kise were taking on the other three duelists together.

 

This was an absolute mess.

 

Kuroko decided that he was going to need to do something to help his teammates.

 

With a determined smile, he pointed his wand at the farthest end of the arena.

 

 _Teapot into a turtle,_ he thought. _Except not. More like stone to noxious purple smoke._

 

This was followed by the inevitable thought that he _really_ needed to learn a spell to create that smoke without the effort of messing up a transfiguration to do it.

 

When the purple smoke drew everyone’s attention, Kuroko snuck into the fray. Two of the duelists were trying to take on Kise, having cornered the blonde and driven him away from Akashi. They were probably hoping to get him out of the fight while Akashi wasn’t looking.

 

 _Yeah right,_ Kuroko thought. He redirected the spell cast by one of them so that it aimed right at the other.

 

His surprise at being taken out gave Kise a chance to knock out his partner.

 

Kise whirled around and cast a spell at the Champion Akashi was fighting, causing the boy’s arms to be bound to his sides. Akashi knocked him out with a spell and ran over to help Murasakibara and Midorima.

 

Kuroko turned to Aomine, who was practically glowing from the intensity of his magical output. He’d discarded even the pretense of using his wand and was moving and dodging with a speed Kuroko doubted any wizard alive could match.

 

Aomine ducked underneath a spell aimed at his face, turned to avoid another volley of spells, and gracefully dove to the floor, returning a set of his own spells.

 

Midorima went back to working on the rune configuration he had started before. With a final tap of his wand it glowed bright green.

 

“Murasakibara!” Midorima shouted.

 

The purple haired giant turned, frowned, and then smiled.

 

With a wave of his wand, the Slytherin covered the other half of the arena in ice. The Hogwarts team drew back as Midorima activated the glowing runes, and the ground started to shake.

 

The French competitors, who had been driven back onto the ice, started to slide, completely losing their concentration as they fought to stay upright on the shaking ground.

 

Kise cast an illusion spell that flared bright light – but only for the members of the other team. They were startled backwards and blinded, sliding around on the ice.

 

Their captain was still balanced, however, and he cast a shield before any spells could be sent his way. With a wave of his wand, the captain melted the ice, making it easier to stand.

 

“They’re tough,” Murasakibara said, his admiration obvious.

 

“We’ll fight as long as we have to!” the French captain shouted back, having heard the Slytherin’s comment.

 

Two of the other members of the team were still functioning, and they started throwing curses back at the Miracles.

 

“Kuroko, would you mind?” Midorima asked. Kuroko shook his head, bracing himself for the spell Midorima was about to cast.

 

“Just the three should do it,” the Ravenclaw said. “Ready?”

 

Kuroko nodded shortly. He knew he could do this now, and three fragments of the spell would be simple enough. While the French team busied themselves with the Hogwarts Captain, Midorima cast a powerful binding hex at Kuroko, who fragmented it into three parts, hitting all three spellcasters at the same time.

 

All of them went down.

 

After a few seconds, when nobody on the other side moved, a second round of cannon fire went off.

 

As soon as it dawned on the team that they had won, that they were sitting at the very top of their bracket, they descended on each other. Soon they were in a very loud, very sweaty pile of fourth year wizards, all screaming themselves hoarse with excitement.

 

Even Kuroko, relegated to the very bottom of the pile, couldn’t find reason to complain. They had won. He felt supremely pleased with all of their performances – even his own. They had fought a close round against tough opponents with strong skills, and came out the better because of their reliance on each other.

 

Their strength as a team was unmatched. This was something Kuroko decided he never wanted to let go of.

 

All of them were shouting at exactly the same time, as though trying to outdo the crowd beyond them. Kuroko couldn’t hear anything over the noise, but he didn’t even care. Aomine was pounding him on the back.

 

It had been an amazing round.

 

All six of them were covered in sweat and breathing hard from the physical and magical exertion. But more importantly, they had _won._

 

Kuroko had never felt more satisfied in his entire _life._

 

They finished up in the arena and quickly parted ways to shower and change before lunch.

 

They met up in the Great Hall, refreshed and pumped up for the next round of dueling to begin. Akashi was the last one to make it there, striding purposefully through the doors of the Great Hall, slightly out of breath.

 

“We’ll be facing New York this round,” Akashi said shortly. “They’ve just finished.”

 

“What did you do, shower and run all the way back to the arena to watch them duel?” Aomine demanded. Akashi didn’t answer, which was a pretty good sign that that is _exactly_ what he’d done.

 

“They’ll have plenty of nasty tricks up their sleeves,” Murasakibara said, clearly deciding to ignore Aomine’s contribution. Akashi nodded in agreement.

 

“As always, we will be ready for anything,” he said. “We are absolute. We are standing just below the cusp of victory, and I will not allow us to lose our footing now. But for now, we need to go and support the senior division. They’re taking the field now.”

 

As the two Hogwarts teams passed one another, they clasped hands in the hallway, wishing each other well in their next round.

 

The junior Hogwarts team had secured itself a spot in the finals. It was time for their counterparts to do the same.

 

…

 

The senior champions were gathered in the room off the hall, ready to fight for the top spot in their bracket. Hayama was jumping up and down in place, warming up his muscles.

 

Mibuchi was twirling his wand thoughtfully, and Nebuya was doing his best to try and draw the other boy into conversation.

 

Hanamiya was leaning against the wall further away while Araki and Nijimura stood side by side together.

 

“Are you ready?” Nijimura asked his newest teammate. She nodded shortly.

 

“I am.”

 

Nijimura clapped her on the back.

 

“Good man,” he said, grinning when she made a face with them. He turned to the rest of the team, whose attention had been drawn by his short conversation with the sixth year.

 

“I know we’ve hit a rough patch,” he said shortly. “But that’s only a reason to fight harder. I doubt this will be an easy round, but we will fight, and we will win. Or do you all want to get shown up by the fourth years?”

 

Hanamiya snorted at this, but he looked marginally more interested than before. Nijimura eyed the fifth year critically.

 

He didn’t know what to expect from the Ravenclaw this round. He wished he could know for sure that Hanamiya had only accidentally cursed Kiyoshi, but the truth was that he wasn’t sure. He just didn’t have any proof.

 

And he had no idea how that would translate into the boy’s behavior in their upcoming round. Would he duel as though nothing was wrong? Would there be a repeat of that stupid stunt? Or would the other boy try and sabotage his own team?

 

Nijimura resolved to keep an eye on the Ravenclaw and curse him into unconsciousness if it looked like anything untoward was going to happen. It was the best that he could do.

 

Meanwhile, he had a match to help his team win, and didn’t want to deal with any of that bullshit.

 

“Let’s show this team what we can do,” he said, masking his own worry. “How does that sound?”

 

He got shouts of assent from each of his teammates, and turned to face the door as the tournament official called them out.

 

“Let’s do this,” Hanamiya said, sounding bored.

 

They stepped out into the arena to the sound of loud cheering from every corner.

 

It seemed that despite the loss of their most popular competitor, Hogwarts still wanted to see its senior champions succeed. Nijimura smiled broadly and waved to the spectators, his eyes falling to where the brightly colored Miracles were sitting in the stands right at the edge of the arena.

 

As one, all six of the junior champions stood, bowed to their seniors and sat back down, cheering loudly.

 

Nijimura was honestly touched. He stopped mid step, knowing his face had flushed bright red.

 

Masako put her hand on his shoulder, bringing him back to the moment.

 

“Captain, let’s show them how it’s done.”

 

Nijimura agreed. He nodded his head to their underclassmen before joining his team at the line in the middle of the arena.

 

The captain of the senior division of the Salem team was almost as large as Nebuya. Nijimura knew he wasn’t anywhere close to being as magically as powerful as the ace of their team, but it was still intimidating to stand in front of the boy and shake his hand.

 

“Good luck,” the captain said. Nijimura smiled ruefully.

 

“I should hope only skill plays a role in what happens in this arena,” he said. “After all, the best team is the one that will advance, isn’t it?”

 

The other captain smiled back.

 

“Well then, let’s have a nice fight,” he said.

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Nijimura said, never one to back down from a challenge.

 

The two teams bowed to each other before drawing back, each team bracing themselves for the vicious fight that was about to break out.

 

The cannons went off.

 

Nijimura felt Nebuya’s shield settle around them as Masako and Mibuchi split off towards the right, drawing the other team’s fire. Nijimura went left, Hayama following in his wake.

 

It was a simple pattern, built off of Hanamiya’s original strategy. Hanamiya, as one of the less powerful wizards on the court, would be obscured by illusion spells by Hayama as he went right up the front. Nebuya split his concentration as he defended both pairs of duelists running down each side.

 

Hanamiya would walk right up the center and lay the trap for their opponents. As soon as it was sprung, his teammates would pick off their opponents and the duel would be done.

 

Nijimura grit his teeth and continued laying down a continuous rain of hexes and jinxes on the Salem team.

 

“Captain, anything you want to talk about?” Hayama asked, barely out of breath from his high paced casting.

 

“Nope,” Nijimura replied tersely. “And I think you’re almost up.”

 

Hayama grinned and ducked behind Nijimura, the illusion he’d been constructing as one half of Mibuchi’s rune configuration settling in.

 

The air around all of them shimmered, and then flashed with bright rainbow colors, distracting their opponents and making it almost impossible to see anything.

 

This was Hanamiya’s moment. Nijimura looked around desperately, trying to find the boy when nothing happened. His stomach sank as he came to a depressing realization.

 

Hanamiya hadn’t set his part of the trap yet.

 

“Hanamiya!” Nijimura barked.

 

Hanamiya didn’t answer, too busy exchanging curses with the Salem team’s captain.

 

Nijimura cursed to himself.

 

Damn it, he should have known better. He should have made a bigger fuss about what had happened last night, insisted that he be given two new teammates instead of just one.

 

He should have known that after the debacle of the night before, he would never be able to captain Hanamiya Makoto again. Not when the other boy had absolutely nothing to gain by going the extra mile just to win.

 

It was only because Nijimura knew the true extent of the other boy’s power and creativity that he was able to put the pieces together.

 

Hanamiya was throwing the match.

 

Nijimura roared with frustration.

 

He might not be the most powerful duelist in the world, or the country, or even the school, but he was not going to go down without a fight.

 

He iced over a single patch of ice right behind one of their opponents. Hayama’s illusion caused him to step back uncertainly, slipping. Nijimura cushioned his fall and stunned him.

 

But then the illusion flickered and died out. Nijimura looked around, and realized Mibuchi had lost his fight with one of the Salem team members and was out cold. Nijimura ran forward to revive his teammate, but was stopped by two Salem duelists. Nijimura was backed into a corner, forced onto the defense as they cast over and over.

 

Nijimura raised the ground in front of him into a high wall, and without pausing for breath rolled to the left. He managed to catch one of them with a stinging hex to the calf before they noticed he’d changed positions. Nijimura took off running, throwing spells over his shoulder.

 

He was two feet away from Hayama when the other boy went down. The Slytherin’s opponent stepped over him, preventing Nijimura from getting to him.

 

“This doesn’t look great captain,” Masako said out of breath behind him.

 

“Yeah well, I’m not giving up yet.”

 

Nebuya was fighting off one of the Salem duelists while Hanamiya handled the other one. The four remaining members of the Salem team were here, surrounding the seventh and sixth year champions.

 

Nijimura waved his wand and turned the flagstones in a circle around them to sand.

 

Masako levitated the sand into the air, and summoned a storm of wind to circle around them, hiding them from view.

 

Quickly, Nijimura shot off two curses. He heard swearing beyond the wall of sand and knew he’d hit his target.

 

When Masako released the winds, she took care of the last two duelists, and the Hogwarts students ran to help their friends.

 

Hanamiya went down while they were watching, and his opponent turned to Nebuya.

 

“Watch out!” Nijimura yelled, but Nebuya was too focused on the duel.

 

He took the curse straight to the back a moment later and dropped like a sack of potatoes.

 

Nijimura swore under his breath. He was exhausted, but it was still only two on two, and his opponents had to have expended quite a bit of power fighting Nebuya and Hanamiya.

 

One of them shimmered and then vanished, appearing behind their fallen teammates. Nijimura whirled around, ready to face the now five revived duelists behind him.

 

He and Masako fought as hard as they could.

 

Masako held their shield as long as she was able to and Nijimura brought the best power he had to bear. He fought until his wand arm was shaking with exhaustion and his vision was grey.

 

When the other team’s captain caught him with a stunning spell, it was almost a relief.

 

Nijimura was awake only moments after he went down. It took him a moment to reorient himself and realize that he’d been lying on the ground. He had led his team to a complete, utter, and embarrassing defeat.

 

Some captain he was.

 

It took a moment for the dust to settle before the crowd truly internalized what had happened.

 

Hogwarts had failed to advance in the senior division.

 

The six senior champions looked devastated, but none more so than Araki Masako. She’d gone down only a few feet away from Nijimura, and she looked angry.

 

There was a moment in which the entire arena had frozen. And then Salem’s supporters burst out into heavy cheering, shouting up to the rafters at the top of their lungs.

 

Hogwarts’ students started clapping too, more out of politeness than anything else. They felt for their Champions, who had come so far and yet been denied victory at the last moment. Especially when they had already lost a teammate in battle, this loss felt like insult added to the injury. Even Kuroko felt the bitter taste of disappointment on their behalf.        

           

“I’m sorry, Captain,” Masako said, her voice quiet against the thunder of cheering. “I wasn’t strong enough.”

 

Nijimura put his hand on her shoulder and stood without saying a word. He offered the sixth year prefect his hand, trying to hold back his own storm of emotion.

 

“There is always someone stronger,” he said. “Don’t doubt that you did well today.”

 

Masako took his hand, her expression clearly saying that she didn’t believe him.

 

Nijimura was the first one to step forward towards the other team. He reached out a hand to the captain of the Salem team, smiling at him.

 

“Well fought,” he said. “It was a pleasure.”

 

“Thank you for giving it your all,” the other captain replied with a respectful nod.

 

They turned away to their own teams – the Salem captain to corral his victorious winners for the last round, and Nijimura to console the champions who would be sitting at third place.

 

“Hold it together,” he said. Hayama and Nebuya both looked like they were going to cry. Mibuchi’s expression was nothing short of devastated. Araki and Hanamiya looked pissed. “We need to thank our supporters now.”

 

The six of them filed into a line facing the student body and bowed as one.

 

Hogwarts cheered on the Champions that had fought as hard as they could for them.

Slowly, Nijimura led his team out of the arena, head high even in defeat.

 

…

 

The school was somber after the final round of the senior team. More than one student could be heard muttering that if Kiyoshi had been fighting they could have turned the tide in their favor. The blame for this was generally placed squarely at the feet of Hanamiya Makoto, whose actions had resulted in Kiyoshi no longer being able to compete. Anyone who tried to lay that blame at Masko’s feet somehow found themselves at the end of the sternest glare Nijimura could muster and a very politely worded threat.

 

However, Hogwarts wasn’t done yet. That afternoon, the junior team of Hogwarts Champions would be fighting one last round on behalf of the their school. Leaving lunch, the student body seemed to gain back some of their enthusiasm as they remembered that the last round of the junior tournament was about to take place, and that they were well positioned to win.

 

With a team made up of the _Generation of Miracles,_ how could they lose?

 

As they were leaving the Great Hall, Akashi was approached by the captain of the New York team, drawing the redhead Slytherin aside. Kuroko drew closer to see what the blond American wanted with their captain.

 

Nash Gold Jr. reached out to shake Akashi’s hand, and smirked at the shorter boy.

 

“It looks like it has come down to the two of us in the end,” he said. Akashi nodded solemnly back.

 

“Us and our teams,” he corrected the other boy politely. “I trust that my teammates can do a more than adequate job today. Do you?”

 

This would have been an overt show of aggression coming from anyone other than Akashi.He said this with such a serene smile on his face, that it was almost impossible to take it as the insult it was.

 

Kuroko felt his heart pulse with warmth as he processed what Akashi had said, but he was more curious to see how Gold would respond to Akashi’s bold declaration.

 

He threw his head back and laughed, clapping Akashi on the shoulder.

 

“Well then, you have more spunk than I gave you credit for. Let’s each fight to the very best of our abilities and see whether New York or Hogwarts has the stronger pick of students.”

 

“I hope we will not disappoint you,” Akashi said with a very kind smile. Gold grinned back, turning to rejoin his team. Only Kuroko heard the last part of Akashi’s statement, moments after Gold had already walked away.

 

“I hope we will not disappoint you by showing you the truth of your own weakness.”

 

Akashi turned away. The look on his face was as genteel as ever.

 

“Come on,” he said to his team. “Let’s get ready to end this.”

 

The captain of the Generation of Miracles strode purposefully down the path towards the arena. The rest of his team followed behind, cutting an impressive picture against the overcast sky.

 

Kuroko barely remembered the introductory remarks that the tournament official made before they and their opponents were introduced and sent to wait in the wings.

 

They gathered together in a room off one side of the arena, standing in a loose circle.

Akashi took a deep, shuddering, breath to steady himself.

 

“I believe I have said all there is to say,” he replied. “I have been saying it from the first day we took our places on this team. We are absolute. This victory has our names on it already – we just need to go out there and show our opponents that.”

 

It was, as far as pump up speeches went, pretty sparse. It was almost subdued coming from Akashi. However, with all six of them riding high on adrenaline, it brought them back to earth and focused their frantic energy on its rightful target: their final round.

 

“Anything else?” Midorima asked.

 

“All that I request is that you do exactly what you have done in these last rounds,” Akashi replied, and his teammates beamed back.

 

“Can do, Captain!” Kise said, saluting.

 

“I’ll crush them, Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said.

 

“Not if I beat them to the ground first!” Aomine declared.

 

“You’re all fools if you think you will get a blow in before I destroy them,” Midorima cut in tersely.

 

“Well said, all of you,” Akashi told his team with a broad smile. “Tetsuya, anything to add?”

 

Kuroko paused as the attention of his teammates fell on him, putting him in the spotlight.

 

“Let’s do our best,” he said.

 

Aomine laughed and clapped Kuroko on the back.

 

“Don’t worry, Tetsu, there’s no chance of that not happening,” he told him.

 

“Let’s go show the world our true power,” Akashi said, leading the way forward into the arena. The rest of the team followed suit.

 

They walked out into the light of the arena for the last time.

 

Akashi met Nash Gold in the center, shaking his hand with a polite smile.

 

“I wonder which one of them wants to kill the other more,” Aomine muttered.

 

“Oh it’s definitely Akashicchi,” Kise said. “If hundreds of people weren’t watching I’d bet Gold would be dead already.”

 

“He is a singularly obnoxious wizard,” Midorima noted.

 

Akashi returned to their line, glaring his teammates into silence.

 

“Don’t be assholes,” he said shortly. “We’re representing our school now, so be polite.”

 

“He does suck though,” Aomine said.

 

Akashi allowed a small smile to slip through his disapproving glare.

 

“Focus,” he said instead.

 

The Hogwarts team took up their attack formation.

 

The cannons went off.

 

Unsurprisingly, Aomine was the one who took the lead, running forward at full speed. He didn’t even give the New York team time to lay down a shield.

 

Nash Gold Jr. met his attack with a wide grin and spell met shield in a spark of yellow and blue. Aomine’s lightning spell slammed so violently off the shield that when it hit the ground the entire arena rocked with the force of the explosion.

 

The battle was delayed for a second as the competitors found their footing, but Aomine and Gold were already exchanging blows again.

 

Kise grinned, jerking his wand in a complicated pattern that kicked up the still settling dust from the explosion. A small hoard of tiny dragons formed out of the dust, darting towards the other team, clawing at their hair and clothes. Laughing, Kise darted forward, moving between the dragons, using their movements to conceal his own.

 

Murasakibara was defending Midorima from two duelists. With the two taking on Kise and his dragons, that left –

 

An ear splitting sound echoed through the arena and Kuroko turned to see Jason Silver and Akashi engaged in a duel of their own.

 

Kuroko’s skin prickled with goosebumps as he felt the force of their power duking it out only a few yards away.

 

Akashi was on the defense, his shield flaring bright red under the onslaught of power from the huge American wizard. Unlike Aomine and Gold’s dynamic duel, neither wizard had moved from where they were standing. Kuroko was sure that Akashi had barely even moved a muscle as he manipulated his power to defend himself from the attack.

 

Gold and Aomine were exchanging spell after spell at lightning speed. Most of the Champions seemed to have decided that they were best left to fight their own battle, the risk of friendly fire was all too real.

 

Kuroko crept back several steps, looking for his opportunity.

 

One of Kise’s attackers had slipped away to help deal with Murasakibara on the other side of the arena. He was yawning as the three wizards tried to tear apart his shield, although Kuroko could feel it straining under the onslaught.

 

Kise’s opponent had finally blasted away all of the miniature dragons and he started pursuing Kise in full once the dust settled. Unfortunately for the wizard from New York, he had gotten a little distracted.

 

The wizard sent a powerful hex at Kise, but in an instant, Kise was gone. The copy that had been attacked vanished in a shower of golden light while the real Kise jumped backwards. He skidded away from his opponent and stunned him while he was blinking in confusion.

 

Kise shouted in victory and pumped his fist in the air, turning to continue the fight. The three wizards attacking Murasakibara shouted in alarm as they found themselves under fire from two sides.

 

Kuroko thought that the three of his teammates had that well enough in hand, and decided to help Akashi do something about Silver. The two of them seemed to have reached a stalemate – Akashi couldn’t simply overpower the other wizard’s shield, but Silver had no chance of attacking the Slytherin either.

 

Kuroko concentrated on staying quiet and unnoticeable, not that either wizard had eyes for anyone but each other. The air between them was vibrating.

 

A few yards away, Aomine and Gold passed by. Aomine dodged under a bright spell and returned fire. As Kuroko watched, Aomine melted the stone under Gold’s feet, but the American wizard lept up, put the floor to rights, and landed on solid ground. Aomine drove him back a few steps, but was forced back when Gold transfigured the stones beneath him into three large dogs.

 

Aomine took off running, blasting the dogs away with balls of fire while Gold continued to pursue him with a continuous stream of spellcasting.

 

Kuroko couldn’t believe the intensity that this duel had taken on. If it didn’t end soon, more than one wizard in the arena was going to end up with magical exhaustion.

 

Well, it was the last round. Kuroko figured if there was ever any place or time to lay everything you had out on the line, it was here.

 

Aomine and Gold’s passing distracted Silver for a second – long enough for Akashi to register Kuroko’s presence.

 

With a smile, the Slytherin dispelled his shield, spreading his arms.

 

“Well, Silver?” he said pleasantly. “I’m waiting. I’ll even give you the first shot free!”

 

Silver hesitated for a second – long enough to tell Kuroko that he had Akashi’s measure. He knew something was up, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

 

“Or are you scared of what I’ll do if you _do_ manage to hit me?” Akashi asked, taunting the boy. “I’ll even put my wand away.”

 

Even Kuroko thought that was pretty insulting, insinuating that even against a wizard of Silver’s power, Akashi didn’t feel the need to draw his wand. Silver’s eyes narrowed, and he cast a powerful hex at Akashi.

 

Akashi dropped, falling flat to the ground. Silver had enough warning to adjust the height of his spell, but not by enough.

 

Kuroko, who had moved behind his Captain, braced himself for the spell.

 

It actually hurt to touch, burning white-hot and too much power to hold.

 

Kuroko was suddenly really thankful that his teammates rarely fought with the full measure of their power in practice. He didn’t think this was something he would ever be able to do on a regular basis. His hands fully outstretched, he threw the magic right back at its caster, the force of it throwing him to his knees.

 

Silver was blasted clear across the arena, over Aomine’s head and into the protective shield circling the arena.

 

Silver didn’t get up.

 

Kuroko was panting. He looked over at Akashi, who had already gotten to his feat.

 

“That’s four left now,” he said. “Shintarou should be about ready. Why don’t we go help Daiki?”

 

Kuroko grinned back, taking Akashi’s proffered hand to return to his feet.

 

As his Captain turned to go join Aomine’s fight, Kuroko realized that he could smell something burning in the air. His eyes went straight to the back of Akashi’s head, where he could see a line of singed hair.

 

He’d avoided the spell by millimeters and the top fringes of his hair had been burned clean off by the power of the spell.

 

Holy shit.

 

“Listen, Blue, you might as well give up now,” Gold was shouting at Aomine. “You’ve got a million years to go before you’re anywhere near my league.”

 

“Oi, I’m keeping pace with you right now,” Aomine replied tersely. “Shut up and fight would you? Your voice is annoying.”

 

“Did I touch a nerve? Or is this still about that squib you managed to sneak onto your team-”

 

“I’ll show you a squib,” Aomine growled, and his eyes darted over to his captain. “Oi, Captain, go fight someone else. Tetsu and I got this.”

 

Akashi nodded to the other boy, turning to attack the three wizards Kise was still busy with. Four copies of the blonde wizard were darting around, making faces at them and keeping them busy cursing in every other direction.

 

“Who’s Tetsu, your imaginary boyfrie-”

 

Gold didn’t get the chance to finish taunting Aomine. The Gryffindor threw a spell at Kuroko, who had redirected it at Gold from behind. The blonde American managed to shield himself from the spell, but he stared in wide eyed shock at the small Hufflepuff.

 

“Where the hell did you come from?” he demanded.

 

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Kuroko said, deadpan.

 

Gold leapt out of the way of the curse Aomine sent at him to punctuate Kuroko’s rejoinder.

 

“What the hell is this?” the New York captain demanded, eyes wide.

 

“We’re the Generation of Miracles, asshole,” Aomine shot back. “And Tetsu is the scariest damn squib you’re ever going to face.”

 

Gold took several steps back before bracing himself.

 

“Fine,” he snapped. “I’ll take you both on. Show me your supposedly ‘miraculous’ powers then!”

 

The intensity and speed of the duel resumed full pace, but this time neither side got more than a few curses in before they were interrupted again.

 

Suddenly, all of the light in the arena went out. An oppressive darkness settled around them. Kuroko recognized the familiar feeling of Midorima’s power settling around them right before his runes activated.

 

He wondered what kind of trick the Ravenclaw was working on that had robbed every light in the room of power.

 

“Keep up, Blue!” Gold shouted mockingly, laughing as he continued trading blows with Aomine. “I’m not afraid of the dark, this won’t slow me down in the slightest!”

 

Aomine and Kuroko continued to match his pace – Aomine laying down a fire of his own spells and Kuroko catching and redirecting the ones that flew wide from either side.

 

Blue and gold flashes of power lit up their entire side of the arena, and in the eerie glow, the two wizards’ smiles looked almost manic.

 

Aomine was breathing hard and Kuroko was reaching the edge of his limits. The power he was touching burned to his very core as he moved it, almost too hot to handle.

 

And then an explosion of magic was set loose on them.

 

The runic circle Midorima had been working on was complete.

 

Green runes glowed all too brightly through the darkness in every corner of the arena. Kuroko stared in awe as he felt the power of the magic crawling up and down his skin.

 

The New York Institute duelists were shielding themselves in layer upon layer of protective enchantments, clearly too worried about what a disruption of this pattern would do. From what Kuroko could read of these runes, they were right to be worried.

 

Holy shit, Kuroko thought for the second time in the same duel.

 

It occurred to him that the only reason he’d managed to score better on his Runes assignments than Midorima was because the green haired Ravenclaw belonged in a class all his own. If the boy was capable of this kind of large-scale work, what the hell did he bother with basic bindings and simple charms for?

 

Midorima probably spent the time he would have used to study for his exams and review his notes looking up new and creative ways to use runes.

 

The results of that work showed here, obviously and clearly. This was far beyond the magical capabilities of an ordinary student.

 

As Kuroko watched, the floor underneath them was turned from rough stone to a smooth, cold metal with a pink sheen. Kuroko was willing to bet it was copper, though it was hard to tell in the dim green light of the runes.

 

A white circle appeared around Kuroko, and as he watched, similar circles formed around where Aomine, Akashi, Murasakibara, Kise, and Midorima himself stood. Kuroko reached out to gently brush against the magic, recognizing it as a protective field.

 

A second later, green lightning raced along the metal floor, sparking bright in the near darkness. Midorima’s power so strong, it was almost suffocating.

 

The New York duelists still standing tried to combat this force with their own shields, but Midorima’s magic ripped through the three teammates still standing in an instant.

 

Gold stayed on his feet.

 

“You won’t get me with such a cheap trick!” he snarled.

 

Kuroko heard Akashi actually snort and then bright red sparks joined Midorima’s green. Their combined power brought down Gold’s shield in a shower of sparks, not even giving him time to shout in surprise.

 

Aomine blasted him into the edge of the arena, whooping in satisfaction as the three of them managed to take down the captain of the New York institute.

 

The light came back slowly, the magic dissipating from the air more rapidly as the shield around the arena was dropped.

 

The New York Institute was down for the count, having failed to hold off the powerful attack.

 

Kuroko looked up at his teammates in shock and awe.

 

As Kuroko watched, Midorima straightened up, stretched, and pushed his glasses back up his face. Midorima was smiling – full on smiling, his face marked up with dirt and ash and his lucky item still clipped securely to his glasses.

 

Aomine and Kise were hugging, pounding each others’ backs as though it made the moment any less tender.

 

Murasakibara was jumping up and down with excitement, shouting something Kuroko couldn’t even hear over the noise but it was fine -

 

And Akashi – Kuroko had never seen Akashi look so disheveled and uncomposed. The boy’s hair was mussed, his shirt was dirty and burned in places. There were smears of ash and dirt on his face, and there was blood dripping down the side of the Slytherin’s neck.

 

But his eyes _burned_ with pure, fierce joy. He looked elated _._ He looked more _alive_ than Kuroko had ever seen him.

 

Kuroko reached out with his fist, making eye contact with his captain. Akashi reached out with his own fist, fingers shaking in their white knuckled grip on themselves.

 

Their knuckles made contact gently, but it felt like a spark of magic had burst between them.

 

“Thank you, Tetsuya,” Akashi said, tears in his eyes. “Thank you _all_. Thank you so much.”

 

Akashi was swept into a hug by Murasakibara. The Slytherin’s large arms wrapped all the way around their entire team. They knelt there on the stone, arms around each other, weeping in joy and victory, unable to form words.

 

Kuroko didn’t care how weak of a wizard he might be. At that moment if anyone had asked him, he was sure he would have been able to conjure a patronus without any difficulty at all. His current sense of joy and victory was that powerful.

 

They had done it.

 

It took them several minutes to gather the energy to stand and shake hands with the New York team. Akashi was so out of it that he didn’t even notice Nash Gold sneering at him as they shook hands – or at least didn’t react to it.

 

Several minutes later, Akashi seemed to have mostly pulled himself together, but none of them were composed as they left the stadium.

 

The echoes of cheering followed them all the way down the hall towards the showers.

 

…

 

“And in first place by a clear victory, our tournament champions and hosts, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!”

 

The roar of jubilation shook the rafters. It rattled the flagstones of the castle. Hogwarts itself seemed to glow with pride for the achievement of its students and the excitement of the rest.

 

Aomine grabbed Kuroko and swung him up onto his shoulders. Kuroko squeezed his legs tighter around the Gryffindor’s shoulders to stabilize himself in alarm. Still he couldn’t help but grin from his position high above the heads of his peers.

 

Murasakibara – now at eye level with the smaller boy – ruffled his blue hair with a smile. Out among the spectators, Kuroko saw Satsuki jumping up and down screaming at the top of her lungs with absolutely no composure at all, pink hair flying behind her. Ogiwara, Furihata, and Sakurai were carrying their giant “Tetsu for President” banner. The sign was jerking awkwardly as Ogiwara and Furihata leapt up and down on a bench while Sakurai tried really hard to keep the banner stable in the middle, blushing and apologizing to students as the wayward banner threw him this way and that.

 

Even Midorima was grinning widely and unselfconsciously. He was standing next to Akashi, observing the celebrating Champions. His smile from earlier hadn’t once left his face, and his eyes gleamed with an almost manic happiness.

 

Kuroko made eye contact with the redhead. He nodded in approval at Kuroko before turning to Midorima to murmur something quiet. Midorima went bright red as Akashi shoved him towards Murasakibara, who, following Aomine’s example, hoisted the Ravenclaw boy on his shoulders.

 

Around them, a new wave of cheering and shouting broke out.

 

“Put me down, this instant!” Midorima insisted, but Murasakibara was having none of it, and paraded the other boy around. Students reached up to shake the Ravenclaw’s hand in congratulations. Midorima accepted them, his face still the bright pink color of Momoi’s hair the whole way.

 

It was pure stupid silliness, and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world, almost as good as the actual duels themselves had been. Almost as good as the hours upon hours of practice with his friends. Almost as warm a feeling as sitting in the common room, watching his fellow Hufflepuffs celebrate _him,_ showing their care and support.

 

Kuroko thought it would last forever. God, he _hoped_ it would never come to an end. Those days were full of joy and laughter and fun.

 

Kuroko knew without a doubt that he would never want to leave this behind, no matter what. He had found the place where he truly belonged, and he was more than thrilled to remain by the side of the Generation of Miracles.

 

He was their shadow. Together, they were his light – five miniature suns around which he rotated as a moon, soaking up their light and taking on their strength. He was strong because they were strong; their strength drew the eye and his filled the negative space where attention left.

 

That was never going to change.

 

…

 

Akashi had managed to maneuver it so that they would have a moment to themselves, gathered in the same room where they had met at the beginning of the year.

 

But this meeting could not have been more different than that night.

 

An intense, excited energy was passing between them. They knew that they had won, that they had proven themselves victorious. They had worked hard and conquered every single contender that had attempted to stand in their way, and they were high on that knowledge.

 

Akashi led their way into the room, and leaned against the teacher’s desk at the front. He turned his head to the ceiling, eyes shut tight. Kuroko could see the smile on his face though. He knew that the tears Akashi was trying very hard to hold back were in reality tears of intense joy.

 

Kuroko knew that because he felt exactly the same way.

 

“Akashicchi! We won!”

 

Kise was the first one to speak, his voice vibrating from excitement, his smile so wide it seemed likely to split his face open.

 

“We were all there, sheesh,” Midorima muttered, but he was smiling too. Kuroko had seen the moment when their victory had washed over the reserved boy. He knew that he was just as moved by the match as the rest of them.

 

“We did,” Akashi said. “You have all done so, so well. You have performed admirably. All of you.”

 

His eyes opened, and fixed on each of them one at a time.

 

“There is so much potential in this room,” he whispered. “One day, no matter whether or not we contrive to make it so, we will be the pillars of the wizarding world. And I need all of you to make me a promise.”

 

“Aka-chin, that’s so bothersome,” Murasakibara whined.

 

“It’s not a difficult promise, Atsushi,” Akashi corrected patiently. “I want you to promise me that you will not rest on your laurels. I want all of us to swear that we will continue to fight to improve.”

 

“I don’t know about anyone else, but I already have lots I want to get started learning!” Kise said eagerly.

 

“We’ll be unstoppable,” Midorima agreed.

 

Aomine huffed contemptuously, but he nodded. There was a glint in his eyes that swore he would allow himself to come second to none.

 

“Fine,” Murasakibara whined, and Akashi nodded to him, acknowledging the promise.

 

All five of them turned to Kuroko, the only one who had not yet spoken.

 

“I will do my best, as always,” Kuroko said solemnly. “Although I don’t know how much longer my unusual skills will continue to be useful.”

 

“We will always have need of you,” Akashi said comfortingly. “You are our trump card, the kind of fighter no one else could reproduce. Your unique skills will only continue to grow, Kuroko, and we will fight together.”

 

_We will fight together._

 

Kuroko really liked the sound of that.

**...**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, feel free to [come find me at my Tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) and check out the tag #600korbust
> 
> Also, much as this may seem like an end, we actually haven't gotten to the end of Arc I yet. That'll happen in chapter 18.


	14. Kagetora? More Like VodkaTora! (If I Ran This School I Would Drink A Lot More Than I Already Do And I Drink A Lot)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is being updated from the top of my brand new perfect IKEA desk and now I feel like a real writer or something

…

 

In the aftermath of the interschool tournament, dueling was the only subject on anyone’s mind. With pleased agreement, and in the face of overwhelming student support, Professor Shirogane reinstated the school dueling club with the approval of the Headmaster.

 

The announcement was made during the last few weeks of the school year, and the student body had never been so excited during study week in anyone’s memory. The Headmaster told them that they would receive the information to submit dueling club team registers at some point over the summer, and it was all anyone wanted to discuss.

 

Interest in the club was explosive. By the end of summer, over fifteen teams had submitted applications to be considered intramural teams. Five had filed requests to compete in official tournaments outside of school as well.

 

Kuroko received a letter from Akashi during the second week of summer, even before he had received his fourth year grades, and a week before the applications for dueling teams were sent out by the Headmaster. The Slytherin was requesting his permission to place Kuroko on the competitive register of Akashi’s team. Kuroko had sent back a quick acquiescence with no hesitation. He wanted nothing more than to continue to stand on the court with his teammates.

 

The idea of being able to fight with them, even just one more time, was highly attractive. Kuroko had discovered something he loved, and the fact that he could do it with people who were his good friends only made it that much more fun.

 

He couldn’t wait for the school year to start. Even with the looming spectre of his O.W.L. exams waiting in the distance, Kuroko was more than excited to be able to join his friends in the arena again.

 

Besides, his participation on the Generation of Miracles team would be excellent practice for almost all of his classes. Kuroko had already realized that his unique style of dueling allowed him to mix multiple magical disciplines. He had not yet received his marks from this year, but he was certain that they would be more than satisfactory – in part because of all of the practical experience he was getting on the dueling court.

 

There were so many good things about dueling. But in truth, Kuroko just couldn’t wait to see his friends again.

 

…

 

“I can’t believe that asshole,” Koganei ranted. His footsteps echoed loudly off the floor of the kitchen as he paced angrily, arms swinging wildly in frustration.

 

Mitobe was whisking a bowl by hand, nodding along as the Gryffindor shouted out his frustration.

 

“He got out of the damn hospital last week and he wants to start a dueling team? What’s wrong with him?”

 

Mitobe carefully set aside the whisk and cracked three eggs into the bowl before continuing his rhythmic mixing.

 

“I mean did Hanamiya hit his head with one of those ice picks during that battle, or was he always this stupid and we just didn’t realize?” Koganei continued, barely dodging out of the way of a trio of House elves hurried past him carrying a giant pot.

 

“Is he just begging to get hurt again? I don’t understand why he’s so eager to do something so dangerous, but I can’t just let that idiot try and duel without a full team.”

 

Mitobe nodded sagely in agreement.

 

“Do you think we should say yes? I mean, I don’t want to fight any of these teams.”

 

Mitobe shrugged. He placed the whisk in the sink and started pouring the chocolate batter into a greased up pan.

 

“The only person he’s asked who even knows the official dueling regulations is Hyuuga, and Merlin knows whether or not he’s even going to join. I don't think Kiyoshi even told him yet, and when he does, that's gonna be a huge fight."

 

Mitobe looked up and cocked his head to the side.

 

“I hate when they’re fighting,” Koganei admitted. He pushed himself up onto the table as Mitobe scooped the last of the batter into the pan. Mitobe shooed him a couple inches down. Koganei followed his unspoken direction, settling into his seat on the table farther away from the Hufflepuff’s workspace.

 

“But dueling is fun and I do want to try it,” Koganei said brightly. “At least if we make our own team, we’re guaranteed to be able to fight in at least a few matches, instead of just bench warming for the Miracles. We would have fun, for a change. Even if we just get our asses handed to us repeatedly by other strong teams we might even learn something about dueling.”

 

Mitobe nodded in silent assent.

 

Koganei let out a sound of unbridled frustration, throwing his head back angrily.

 

“He’s such an idiot!”

 

Mitobe shrugged again, turning around to put the pan of brownies into the oven. Smoothly, he levitated the bowls and utensils he had used over to the sink. As he passed by the Gryffindor, he handed Koganei the mixing spoon from the bowl. Koganei stuck it in his mouth and thought for a moment before smiling brightly.

 

“Perfect!” he said. Mitobe grinned back, before finishing his path towards the sink.

 

Koganei followed the Hufflepuff over to the other side of the kitchens, used to the image of the tall sixth year hand scrubbing dishes side by side with the school House Elves.

 

“It’s not like we don’t have enough work to do already, you know?” Koganei continued, pacing behind him. “And this is going to be freaking hard; Hanamiya’s starting a team. Of course Akashi’s keeping his stupid Miracles for his own team. I heard even Imayoshi was recruiting people. Haizaki was bragging about how he was going to join a team, but who knows when that asshole is lying and when he’s telling the truth. Does Kiyoshi really want to fight all of them? He’s gonna get fucking hurt!”

 

Mitobe put the clean bowl he’d washed onto the drying rack and started in on the spoons and whisks. He looked back at Koganei with a sympathetic expression before continuing with his task.

 

Koganei was still pacing and ranting by the time that Mitobe had finished meticulously cleaning every utensil. He gave Koganei a meaningful look that stopped the boy mid rant. Koganei smiled as he understood exactly what Mitobe wanted from him, and turned back to the House Elves, still hard at work in the kitchen.

 

“Oh, he says thanks for letting him use the space, guys!” he said loudly. "He really appreciates it, since he knows you guys would rather bake for him."

 

The three House Elves still scrubbing at the sinks squeaked and rushed to hug the tall student around the legs, insisting that their sink was his sink. 

 

Mitobe blushed bright red and gave each of the little elves a hug before grabbing a cleaning cloth to wipe down the surface of the table he had used as a baking space. He tapped the rag with his wand when he was done to clean it, and replaced it with the other cleaning clothes.

 

“Anyway, what do you think? Should we join the team or not? Kiyoshi’s really great and everything, but I have trouble seeing him find two other idiots to replace us if we don’t sign up.”

 

Mitobe tilted his head to the side, clearly thinking hard about the question.

 

They were both interrupted by the sound of the oven beeping.

 

Mitobe held up a hand and rushed over. He used a pair of dish towels as baking gloves and lifted the tray out of the oven.

 

The delicious smell of chocolate filled the immediate area, and Koganei closed his eyes and breathed deeply in appreciation.

 

“You’re the best baker anywhere,” he insisted. Mitobe gently cut the brownies into squares before turning to the Gryffindor and tapping him gently on the head. He raised an eyebrow as he gestured to the room at large around them. 

 

“Oh! Yeah, I guess you’re right. Sorry, Rin, you’re only the best wizard baker out there! These guys have you beat hands down.”

 

Mitobe blushed furiously and turned back to his brownies, lifting them out of the pan one at a time to cool.

 

“Okay, but seriously, joining Kiyoshi’s team. What do you think? Because honestly, I can’t believe that asshole-”

 

Mitobe cut off Koganei by placing a brownie directly into his open mouth. Koganei’s eyes widened in surprise, but he looked a lot less bothered a second later when Mitobe leaned down and pecked him on the lips.

 

It was Koganei’s turn to blush pink.

 

A minute later, Mitobe had distributed the rest of the brownies to the House Elves that had kindly allowed him the use of their space to stress bake, and Koganei had finished eating the brownie. Motive had clearly made his decision about what he wanted them to do, and Koganei wasn't upset with it. Actually, he was kind of looking forward to what their year would be like. Stressful, probably. But that also meant plenty of excitement and adventure too, and Koganei was always up for a good adventure.

 

“You’re the greatest,” he said, kissing Mitobe for real now that his mouth was clear of the chocolate desert. “So, I guess I should tell Kiyoshi we’re joining the team, huh?”

 

Mitobe nodded brightly, and entwined his fingers with Koganei’s. He didn’t say anything – he never had to, not with Koganei – but Koganei knew exactly what his best friend and boyfriend was telling him. Neither of them would let the other get hurt in a duel and they were going to have a whole lot of fun in the process.

 

They’d only been here for two days, and it was already shaping up to be a pretty excellent year at Hogwarts.

 

And like Koganei had told Mitobe before, mid rant about the dueling tournament, at the very least, even if they got their asses handed to them in this year’s dueling tournament, they’d have fun doing it.

 

…

Hyuuga Junpei was angrier than he could ever remember being.

 

He’d been walking by the announcement board in Gryffindor tower, checking to make sure the schedule for Quidditch tryouts had in fact made it to the list, when his eyes fell on the sheet of registered dueling teams and their captains.

 

He’d been unsurprised to see Akashi was starting his own team. Hyuuga had spared exactly ten seconds of grumpiness over the fact that the redhead Slytherin would now be allowed to unleash his Miracles onto the general population of Hogwarts. These ten seconds were interrupted by the next name down on the list, however.

 

If there had been any physical way for the Gryffindor quidditch captain to rip the paper off the board and crush it, he would have. Unfortunately, the announcement board was spelled to prevent just such destruction of harmless leaflets and flyers. The Gryffindor had to content himself with storming out of the Common Room and marching down the stairs, sending scared students scattering to make a path for him.

 

He found Kiyoshi outside the library. He and Riko were talking in hushed tones and looking over the contents of a journal together.

 

“Teppei, what the fuck!” Hyuuga demanded, folding his arms over his chest. Riko looked up, alarmed, as the Gryffindor came striding down the hall. She jumped up to stand in front of the other prefect.

 

“Junpei-”

 

“Riko, move, I have bone to pick with Teppei,” Hyuuga all but growled.

 

“Seriously, what the hell?” Hyuuga demanded over the smaller girl’s shoulder. “You got out of the hospital a week ago. You’re still using a brace so that your knee joint grows back in correctly - what the fuck do you think you’re doing starting a dueling team? Do you want to get yourself hurt again?”

 

Kiyoshi looked lost for words under this onslaught of emotion. Riko, on the other hand, knew exactly how to handle her Gryffindor when he was in one of these moods.

 

Putting one hand up to her mouth, she issued a shrill whistle, cutting off whatever Hyuuga wanted to say next.

 

“Now listen up,” she told him sternly. “Teppei is an adult. Not only that, but he’s your friend and your boyfriend, so don’t be an ass to him! You should be supporting him instead of demoralizing him!”

 

“Did you know about this?” Hyuuga demanded, throwing his arms wide. “Did you know he was going to start a team?”

 

Riko shifted uncomfortably, which told Hyuuga everything he needed to know.

 

He was angry, he was worried, he was scared. But now he felt hurt and a little betrayed that Kiyoshi had hid this from him, and that Riko had helped. They were a team, all three of them. That meant they did things together. They didn’t go behind each others’ backs and lie to each other. That’s not how a relationship was supposed to work.

 

“Teppei,” he said, his voice low and gravelly. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

 

“Because I knew you would be angry,” Kiyoshi said softly.

 

“I’m not even angry, I’m terrified!” Hyuuga shouted. “You’re not even healed and you’re ready to throw away your health again, just to what? Get beaten down by a bunch of kids a full year younger than you?"

 

“It’s not-”

 

“You’re going to get hurt again, and I’m not standing around just waiting for that to happen,” Hyuuga said. He closed his eyes tight against the onslaught of tears that threatened to fall.

 

“And Riko, how could you? I can’t believe you care more about dueling than your own boyfriend’s health. I can’t believe you’d just let him try and get himself hurt again just to prove he can lose to those rainbow haired assholes.”

 

“As far as I’m concerned, so long as you’re putting yourself in danger for a stupid extracurricular activity, I don’t want to be involved with either of you,” Hyuuga finished. The words burned at his throat, but he had to say them.

 

He couldn’t stand on the field with Teppei and watch him get hurt again. He just couldn’t do it.

 

“Junpei, we didn’t mean to hide anything from you-”

 

“But you did,” Hyuuga said sharply. “The only reason this - us - works so well – hell, the only reason it works at all is because we’re always open and honest with each other. How are we supposed to make this work if I can’t trust you anymore? You can't hide shit like this from me and just expect me to be okay with it, especially when you're hiding secrets that might get you hurt!"

 

Hyuuga turned and stormed away before his significant others could see him break. Riko’s eyes were wide and filled with tears when she turned back to Kiyoshi, burying her head in his robes to prevent herself from crying.

 

“Teppei, what are we going to do?”

 

Kiyoshi looked concerned, but he smiled and gently hugged the Ravenclaw back.

 

“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “We’ll let Junpei calm down and then explain it to him. Everything is going to work out. It will.”

 

...

 

“Professor Shirogane, are you really going to approve all these requests?”

 

The professor in question smiled gently, pushing the parchment back over to the headmaster.

 

“You saw how excited everyone was about dueling last year,” he said by way of explanation. “Even the ones who didn’t become champions have been buzzing over how wonderful it was to watch. I haven’t seen this much excitement about dueling in – oh, ten years, maybe!”

 

“That’s because it’s dangerous,” the Headmaster said. “There’s a reason the program was discontinued to begin with, as you damn well know. That interschool tournament was the worst thing that could have happened. Now every kid in this damn school wants to play around with dangerous magic and put each other in danger for a quick thrill. It's fight club for teenagers with lethal weapons thrown in, and I don't like it."

 

“One tragic accident doesn’t mean that the entire field of magic is without merit!” Professor Shirogane returned. “It did quite a bit of good for a lot of kids, kids who needed focus and direction – like so many of the students who appealed to be allowed to start their own team in the intramural league!”

 

“It would be irresponsible of me to allow students who aren’t trained to mess around with offensive magic with such a low level of supervision,” the Headmaster returned. “Especially some of these kids… I don’t trust their maturity or restraint. Someone is going to get hurt. Someone already _has_  ended up in the hospital wing over dueling, and that was at the hands of a member of their own damned team!”

 

“Come now, Headmaster, dueling was quite the fashion once upon a time,” Professor Shirogane said lightly. “In fact, I remember quite a few young Hogwarts students who benefitted from the dueling program we once had.”

 

“That’s different!” Headmaster Aida immediately shot back. “We never-”

 

“Never what?” Professor Shirogane said. “Got hurt? Sure you did. None of you were perfect examples of maturity back then, but being on the field allowed you a chance to grow and change that. Hogwarts once had the premier dueling program in the world. If we cultivate our students and encourage their interest, not only will that make the school look good, but it will be a chance for our students to grow as wizards and witches.”

 

“Someone is going to get hurt!”

 

“Headmaster,” Professor Shirogane sighed heavily. “Most injuries from dueling are not serious, and the board has already approved my model for the program. You must have noticed that this year our students scored an average of ten points higher on their Defense, Transfiguration, and Charms standard exams than usual? Not a single student got below an Acceptable in any of those classes on the O.W.L exams or the N.E.W.T.s. That’s an impressive effect, and it was built on the excitement that came from just watching others. I strongly believe that this is the creative enrichment that will keep our gifted students like the Miracles invested in their education, and inspire the slackers to bring their best to their classrooms and exams, if only for the adulation of their peers in the arena."

 

“It’s not really even the dueling I have a problem with, it’s these teams!” the headmaster said. “Hanamiya Makoto wants to make a team? And what about Haizaki? Imayoshi? I’m worried that if I approve this list some of these students will use dueling as an opportunity to bully and hurt other students with school approval!”

 

Professor Shirogane nodded, listening to his complaints. He leaned back, running a hand through his grey hair.

 

“These are children, Headmaster,” he said. “Some of them need an outlet, none more than our most stringent troublemakers. Or didn’t you notice last year that we had no complaints about Hanamiya Makoto’s conduct at all, aside from what happened during the end of the tournament?”

 

The Headmaster huffed rudely, unimpressed. One year of reasonably good behavior did not erase what might be in the right light seen as an attempt on another student's life at worst, and gross recklessness at best. Neither were traits he wanted his students to cultivate.

 

“We also didn’t have a single prank,” Professor Shirogane continued. “Which only reinforces my suspicions of who our pranksters are. This program will help give students with too much energy, like Hanamiya, a chance to run it off constructively. And for students like the Generation of Miracles, they have already mostly surpassed our standard curriculum. This is a way to keep them engaged in new and interesting subject material. Surely we can’t discount so many students who are unusually eager to learn? We must meet them where their passion is, or risk letting their potential wither away out of boredom. I have not seen so many students taking their education in their own hands during my entire time as a teacher here!"

 

The Headmaster couldn’t deny that last contention.

 

“Fine,” he grumbled. “I’ll accept and approve whichever teams you feel appropriate. However there will be rules. All duels, whether official or not must take place in a warded arena with a dueling instructor present. There will be limits to what kind of magic may be used and the professor must be ready to end the duel at the barest hint of misconduct. The students who wish to participate will sign an agreement to behave appropriately during and between duels. And the first time a student in the program is caught dueling outside of an official match, the program will end in its entirety.”

 

They were draconian rules, in that they imposed significantly more oversight and control over the program than had been originally negotiated. However strict, they were rules Professor Shirogane was more than willing to accept. After all, he had no illusions about the fact that magic was dangerous. Students shouldn’t be encouraged to test their limits without an adult witch or wizard there to make sure that none of them got hurt.

 

Perhaps that last rule alone would be able to provide students the necessary incentive to avoid injury outside of the dueling arena as well.

 

“Very well, Headmaster, you drive a hard bargain, but I will accept your rules.”

 

Headmaster Aida rolled his eyes.

 

“You always were a smug bastard,” he said. “You’re going to cause me all sorts of trouble this year, aren’t you?”

 

Professor Shirogane just smiled genially at the headmaster.

 

“The business of educating young minds is never free from trouble,” he said lightly, his eyes wrinkling at the corners with his smile. “I just want our students to have fun and learn.”

 

“Sounds more like trouble to me,” the Headmaster said gruffly.

 

“No more than you and your cohort ever caused for me,” the professor returned with a peaceful smile.

 

“And there it is,” the Headmaster said. “I knew this was really about your petty revenge, you old windbag. Shall we drink to the success of our dueling program and the safety of our students then?”

 

Professor Shirogane raised his cup, still smiling that gentle smile over the rim at the headmaster.

 

"To the success of our student's education," he agreed. "May it be the beginning of a lifetime of enrichment for every student who passes through these halls of learning."

 

The headmaster rolled his eyes, downing the alcohol inside his glass in a single gulp. He did not look appeased by his colleagues good intentions. His expression remained troubled, and Shirogane hoped that he would have ample opportunity to prove to the headmaster that this had not been a bad idea over the course of the year. Privately, he hoped the students selected to run their own teams would be on their best behavior, knowing that even one misstep would cause the entire program to be discontinued.

 

Honestly, a small degree of chaos in a school environment was acceptable - perhaps even desirable, given the fact that students rarely responded well to being directly told what to do. They needed to be guided, not dominated, and given the freedom to pursue their interests, which is why Hogwarts provided such flexibility in taking electives and what O.W.L and N.E.W.T exams students wanted to take.

 

Shirgane steadied his own nerves and took a sip out of his glass. He winced. The firewhiskey that the headmaster had poured for them was exceptionally strong, and absolutely not something that he wanted to finish drinking.

 

“You worry too much,” Shirogane said, setting down his own glass on the headmaster's desk, and rising to his feet. “What is the worst that could happen, Headmaster?”

 

…

 

Kuroko hit the ground hard, his knees slamming against cold stone painfully.

 

It was only the first week of his fifth year, and already he’d been subjected to no fewer than three of these incidents.

 

“Watch out!”

 

A voice yelled the words mockingly from somewhere behind him. Kuroko pushed himself back up off the floor, only for a boot to collide with the center of his back.

 

“I can’t believe that the Generation of Miracles needs someone like this on their team.”

 

Ah, that would be Haizaki. Kuroko swallowed down his reaction. Anything he did or said would only fuel the fire of his amusement. If he ignored them, they would go away. If he ignored them, they would get bored and go seek out the response they wanted from someone else.

 

“Are you done?” he asked instead. “I would like to get to the Great Hall.”

 

Haizaki laughed, high and mocking, and Kuroko heard several other voices join in as well. He couldn’t distinguish any specific one that he knew. As it was, he was too concerned about Haizaki to turn his head to look.

 

“You can’t even defend yourself from a non-magical attack!” he jeered. “You really are pathetic.”

 

Kuroko sighed inwardly. He didn’t move from where he was sprawled on his hands and knees, not wanting to give the other boy a reason to hurt him.

 

“He’s worse than a squib,” one of the other voices said.

 

“The Generation of Miracles must have a lot of pity for him,” a third voice said. Kuroko didn’t recognize either of these new voices.

 

“He does look rather pretty on his knees,” Haizaki mused, kneeling down in front of Kuroko. He put a hand under Kuroko’s chin, raising his face so they could meet eyes. “How about it then, does Akashi-kun keep you around because you can satisfy him in other ways?”

 

Kuroko felt a sick twist in his stomach.

 

This was going down a very bad road. He didn’t say anything, remaining stubbornly silent as the rest of Haizaki’s group of thugs guffawed stupidly.

 

“Hey!”

 

Footsteps slammed against stone floors, echoing down the corridor.

 

Kuroko’s eyes looked beyond Haizaki’s face to see Kiyoshi Teppei, sixth year prefect of Hufflepuff, and the Iron Heart of Hogwarts.

 

His eyes, normally kind and crinkled around the edges with laughter, were narrowed in anger. He’d drawn himself up to his considerable height, standing with his feet placed in a fighting stance. The threat was clear in every inch of his body: there was a fifty-fifty shot he’d curse them or just pound them into the flagstones. The air around Kiyoshi practically vibrated with magic.

 

It was the first time Kuroko had seen him since he’d been carted away on a stretcher, headed with all urgency towards a hospital. The relief he felt upon seeing the other boy whole and uninjured was rivaled only by the relief of being rescued from whatever the bullies that had ambushed him had planned.

 

Right behind him and a little to the right strode Aida Riko, arms folded across her chest angrily, one hand clutching her wand in a white knuckled grip. Kuroko had never seen either of the prefects in such a rage before. He was kind of touched that it was fury on his behalf, even if he was certain he could have endured whatever Haizaki intended to do to him.

 

To Kiyoshi’s left there was a boy who stood almost head to head with him, prefect badge glinting in the torchlight, his red and gold tie declaring him to be a Gryffindor.

 

Kuroko recognized Hyuuga Junpei, primarily from his near homicide attempt on Hanamiya after the ‘accident’ that had sent Kiyoshi to the hospital in the first place. Had Hyuuga been born five years earlier or later, he might have been hailed as one of the most brilliant Quidditch prodigies of all time. He’d have easily been Gryffindor’s Ace and Captain. Kuroko had seen the other boy at a distance during Quidditch games. He made an excellent Keeper, supporting a team full of unrestrained power in the form of Kise and Aomine. The Hufflepuff was actually kind of disappointed that Aomine and Kise had decided to quit Quidditch, because watching them work together with Hyuuga was incredible.

 

He had also kind of been looking forward to watching Hyuuga kick their asses into something that resembled respectability. Unfortunately, as always, Akashi’s will was absolute.

 

Kuroko had never seen Kiyoshi’s kind, smiling face contorted in such contempt. There was rage, possibly even hate, etched there now. Kuroko was almost afraid of the power his senior was exuding.

 

“Leave my Hufflepuffs alone,” he snarled.

 

“Come on, Iron Heart, they were just having a bit of fun,” Hanamiya said, striding forward out of the shadows to throw an arm around the prefect’s shoulder.

 

“Plus we all know he’ll just run off to Akashi the moment you release him,” Hanamiya sneered. “Your little Hufflepuff already has plenty of keepers, Teppei, you don’t need to play protector for him.”

 

Kiyoshi for his part showed absolutely no familiarity with his fellow Uncrowned King, despite Hanamiya’s friendly smile.

 

Kuroko didn’t see what happened, but a second later the Slytherin had been blasted against the wall. If Kiyoshi was still suffering any pain from his injury, he certainly wasn’t showing it from the quick and graceful movement he’d just displayed. If the rumors about a falling out between the three prefects had any truth to them, there was no way to tell by looking at them now. The threatening aura the three of them were giving off was a pure united front of aggression.

 

“What I’m seeing is one fifth year Hufflepuff on the floor, being harassed by multiple seniors,” Kiyoshi said. “And unfortunately for all of you, I’m a prefect. So are Aida and Hyuuga, and the way we see this situation is how it’s going to get reported. What I’m thinking is that a three second head start is more than generous enough for all of you to get out of the range of our wands before I start cursing.”

 

Kuroko didn’t see the expressions of his bullies, but a second later he heard footsteps running away. He was pretty sure Hanamiya was too dignified to run, but he made himself scarce almost as quickly as the rest of them.

 

It was Hyuuga who offered him a hand up, eyes bright with concern behind his glasses.

 

“It’s Kuroko, right?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed, taking the hand and letting himself be pulled to his feet.

 

“Hyuuga Junpei, I'm the sixth year Gryffindor prefect,” the older boy said. “Have those boys been bothering you?”

 

Kuroko pursed his lips together.

 

He thought about what school had been like since he’d come back for his fifth year.

 

Now that he’d been allowed to fade from the direct influence of the Generation of Miracles (outside of their matches, that is), he’d been the target of cruel comments, legs stuck out in the hallways, missing possessions, and defaced homework. He’d gone from being mostly invisible to having a target painted on his back, all in the span of a summer.

 

But if he said anything, they would win.

 

Because the only way the bullies would lay off is if Akashi made them. And Kuroko wasn’t going to go crawling to Akashi over this. A fearsome wizard and a ruthless captain, Akashi was exactly who Kuroko wanted on his side in a fight. But this was Kuroko’s fight, and Kuroko’s fight alone, because if he brought in anyone else, it would never stop. He would always need to hide behind someone else to fix his problems, and that was unacceptable.

 

“No,” Kuroko lied, shaking his head. “I think they were just messing around.”

 

Hyuuga made an impatient noise in the back of his throat, but it was Aida that shoved him out of the way.

 

“If people are bullying you, I want to know,” she commanded. “And I want to know now.”

 

“Oh look, you do care about students making decisions that hurt them.”

 

“Junpei, don’t start,” Riko snapped. “I am this done with that ridiculous attitude-”

 

“Guys,” Kiyoshi said, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. “Maybe we can continue this discussion somewhere not in front of our underclassman?”

 

Hyuuga made another frustrated noise in the back of his throat and rolled his eyes.

 

Kuroko thought that there was probably more than rumors to the bad blood between the three presumably inseperable students.

 

“At any rate,” Riko turned back to Kuroko. “I want you to tell me what was going on here, and I want an honest answer, okay?”

 

“I promise,” Kuroko said, his face blank. “I’m not being bullied.”

 

They’d get bored eventually, and it would stop. It wasn’t bullying even, really. It was just a bunch of bored teenagers who were disappointed because they didn’t understand how the Generation of Miracles worked. That Kuroko was weak only because his strength was the glue holding together the rest of the team. His friends knew the truth, and that was enough. He didn't need the adulation of the spotlight - he was more bothered by the fact that anyone was noticing him in association with the Miracles at all. Last year, most of the school didn't even know who he was after watching him compete with them across multiple tests of strength. This year, almost everyone seemed to know his name, and either hate or resent him.

 

At any rate, once everyone got bored with it, he would fade back into obscurity, shielded by the blinding success of his teammates.

 

Plus Kuroko could start rebuilding his misdirection now that he wasn’t constantly in the public eye.

 

“Teppei, you can’t seriously believe this,” Hyuuga turned to Kiyoshi, his voice tight with frustration. “You heard them-”

 

“I believe Kuroko has the right to have a say in how the situation is handled,” Kiyoshi said evenly. He smiled down at the smaller boy, the tension leaving his large stature. “If Kuroko says he isn’t being bullied, then we’ll just walk him to the Great Hall for now and continue our rounds.”

 

Kuroko was immensely grateful that Aida and Hyuuga let the matter drop after that. He was even more grateful to his fellow Hufflepuff for not letting them make a big deal out of it.

 

“Thank you for coming to my rescue,” he said instead, bowing at the three of them.

 

“Well, let’s just get you to dinner then, and we’ll get back to patrolling.”

 

Kiyoshi said that last bit with a pointed glare at his fellow Prefects, and that was the end of it. Kuroko was immensely thankful to have the focus taken off of him.

 

He’d been here a week, and he already wished he could just turn around and go home.

 

…

 

Since returning to Hogwarts, Kuroko’s misdirection had been…broken.

 

That was the best way Kuroko could describe it. Whatever quirk of magic he’d utilized to help Hogwarts win victory after victory in the tournament last year had worn thin. And it was beginning to be a subject of great concern for Kuroko.

 

He was unclear on what exactly the problem was, but there definitely was a problem. Kuroko wasn’t used to people seeing him as he approached, nor to them talking about him in any detail.

 

When he walked towards the Hufflepuff table after his confrontation with Haizaki and Hanamiya, Furihata waved excitedly at him, and Ogiwara shifted over to make room for him. All without him saying anything to bring himself to their attention.

 

“Hey, what happened?” Ogiwara asked. “I thought you were right behind me when we left Charms?”

 

“I just tripped,” Kuroko said. Ogiwara let out an exasperated huff that told Kuroko that the other Hufflepuff didn’t believe him for a second.

 

“Fine, if that’s what you want me to believe for now I will,” he said. “But we’re talking about this later.”

 

Kuroko shrugged non-comittally, wondering if there was any chance his misdirection would decide to just randomly start working again sometime soon, hopefully before Ogiwara brought the issue up again.

 

He didn’t really want to talk about the fact that since they had come back to school, he had been the target of petty bullies like Haizaki, or assholes like Hanamiya. Students that just wanted to lord their strength over someone weaker than themselves.

 

Kuroko didn’t want to go to a teacher about it, because he was fairly certain that the situation would only escalate from there. Besides, it had never been a problem before now – he’d always been able to escape the notice of bullies easily, this past week had been the exception. Surely his misdirection would return soon enough, and this would go back to being a non-issue.

 

Please Merlin let this go back to being a non-issue.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how much longer he could tolerate this malfunction of his misdirection.

 

Kise had managed to catch him leaving their last class of the day to let him know that Akashi wanted to see them in their practice room. Kuroko was a little dismayed that Akashi wanted to start practice on their first day back at class, but it wasn’t like he had expected anything else from the captain of the Generation of Miracles.

 

He was absolute, and so was his training schedule.

 

So after dinner, Kuroko made his excuses to his roommates, who ribbed him about responding to Akashi’s every beck and call.

 

“If you want to attend practice in my place, I have no objection,” Kuroko told Furihata seriously. The other Hufflepuff squeaked and blushed bright red, assuring Kuroko that he had just been kidding around and that he had no desire to do so.

 

Feeling a little smug, Kuroko headed to the second floor to meet his classmates for practice.

 

He was the second one to arrive. Murasakibara was sitting against the wall by the door, munching on what looked like a muggle candy bar.

 

“Kuro-chin, it’s good to see you,” Murasakibara said, finishing his bite. “Want some?”

 

Kuroko shook his head at the proffered chocolate bar.

 

“No, thank you,” he said.

 

Murasakibara shrugged and took another bite.

 

“Suit yourself,” he said with a mouthful of chocolate.

 

Kuroko took a seat beside the Slytherin giant. He was almost positive that Murasakibara had grown another few inches over the summer, which was incredible and substantively unfair. Kuroko himself optimistically believed he might have taken on another inch, but it was nothing compared to the rest of the miracles.

 

“Did you have a good summer?” Kuroko asked politely.

 

“Eh, it was okay. Did Kuro-chin have a good summer?”

 

“It was good,” Kuroko said. They sat together in companionable silence until Akashi arrived, with Momoi by his side, practically vibrating with excitement.

 

“MU-KUN! TETSU-KUN!”

 

Kuroko was swept to his feet in a tight hug from the pink haired girl, only to be released as she immediately went to hug the other Slytherin.

 

“Eh – but I just saw you this morning!”

 

“I know!” Momoi smiled. “Far too long! I’m excited to be working with you all for real.”

 

“We’re lucky to have your assistance,” Akashi said kindly to Momoi. “I’ll explain to the whole team when they arrive what your role this year will be in helping us reach our potential as a team.”

 

Momoi beamed, and tapped the clipboard she was holding.

 

They didn’t have to wait long before Midorima arrived, carrying a plush tiger under one arm. He greeted each of them extremely politely, turning almost as pink as Momoi’s hair when she swept him up in a hug of his own.

 

Just as they were about to start, Kise and Aomine finally showed up, shoving one another through the door.

 

“Dai-kun, can’t you go one day without getting into a fight?” Momoi asked, sounding a little distressed. “I wish you wouldn’t push around Ryo-kun like that.”

 

“Aw, Ryo-kun, am I being too tough for you?” Aomine teased Kise, who punched him in the arm.

 

Aomine hissed in pain, but he got no sympathy from any of the rest of the miracles after pretty much provoking Kise into attacking him.

 

“Oi, Tetsu, are you going to back up this clown?” Aomine asked, turning to his partner and shadow for support in the face of overwhelming opposition.

 

“I think ‘Dai-kun’ should do as Momoi asks because she can kick his ass,” Kuroko said entirely blankly, and Murasakibara and Akashi both started laughing at the same time. Momoi blushed, but didn’t contradict Kuroko, and neither did Aomine. The Gryffindor shrugged and sulked over to the other side of the group, cowed by the threat of the girl who was half his size. Momoi gave Kuroko a thumbs up.

 

Kise seemed to have just realized Kuroko was there, because Kuroko was pulled into another tight hug.

 

“Kurokocchi! You’re here! I’m so excited for us to duel together again!”

 

“Kise, I can’t breathe,” Kuroko deadpanned. Finally, Kise released him as Akashi called for all of their attention. The conversation between the various miracles immediately tapered off.

 

“Tonight will be a short practice,” Akashi said. “I just wanted to clarify our meeting schedule and give you some information about how this year will proceed. First and foremost, we are signed up on a rotating schedule with the school’s other teams to compete in various matches and tournaments. The frequency with which we are selected to compete will vary based on how the administration perceives the behavior and academics of the team, so I expect you all to do your best from here in.”

 

His gaze lingered on Aomine, the perpetual slacker, before moving to the token delinquent, Kuroko. Momoi was obviously above reproach: There was absolutely no doubt that the Slytherin would never be caught no matter what kind of trouble she was involved in.

 

“The frequency will also be based on how many intramural duels we win,” Momoi cut in. “Professor Shirogane is the official faculty supervisor of the school’s teams. There are eight registered teams who will compete on a rotating basis or by schedule, depending on their preferences. We will have a faculty supervisor one practice in three, so it is important not to slack off with training.”

 

Predictably, Aomine and Murasakibara both complained about having professors peek in on them, but Akashi assured them both that this condition was neither overly invasive nor up for negotiation.

 

“As far as our individual team dynamics go, is there any objection to my continued captainship?”

 

This was asked as a question, but there was a hard glint in Akashi’s eyes. It was as if he was daring even one of them to step forward and voice their disapproval so that he could stamp them back down. 

 

The Miracles shook their heads.

 

“Aka-chin is a strong leader, why would we ever want another captain? That’s stupid,” Murasakibara said. Akashi smiled at the other Slytherin before moving on.

 

“This isn’t up for team objection, but Satsuki will be officially taking the capacity of our team manager,” Akashi continued. Momoi beamed at this.

 

“I’ve been apprenticing to an arithmancer in France since the beginning of summer,” she explained. “I submitted my statistical analysis and data management techniques for his approval after I successfully predicted every single rank in the senior division of the tournament.”

 

Kuroko hadn’t realized that her project had been so wildly successful, but he wasn’t surprised. Momoi was probably one of the smartest people he knew, Akashi aside. She was a genius and had an eye for dueling talent. Hell, she had seen the capacity for Kuroko’s talent even before he had. Sure, Akashi had been the one to suggest that the Hufflepuff enter the tournament, but it had taken Momoi’s urgings for him to realize that he would actually enjoy the high paced, incredibly creative, and highly competitive atmosphere of a dueling tournament.

 

“My strategies should be more than sufficient to create individual training schedules to maximize each of your individual skills.”

 

“An advantage I think we all look forward to having,” Akashi said. “Momoi has also collected copious amounts of data on many of our opponents, which I believe will benefit us in the long run.”

 

“Why do we need data on our opponents?” Kise asked. “We can just beat them all.”

 

“Ryouta-” Akashi said warningly, but Momoi put an hand on his shoulder.

 

“Ryo-kun, what’s your strategy when you fight Dai-kun?”

 

Kise looked over at Aomine, who scowled back.

 

“All out offense,” he said. “Aominecchi is a powerful offensive player that I don’t have the strength to defend against. I always try and trap him, though I’m not usually fast enough to catch him most of the time.”

 

“What about when you’re fighting Mu-kun?”

 

“I don’t use illusions, but I try to attack him and make him move enough to get distracted from his shield. When he gets angry enough to start attacking me, I hit back by moving faster than him.”

 

“So you already know why having data on your opponents is important,” Momoi concluded smugly. “Wouldn’t you like to know if Dai-kun spent his summer mastering the flame throwing curse I showed him last year?”

 

“Did you?” Kise demanded of Aomine. “Come on, you promised we would learn that together you asshole!”

 

“Oi, who are you calling an asshole?” Aomine demanded. “You want to fight?”

 

“Satsuki was simply making a point, one that I think was made extremely well,” Akashi said, stepping between the two Gryffindors. “There is no need for the two of you to fight. Save it for our opponents in the arena.”

 

“Okay, I guess I can see why Momoicchi would be really helpful by telling us about our opponents,” Kise conceded. “So are we actually going to practice dueling?”

 

“Not tonight,” Akashi said. “I wanted to make sure you all know the plan for this year. We will meet to duel at five on Fridays, here in this room. For now we will only meet once a week, but I would like to extend that with the school’s permission.”

 

“Aka-chin, more than once week is excessive.”

 

“Mu-kun, did you want me to teach you that jinx or not?”

 

“You’re evil,” Murasakibara replied petulantly, but he wisely decided not to pursue the point further with the pink haired evil genius.

 

“I am a Slytherin,” Momoi replied mischievously. “If everyone wants to believe that I’m evil, I’ll let them and be their worst nightmare they never see coming.”

 

“That’s cold,” Kise said. Momoi smiled widely and brightly in return.

 

"Thank you," she said brightly.

 

Akashi was grinning as well as he interjected into the conversation.

 

“Other than that, we have nothing more of official importance, so if you wish to return to your common rooms and get a head start on studying, feel free to do so as that it is my intention as well. I will see you all in class.”

 

Akashi swept out of the room. A few minutes later, Aomine and Kise left for Gryffindor. Murasakibara, Midorima, and Momoi stayed to talk about runes for several minutes longer, but eventually Midorima had to leave, and Murasakibara was out of snacks and wanted to get back to his bed.

 

Kuroko was about to leave as Momoi was grabbing her backpack, but she called out for him to stop.

 

“Tetsu-kun.”

 

Kuroko turned around to face the pink haired Slytherin.

 

“You never could hide anything from me,” she said. “Something is wrong with your misdirection, isn’t there?”

 

Kuroko nodded jerkily. He was almost certain that for now only Akashi had realized it, but it would soon become a much bigger problem once they started running group training exercises and his team realized he was much easier to see than usual.

 

“Do you know how to fix it?”

 

Momoi frowned thoughtfully, a finger tapping on her chin.

 

“I’ll find a way,” she promised,in the same tone of voice she used when answering questions in class - that confident, sure tone that let the entire room know that she knew exactly what she was doing. “We’ll get you back to normal in no time, don’t worry. Between all of us there’s no way we won’t get this fixed soon.”

 

Kuroko let out a shaky breath. He really hoped that she was right because this was beginning to become a bit of a problem.

 

…

 

Kuroko realized that he had a more serious problem on his hands than originally thought the next afternoon during History of Magic.

 

Professor Sanada had been lecturing on… something. Kuroko was half asleep, dozing in his seat when something happened that had never happened before in his entire life.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya, would you like to tell the class about the notations in the journal excerpt we read for class today?”

 

Kuroko shot up in his seat, highly alarmed and entirely unprepared to have been called on in class. He was so shocked that for a moment he was unable to respond at all.

 

It was the first time in Kuroko’s entire educational history that a teacher had called on him for an answer in the middle of class. The experience was so surreal that he had no idea how to handle situation, having been neither paying attention, nor having done the reading.

 

“Ah, yes,” he said, frantically looking back down at the textbook in front of him. A huff of exasperation behind him accompanied the pages turning seemingly of their own volition.

 

Kuroko was grateful for Momoi’s assistance as he frantically scanned the first page of the chapter.

 

“I….”

 

“Don’t know, because you didn’t do the reading,” Professor Sanada filled in for him, unimpressed. “You have your O.W.L.s this year, this is not the time to be slacking off. For next class I want eight inches of parchment from you on the role of muggle colonialism on magical communities during American expansion. Being on a competitive dueling team isn’t an excuse to show up unprepared for my class.”

 

Professor Sanada moved on, and Kuroko heaved a sigh of relief that he was no longer the focus of attention. Now, not only did he have more work, but Professors were also going to be calling on him?

 

This was an issue. This was something Kuroko needed to fix immediately. This wasn’t just a matter of being bullied or being able to duel effectively anymore.

 

Professors were calling on him. In class. Kuroko was probably only lucky that he hadn't been asked to demonstrate a spell, because that would have been humiliating, instead of just embarrassing. He'd been using his misdirection to avoid having to demonstrate spells in class before he'd mastered them through excessive practice for years, and he couldn't afford to lose that advantage now. 

 

If this kept up, Kuroko was going to start failing his classes again, and that was unacceptable.

 

He had to fix his misdirection now.

 

Kuroko had been back at school for only two days and he already wanted nothing more than to leave.

 

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual, my Tumblr can still be found at [Mercurialink](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) should you so desire to come scream at me outside the comments <3


	15. Midorima “Bitch I See The Future” Shintarou Has No Time For This Bullshit

 

…

 

_“I thought it would at least be a little harder. You’re weak. And I won’t take orders from someone who is only capable of this.”_

 

Midorima woke up shaking.

 

It was hardly unusual for that to be the case these days.

 

Midorima rarely went a day without some form of prophetic dream – what Takao would say in Runes class, whether or not Kise would manage to hit Aomine with a spell during practice, what they would be eating for dinner – minor things.

 

Lately, however, things had been different. Midorima assumed that it was because his sight was getting more powerful, or at least was giving him more context for events farther and farther away. And none of it was good. Midorima had the distinct feeling that he was being warned that the course of action he was on right now was going to lead to disaster, but he had no idea what exactly he needed to change, or even how he could change his path at all.

 

Instead he was left trying to put together the pieces, see what they had in common, and prevent them from happening one at a time.

 

This dream in particular had left Midorima not just unsettled but scared.

 

Knowing there was no way he could get back to sleep after what he had seen, Midorima slowly and quietly left his bed. He got dressed and grabbed his backpack on his way down so that he could get some work done in the common room.

 

Some of the seventh years were still awake, sleepily scratching out notes and bent over heavy books. None of them looked too surprised to see the green haired miracle set up at the end of one of the study tables, pulling a black journal out of his bag.

 

As quickly as he could, Midorima started writing. He didn’t want to lose any of the information his foresight had imparted to him. He had to prevent what he had seen.

 

There was no question of that.

 

He thought hard back to the details of the dream. It had been raining. That thought stood out. The actors involved looked different enough that it couldn’t possibly take place until spring at the earliest. After the snow had ended, but definitely not before it started.

 

He grit his teeth and glared down at the journal.

 

He needed to find a way to stop this. What use was he as a seer if he couldn’t even save his friends?

 

Midorima sometimes wondered if the gift of his prescience had truly gone to the right person. Kuroko, with his determined heart and well developed sense of righteousness would have made a better shaper of the future. Akashi’s indomitable will and sheer brilliance would have served a seer better than Midorima’s uncertainty. Murasakibara’s strength, Kise’s charisma and skill with people, Aomine’s blunt determination, all of them had traits that might have been a better repository for Midorima’s knowledge o the future.

 

Midorima grit his teeth against the hopelessness of that thought. He had never managed to succeed in changing the future, no matter what he tried. His gift was useless in his hands, no better than trash. _He_ was useless.

 

…

 

Kuroko’s problem persisted through the next two weeks. He continued to suffer from the lack of his misdirection, but thankfully the worst of it was that professors now actually cared whether or not he managed to complete the spells in class. The bullying seemed to have pulled back for now.

 

Akashi had them running drills their first official practice back that next Friday. They were taking turns casting simple spells so that Momoi could evaluate how their power levels had changed over the summer. Kuroko tried not to think too hard about the expression on either of their faces when they stopped by him, and moved on.

 

Shame curled in his gut and he renewed his efforts.

 

Akashi split them into groups to practice shielding one another, choosing to pair himself against Kuroko. The two of them were exchanging basic spells and it wasn’t long before the Hufflepuff began to struggle. Kuroko couldn’t keep up a steady stream of curses like Akashi could. It didn’t help that his power didn’t allow him to maintain a strong shield for very long.

 

They were doing another exchange of curses when Kuroko’s wand movements caused his side to burn where Haizaki had shoved him earlier that week.

 

Up until this point, Kuroko had almost completely forgotten about the injury. But when he jerked his wand downwards to complete the shielding spell, he lost his concentration at the spasm of pain. Akashi’s weak spell shattered through it easily, sending Kuroko down to his knees.

 

“Tetsuya, are you alright?”

 

Kuroko winced, then mentally cursed.

 

More than anything else in the world, he didn’t want to be the charity case of the Generation of Miracles. If he got Akashi and the others to fight all his battles for him, then he would be letting Haizaki win.

 

He could handle this himself.

 

“Yes, I’m fine,” he said, getting to his feet. His side twinged in pain, and his hand went to his ribs without him meaning it to.

 

By the way Akashi’s eyes followed the movement, he knew that the redhead had seen what had happened. The Slytherin was smart. Kuroko doubted he had much time before Akashi figured it out himself.

 

Thankfully, Akashi didn’t say anything or ask Kuroko about the injury. He moved on to address the rest of the team, giving each of the Miracles their own personal training schedule, created by Momoi over the summer and confirmed by her observations of their development today.

 

“We’re going to have a good year,” Momoi said with a satisfied smile. “You’re all coming along really, really well.”

 

It was late by the time they were released, and Kuroko groaned at the thought of spending the entire weekend working on papers or doing research on spells assigned by Momoi.

 

He was beginning to wonder if he would have any time to himself at all this year.

 

Between Momoi’s tutelage and Akashi driving their team exceptionally hard last year, Kuroko was ahead on learning the spells he needed for class. Thus the work that they were assigned for dueling club was not currently too burdensome a problem, since Kuroko was putting half the effort he usually needed to into succeeding during class.

 

Soon however, Kuroko’s head start on the O.W.L material would end, and he would be stuck with extra work every time he left class. But for now Kuroko just thanked his lucky stars that his professors were more interested in putting them in fear of their O.W.L.s than driving them to exhaustion.

 

For now anyway.

 

Kuroko woke up when Ogiwara threw a pillow at him on Saturday.

 

“Hey, nerd, wake up. We need to get through eight inches on Fanged Germaniums for Herbology, go through the notes for Monday’s potions class, _and_ do twelve inches on recognizing dangerous situations and proportional reactions for Defense, and I am _not_ doing this by myself.”

 

Kuroko considered rolling over and going back to sleep, but Ogiwara followed the pillow up with a hex to dump a sizable amount of cold water onto his sleepy friend.

 

Kuroko jumped up in alarm, glaring at the other boy, who shrugged unapologetically. Sakurai, bleary eyed and not yet awake, sent a spell at Kuroko to dry him off before grabbing his backpack.

 

“Since when do you care about studying?” Kawahara asked. “Has the world gone mad?”

 

“He found out over the summer that Quidditch recruiters won’t consider him unless he brings up his grades.”

 

“That’s rough,” Fukuda said without moving. “But I think I’m staying here.”

 

Sakurai, Ogiwara, and, with some pushing, Kuroko, slumped down at their usual corner table to get a start on their work. After about twenty minutes, Furihata joined them, followed by Kawahara and grudging Fukuda.

 

“It’s the first weekend back,” Furihata whimpered as they broke for lunch, feeling dead inside. “How are we gonna survive this year?”

 

His question went unanswered for the rest of the weekend while they buckled down to get work done. Sometimes they would wistfully look out the library windows at the younger students chasing each other around the grounds and complain about their lot. This usually resulted in one of the sixth or seventh years at a nearby table throwing a balled up piece of parchment at the perpetrator.

 

“Furihata, you’re a prefect now for god’s sake, stop shouting in the library!” One of the sixth years snapped at Furihata on the third occasion the boy had been caught moaning about their lot. The fifth year blushed and ducked his head behind his book.

 

…

 

Their next week back went much the same as the first. Kuroko was beginning to wonder if their professors _enjoyed_ watching them suffer.

 

By the time their second week back came to an end, Kuroko was _exhausted._ He was not looking forward to having to go to dueling practice in addition to keeping up with all of his classwork. As it was, he already just wanted to go to bed, and would probably be working all weekend just to barely manage to get all his work together. Last week had been disappointing and frustrating in a way dueling hadn’t been for him since the very beginning, and he really disliked it.

 

Well, maybe he would overcome whatever wall this was soon enough. Kuroko knew that if he worked through whatever was blocking him, he would eventually come out the other side. With Akashi and Momoi helping him out, he would discover the source of his troubles soon enough.

 

 _Why does anyone really need to take these exams?_ Kuroko asked himself bitterly. He was so busy thinking about how he was going to get all of his work done during what felt like an all too short weekend that he nearly ran headlong into another student.

 

Kuroko was halfway through apologizing when he realized it was Haizaki.

 

Haizaki had stopped him several times over the last week to push him around. Usually this just involved being shoved into a wall as he past, but today he was looking in a particularly foul mood. Kuroko wasn’t looking forward to whatever was about to happen.

 

“Oi, Hufflepuff, c’mere a second.”

 

“I’m going to my dorm,” Kuroko said, trying to storm past the other boy, but Haizaki caught him by the strap of his backpack, using his own speed to leverage him around. Kuroko slammed into the wall hard, his shoulder jolting against cold stone.

 

“Let me go,” Kuroko said calmly.

 

“Eh, I don’t think so,” Haizaki smirked.

 

One second Kuroko was pinned to the wall by the Slytherin, and the next second he was sprawled on the floor. He had barely even registered the fact that Haizaki had hit him.

 

“Now look what you made me do.”

 

Haizaki sounded almost bored. Kuroko put a hand to his cheek, feeling the white hot heat from the site of the punch. That was probably going to bruise. Kuroko could already imagine the trouble it was going to cause him. Maybe it was the adrenaline of the situation but after a second he couldn’t even feel it any more.

 

“You know everyone’s going to see that I got hit in the face,” Kuroko said. Haizaki shrugged as though that didn’t really matter to him. Hell, maybe it didn’t.

 

“You won’t tell anyone about this.”

 

“What makes you so sure?” Kuroko looked back up at the other boy. “If I don’t, you’ll just do it again.”

 

Haizaki chuckled.

 

“Yeah, I will,” he agreed. “But if you do tell anyone, I’ll take it out on your little friends. Think that little apologetic kid can take a punch better than you can? What about that skinny one that’s always sick with something?”

 

Kuroko felt his blood run cold.

 

He didn’t even waste the time arguing with Haizaki. He lowered his head in defeat.

 

“Thought so,” Haizaki said. “See you later, shorty.”

 

He strolled away, and Kuroko pulled himself to his feet, rubbing the side of his face.

 

It was probably going to bruise. Kuroko didn’t know what to do about hiding it. He knew almost no actual glamor spells that could hide this, and he didn’t trust his skill or strength enough to try and heal it on his own.

 

If he went to the infirmary questions would have to be asked, and Kuroko didn’t want to deal with that. He didn’t want to risk the possibility that Haizaki would think that he had tried to tell on him.

 

Kuroko sighed. Maybe he was wrong and it wouldn’t bruise at all. Maybe he’d get really lucky and find Midorima before anyone else showed up, and manage to convince the Ravenclaw to take care of it without asking too many questions.

 

Even Kuroko doubted his luck extended quite that far.

 

…

 

Unfortunately, when Kuroko walked into practice that evening, he was the fourth person to arrive, and Akashi immediately cornered him.

 

“What happened?” Akashi demanded, placing a gentle hand on the bruise.

 

“It’s nothing,” Kuroko deflected, moving away from his captain’s hand.

 

“Someone hit you,” the Captain of the Generation of Miracles growled angrily.

 

“Nobody hit me,” Kuroko said stubbornly. “I fell.”

 

The look on Akashi’s face was one of complete disbelief.

 

“Aka-chin, what are you – who hurt Kuro-chin?”

 

Murasakibara had just arrived which made four of the five, all of whom were now particularly interested in what was going on. Kise and Aomine had stopped whatever argument they were having on the other side of the room in order to see what was causing the commotion.

 

Kuroko sighed. This is exactly what he wanted to avoid. If the Miracles decided to ignore him and make a huge fuss about finding out who was responsible, Kuroko wholly believed that Haizaki would make good on his threat to hurt the other fifth year Hufflepuffs, which meant that he had to stop them from doing that at any cost.

 

“Oi, Tetsu, why won’t you just tell us what happened already!”

 

“Someone hurt Kurokocchi! This is terrible!”

 

Kuroko winced slightly at the pitch of Kise’s voice.

 

Luckily, he was spared from further questioning by the arrival of Midorima.

 

“Okay okay, we can deal with this later,” Akashi turned away. Kuroko didn’t believe for a second that this conversation was done, but he breathed a little more freely at the reprieve. “We’ve wasted enough time as it is, let’s get to work. Shintarou, if you would-”

 

The Ravenclaw healed the bruise on Kuroko’s face without a word, giving Akashi a meaningful look that Kuroko couldn’t even begin to interpret.

 

Akashi set Kuroko to work on diverting spells with Aomine. Thankfully, even with Kuroko’s misdirection on the fritz, he was still more than competent enough with this aspect of his powers to continue practicing. So long as he managed to sort out his misdirection before their first competition, he would be fine.

 

“Oi Tetsu, let’s try the lightning trick again,” Aomine grinned, stretching. Kuroko nodded, and he and Aomine cleared a wide space between them.

 

“Twelve targets to start?” Aomine asked.

 

At Kuroko’s assent, Aomine waved his hand and twelve  vaguely dog shaped figures rose out of the flagstones, made of the same material. They started snapping and snarling, running in a circle around them.

 

Kuroko braced himself. When Aomine cast the spell at him, he was ready. His hands burned from the power the Gryffindor put into the spell, but he split it into twelve even lines. Kuroko’s intense focus was rewarded by a dozen miniature explosions, as blue lightning struck each of its intended targets.

 

“Nice work!” Aomine said, fist bumping Kuroko. Kuroko smiled back. At least this was something he could do without his misdirection, though it became a lot less effective the second anyone realized that he could barely hold a shield against the simplest of spells and started attacking.

 

But there was something wrong. Aomine hadn’t noticed it, but Kuroko had, and from the expression on Akashi’s face as the other boy walked over, so did he. The spell hadn’t had as much power as usual, as though it had lost a lot more strength than it ordinarily would being split by Kuroko.

 

Kuroko kept his face blank, but inwardly he was extremely dismayed. Even this part of his magical ability was less strong than usual.

 

“Tetsuya, can you try that again, putting more force into Daiki’s spell?” Akashi asked. “We didn’t have time at the end of last year to practice putting these two techniques together but I would like to see you do it now.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He and Aomine worked on that technique for the next half an hour, coming close but not quite close enough to what Akashi wanted. They ended practice with Kuroko dropping on his feet, exhausted.

 

Aomine looked like he hadn’t done anything at all, even though the power in any one of his lightning spells was probably about equal to the entire amount of magical power Kuroko had expended tonight.

 

Kuroko had hoped that their practice (or at least his dismal performance at practice) would be enough to make Akashi forget about the bruise he’d come into practice with. He should have known better.

 

As they were packing up to leave for the night, Kuroko heard their captain call his name. The tone he used left absolutely no doubt as to what he wanted to speak to the Hufflepuff about.

 

“Tetsuya.”

 

Kuroko glanced behind him at the rest of the Miracles, all of whom were sending Kuroko sympathetic glances. He felt distinctly caged in by this setup, which he was sure was the point.

 

“Who hit you.”

 

It wasn’t a question. It was a statement demanding an answer, and Kuroko was playing with fire by ignoring it. But he couldn’t tell on Haizaki, not without risking the Slytherin’s retaliation against Kuroko’s housemates.

 

“Nobody hit me,” Kuroko said, looking away.

 

“I don’t believe that for a second,” Akashi said flatly. “Look at me, Tetsuya. Right now. Tell me who hit you and I will handle it.”

 

Kuroko looked up at the redhead.

 

“No,” he said, his expression equally blank. “I fell down the stairs and hit my face on the wall. That’s it.”

 

Akashi sighed.

 

“I don’t want to fight,” he said quietly. “But I can’t have other people hurting members of my team.”

 

“I can handle it,” Kuroko told Akashi hotly. “I’m fine, I promise.”

 

Akashi pursed his lips. He seemed to be wavering on the precipice of a decision. Finally, he seemed to come to a conclusion. He didn’t look happy about it though.

 

“I won’t have other students hurting members of my own team,” Akashi said again. “It speaks badly to my reputation as a captain and hampers your ability to compete when we face our opponents in the arena. This is the second time you have showed up to practice sporting bruises or injuries that were delivered by another student. As we have met only three times, I find this pattern to be unacceptable. Tell me who hurt you.”

 

“Akashi, are you serious? No.”

 

Akashi clicked his tongue impatiently.

 

“Did they threaten you? Is that what this is about?” he demanded. “Did they say they would hurt you again? Because I can promise if that is the case it will not take much to have them expelled and ensure they never touch you again.”

 

Kuroko grit his teeth.

 

“I told you I would deal with it, and I will,” he ground out impatiently. “Would you leave me alone? It’s just a bruise.”

 

“It’s not _just a bruise,_ it’s an _attack!_ ” Akashi shot back.

 

“It was Haizaki.”

 

Kuroko stared at Midorima, wondering how on earth the Ravenclaw could have possibly figured _that_ out.

 

“How do you know that?” Kuroko demanded.

 

“I’m _prescient,_ you idiot,” Midorima said condescendingly. “Why are people always so surprised when I _know things?_ But more to the point, I didn’t actually know until you told all of us just now.”

 

Well, shit. Kuroko supposed he deserved that one.

 

“You can’t tell anyone,” Kuroko pleaded. “You can’t, okay?”

 

“So he _did_ threaten you,” Akashi said. “Tetsuya, you don’t need to put up with that, we can-”

 

“No,” Kuroko said. His voice was too calm, but his pulse was racing with panic. If Akashi reported the bullying, Haizaki would do something terrible – and probably not to Kuroko.

 

Akashi’s eyes narrowed.

 

“Tetsuya, we-”

 

“He didn’t threaten _me,_ ” Kuroko said desperately.

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“We can protect ourselves just fine,” he tried to assure Kuroko. “Haizaki isn’t hurting any of us anytime soon, not even this weakling over here.”

 

Aomine punctuated this statement with a punch to Kise’s shoulder. The blonde yelped and rubbed the spot Aomine had hit, glaring at the other boy.

 

“Shut up, Aominecchi, before I make you shut up,” he said dangerously.

 

“Oi bring it! You haven’t beaten me yet, let’s go.”

 

“Both of you shut up,” Murasakibara said with a frown, physically separating them. “This isn’t the time and you’re both idiots. He didn’t threaten _us_ , did he, Kuro-chin? Haizaki’s not that stupid.”

 

“This is ridiculous,” Midorima said.

 

“I agree,” Akashi said. “Tetsuya, the whole story, now.”

 

Kuroko made a face, but decided it was in his best interest to comply.

 

“At the end of summer I noticed my misdirection was acting up. But I didn’t realize until the school year started how much trouble it was causing me. I’m not like any of you; I’m not strong. I’m small and strange and somehow friends with very powerful people. It makes me a tempting target for bullying, and Haizaki is just lashing out.”

 

“By hitting you,” Akashi snapped.

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“He threatened my housemates,” Kuroko said. “And if you report him, he’s going to hurt them instead of me. As that situation is unacceptable to _me,_ I am asking you to respectfully refrain from reporting this until I can handle it.”

 

“Shintarou, Ryouta, and I are _prefects._ We can’t just ignore it if someone tells us they’ve been bullied. We wouldn’t want to. And more importantly, all of us are your friends: we won’t sit by and let you get hurt. Your safety is important to us, especially since having you injured during a duel would be dangerous and problematic.”

 

Kuroko swallowed hard.

 

He had no method to force the Generation of Miracles to do what he wanted. He wasn’t strong. He wasn’t powerful. But he did have one weapon he had no doubt would work effectively.

 

“Then I resign from the club effective immediately,” Kuroko said, face blank.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Akashi fired back. “You can’t do that.”

 

“I’m literally leaving right now,” Kuroko said, turning around and striding past a stunned Aomine and a shell-shocked Kise to grab his bag.

 

“Tetsuya, stop.”

 

Kuroko froze where he stood, the warning in Akashi’s voice all too clear.

 

“You have one week,” Akashi said after a moment of silence. “One week to handle this situation on your own, as you said. And then I will handle the situation myself, one way or another.”

 

Kuroko turned around, eyeing Akashi to see how serious of an offer this was.

 

“One week,” he repeated hollowly. What the hell was he supposed to do in a week?

 

But that was the point, wasn’t it? Akashi’s ultimatum essentially boiled down to giving Kuroko a week to report the bullying himself, or Akashi would do it for him.

 

Which, honestly, was a fairer bargain then Kuroko would have expected.

 

“Fine,” he said reluctantly. “A week.”

 

He turned back to the door to leave, but Akashi stopped him again.

 

“And Tetsuya?”

 

Kuroko didn’t turn this time, but he did stop.

 

“Don’t ever threaten me again,” Akashi said. “If you commit to this team, you do so wholeheartedly. You can not just decide not to show up or not do the work. Do you understand?”

 

Kuroko nodded sharply.

 

“Yes.”

 

With a sigh of relief, he finally walked out.

 

A week. He had a week to figure out how to make Haizaki back off on his own, or he’d have to accept the protection of stronger, better wizards than himself.

 

_Anytime my misdirection wants to come back, that would be great._

 

…

 

Momoi was working on yet another assignment from the Arithmancer she was apprenticing under. As good at scheduling as she was, a girl could only do so much. Managing Akashi’s dueling team, keeping up a strict schedule of revision for her O.W.L.s, and managing an apprenticeship under one of the most well known and talented Arithmancers in the world left her with almost no time for anything other than studying.

 

The year was young, and Momoi was already feeling the strain.

 

All of this meant that the last thing she needed today was to have Aomine burst through the doors of the library, eyes scanning the tables angrily.

 

“Satsuki!” he snapped. Most of the patrons of the library studying at the tables looked up, annoyed, before deciding that they didn’t want to pick a fight with an angry Aomine Daiki.

 

“Dai-kun,” Momoi said sweetly at a decidedly quieter volume, looking up from her notes. “How many times do I have to remind you to respect the silence of the library?”

 

“We need to talk,” Aomine growled, though after looking around, he had lowered his voice a little. “It’s about Tetsu.”

 

Momoi bit her lip. Unfortunately, that was probably the only thing Aomine could have said that would cause her to abandon her work right now. Momoi gestured for the Gryffindor to take a seat, and spelled the area around them into silence so that they could talk.

 

“What is it?” she asked.

 

“Tetsu is being bullied,” Aomine said immediately, his eyes burning with dark fire. “That asshole Haizaki has been pushing him around since the day we got back. He hasn’t told anyone because he thinks he has to deal without help to prove that he can handle himself or something.”

 

That was the last thing Momoi had expected to hear out of Aomine’s mouth. He looked furious, like he was barely holding himself back from hunting down and hurting Haizaki himself.

 

“I can’t believe Tetsu didn’t say anything! I mean we’re supposed to be partners and he didn’t think he could trust me to help him! He knows if he said one word to me about that punk I’d destroy him, why wouldn’t he ask me for help!”

 

Momoi clenched her hand into a fist, still processing Aomine’s original declaration, fighting the urge to go find Haizaki and deal with him herself.

 

“How do you know?”

 

“Akashi forced it out of him during practice,” Aomine said. “Satsuki, Tetsu threatened to quit the team if Akashi made him report it! He’s obviously upset, what am I supposed to do about it?”

 

_Tetsu-kun tried to quit the team? What on earth is he thinking?_

 

“Obviously Sei-kun is ignoring him, right?” Momoi asked. Aomine shrugged, scowling.

 

“How should I know? And you’re missing the point! He didn’t _tell me!_ ”

 

“Dai-kun, I don’t have the time or patience to deal with your emotional crisis right now,” Momoi said. “What exactly happened?”

 

“That’s what I’m saying, I don’t know!” Aomine burst out angrily. “He’s upset and I don’t know how to fix it! Why wouldn’t he tell me that he was being bullied?”

 

Momoi’s lips thinned into an angry line. With a wave of her wand, her notes and books were neatly organized. A second spell had them packed away into her backpack.

 

“I’ll go talk some sense into him then,” she said. “Failing that, I’ll report it myself.”

 

“Just wait, Satsuki!  How do I fix this?”

 

Momoi paused, and turned around, murder in her eyes. She was a woman with a plan and she was not going to be delayed a moment longer.

 

“Dai-kun, you know I’m your best friend. And normally I would sit and listen to you rant about Tetsu-kun to me for however long you wanted me to, but right now _I don’t have the time._ You’re upset because you’re in love with Tetsu-kun and have been ignoring it since you got to know him. You’re angry because someone you care about very deeply is hurt and he doesn’t trust you because he has intimacy issues and doesn’t trust _anyone_.”

 

Momoi didn’t even feel bad for dropping the bomb on her friend. It got him out of the way long enough that she could confront Akashi and get some real answers about what Kuroko was going through. Once she had actually solved that problem she could apologize to Aomine for her bluntness.

 

She drew herself up to her full height and swept out of the library, leaving Aomine staring back at her in wide-eyed shock. She’d already left by the time Aomine had processed what she had said.

 

“OI, SATSUKI!” He yelled, running out of the library after her. “WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?”

 

Far ahead of her Gryffindor friend, Momoi stormed down to the Slytherin common rooms in a towering rage. She found Akashi working through an essay for Potions, and paused on the other side of the table, hands on her hips.

  
“Sei-kun,” she said sharply. He looked up at once.

 

“We need to talk.”

 

“I see you’ve spoken to Daiki,” Akashi said. A wave of his hand moved the chair across from him out enough for Momoi to sit. She did so, placing her bag on the floor next to her.

 

“You are a _prefect,”_ Momoi snapped. “It is our job to protect students, even ones in other houses from being bullied. You need to report what you’ve heard to the Headmaster.”

 

Akashi listened to her, his head tilted to the side. When she was done he leaned forward, closing the distance between the two of them.

 

“Let’s say I report it,” he said calmly. Momoi opened her mouth to protest, but Akashi held up his hand to forestall her objection. “Assuming I do, what happens then? The staff immediately seek out Tetsuya. He will deny that anything happened. He may ask one of his friends to heal him from any bruises, or brew his own healing potion. Tetsuya will deny having ever been targeted by Shougo, and may even profess to have a close friendship with him that I am interfering with in order to harass _Shougo._ ”

 

“Tetsu-kun wouldn’t-”

 

“Satsuki, you know as well as I do that’s _exactly_ what he would do,” Akashi said. “Because he is hurt and feels that if he cannot defend himself and his housemates then he is worthless.”

 

“But he _isn’t_ worthless!” Momoi insisted tearfully.

 

“You and I both know that,” Akashi said softly. He conjured a handkerchief, which he passed to the pink haired girl. “He is as stubborn as either of us. Tetsuya is determined enough to have been a Slytherin, and ambitious enough for it.”

 

“He always has to pick the hard way,” Momoi sniffed.

 

“Which is why he’s a Hufflepuff to the core,” Akashi murmured. “He is an extraordinary individual.”

 

Momoi nodded, and then her eyes widened as she looked up at Akashi.

 

“Sei-kun, do you-”

 

“I care for him, Satsuki,” Akashi said levelly. “However, I have been avoiding making any overt advancements. Shintarou once called my approach to him ‘overpowering’.”

 

“You are,” Momoi said, and pouted. “That’s not fair, you don’t even know if he likes boys!”

 

“You don’t know that he does not,” Akashi rejoined.

 

Momoi huffed, but then shook her head.

 

“Don’t distract me!” she said. “What do you intend to do about Tetsu-kun?”

 

Akashi smiled slightly.

 

“I gave Tetsuya a week to handle the situation as he sees fit. If he doesn’t, then I will take care of Shougo myself, and make sure that he never feels the need to threaten or assault my team ever again.”

 

Momoi hesitated, her general inclination towards following the rules and protecting students warring with her specific inclination towards protecting Kuroko from being hurt.

 

“Fine,” she said. “I need to finish my Arithmancy project, but if this situation continues, I _will_ report it.  I will also hold you personally responsible for anything that happens to Tetsu-kun because of your decision to handle this yourself.”

 

“Duly noted,” Akashi said. “If you would like to join me in studying, I don’t mind.”

 

Momoi sighed, and then started pulling out her materials.

 

“We’re going to talk about your feelings for Tetsu-kun when I’m done,” she threatened him, slamming a textbook down on the wood with needless force. “But I really do have to get my work done first.”

 

Akashi inclined his head, and then went back to his essay.

 

...

 

Despite his best hopes, Kuroko’s misdirection didn’t miraculously decide to start working again.

 

It was still not functioning on Saturday, which he spent holed up in the Hufflepuff common room with his dorm mates, furiously trying to get through the long list of assignments and readings they had been assigned.

 

It didn’t come back on Sunday, which the fifth years spent outside, quizzing each other on potions ingredients and wand movements for Charms.

 

It didn’t start working on Monday either. Haizaki shoved Kuroko into a wall on the way to class, leaving the Hufflepuff breathless. When Kuroko looked up, Haizaki was gone, but Akashi was standing in front of him, the redhead’s mouth drawn into a tight line of disapproval.

 

Kuroko didn’t want to hear what the Slytherin had to say, so he strode past his captain, ignoring the holes Akashi’s gaze was boring into the back of his head. He already knew what Akashi was going to tell him anyway.

 

By Tuesday, Kuroko gave up hoping that a spontaneous resurgence of his misdirection would help his problem, and he started panicking.

 

“Oi, you alright?” Ogiwara asked him at breakfast. “You’ve been quiet, even for you. What’s going on?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“Not having my misdirection is rough,” he said honestly. Ogiwara’s eyes widened, and then he nodded in realization.

 

“Ah, that makes sense,” he said. “I’m sorry, but we’ll fix it soon. Don’t worry, we’ll get it working again in no time.”

 

Kuroko gave his friend a thin smile, but he didn’t really believe it.

 

Hiding Haizaki’s bullying from the Generation of Miracles had been hard. Hiding it from his roommates was next to impossible. Keeping the fact that he was trying to pull one over on Akashi from his roommates was becoming more than a small burden in itself.

 

And Kuroko couldn’t ask any of them to help, because he had the distinct suspicion he knew exactly how Ogiwara would react to the situation. He could practically hear Ogiwara’s outraged voice as though the other boy had already told Kuroko how he felt.

 

_“Haizaki thinks he can keep you in line by threatening us? Well let him fucking try then. He can come fight me instead of blowing hot air like a little girl. He’s never beaten me on the Quidditch pitch, he won’t beat me in a duel either!”_

 

But that’s exactly what Kuroko was afraid of. And while he was almost certain Ogiwara, and perhaps Sakurai, could hold their own against the Slytherin, he doubted the same was true of his other roommates. Furihata, Kawahara, and Fukuda were all dedicated and hardworking students. They were loyal and steadfast friends, ones Kuroko wouldn’t replace for the world. But in a duel against Haizaki’s raw malicious power and sadism, they would be crushed.

 

Kuroko’s other option might have been Momoi, but he was becoming seriously concerned that the Slytherin might be on the brink of a full-blown meltdown between her various responsibilities. He didn’t want to add anything else to her plate. He also doubted that she would approve of his chosen method of handling this situation.

 

Kuroko was beginning to develop a very serious issue with paranoia trying to keep all of his secrets. That, and the stress from his loss of misdirection was beginning to wear on him.

 

By Wednesday, Kuroko decided that he only had one option if he wanted to avoid having to talk to a professor about his situation, and that was approaching Haizaki himself.

 

He waited until after dinner to corner the Slytherin in the hallways down by the dungeons. He didn’t want any witnesses to this conversation.

 

“Haizaki,” Kuroko said, calling out to the other boy as he strode to his common room. Haizaki paused, and turned slowly, a smile spreading across his face.

 

“Now why on earth would a little badger like you burow this deep?” Haizaki asked. “A snake like me might just decide to strike.”

 

“Many species of badgers are known for eating snakes,” Kuroko said, deliberately deciding to ignore Haizaki’s overtly threatening metaphor. “We need to talk.”

 

Haizaki laughed.

 

“Alright, come on then.”

 

Haizaki turned down another hallway, leading Kuroko away from the Slytherin common room and deeper into the dungeons.

 

“What’s this about?”

 

“My teammates guessed that you’re the one hurting me,” Kuroko said flatly. “You targeted me knowing that I don’t have the power to hide the marks of your abuse. You need to stop injuring me in ways that draw the attention of others, because my Captain is threatening to report it.”

 

Haizaki slammed Kuroko against the wall.

 

“I thought I made it pretty damn clear what would happen if you told on me,” Haizaki snarled.

 

“I didn’t,” Kuroko gasped out. “Trust me, the last thing I want is for anyone to know.”

 

Haizaki studied the Hufflepuff’s face for a moment before throwing him down. Kuroko hit the ground hard on his hands and knees.

 

“You’ve got a fucking pair of balls on you,” Haizaki said. “I’ve got a better idea. If you want me to make sure that that friend of yours doesn’t have an _accident_ the next time he goes out on the Quidditch pitch, you find a way to shut your Miracle friends up. Got me?”

 

Well, that was about as useful as Kuroko should have known it would be.

 

The Hufflepuff clenched his hands into fists and glared down at the flagstones, wondering if there was ever going to come a time when he was strong enough to take on the other boy.

 

“Kurokocchi?”

 

Double fuck.

 

“Come on, can you stand up for me?” Kise asked gently.

 

Slowly, Kuroko pulled himself to his feet, trying to avoid meeting Kise’s eyes.

 

“He’s an asshole,” Kise said sharply. “Trust me I know what it’s like to not be able to fight back against someone stronger than you.”

 

Kuroko looked up in abject shock.

 

Kise’s expression was sharp, the serious face that Kuroko had only seen him don a few times.

 

“I always knew that if I made it a fight, I would lose, and then I really wouldn’t be a miracle anymore,” Kise said seriously. “It felt like if the only person who knew was Haizaki the shithole, then at least I would be able to keep standing on the field with my friends.”

 

That hit so close to home that Kuroko actually finched.

 

“But you know what?” Kise said. “One day, that won’t be true anymore. I think I might be stronger than him now.”

 

“I don’t need you or anyone else to fight Haizaki for me,” Kuroko said blankly. “I’m strong enough to handle this on my own.”

 

The smile Kise gave him was very sad, and very sympathetic. The pity made Kuroko’s stomach burn in shame.

 

“Akashicchi was serious,” Kise warned him. “If you want to force a confrontation you better do it soon. He’s angrier than I’ve ever seen him.”

 

“This is why I didn’t want anyone to know,” Kuroko said. He felt helpless.

 

“I know,” Kise said. “I know how you feel. But in retrospect, I think I wish someone had been able to put a stop to it before I had to. The strong shouldn’t prey on the weak just because they can’t be stopped.”

 

Kuroko didn’t reply to this. It sounded like a very good principle in theory, but he knew the way the world was in reality. Those with the power to take control did so, at the expense of the witches and wizards who couldn’t stop them.

 

Kise patted Kuroko on the shoulder.

 

“It’s not the end of the world just because people will know,” Kise advised him. “You should let Akashicchi report him so that he stops threatening and hurting you.”

 

“If I do that he still wins,” Kuroko said. “He still proves how weak I am. And if one bully succeeded, everyone else will know they can too. The only way to really stop it is to become strong enough to make him.”

 

“There’s no shame in asking others for their help and protection,” Kise replied.

 

“The pot is calling the kettle black,” Kuroko shot back. “I can deal with this on my own.”

 

Kuroko strode away from the Gryffindor purposefully. He didn’t see the sad expression on Kise’s face when he left. He also didn’t see the sadness overcome by anger as the blonde closed one hand into a tight fist.

 

“Hey, where have you been?” Ogiwara asked Kuroko when he got back to the common room.

 

“I was talking to Kise and got distracted,” Kuroko said. It mostly the truth, minus his conversation with Haizaki.

 

Ogiwara raised his eyebrows.

 

“I know something is going on with you,” he said. “And I _will_ figure it out, so you might as well tell me now.”

 

“You can try,” Kuroko said evasively. “We should go over the reading notes for Potions.”

 

Thursday dawned brisk and cold and Kuroko couldn’t help the rising anxiety at the idea that he only had one more day to stop Akashi from reporting Haizaki.

 

He didn’t know what else to try.

 

There was only one weapon Kuroko had that he could use to fight back with. But he wasn’t sure that he could do it alone.

 

Kuroko did have some excellent pranks that could work, most of which were borderline dangerous, but they might convince the other boy to back off.

 

He exhaled deeply over breakfast.

 

Pranks. Yeah he could do that.

 

Kuroko pulled out the notebook he hadn’t looked at in weeks with all of the notes from previous and planned pranks. He needed something serious, something bigger than just embarrassing the other boy. He needed to show Haizaki that he meant business and would strike back if he had to.

 

Kuroko’s last desperate effort to handle the Haizaki situation involved a potion he and Ogiwara had brewed together and left in stasis along with several other half-baked research projects at the bottom of Ogiwara’s trunk. Kuroko grabbed it between classes when he knew that the other Hufflepuff wouldn’t be there.

 

Hopefully he would be able to handle this situation without having to involve any more of his friends. It was already far too out of control as it was.

 

Kuroko took his shot during dinner. He decided that he would go to the Slytherin table under the pretense of talking to Akashi and Murasakibara about something and then leave, slipping the potion into Haizaki’s drink as he passed.

 

With this barely thought through plan, Kuroko told Ogiwara he would see him in a few minutes and walked over to the Slytherin table where Akashi and Murasakibara were sitting together.

 

“Tetsuya,” Akashi greeted the Hufflepuff. “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

 

“I wanted to ask you if you would be willing to go over the strategy we discussed during the last practice again tomorrow tonight,” Kuroko said respectfully. He’d come up with the thin excuse while walking over to the Slytherin table, and he tried not to wince at how transparent it was.

 

“Of course,” Akashi said. “But there’s no reason you couldn’t have asked during practice.”

 

Kuroko tried not to let his disappointment at being caught show, but it was obvious that Akashi already knew something was up. Murasakibara didn’t say anything, though he was watching with wide, curious eyes.

 

“What are you planning, Tetsuya?” Akashi asked, his expression interested. “You do only have one day left until your deadline, after all.”

 

Kuroko didn’t let his own nerves show on his face.

 

“I have the situation under control,” he replied. “I will not fail.”

 

“Good,” Akashi said. “Put your house in order, Tetsuya.”

 

Kuroko agreed with this statement on principle, and left the two Slytherins, choosing to go the long way around the table to deliberately pass Haizaki.

 

“Oho, it’s the Squib!”

 

Ah, just what Kuroko had been counting on.

 

Kuroko didn’t fight as Haizaki grabbed his arm, pulling him towards the Slytherin table.

 

“You’d think your Miracles would care that their own teammate is being harassed in the middle of the hall,” Haizaki said with a smirk. “Maybe you were wrong and they don’t really care.”

 

Kuroko, who knew that Akashi was watching the situation with a frown on his face, made a show of trying to extract his arm from Haizaki’s grip.

 

The potion vial, palmed in his other hand, was ready.

 

Haizaki shook Kuroko, giving the Hufflepuff a reason to fall into the table, just the opening he needed to dump the vial into the Slytherin’s drink.

 

The sleight of hand tricks Takao had taught Kuroko weren’t purely magical. Even without his misdirection, Kuroko knew how to distract his opponents and put their attention where he wanted it.

 

Haizaki released Kuroko with a disgusted, contemptuous sound.

 

“Get the hell out of here, I’m already bored with you,” he spat. Kuroko shrugged and agreed, quickly returning to his own table.

 

Luckily, none of his own housemates had noticed the exchange. Ogiwara greeted Kuroko, shifting over to make room for him.

 

Kuroko tried not to look in the direction of the Slytherin table again. He wondered if Akashi had seen what Kuroko had done to Haizaki’s drink – or if Haizaki himself had been fooled. He would like to think his sleight of hand was skilled enough to avoid notice by the likes of his tormentor, but there was no way to know for sure.

 

Kuroko certainly wasn’t going to give away the game by staring at the other boy to try and find out.

 

Kuroko left dinner with the rest of the Hufflepuffs about fifteen minutes later. If his prank was to work, he would probably miss most of it. But that was probably for the best, since it meant that he wouldn’t be suspected as much.

 

Kuroko realized Haizaki was behind them almost at once, and stopped. He supposed he shouldn’t feel too bad that his plan had obviously failed – it had been poorly planned and implemented, but he hadn’t had a choice.

 

With an inward sigh, he fell back, pretending to tie his shoe and letting his roommates go ahead so that he could confront the bully alone.

 

As soon as the other fifth years were out of hearing range, Haizaki approached Kuroko.

“Nice try,” Haizaki said. “Did you really think you were going to catch me with some stupid prank potion?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I thought it was worth a try.”

 

Haizaki slammed a fist into Kuroko’s stomach, making the other boy double over. When Kuroko fell, Haizaki kicked him hard.

 

He wondered what it meant about the other boy that Haizaki never cursed him or used magic to bully him – he always beat Kuroko up the muggle way.

 

“You don’t belong among the Generation of Miracles,” Haizaki spat. “You don’t even belong in Hogwarts. You’re barely better than a squib. And your stupid pranks don’t mean anything to me.”

 

He left Kuroko there.

 

Kuroko didn’t catch up with his roommates. When Ogiwara asked, he said that he’d tried to tie his shoe and ended up tripping the rest of the way down the stairs.

 

“This is why you should let us know if you have to stay back,” Ogiwara said with a frown. “We’re here looking out for you, you know. You can tell us if something is wrong.”

 

It was on the top of Kuroko’s tongue. He wanted so badly to spill his guts and tell his friends everything he had been struggling with for weeks.

 

But Haizaki’s threat was still real and present in his mind. Enough people knew his secret already, and Kuroko didn’t want to risk getting his friends hurt just to open up.

 

One way or another, this would all be over tomorrow, anyway.

 

Kuroko had pretty much resigned himself to having to do what Akashi had wanted in the first place.

 

…

 

By Friday morning, Kuroko was a wreck. He had been unsuccessful in finding a way to force Haizaki to back down, but he really didn’t want Akashi to handle the situation himself. No matter how the redhead went about it, Kuroko was pretty sure that Akashi would ruin him.

 

Ogiwara kept repeatedly asking Kuroko what was making him so twitchy, but Kuroko didn’t have a response. He kept expecting something to happen or change any second, but their Friday proceeded as normal.

 

Kuroko had almost stopped waiting for the other shoe to drop when he saw Akashi follow Haizaki out of the great hall after dinner.

 

“I’ll see you back in the dorm,” Kuroko said quickly to Sakurai, who was sitting next to him, and stood up to leave.

 

He tried to walk at as normal a pace as possible as he followed the two Slytherins. It seemed they were both heading back to the their common room. Kuroko hoped that whatever Akashi intended to say or do would take place outside of it, because without his misdirection Kuroko didn’t have a snowball’s chance in hell of going unnoticed in the Slytherin common room.

 

It was lucky then that Akashi cornered Haizaki in the same hallway Kuroko had ambushed Haizaki in only a few days before.

 

“Shougo, I think we need to speak.”

 

Haizaki chuckled.

 

“About your phantom? What, did he go running to you for protection from the big bad wolf?”

 

“Actually, he was most adamant that he could handle the situation himself,” Akashi said carefully. Haizaki snorted.

 

“Well then you should listen to him,” he said, his tone still friendly. “What goes on between me and the dear little not-quite-a-phantom-anymore is none of your business.”

 

“Tetsuya is still my teammate and friend, which makes him my responsibility,” Akashi said sharply.

 

“So you want to threaten me into leaving him alone? Is that what this is?”

 

It seemed that with Kuroko’s week having run out, Akashi had decided to take the situation into his own hands. Kuroko sunk back down behind the wall, praying that neither boy noticed him.

 

“I’m telling you to leave him alone. For your benefit more than his.”

 

Kuroko heard Haizaki laugh dismissively, but the other boy didn’t contradict Akashi.

 

“Yeah, sure,” he said sarcastically.

 

“Do you want to make me angry, Shougo? Because I will _destroy_ you if you persist in being such a thorn in my side.”

 

Haizaki sniffed contemptuously while Kuroko frowned in confusion. He had thought that Akashi had intended to report the other boy, not threaten him. This wasn’t how he had believed Akashi would handle the situation at all.

 

“I have an alternate proposal to you kicking around members of my team like some kind of savage,” Akashi said, his voice lowering a pitch. Kuroko found himself leaning forward almost all the way around the corner as he strained to hear the other boy.

 

He was unable to catch the next few quiet words exchanged, but he did see the two boys pull away from each other.

 

Haizaki’s face was disbelieving.

 

Had Akashi threatened him?

 

“You’re serious?” Haizaki demanded.

 

“Perfectly so,” Akashi said, his voice low and dark. “But remember what I told you, Shougo: I will _destroy you_ if you don’t leave my teammate alone.”

 

Haizaki’s laugh was high and sharp. It was almost as mocking as it had been when Kuroko had last heard it directed at himself.

 

“Alright fine,” he said. “Hands off your Hufflepuff.”

 

“Don’t forget it,” Akashi snarled.

 

Kuroko heard the thud of footsteps storming away from the conversation.

 

He leaned back against the wall, feeling more confused.

 

At least Akashi hadn’t actually hurt the other boy. But did he really think that directly cornering him like this would be helpful at all?

 

Kuroko disapproved of his Captains methods, but he would be lying to say that he hoped it didn’t work.

 

At least he had handled it without going to the professors.

 

Lying to his roommates about his bruises was starting to become overly troublesome, and Kuroko really didn’t have the energy for dealing with Haizaki _and_ whatever the hell was going on with his misdirection.

 

…

 

At practice, nobody mentioned Haizaki, or any of the problems Kuroko had been having with him. And if Kuroko was holding himself more stiffly than usual, nobody actually brought it up.

 

Akashi did seem to be in a much better mood than usual, as he had them fighting one on one duels. Kuroko was as usual paired up with Aomine and they spent the entire time running drills to push the limits of how many spells Kuroko could redirect. Just keeping up with his light left Kuroko with no room to focus on anything else. For a short time, he fell into the groove of catching and redirecting spells, and let himself believe that beyond their little bubble of practice space, nothing had changed. His problems with his misdirection aside, Haizaki aside, the world aside, their team was a rock Kuroko could always count on. They fit together like a well oiled machine, and Kuroko knew the part he fit into.

 

It was nice to feel like at least here, he still had some useful strength left. Even without his misdirection functioning at it’s best, he could still do this.

 

Akashi ran them several hours later than usual, ending their practice with a long strategy session and an in-depth discussion of their upcoming training and competition schedule. It was past curfew by the time they finished.

 

“Aka-chin should be more considerate of getting us back to our dorms,” Midorima complained as they broke for the night. “After all, not all of us are prefects. It’s really rude.”

 

“Ah, but we do have a prefect from almost every house here,” Akashi replied with a smile. “After all, the male fifth year prefects for Slytherin, Gryffindor, and Ravenclaw are all in this room. You and Daiki will not get in trouble if you are heading back to your dorm with one of us.”

 

“What about Tetsu then?” Aomine asked, huffing in indignation. Kuroko was sure that Aomine had never even thought about wanting to be a prefect, thus avoiding thinking of Kise’s appointment as the Gryffindor prefect for their year in any way that respected the authority the blonde had over him. The Hufflepuff was willing to bet that Aomine’s sense of pride was being rankled by the idea that on their way back to the dorms, Kise would be technically _supervising_ him.

 

“Tetsuya will be escorted by us of course, since the Hufflepuff dorms are on our way,” Akashi said in response to Aomine’s question. “Now why don’t we all head back so that we can’t be accused of using dueling as a way of staying out too late?”

 

He said the last bit rather pleasantly, but there was no doubt that the suggestion was actually an order. Aomine rolled his eyes, but let Kise lead the way out of the room. Midorima snorted, pushed up the plastic pink visor that was his lucky item for the day (the only pink hat he’d been able to find that didn’t originally belong to one of his female classmates), and exited soon after the Gryffindors.

 

Kuroko followed the two Slytherins out the door last, closing it softly behind him.

 

It really was very late, Kuroko suddenly realized. The hallways were deserted – it was after even the seventh year curfew now. The last time he’d been out and about in the castle this late had been for the purpose of finishing the prep work for a prank. That had been over a year ago at this point.

 

He stifled a yawn. Neither Akashi nor Murasakibara seemed to notice the hour, chatting quietly up ahead.

 

Kuroko wondered to himself whether his entire fifth year would just be a cycle of exhaustion, class work, and dueling. He wasn’t prepared to give up his favorite activity, but there was no doubt that he was beginning to feel the strain.

 

He wondered how Momoi managed it.

 

Kuroko was so lost in his musing, he barely noticed when they finally made it down to the first floor of the basement.

 

Akashi and Murasakibara walked Kuroko to the barrels at the end of the corridor “just in case” and bid Kuroko a good night.

 

Kuroko barely remembered making it up the stairs to his own bed. He passed out still mostly dressed and too tired to do anything about it.

 

…

 

When Kuroko next woke up, the sun was shining brightly on his face.

 

He blinked in confusion.

 

The last few weekends, all the Hufflepuffs had woken each other up to spend the day working on their studies together. Had his roommates all slept in as well?

 

But when Kuroko sat up, he realized that the entire dorm was empty, and it was almost noon.

Maybe they had just decided to let Kuroko sleep in? Kuroko _had_ gotten back from dueling practice late the night before. It was quite possible that they decided to let him rest instead of waking him to join them doing homework.

 

Maybe. Kuroko tried to bite back the feeling that there was something more at work here. He changed into a fresh set of clothes as his trousers and shirt from the day before were incredibly wrinkled from having been slept in.

 

Ready to face what was left of the morning, Kuroko went in search of his roommates. They weren’t in the common room, or the library when he checked. Kuroko didn’t find them in the Great Hall either when he went down to grab a light lunch.

 

He didn’t find them when he checked the library again afterwards and decided they must have found somewhere else to study for the day. He guessed it wasn’t a big deal – maybe he’d missed their note or something.

 

So he set out his homework in a corner of the library and decided to buckle down on his own. He’d see them tonight and find out what was going on.

 

Much later, with two essays out of the way and a great deal more reading and research left to do, Kuroko was feeling like he was in better shape with regards to his homework, but not entirely on track yet. From the library windows, he could see that the sun was low in the sky.

 

Kuroko gave his readings another half hour before he decided to pack it in. Maybe he would find his roommates at dinner and finish his homework tonight with them.

 

Luck was with Kuroko. When he entered the Great Hall, he caught sight of his roommates at the end of the Hufflepuff table, taking up their usual spot. Kuroko made a beeline for them, taking up his usual spot right next to Ogiwara.

 

Kuroko heaved his bag onto the bench beside him, sighing in frustration. At this rate, he wouldn’t finish the homework he had to get done for Monday by next week, let alone two days from now.

 

He turned to commiserate over this abject misfortune with Ogiwara, but the redhead was steadily eating his dinner, not looking up at all.

 

That was a little weird.

 

“You’re not going to believe what Akashi was doing yesterday,” Kuroko said. Ogiwara still didn’t look up.

 

Was he… ignoring Kuroko? Kuroko was sure the other boy could hear him. Ogiwara was trying too hard not to react at all. His jaw was clenched and his movements were stiff like he couldn’t quite figure out what to do with his body.

 

“Shige?”

 

But Ogiwara was looking resolutely at his soup.

 

“Did I do something to make you angry?” Kuroko asked, confused. He was wracking his brain trying to think of what he might have done to warrant this kind of response.

 

He looked over at Kawahara, who didn’t even bother looking up. Furihata’s eyes darted up to catch Kuroko’s gaze before quickly looking away. Fukuda’s spoon clanged a little too loudly against the side of his bowl. Sakurai was bright pink at the other line of Hufflepuffs, resolutely buried in a textbook he was holding upside down.

 

“Are you joking?” Kuroko asked. He couldn’t deny that he was hurt. None of his friends had ever deliberately ignored him before.

 

Actually, most of the now fifth year Hufflepuffs had gone out of their way to make sure that they did see Kuroko as much as they could.

 

“Is this a joke?”

 

But none of them responded.

 

“Shige, this is a really dumb prank, and you’re taking it too far,” Kuroko said uneasily. He was hoping Ogiwara would look up at him and laugh awkwardly, apologize for the stupid idea, and everything could go back to normal.

 

But he didn’t. He just kept eating like he couldn’t even see Kuroko. For his part, Kuroko knew that at least the rest of the Hufflepuffs could, because they kept darting glances up at the two of them.

 

_What was going on?_

 

“Did I do something wrong?”

 

Ogiwara choked on a spoon full of soup, but didn’t otherwise show that he had heard Kuroko at all.

 

Kuroko’s stomach twisted painfully. He felt like his heart was trying to sink straight through it into the floor.

 

“Are all of you mad at me too?”

 

None of them responded.

 

Suddenly, he didn’t really feel hungry anymore.

 

He threw his fork onto his plate and pushed away from the table, shouldering his backpack angrily.

 

His eyes were burning, but he refused to cry in the middle of the Great Hall like a child. He didn’t know what his yearmates were doing or what offense he had caused them, but whatever this game was, he didn’t like it. He stormed off blindly.

 

If this was a prank, it wasn’t a funny one.

 

Kuroko was trembling by the time he made it through the door. As soon as he was out of the hall, he started running.

 

He made it out the doors and into the grounds of the school.

 

How long ago had it been that he’d walked down this path to the arena, to his final round in the tournament? How had everything changed so much since then?

 

Kuroko didn’t stop running until he literally couldn’t continue. He heaved for breath, sprawling on the edge of the lake.

 

The sun had set, and the stars were beginning to twinkle into visibility above him.

 

In the distance, the welcoming light of the castle shone in every window.

 

Kuroko felt tears burning at his eyes again, and this time just let them loose.

 

He cried himself dry at the edge of the lake, the light fall wind ripping at his clothes and cooling the salty tracks his tears travelled.

 

Kuroko wished he could stay out here forever.

 

Unfortunately, forever was a bit ambitious. It was getting cold, and he really wanted to be in his own room, in his own bed.

 

As unwelcoming as the thought of going back to his roommates was right now, Kuroko really needed to go back inside.

 

Kuroko returned to his dorm feeling tired and worn out. His eyes hurt. His throat hurt. He wanted today to be over. No, he wanted today to have been some horrifying nightmare that he would wake up from soon.

 

But when he pulled open the door, four heads looked up quickly before staring intently at their textbooks again.

 

Kuroko stood there for a moment, unsure what to do with this.

 

What the hell were they even playing at?

 

Kuroko had the distinct feeling he was missing something and he hated it. This was stupid. Suddenly, he felt a lot more angry than hurt, and he scowled.

 

If his roommates had a problem with something he had done, they could take it up with him. He wasn’t going to make them notice him if they didn’t want to, but he did want to know what made them feel like they never wanted to speak to him again.

 

“So you’re just going to ignore me?” Kuroko asked, striding directly over and standing in front of Ogiwara. None of them so much as looked up.

 

That hurt, as much as his tone might not betray it.

 

What hurt even more than that revelation however, was the silence that fell in response to his question. It was as good as an affirmative answer, and Kuroko felt a nauseating wave of rejection hit him.

 

“Will you at least tell me what I did?”

 

But this question too was only met with more silence.

 

Ogiwara’s jaw tightened, but he didn’t say anything or give any other indication that he had heard Kuroko at all.

 

Kuroko felt rage pool in his gut. He’d shared a room with these boys for four years, and they had just decided to start ignoring him out of the blue?

 

Fine.

 

He was looking for any excuse to get his misdirection back. If his roommates wanted to do half his work for him, he’d let them.

 

Kuroko felt tears prickling at his eyes again and furiously closed the hangings around his bed to avoid giving his roommates the satisfaction of watching him burst out into tears for the second time that day. He sat in the middle of his bed, clutching his pillow and trying to muffle the sound as best he could as his body shook and hot tears spilled down his cheeks and stained the fabric in his arms.

 

The thought occurred to Kuroko when he was done, long after the lights had been turned out, that if his roommates had heard him crying, they’d decided to ignore that too.

 

It took him a long time to get to sleep that night.

 

…

 

It was coming back from potions on Monday that Kuroko received at least a semblance of an answer about what was going on.

 

For the first time in four years, Ogiwara didn’t immediately grab the seat next to Kuroko when they sat down in class. In fact, when the four Hufflepuff fifth years entered the classroom, they paired off with each other on the other side of the room leaving Kuroko sitting on his own.

 

Kuroko tried not to let his hurt or confusion show on his face, but he didn’t know how successful he was. What was he supposed to think about what was going on? Why had his roommates just decided to start ignoring him?

 

Kuroko was immensely surprised when Murasakibara walked in, took stock of the situation, and sat right next to his Hufflepuff teammate.

 

He acted like he’d been sitting there all year, and nothing had changed at all.

 

Kuroko wanted to hug him.

 

Murasakibara was Akashi’s partner; had been since they started classes together. Kuroko couldn’t remember a single day of potions when they hadn’t worked together. But Murasakibara treated this switch as though it was normal routine, without commenting on it.

 

Momoi came in with Akashi and both of them paused. Akashi took one look, shrugged, and turned to the pink haired Slytherin, politely asking her if she would be his partner. Momoi smiled brightly and joined Akashi at the table next to Kuroko and Murasakibara.

 

Kuroko glanced under Murasakibara’s arm at the rest of the Hufflepuffs. Ogiwara was partnering with Sakurai, but the tips of his ears were bright red. He was glaring at the professor’s desk like he could set it on fire with nothing more than his own will.

 

The class passed by in a blur. Murasakibara was a good partner, but he’d spent a long time with a much more exacting lab partner than Kuroko. There was no chance of him being incompetent, even if he barely put in enough effort to pass the class when it was his own choice.

 

It was really weird to do this without Ogiwara.

 

The thought made Kuroko’s heart ache.

 

Kuroko took a long time to pack up his things, giving the Hufflepuff fifth years a chance to escape ahead of him. He didn’t look up from his desk until he knew they were gone. Once he was sure he wouldn’t accidentally look at or make eye contact with any of them, he started shoving his book, notes, and ingredients away. By the time he was done, Murasakibara and Akashi were the only other students left in the classroom.

 

Murasakibara had cleared the contents of their cauldron with a wave of his hand, and was well on the way to getting their workspace clean all by himself.

 

“Kuro-chin’s friends aren’t being very nice,” the Slytherin observed without looking up. Kuroko felt something tight squeezing his throat and chest. He shook his head.

 

“They aren’t,” he admitted. “It’s fine.”

 

He pulled his book bag out from under the desk so quickly it almost sent the table sprawling, and he marched out of the room, missing the concerned glance Murasakibara and Momoi exchanged over Akashi’s head.

 

“Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said slowly.

 

“I know, Atsushi, it sucks,” Akashi replied, finally looking up as the door snapped shut behind their wayward phantom.

 

On the other side of the door, Kuroko paused to catch his breath and collect himself.

 

The rejection of his peers had left an acute pain in his chest, and he hated it.

 

He was so busy trying not to look up as he walked back to the library that he almost ran into one of his classmates.

 

“Ah, sorry, Kuroko,” Sakurai said on reflex, and then turned bright red as though he’d done something he wasn’t supposed to.

 

Kuroko was willing to just keep walking and ignore the other Hufflepuff the way Sakurai was obviously trying to do for him, but Sakurai’s hand shot out, grabbing his arm.

 

“Wait, we need to talk,” Sakurai said quietly, looking up and down the corridor to make sure it was empty before he looked back at his classmate.

 

“Really?” Kuroko asked flatly. “I’ve gotten the impression that none of you have anything to say to me at all.”

 

Sakurai blushed.

 

“Sorry,” he said reflexively. Kuroko felt annoyed. If he was actually sorry, then he shouldn’t be doing this – whatever it was!

 

“Listen, come on.”

 

Sakurai pulled Kuroko into an empty classroom, looking around nervously every step of the way. It was like he was scared that something would jump out and eat them. Kuroko knew that Sakurai was a little skittish, but this was ridiculous.

 

The second the door closed he put up a silencing ward, looking slightly more comfortable than he had before.

 

“Sakurai, why are you all ignoring me?”

 

In the dark classroom, Sakurai’s face was hard to make out. He was looking down at his shoes as though there were something really interesting about his laces.

 

“Sakurai.”

 

“Kuroko, I’m so sorry, but you need to stop trying to force us to talk to you, okay?”

 

Kuroko felt a wave of frustration go through him. What the hell? Why wouldn’t anyone even tell him why they were doing this?

 

“Please just tell me what’s going on!”

 

“Listen, Kuroko,” Sakurai said nervously. “We can’t, okay? This is just how it has to be. I’m sorry.”

 

He turned around and walked away, leaving Kuroko staring open mouthed at his back.

What the _fuck_.

 

Students were starting to file into the classroom for their next class, so Kuroko left at a run. He needed to get out, to find somewhere away from other people right now.

 

He found himself gasping for breath, heaving with exertion and his face dripping with sweat and tears as he stormed into the fourth floor boys’ restroom. Kuroko knew that it would be a safe place to hide away from prying eyes for long enough to get his emotions back in order.

Kuroko folded into a ball on the floor, back against the stone wall of the restroom, head buried in his knees.

 

He let the frustration and pain bleed out of him, sobbing until he didn’t have breath and his eyes hurt from crying so much.

 

He didn’t think it was possible to hurt this much. He was confused, he was angry, he was offended. He felt like the ground had been stolen out from underneath him and he was left to fall.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how long he spent crying there, but he was drawn out of his own head by the sound of footsteps echoing against the tile and stone of the restroom.

 

“Go away,” Kuroko said. Talking hurt. His throat burned. His eyes burned. Even breathing hurt right now. Trying to draw air in his lungs was like trying to fill balloons with huge holes in them – no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t get his lungs to fill. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this. He didn’t want anyone to try and make him feel better when everything was so obviously messed up and wildly emotional.

 

“Ah, little phantom, I told you.”

 

Hanamiya was… probably not the _last_ person Kuroko wanted to see right now, but he definitely made the short list.

 

“Just go away,” Kuroko whispered, pressing the backs of his hands into his eyes to prevent the tears from spilling over again.

 

“I just came to talk,” Hanamiya said. “It’s almost time for you to go out into the real world, and you’ve come to realize the truth about people like us.”

 

“I told you, I’m nothing like you.”

 

“Ah, but that’s not really true, is it?” Hanamiya asked. “It seems your classmates revile you almost more than they hate me. After all, they’re willing to at least I acknowledge that I exist, aren’t they? Can you say the same?”

 

“Can’t you just _go away_?” Kuroko sniffed.

 

“There there, little phantom, I know how much it hurts,” Hanamiya said softly. “It hurts so much you wish you could rip your own heart out of your chest to make it stop, don’t you?”

 

Kuroko nodded, unable to stop the tears from falling this time around.

 

“Even when they accept you, it’s only for so long as you stay useful,” Hanamiya said. “So here’s a little tip. If you want to stop being treated like useless trash, don’t act like like useless trash. Make yourself strong enough that nobody can ever make you feel this way ever again. Don’t let them see you sweat, understand?”

 

Kuroko nodded again, not trusting himself to speak.

 

“Good,” Hanamiya praised him. “Now I suggest figuring out how to fix that little trick of yours and getting back in with your Miracle friends, because if there’s anyone to be counted on as a friend, it’s an opportunist. So long as you’re valuable and strong, they’ll like you, and that’s what you want, right? To fit in? For them to like you?”

 

“Yeah,” Kuroko said quietly.

 

“There you go,” Hanamiya said. “So get back what you lost, and don’t let the ones who dropped you ever try and forget what they did. And when you’re finally ready to admit that you don’t exist to please anyone and don’t need their approval, come find me. I’ll show you how _liberating_ real darkness can be, shadow.”

 

With a last pat on Kuroko’s shoulder, Hanamiya stepped back, leaving Kuroko on his own in the bathroom.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how much longer he stayed there. He had no idea how long it took him to cry out his feelings, but by the time he stood up, Kuroko was exhausted and drained.

 

He didn’t know what had made his friends start ignoring him, but he hated it with a burning passion. The most bitter part of the whole situation was that there was nothing he could do about it.

 

…

 

Kuroko had become used to his misdirection not working, so it was kind of jarring to have his housemates decide to stop talking to him. For all his determination to be okay with this and to find some way to cope, the truth was that he felt really hurt, and he didn’t know if there was anything he could do to fix this.

 

Kuroko stopped attending meals in the Great Hall. The tense, manufactured quiet made his stomach churn and he had no desire to sit at a table with so many students deliberately ignoring him.

 

Whatever was going on, it was beginning to piss Kuroko off almost as much as it was hurting him. And that was saying something.

 

At night, Kuroko studied in the library until it closed. He always chose the table that was farthest back, far away from where he would study with his dorm mates when they were still speaking to him. If he was lucky, he managed to avoid seeing them outside of classes, but that too was unavoidable.

 

He figured at least if they were determined to ignore his existence, he could make it easy on them.

 

Kuroko even started waking up early, so that he wouldn’t have to deal with his roommates not looking in his direction. He would pack up his schoolwork and slip out of the dorm as the sun rose, and steal away to the common room like a thief leaving in the night, and he would return long after he knew they had all gone to bed.

 

Sometimes on his way out he ran into a seventh year studying through the night who would look up in confusion as Kuroko left.

 

This situation went on for a full week, during which Kuroko felt the constant pull of loneliness and exhaustion. However on Friday, Kuroko’s attempt to furtively leave his room was stalled when he found Mitobe in the common room, Koganei asleep with his head in the sixth year Hufflepuff’s lap. A mix of books and papers were spread out on the table in front of them. A pair of seventh years were laying down at the other end of the table, having fallen asleep over their books.

 

Mitobe looked up when Kuroko exited the hallway that led to the dorms, and gently pushed a plate of lemon bars towards Kuroko.

 

Kuroko was touched, and gently picked one off the plate, taking a bite.

 

“They’re wonderful,” he told Mitobe emphatically. “Thank you.”

 

Mitobe waved his hand at the younger Hufflepuff as though telling him it was no big deal, but he’d flushed pink at the compliment. Kuroko savored every bite.

 

Mitobe shook Koganei gently, and the Gryffindor woke sleepily. He looked up at Mitobe, and then over to Kuroko, frowning a little.

 

“Eh, what time’sit?”

 

Mitobe made a face at Koganei, who sat up, looking between the two Hufflepuffs.

 

“Ryo, what - oh, okay. Kuroko, he wants you to know that just because you live with someone doesn’t mean they have to be your only friends.”

 

Kuroko didn’t visibly react to that, but he froze where he was standing.

 

Koganei smiled at Kuroko, grabbing a lemon square off the plate Mitobe had put back down on the table.

 

“It’s okay to have friends outside of the ones you room with,” Koganei continued, and then turned to Mitobe. “Ryo, these are the best!”

 

Mitobe shook his head and blushed, looking back down at his homework. Koganei yawned and stretched.

 

“Ah, I should get this essay done too,” he said. “See you later, Kuroko!”

 

Kuroko nodded. He continued on his way to the library, but his mind was racing.

 

He’d been assuming this whole time that the only friends he had were by necessity. But that wasn’t strictly true, was it? In the last year, Kuroko had made a different group of friends, one Kuroko knew he could count on to be there for him.

 

Even if Kuroko was angry at Akashi for having forced his hand with the whole Haizaki situation, he knew Akashi had only done so because he cared about him.

 

All of them did, in their own eccentric, weird ways. Their support would make up for whatever loss he was experiencing now, Kuroko knew. After all, hadn’t Murasakibara stepped in to be his partner in potions when Ogiwara had abandoned him? Hadn’t Kise talked him through dealing with Haizaki? Even Midorima cared enough to try and help Akashi discover who had been hurting him.

 

Aomine seemed to have taken any intent on the part of another student to harm Kuroko as a personal affront.

 

That evening, Kuroko prepared for practice as usual, gathering up his dueling clothes in one hand. But when he opened his bag, he found the sweat bands Ogiwara had given him sitting directly at the top.

 

Kuroko pulled them out and glared down at the matching pair in his hands. For a long time, he’d worn Ogiwara’s sweatbands into the arena as a mark of friendship. Whenever he walked into a duel, he did so with more than just his teammates at his back.

 

It was a reminder that he wasn’t alone, that no matter what happened, he would always have his sun to count on.

 

What a fucking joke.

 

Even Kuroko could admit he was afraid of relying on the Generation of Miracles when they could leave him just as easily as his housemates had. But they had known for weeks that Kuroko’s misdirection had been malfunctioning, and had only showed an increased determination to help him fix it. He was more than just _useful_ to them.

 

Kuroko clenched his hand into a fist, closing the sweatbands away from his own view.

 

He and Ogiwara weren’t friends anymore. He’d been cast adrift by his light.

 

So much for Hufflepuff loyalty.

 

This time when Kuroko stepped out into the arena, he wouldn’t be fighting with his roommates at his side. The only people he would be able to count on were the five lights that he was following into battle.

 

His only friends were his teammates.

 

That was fine, Kuroko thought, even though it made his heart hurt.

 

Hanamiya was wrong; he would not be alone again. He had the Generation of Miracles.

 

Loss and hope warred with each other, and Kuroko closed his eyes tightly, fighting back tears.

 

He would do whatever he could to get his misdirection back, and he would continue to stand with the Generation of Miracles.

 

He couldn’t let them leave him too. He would find a way to follow them, no matter how impossible that prospect seemed. They wanted him to succeed and he would prove them right.

 

Kuroko stood up abruptly. He threw the sweatbands back on his bed, not even watching as they hit the corner between the headboard and the wall and fell down underneath it.

 

He would find a way to stand tall enough on his own to match his friends.

 

He had to.

 

Kuroko stormed out of the room, his sweatbands abandoned under his bed, forgotten.

He didn’t have to stand alone. After all, for over a year now his strength was borrowed from the most powerful wizards of their generation.

  
  
...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to chat, feel free to come talk to me on my Tumblr, [MercurialInK](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	16. Feelings Are For Peasants And So Is Homework

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So fun fact I was so busy running around after pokemon last night that I totally forgot to read through this chapter so here we go

…

 

It was Saturday morning, and Kuroko was working on his homework in the library when Momoi found him. He had chosen a new corner on the other side of the library on the second floor. It was an out of the way nook surrounded by obscure travel journals Kuroko doubted were used for any class.

 

Last night, when Kuroko had asked Kise where he usually studied, Kise responded with a smile and an invitation to join the Generation of Miracles in their study corner on the second floor. It seemed Kuroko had been the first to arrive, but given the early hour at which he’d left that wasn’t surprising.

 

“You’ve been avoiding me.”

 

Momoi’s tone was accusatory.

 

“I have not,” Kuroko denied, looking up from his homework. “We’ve both been busy. Do you want to study with me now?”

 

Momoi sighed but acquiesced, falling more than sitting into the seat next to him.

 

“Oh, you just reminded me!” Momoi said, sitting up after a moment. “I wanted to ask why you started partnering with Mu-kun in potions?”

 

Kuroko shrugged, not taking his eyes off his homework. A single flinch would give away the truth to the incredibly perceptive Slytherin. He didn’t think he could bear to admit out loud that his own housemates were ostracizing him.

 

“He’s a good partner,” Kuroko said. “Last week he just asked me if he could sit with me before the rest of the class caught up with us, so I agreed.”

 

Momoi was watching him sharply when he looked up.

 

“What was wrong with partnering with Shigehiro then? Aside from the obvious – that he’s a loudmouth Hufflepuff with a penchant for ruining potions with his ridiculous experiments.”

 

“Nothing is wrong,” Kuroko said flatly. “Shige is a great potions partner. So is Murasakibara. Murasakibara asked me to switch, and Shige had no objections to my doing so. So now Murasakibara and I are partners.”

 

Momoi considered that for a moment before smiling widely.

 

“Okay,” she said, pulling her books out. “I really am glad that you’re working with him. Mu-kun is… lots of people underestimate him but he’s really smart. He knows lots of things nobody expects him to because he’s big and intimidating. Not a lot of people give him credit for what matters.”

 

Kuroko could see how Momoi could relate. Because of her gender and stature, she was generally considered an airhead. People who didn’t know her well rarely expected her to be as brilliant as she was.

 

“I’m glad you’re getting to know all of them really,” she said. “They’re good people, but nobody ever sees past all that power. It helps them to have someone as grounded as you are.”

 

Kuroko murmured and agreement, and the two of them got to work on their essays. About an hour into their study session, they were joined by Midorima who sat down, scowled, and pulled out his runes notes.

 

About ten minutes later they were joined by Akashi who greeted all of them with a polite smile and an extremely large thermos of tea. Murasakibara came shortly after that with another thermos bottle full of coffee and a request for Akashi to help him with the theory for his charms essay.

 

Only a few minutes later, Kise and Aomine arrived, laden with food. Momoi cast a spell with her wand to prevent any of the papers on the table to be stained by grease or liquid, and gently took one of Aomine’s offered muffins.

 

“Oi, Tetsu, we got vanilla,” Aomine said, shoving the plate in Kuroko’s direction. “Satsuki said that was your favorite.”

 

He quickly retreated to the other side of the table and pulled out his charms textbook with a groan.

 

“Come on Akashi, this is so boring,” he said. “All of us knew stunning spells _last year._ We’re years ahead of the curriculum and nobody in class could even hope of catching up to us. Can’t we just duel instead?”

 

“Daiki there’s more to doing well in class than just being able to do the spell,” Akashi murmured as though he’d covered this ground before.

 

“But what does it even _matter_? If I can do the spells why should anyone give a shit if I know exactly how to move a wand for a stunner or what the arithmantic theory behind conjuring is? We have to conjure a simple tea set for part of the exam, but I’ve been conjuring targets since I was eleven. Without even really trying Tetsu was using a more effective variety of the vanishing spell we’re eventually going to do in charms and we’re not getting to those for _ages_. Studying is pointless when we can already _do this._ ”

 

Akashi looked up from his notes and looked Aomine directly in the eye.

 

“You cannot bullshit your way through N.E.W.T theory sections, regardless of how powerful you are. No matter how well your reliance on Satsuki has served you in the past you won’t be able to cheat off her in the exam. I expect all of you the perform at least passably on your exams, and that’s the end of it.”

 

Momoi thankfully saved Aomine from picking a fight with Akashi by baiting him with what was probably the only distraction that could have cut off his self-centered whining.

 

“Dai-kun, do you want Ryo-kun to score better than you on your exams?” Momoi asked lightly, taking a sip of tea before delving back into her arithmancy.

 

“Aw hell no!” Aomine said, diving for his book.

 

And for about twenty minutes, it looked like he was actually studying. Kuroko was impressed.

 

“Akashi, this runic binding doesn’t make sense,” Midorima muttered after a few minutes of silence. “What am I missing in this spell structure?”

 

Akashi peered over at the notes, and then glanced at Momoi.

 

“Satsuki?” he asked.

 

“Mm, is that the shield spell?” she asked, not looking up from her own notes. Midorima nodded. Momoi tilted her head to the side, considering the chain of numbers in front of her. “Look at the limiting sequence.”

 

Midorima peered more intently at the page.

 

“Oh!” he said, scribbling notes on the parchment next to him. Momoi smiled and went back to her work.

 

“I see your independent project is working out well,” Akashi said. “Did you decide what you want to focus on?”

 

“Breaking shields from a distance,” Midorima said without looking up. “Professor Harasawa set me some advanced work to practice working with shields in general before I started doing research on what I needed to be able to use the technique in a duel.”

 

After that it mostly quieted down. Aomine and Kise would good naturedly rib each other between working on their homework, but generally kept the noise level down.

 

Kuroko kept his head down, working intently on his own essays. By the time they took a break for lunch, he had been extraordinarily productive. He had also given quite a bit of thought to what it must be like to be so far ahead of the curriculum that there was almost no point in even going to class. He could see how Aomine would be frustrated by being forced to sit through long lectures on magic he had been performing competently - one might even say effortlessly or extraordinarily - for years. Kuroko couldn’t imagine ever experiencing that problem himself, but he could at least sympathize with the other boy’s frustrations, especially when it so obvious that the Gryffindor was struggling.

 

…

 

Aside from his friendship with Momoi, Kuroko had never built strong relationships across house lines. It felt kind of weird for Kuroko, spending most of his time with students who weren’t fellow Hufflepuffs.

 

At the same time, Kuroko had been spending almost all his free time with this group of students for over a year now anyway.

Maybe Kuroko shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was when, the Monday following their weekend study session, Midorima tapped him on the shoulder on the way to the Great Hall.

 

“Come eat at the Ravenclaw table,” he said shortly, and then continued walking as though this was a perfectly ordinary request. Kuroko supposed it wasn’t out of the ordinary for friends to eat with each other, so he followed the Ravenclaw.

 

He tried very hard not to glance over at the Hufflepuff table as he did.

 

“Did you finish the Runes assignment yet?” Kuroko asked after several minutes. They had a worksheet for the class that was hellishly complicated and due tomorrow. Every time Kuroko even thought about it, sitting at the front of his bag, he could feel the echoes of a headache coming on. Midorima snorted.

 

“I didn’t do it at all,” he replied stiffly. “Identifying simple problems with simple spells is beneath me. Professor Harasawa granted my request to conduct an independent study into an advanced Runes topic for a grade instead of working on simple Runes identification sheets.”

 

“Aren’t you going to study for your O.W.L then?” Kuroko asked.

 

“I could take that exam today and get a perfect score,” Midorima scowled. “Most of us could sit the majority of our exams and get at least an Exceed Expectations. Even those Gryffindor fools would be fine, and sometimes I wonder if between them they have more brain cells than a brick wall.”

 

Kuroko was a little startled to hear Midorima speak so harshly of his teammates, but maybe it was just that the coffee hadn’t had enough time to kick in. That or Midorima was suffering from a serious case of the same angst that was causing Aomine problems - that he was just too powerful to make going to class worthwhile. At any rate, he was very grateful to the Ravenclaw for making it easy for him to avoid his housemates, who were hard at work ignoring him.

 

They ate in silence until it was time to leave for class.

 

Lunch rolled around and Kuroko was kidnapped by Kise and Aomine to sit with them at the Gryffindor table. Murasakibara and Momoi joined forces to get him to sit with them at the Slytherin table for dinner. Once they were sitting down, Momoi launched into a rapid-fire conversation with Akashi about their training schedule.

 

This continued the next day (Kuroko was shocked that Midorima asked Kuroko to sit with him again, given how curt their conversation the previous day had been), and the next, and before Kuroko knew it, he hadn’t sat at the Hufflepuff table for a week.

 

After that, finding somewhere other than his own House table to sit became habit. Usually, he’d eat breakfast at the Ravenclaw table with Midorima. This served two purposes – first, the other boy rarely required Kuroko to engage in conversation with him, and second, Kuroko found that he was extremely free with his comments about Kuroko’s rune worksheets, which he tended to be more likely to agree to look over while eating. He would alternate between the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables for lunch or dinner. None of the Miracles ever turned him away or asked about the sudden change, for which Kuroko was intensely grateful.

 

It was definitely a departure from his usual routine but Kuroko still didn’t know if the Miracles knew about what was going on between Kuroko and the other Hufflepuffs. Kuroko couldn’t imagine that Akashi was ignorant of anything that happened in the castle, but the rest of them… Momoi had been running herself ragged since the tournament had started last year and none of the other Miracles had any friends in Hufflepuff, as far as Kuroko knew. That was even if you ignored the fact that most of them found the rest of the student body extremely tiresome.

 

At any rate, whether their interference was intentional or not, Kuroko found that he was still immensely thankful for it. After all, it meant that he spent less time around his roommates, which seemed to work best for everyone involved. Kuroko just didn’t want to deal with them anymore.

 

…

 

October was going by faster than Kuroko could have imagined. After the chaotic first few weeks of the semester, things settled down quickly. Kuroko hadn’t spoken to his roommates since the second week of September. It had been almost a month and nothing had changed.

 

Aside from Sakurai’s panicked (and not very helpful) explanation after that one Potions class, Kuroko had no greater insight into why they had started deliberately ignoring him than when he did at the very beginning. Thinking about the situation too much made him upset and frustrated, but he could largely ignore that feeling when he was with his team.

 

Fortunately, Kuroko was spending almost all his time these days with at least one of the Miracles.

 

Unfortunately, that also meant that the reminder that Kuroko’s misdirection wasn’t working continued to be a nagging doubt in the back of his mind.

 

Kuroko prepared for their first intramural duel of the year with trepidation, knowing that he would be fighting without the only weapon he had been able to rely on in the duels he had fought and won before.

 

At least his capacity to move spells was unchanged, though Kuroko noticed that he would grow exhausted more quickly during their duels. Though it was entirely possible his worry and frustration were making him imagine that.

 

Even with Akashi’s punishing training regimen, nothing changed. Kuroko continued to be ignored by his roommates, and noticed by others in class and at meals. He was followed by a tense silence almost everywhere he went, except the dueling classroom. There were only two upsides to this state of affairs: The first was that Kuroko’s grades definitely benefited from having so much extra time for him to study. The second was that the bullying had stopped.

 

Halloween was fast approaching and nothing had improved either Kuroko’s social problems or his misdirection, and Kuroko went to Akashi for help. His housemates weren’t talking to him any more, and he despaired at the idea of putting yet another piece of work on Momoi’s plate when she was already working past her limits. He really only had one option.

 

Besides, the Slytherin was one of the smartest people Kuroko knew, and he was the first person to have seen the true value in Kuroko’s misdirection. Perhaps he might be able to help Kuroko salvage it now.

 

“As I see it,” Akashi said seriously, when Kuroko had cornered him while working on a project for Potions, “there are two potential courses of action.”

 

“I will do whatever it takes,” Kuroko replied at once, and Akashi made a face. “What are they?”

 

“The first option is probably not one that we can rely on,” the Slytherin said slowly. “I believe that your misdirection is powered unconsciously by your magical core. The first time we met, I thought you were doing it on purpose, but speaking to you, I realized that could not be the case. If we were able to somehow repair the shield then you might get your misdirection back, but I wouldn’t even begin to know how something that delicate would work.”

 

That was a first, Akashi admitting that he didn’t know something.

 

“I have attempted to reach out to some magical specialists I know,” Akashi continued. “But it seems none of them have any idea how to directly access those shields. Mind magic can be dangerous and complex, especially when it is combined with the rapidly developing magical core of a child and the fundamental instability of accidental magic. It may very well be that any solution that they can offer would only cause more problems.”

 

Kuroko felt his hopes fall, before he remembered what Akashi had said.

 

“You said that was the first option,” he ventured. “Is there anything else we could do?”

 

“I believe that your powers of misdirection will become stronger again if you are better able to avoid projecting your emotional reactions.”

 

“What do you mean?” Kuroko asked.

 

“If you do not allow your emotions to dominate you, you will be better able to hide yourself and your magic from the notice of others. Magic stirs in response to emotion. If you become as emotionally calm as possible, I believe it will enable you to once again use and strengthen your misdirection.”

 

Kuroko found himself unable to voice the protest that rose on his lips _– what if I want to be seen? What if I’m scared that so few people can see me that I might just fade into oblivion? What if the day comes when nobody can see me, not even you?_

 

On the other hand, if Kuroko couldn’t compete with the rest of the Miracles, he might lose their friendship entirely. Kuroko didn’t know if he could give up the only friends he had that would still speak to him. Akashi had never been wrong, and if this helped him become stronger, allowed him to compete on the same level as the rest of the miracles again, well then.

 

He’d disappear entirely, if it meant that his team would still be looking at him. He didn’t care about the world, or the school, or anyone else. He just knew deep in his soul that the second he accepted the loss of his misdirection and became just another weakling wizard, none of his teammates would look at him the same way every again.

 

So he grit his teeth against the burning pain in his heart, his throat, and his eyes, and bowed his head.

 

“What do I need to do?”

 

“I think the best way to proceed would be to subject you to stimulus and force you to control your reaction until it is all but reflex,” Akashi said smoothly. “If you are willing, of course.”

 

“What does that mean, exactly?” Kuroko asked, still confused, not sure what he was agreeing to but ready to accept any solutio Akashi thought might work.

 

“If you demonstratively display emotion in response to stimuli, it would curse you –lightly – to remind you to restrain your emotional response.”

 

Kuroko thought that over. It didn’t sound pleasant but if Akashi was right and displaying a less emotional outer shell would help his misdirection –

 

He thought of the taunts he’d received, of the number of students that had rightly called him out for being the weakest wizard in this school. The only reason he’d been able to meet the Generation of Miracles’ level of play was because of his misdirection. And now, he didn’t even have that. Unless he got it back, he might lose the only friends he had left, the only thing that was keeping him sane.

 

He’d do whatever it took to stop that from happening. He would become strong again, for his friends, and he would keep fighting with them.

 

“Okay,” he said. “Whatever this is, I’ll do it.”

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“I’m going to cast a spell on you,” he warned Kuroko. “It is going to cause you pain when you experience a demonstrative emotional response.”

 

“I’m ready,” Kuroko said.

 

Whatever it took to get back what he had lost, Kuroko would pay the price.

 

He’d lost one group of friends this year already. He wasn’t going to let go of the other without a fight.

 

Akashi had a grim expression on his face.

 

“Hopefully this will help repair whatever the issue is with your misdirection,” Akashi said, raising his wand.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes so that he didn’t have to watch the end of Akashi’s wand light up with a sickening dull red color.

 

He felt the magic settle uncomfortably around him. The spell slid for a second over Kuroko’s shield, and then sunk through it and blanketed the wizard himself.

 

Kuroko glowed for another second before the spell took hold, and then it was over.

 

Akashi didn’t look pleased, but there was grim satisfaction in his expression.        

 

“I am sorry,” he said. “I do hope that this helps more than it hurts you.”

 

“As long as it gives me my misdirection back it will be fine,” Kuroko said. “I’m tired of no longer being helpful to you, of watching while you all move forward and I am stuck behind.”

 

Akashi put a gentle hand on Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

“We won’t ever leave you behind,” he promised. “You’re one of us, and we won’t ever abandon you. Soon, you’ll be back to fighting side by side with us.”

 

Kuroko hoped with all his heart that Akashi was right about that.

 

…

 

It didn’t take long for Kuroko to understand the full effect of Akashi’s spell.

 

Kuroko returned to his dorm late, carrying his textbooks and notes compiled from an evening spent studying in a secluded corner of the library next to Midorima. The room was quiet and dark, and the only sound was the soft breathing of his Hufflepuff housemates, and Kawahara’s light snoring.

 

Kuroko was pretty sure it was well after midnight, and he placed his textbooks down on his nightstand as quietly and gently as he possibly could, not wanting to wake his roommates, and then be forced to deal with them pretending they couldn’t see him.

 

The thought made his heart ache.

 

A pang of loneliness shot through him, followed by something else. Kuroko gasped as a much more physical pain jolted through his body.

 

It started in his hands and raced up his arms like electricity sparking through his veins. It burned like fire, and it was all Kuroko could do to silence himself so that he didn’t wake his roommates.

 

Kuroko breathed through the pain until he could stand again, and slowly caught his breath. He tried as hard as he could to not make a sound as the pain subsided, leaning against one of the posters on his bed.

 

_Oh._

 

The spell was going to cause him pain whenever he felt any strong emotion.

 

That was how Akashi was going to train him out of his emotional reactions. It was probably a brilliant idea, but with pain still crackling through his limbs, Kuroko only felt irritation.

 

He was beginning to think that this was a terrible idea.

 

 _If it gets my misdirection back it will be worth it,_ Kuroko told himself, quickly changing into his nightclothes and rolling into bed. _I will become strong enough to stand on the court with my friends without holding them back._

 

_I can endure anything to be able to do that again._

 

…

 

The spell activated when Kuroko’s pulse spiked as he was called on in class the next day. Trying to ignore the eyes of his entire class on him, Kuroko fought down the pain and forced himself to calm down.

 

It acted up whenever Kuroko looked at the other Hufflepuff fifth years and felt that sick pang of loneliness, anger, and regret. He got into the habit of not looking at them anymore.

 

They weren’t checking in with him, he didn’t need to check to see if they were.

 

He already knew that they had abandoned him.

 

By the end of the week, he had completely mastered putting his friends out of his mind.

 

…

 

During practice the next week the spell struck again. Kuroko had managed to redirect a particularly powerful spell of Aomine’s directly into Kise’s shield, sending the blonde Gryffindor flying.

 

Elation coursed through Kuroko’s veins, followed immediately by familiar, crushing pain.

 

Kuroko bent over, clenching his hands into fists.

 

“Oi, Tetsu, you okay over there?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said, straightening up. “I’m fine. That was a powerful spell.”

 

His voice was even, but inside he was fighting to hold back the pain. It took several seconds of struggling to calm himself down enough for the spell to work.

 

“Damn right it was!” Aomine whooped. “Kise, I just helped Tetsu kick your ass!”

 

“You’re the worst!” Kise shouted from where he was getting off the floor. “Come on and fight me face to face and we’ll see who wins.”

 

“Always happy to give you a beat down!” Aomine called back. “Tetsu, you good?”

 

Kuroko nodded shakily, trying to process what had just happened.

 

“Alright, why don’t you sit out this next round so you don’t get hurt. I’ll teach Kise a lesson myself.”

 

Aomine was off before Kuroko could object, trading even more powerful curses with the blonde.

 

It was only then that Kuroko understood the full capacity of this spell.

 

He was trading away everything – even his joy, even the good parts of his emotional reactions – to get his misdirection back.

 

Kuroko immediately, wholeheartedly, and unreservedly decided that instant that it was be worth it.

 

After all, he wasn’t only regaining his misdirection.

 

Thanks to the spell, the pain that filled him every time he looked at his roommates, the churning feeling of rejection, all that would be gone too.

 

Kuroko would have given up the ability to feel joy a million times over just to never have to feel the pain of that rejection ever again, even without the benefit of getting his misdirection back.

 

And it did seem as though Kuroko’s misdirection was improving.

 

Kuroko focused on redirecting spells, and on tactics he could use in the middle of a duel while his opponents were distracted. He would never be able to fight any of them head on, but he still had talents he could cultivate while he worked on his misdirection.

 

…

 

It was much harder to manage his emotions when Akashi started asking Kuroko to sit duels out entirely.

 

During one practice in mid November, Kuroko tried to replicate his trick from the tournament. He had wanted to split one of Aomine’s bolts of lightning into multiple spells while still maintaining their strength. When the lightning hit, Kuroko didn’t even get the chance to move the spell at all.

 

Instead, it blew up in his face, throwing him back into a wall.

 

Kuroko hit the ground like a rag doll, and the world swam out of focus for a few moments before he got his bearings again. Akashi’s red eyes were staring impassively down at him, and the captain’s hand was extended towards Kuroko.

 

“You’re done for today,” Akashi said quietly. “Sit out and catch your breath. Aomine, you’re dueling Kise.”

 

Kise cheered, but Aomine didn’t even smile as he turned towards Kise, casting burst after burst of lightning even more powerful than the spell he’d thrown towards Kuroko.

 

The feeling of resentment and frustration was met by an equally strong flare of pain up and down his arms. It took Kuroko the rest of practice just to contain his emotions.

 

“Don’t try and catch spells that are too powerful for you,” Murasakibara said, walking past Kuroko without even looking at him at the end of practice.

 

That burned too, both metaphorically and literally.

 

Kuroko knew he’d handled spells stronger than the one that had just thrown him out of the arena only a few months ago during the interschool tournament.

 

He was terrified that he wasn’t going to be able to stop himself from losing the only power he had, and there seemed to be no way to stop it.

 

…

 

Kuroko found the spell activating again a few days later when he was once again in the library. His sixteenth rune combination for this project had failed to pan out, and the frustration rising in his chest was matched by a burst of pain. Kuroko rode it out, and reminded himself to keep a cool head.

 

He went back to studying the runes, determined to calm himself down and make the spell stop.

 

Two days later, Kuroko looked up to see a group of three cats wandering around the library. Kuroko couldn’t help but smile at the cute sight, and the spell sparked to life again.

 

Kuroko grit his teeth and looked down. It had taken him a while to control his own irritated response to the spell, but now that he knew the trick, he could do it easily enough. So long as he focused on something other than what was causing him emotional distress, he could cause his mind to become calm and blank, and the spell would quickly subside.

 

Once Kuroko was able to keep his face blank no matter what happened around him, he started getting much better at controlling the feelings behind those reactions too.

 

Slowly, he gained enough control to contain his emotional response entirely. It was almost like he was watching another part of himself experiencing those feelings, and was able to process that they existed without actually feeling them.

 

Soon, he was able to walk by his housemates being loud and friendly with each other without feeling pain.

 

He could watch the Generation of Miracles practice without the sharp pang of envy that had been inside of him pretty much since day one.

 

He could think objectively about fixing his misdirection without being upset or frustrated or losing track of his research because he was angry with himself and this entire situation.

 

He could just _be,_ and it was a level of emotional calm that Kuroko almost welcomed.

 

Of course, his misdirection was _still_ not working, no matter how much Kuroko was able to contain his emotions.

 

…

 

Practice was becoming harder and harder to deal with. Kuroko thought his misdirection might be improving, but if that was true, it was doing so at an unacceptably slow rate. The Hufflepuff was lagging behind even more than he normally would. He could see his teammates improving by leaps and bounds. Aomine’s advanced skills with transfiguration meant that he was able to bounce spells off of his own conjured objects.

 

Midorima’s beautiful and complex rune creations had never really required a partner, and Murasakibara had never met an opponent he couldn’t simply overpower with brute force. More and more often, Kise was meeting Aomine spell for spell, focusing on catching up to his dark haired rival.

 

Akashi, of course, was absolutely perfect at everything, whether it involved working with a partner or not.

 

Kuroko had not dueled against any of his teammates since the accident with Aomine, and Akashi usually pulled him aside halfway through practice while he was running drills to tell him to sit out.

 

Kuroko went, heaving for breath and covered in sweat and not even able to properly resent the situation.

 

The Hufflepuff found himself nearly out of his mind. It would be impossible to say that he was constantly irritated, because the spell Akashi had cast on him prevented him from being able to feel the prickle of frustration without the pain that accompanied any strong emotion.

 

And yet he was constantly being blocked at every turn. It had been weeks, and his misdirection hadn’t improved at all. Even his capacity to move spells was weakening.

 

It wasn’t fair.

 

Kuroko fought down the swirl of anger and loss he was feeling. Had the universe gifted him a power he was destined to only use in an extraordinary way only once before even that was robbed from him?

 

Was he slowly losing his magic now?

 

Soon enough November was almost over and yet nothing had changed.

 

The Generation of Miracles had fought two intramural duels, both of which ended almost as soon as they had begun. Kuroko’s friends were chomping at the bit for more challenging competition, and Kuroko found himself in tentative agreement.

 

Kuroko was terrified, and worried, and angry and frustrated and sad all the time. Thankfully, Akashi’s spell was beginning to weaken his connection to those emotions. It was hard to brood when doing so produced acute pain.

 

Give it time, he told himself. Give it time, and everything will begin to smooth itself out.

 

If ever there was a time to trust in the absolute nature of Akashi’s opinion, it was now.

 

His captain was the smartest and probably the most powerful wizard Kuroko knew. Kuroko had to trust him.

 

Akashi was his only hope.

 

That trust was becoming harder to hold on to every day.

 

...

 

It happened when Kuroko was in the library studying a dense tome on shield spells. He had figured that if he could understand the nature of his shield on his own, he could have some insight neither Akashi or Midorima, for all their brilliance and power, could have simply because of their relative lack of proximity to the problem. With his faith in his teammates wavering, he turned to research.

 

Kuroko seriously doubted it would be useful, but it was better than doing nothing. He had to do _something_.

 

That was when he noticed something was really really wrong.

 

As he turned a page of his notes, he realized that there was something on the inside of his arm. Kuroko turned both of his forearms towards the lamp on his table so that he could take a better look in the light.

 

The veins in his wrists were pitch black.

 

Kuroko traced the black line on his left wrist, mild curiosity sparking in the back of his mind.

 

This must be a side effect of the spell, he thought clinically. Perhaps it was affecting the veins everywhere in his body, but since the veins on his wrist were so close to the skin, they would show up more easily than the rest. The black marks extended from the bottom of his hand about a third of the way down his arm.

 

Kuroko thought maybe it might alternatively be related to the fact that the pain associated with the spell often started in his arms and moved towards his body.

 

He wondered if this was something he should worry about.

 

It was probably fine. After all, this spell was just a stopgap measure until he got his misdirection back.

 

Kuroko stared down at the black lines. The detached thought occurred that he should probably find a way to conceal the marks. After all, he didn’t want to deal with any questions, and any departure from an ordinary appearance would just make him stand out all over again.

 

He didn’t have the power or capacity to maintain a glamor spell for long enough to be useful, and it wasn’t practical to wear long sleeves wherever he went.

 

It took a few seconds before the thought occurred to him.

 

He had the perfect item to hide the black lines on the insides of his wrists, so long as they didn’t spread too far.

 

Kuroko had the suspicion that he wouldn’t have that problem so long as the spell didn’t have to activate very often. Kuroko had already passed the point where it was activating regularly anyway, and Kuroko was sure that if left alone, his veins would return to normal.

 

Early the next day, Kuroko was getting ready to leave his dorm as he searched through his belongings looking for a specific item. He had already fished around inside his drawers, at the bottom of his trunk, and through his laundry basket before he remembered what had become of the sweatbands Ogiwara had gifted him at the beginning of their fourth year at Hogwarts.

 

Kuroko knelt down and reached around under his bed, carefully trying to locate the bands.

 

Finally, his fingers grasped the edge of the thick fabric of one of them. A few seconds later, he found the other.

 

Kuroko extracted himself from the space under his bed with a little bit of shuffling and careful maneuvering, and sat up to look at the two bands.

 

They were covered in lint and dust, which Kuroko wiped off with brisk efficiency. They stretched over his wrists just as he remembered. And just as Kuroko had thought, the bands were wide enough to cover whatever was making his wrists turn black.

 

That was going to work out just fine then.

 

For two weeks, the spell found no reason to activate, and Kuroko didn’t think about the marks again. The pair of wristbands went unnoticed under his robes, and when he showed up to practice, there was no reason to comment on them at all.

 

Kuroko was quickly running out of options and ideas for how to fix his misdirection, but at least he could avoid bringing any more attention to his deficits than he had to.

 

...

 

The Generation of Miracles were getting ready for their last scrimmage of the calendar year, just a couple days before their midterm examinations. They only had two weeks left before they were due to leave for break.

 

They were facing Kiyoshi’s team in this round. Kuroko was somewhat excited – all of Kiyoshi’s contemporaries were older, more experienced, and more knowledgeable. If they were more powerful and better strategists – well, they were about to find out.

 

At some point in the beginning of the semester Kuroko had heard Sakurai say that there had been a falling out between Hyuuga, Riko, and Kiyoshi. If that was true, they must have made up by now, because when Kiyoshi walked out onto the court, he was flanked on one side by the tiny Ravenclaw and on the other by the bespectacled Gryffindor.

 

Kuroko remembered how, during his first week back at school, he had looked up from the ground and seen these three prefects striding towards him and his bullies with the same intensity and wrath, and how much the sight had inspired hope in him.

 

In addition to Hyuuga and Riko, it seemed that Kiyoshi had press-ganged Mitobe and his Gryffindor boyfriend into service as competitors, with their line up being rounded out by the presence of extremely shy Hufflepuff sixth year Tsuchida.

 

Kuroko personally thought it was a strong line up. With the powerhouse trio at its center, this was a team that could rise to the top.

 

Well, unless the Miracles could stop them.

 

Kuroko was looking forward to a round that would force all of them to fight to their fullest potential. This was why he still loved dueling, this was why he kept slogging through day after day of practice, why he was fighting so hard to get his misdirection back even at the expense of being able to have a normal emotional reaction to the world around him.

 

Kuroko took up his dueling stance.

 

Quickly, Kuroko realized that Mitobe, Hyuuga, and Kiyoshi made up the brunt force of their opponents attacking power. Riko, Koganei, and Tsuchida (a shy sixth year Kuroko hadn’t had much interaction with), were holding down the team’s shield.

 

The teams collided instantly. It seemed Kiyoshi’s team favored tactics very similar to that of the Generation of Miracles – overwhelming attack and dominance.

 

One matchup in particular drew Kuroko’s attention so strongly he wasn’t even concentrating on what he was supposed to be doing during the duel.

 

Kiyoshi was taking on Murasakibara, one on one.

 

And the crazy thing was, he wasn’t losing.

 

Kuroko stared as his senpai fought his teammate.

 

Murasakibara and Kiyoshi were exchanging spells. Each of their curses bounced off the other’s shield, sending up showers of brightly colored sparks.

 

Murasakibara looked incredibly annoyed, but Kiyoshi was smiling as though he hadn’t had this much fun in a very long time. As Kuroko watched, the Slytherin cast a powerful spell causing the stone in the floor around Kiyoshi to rise up and try and entangle him. With a wide grin, Kiyoshi shattered the stone, turning it to water and letting it fall harmlessly back to the floor.

 

And then Murasakibara managed to pierce the Hufflepuff’s shield, and Kiyoshi was sent flying from the arena. Hyuuga and Riko were too busy holding off Aomine to his aid, and Akashi was taking out the rest of their team one at a time.

 

Kuroko watched in horror, his muscles cramped in pain from the spell that was punishing him for the reaction to what was happening in front of him.

 

Murasakibara slammed into Kiyoshi, again and again.

 

That was more than enough, damn it! But Kuroko couldn’t open his mouth to speak, could barely lean against the wall in pain.

 

“I will crush you,” the powerhouse of the Generation of Miracles snarled.

 

Kiyoshi was back on his feet a second later.

 

“I won’t give up,” he said, and despite the fact that he looked like he was in pain, he was smiling. “I love dueling, and I’ll keep going until the end.”

 

“Guys like you piss me off,” Murasakibara growled, and threw an even heavier curse at the older student. Kiyoshi only barely dodged in time, but he was panting for breath. He managed to get a shield up against Midorima’s offensive spell just as it was about to make contact, but he was already turning to try and defend against Murasakibara’s next attempt.

 

 _I don’t like this_ , Kuroko realized, looking around with unease. He could feel the spell start to activate again, but it was weak, and he was more horrified by what was happening in front of him.

 

This was not how they had fought before, not the drive and fire Kuroko had come to love and enjoy.

 

This was something darker, more insidious.

 

This was something he was powerless to stop. The more he felt badly about what they were doing, the more pain the spell was causing him.

 

“Tetsuya, breathe and calm down.”

 

Kuroko obeyed without thinking, immediately letting his discomfort fall away as he took in a deep breath, letting his slightly elevated pulse fall back to normal.

 

Kuroko opened his eyes as he felt the spell recede.

 

“You need to keep better control of your emotions,” Akashi said disapprovingly. Kuroko was still catching his breath, but he didn’t have the chance to respond before his captain had dashed away, helping their team wrap up the duel in short order.

 

The Hufflepuff swallowed back bile.

 

He thought he might be sick right there on the dueling court.

 

The spell crackled to life again and Kuroko closed his eyes against its effects.

 

_Calm down._

 

When his breathing and heart rate had steadied, the Miracles had already won, and they were about to line up. Kiyoshi was being held up by the Gryffindor prefect. Hyuuga glared out at the Generation of Miracles with a world full of spite behind his glasses. If looks could kill, Murasakibara would have dropped dead then and there.

 

His five teammates barely did Kiyoshi’s team the courtesy of a bow before turning to leave.

 

Kuroko stayed long enough to see Kiyoshi being pulled off the court by his partners, both of whom looked solemn and defeated.

 

He was sure Kiyoshi would be fine. His team would take care of him.

 

What Kuroko needed to do now was take care of his own team, because there was something about their reactions to this duel that just seemed… off. There was something bad happening, and Kuroko knew that if he didn’t fix it, they were going to start having problems.

 

The Generation of Miracles was improving at an exponential rate. They were coming into powers they didn’t yet have the capacity to control, and Kuroko could feel, even though the tight wrap he had put onto his emotions, a detached sense of general worry.

 

Not only had Kuroko been entirely useless during the entire duel, he was beginning to worry that there was something seriously wrong with his friends too.

 

Kuroko made a snap decision judging the looks on his teammate’s faces, and decided to follow Aomine. Keeping up with the dark skinned Gryffindor proved to be a challenge, however, given the crowds and the speed at which Aomine made his way through them. Thankfully, Kuroko could guess from the direction the other boy was going where he could find him.

 

Nothing like last years fantastic snowstorm had happened this winter, but it was bitterly cold out, and Kuroko could see his own breath in the air in front of him. His boots crunched on about an inch worth of fresh snow as he followed Aomine’s footprints down to the lake.

 

Sure enough, Kuroko found Aomine throwing rocks down by the lake, watching as they splashed through the thin cover of ice beginning to coat the water.

 

The Gryffindor didn’t turn around as Kuroko approached, but the shift in the way he was standing told him that Aomine still knew Kuroko was there.

 

“What I really want is a rival,” Aomine said to Kuroko after a few minutes. “Someone who can meet me on my level and give me a real fight!”

 

“Isn’t that why you keep sparring with Kise?” Kuroko asked.

 

Aomine sighed and looked out over the lake.

 

“It’s not the same,” he explained patiently. “Kise won’t ever beat me.”

 

“He’s getting better every day.”

 

Aomine snorted. He bent down, and picked up a rock from the shore. With a graceful flick of his arm, he sent it skipping across the water, where it slowly hopped off into the distance.

 

When it fell for the final time, he turned back to Kuroko.

 

“We’ve fought at least once a week since we were second years,” Aomine said. “He’s good. He’s the closest I’ve ever come to having a real rival. And he never gives up. He’s a lot like you that way.”

 

Kuroko waited out this rambling train of thought. He already knew Aomine’s objection would be stupid before he said it.

 

“We’ve fought hundreds of times, and he’s never beaten me,” Aomine finished, proving Kuroko right. “He’s just not powerful enough, Tetsu. You can’t do everything by will alone. And if I’m already better than one of the best wizards in the school without even trying, why should I?”

 

Kuroko grit his teeth. When Aomine turned to head down the rocky embankment, the Hufflepuff levitated a ball of water out of the lake. He froze it into snow with a tap of his wand and shoved it down the back of his friend’s robes.

 

Aomine screeched and turned around, trying to get the snow out of his robes, scrambling to get away from the cold.

 

“Hey, what the fuck was that for?” Aomine demanded.

 

“You’re an idiot,” Kuroko said plainly. “You’re fifteen and you think you’re never going to find anyone _anywhere_ in the _entire world_ who can meet you on your level? You’re almost as dumb as people think you are.”

 

“Hey!”

 

“You’re going to find someone out there who is strong enough to face you,” Kuroko said. “And in the meantime, you should go back to practice so that you don’t lose when it happens.”

 

Aomine made an annoyed sound at the back of his throat, but the next week, he came to practice with a new light in his eyes. When Kise challenged him, instead of huffing dismissively, he threw himself into the fight wholeheartedly.

 

Kuroko didn’t show any of the relief that he felt on his face, but he did clench his hand against the pain caused by Akashi’s spell.

 

So that sorted that out.

 

It had been three weeks since Akashi’s spell had the need to activate, at least before the disaster that had been the duel against Kiyoshi and his teammates. The black lines didn’t move above the wristbands he now wore almost all of the time, which was the only good thing Kuroko could say about his progress.

 

His misdirection had only barely improved to the point where if he remained on the fringes of a fight for most of it, he could sneak in a blow towards the end. In fact, in the three on three matches Akashi had them fight regularly, Kuroko’s misdirection was becoming noticeably less effective with every passing week.

 

He had been next to useless in that fight against Kiyoshi’s team, and he had become obsessed with finding a solution to the problem with his misdirection. Kuroko was giving up study time to look up increasingly complicated wards and shields, burying himself in the study of personal shield charms and their accompanying rune sets.

 

…

 

Practice was becoming more difficult, which Kuroko able to perform ever fewer of his more interesting tricks.

 

“Akashi, can I practice moving spells again?” Kuroko asked during their next practice.

 

“Can you, Tetsuya?”

 

Kuroko didn’t react to the taunt. Akashi’s voice wasn’t judgemental or mean, he was just candidly addressing a serious question. Somehow that just made it worse.

 

“I would like to try,” he said politely.

 

“Alright then, we’ll start simple,” Akashi said. “I will cast a spell at you. Redirect it.”

 

Kuroko nodded, shifting his balance to prepare to rebound the spell.

 

It came at him faster than he expected. Kuroko tried to give it a neat tap back towards Akashi, but instead it went spiralling out of his control. He hadn’t been able to touch the magic without it hurting him. It burned with power.

 

“One more,” Kuroko said, determined to get it right. Akashi was improving exponentially - they all were, it was obvious in the way Kuroko could feel the intensity of their magic changing - and he wasn’t going to allow himself to be left behind.

 

Akashi obliged.

 

Kuroko tried again, gritting his teeth in pain. He managed to touch the spell, but he had no control over it at all. It felt too wild. It was all he could do to send the spell spiraling towards the ceiling.

 

“Again.”

 

Akashi cast a third spell. His expression was almost as blank as Kuroko’s own. Kuroko’s fury at himself rose to a peak and without warning, Kuroko felt a sharp burn in his arms. Distracted, Kuroko wasn’t fast enough to catch the spell, and when it landed it threw Kuroko into the far wall.

 

By this point, the rest of the Miracles were all watching in silent concern. Aomine started forwards, but Kuroko pulled himself back to his feet, determination in every line of his body.

 

“One more,” Kuroko said with that unnervingly calm voice.

 

Akashi put away his wand, already shaking his head.

 

“No,” he said. “You’re done, Kuroko. If I cast another spell at you I will hurt you, and I don’t want to do that.”

 

“Cast at me again,” Kuroko said calmly.

 

“No,” Akashi repeated. “I will not abuse the astronomical difference in our power just to satisfy your need to prove you can fight when all it will accomplish is me hurting my own team.”

 

That should have burned worse than being hit by the spell, but Kuroko didn’t feel anything other than a vague sense of determination. He wanted to reflect Akashi’s spell, and he knew objectively the only way he could do that was with practice.

 

“If Kuro-chin is too weak to duel, he should stop trying,” Murasakibara said lazily from the other side of the room.

 

“If you can’t fix your misdirection you should find something else to do,” Midorima sniffed contemptuously.

 

“I’m doing everything I can,” Kuroko said evenly. He was too focused on controlling his own emotions to notice anything else. Thankfully, Kise came to his rescue with a glare aimed directly at the purple and green haired Miracles.

 

“Come on, Kurokocchi, you can help me work on this new illusion,” Kise said, diffusing the situation. “I want to make a sparkling unicorn in the fog.”

 

Kuroko resigned himself to being a test dummy for Kise’s illusions for the rest of practice.

 

Their next practice was their last one before the end of the semester, and the beginning of winter break. Unlike last year, the Miracles would be going home to their respective families, and they wouldn’t see each other until the new term started. Akashi set Aomine and Midorima against Murasakibara and Kise for one final duel this term.

 

“Tetsuya, why don’t you sit back this round,” Akashi suggested. “With two on two, we’re even, I can watch their progress, and they don’t have to worry about holding back.”

 

Kuroko nodded, face as blank as ever.

 

Inside, he felt another piece of himself shatter.

 

_Holding back._

 

They were each far stronger than Kuroko himself, with well-developed talents and prodigal magical gifts.  The more they relied only on themselves, the less and less useful Kuroko was.

 

_Don’t go where I can’t follow._

 

He didn’t dare say the words out loud, couldn’t bear to give words to so painful an emotion. But he couldn’t deny the truth – they were developing, growing, evolving, all faster and stronger than Kuroko himself. Soon, they would be beyond even the reach of his fingertips and they were going to leave him behind.

 

Without even his misdirection, Kuroko was worse than an average wizard. He wasn’t even unremarkable; he was just weak.

 

The feeling was almost like loss, but not quite. It wasn’t even strong enough to trigger Akashi’s spell. Kuroko’s face remained completely clear of his frustration and sorrow. He wasn’t feeling sad exactly, more… empty. Hollowed out and full of dead air.

 

He watched Kise and Aomine sparring with each other, exchanging curses that make bright explosions in the shield protecting their arena. The speed at which Midorima was unraveling Murasakibara’s shield was terrifying. And Akashi’s entire, intense focus was directed on the four of them, on making them even stronger than they were now, widening the gap between them and Kuroko.

 

He was reminded of the first impression he’d had of the five boys. They were like gods, and he was an ant – so far below the notice of even most normal witches and wizards so as to be invisible. It was a cute trick, to be sure, but it was nothing like what any of the other boys could do. Now Kuroko didn’t even have his misdirection anymore, and he was utterly useless.

 

That knowledge was a more bitter potion to swallow than any other, and the realization of the full extent of his uselessness weighed heavily on Kuroko’s mind as he trudged back to the Hufflepuff dorms that night. He needed to fix this, and he needed to do something about it as soon as possible. If he didn’t, he really was going to get left behind.

 

Kuroko made his decision then. He wasn’t going back to practice until he was able to control his misdirection again. He was holding the team back and he didn’t want to waste their time any longer while he floundered.

 

Kuroko found Akashi the next day on the train back to Kings Cross. They were almost all the way to London by the time he’d worked up the courage to admit to himself what he needed to do. Akashi was reading quietly in a compartment with Murasakibara, who was idly flipping through a magazine while making his way through a pack of squeaking Ice Mice.

 

He explained his decision to Akashi after asking Murasakibara if he could have a moment with their captain alone. The redhead seemed understanding enough of Kuroko’s request, though his sympathetic expression was tempered by too much pity and sadness.

 

“Don’t take too long to come back to practice,” he told Kuroko. “We won’t be the same without you.”

 

The words felt empty, but Kuroko was determined to reclaim his misdirection.

 

“I will,” he promised.

 

“Perhaps you will even find your solution before we come back from break,” Akashi said brightly. Kuroko privately thought this extremely unlikely, given how much time he’d devoted to trying to find a solution to his predicament already, but he kept that to himself.

 

On the bright side, he was reasonably sure that he would have the third highest grade on their Runes O.W.L as a result of all of his independent study. Thinking he could beat out Akashi or Midorima was a pipe dream, but given the dismal state he was sure his marks for his other classes would be in, it was all he could hold on to.  

 

“Have a good Christmas, Tetsuya,” Akashi told him.

 

“Happy Christmas, Akashi,” Kuroko replied. He left the compartment, waving to Murasakibara as he past by the taller Slytherin.

 

“Bye, Kuro-chin!” Murasakibara called. “Have a good break!”

 

…

Christmas was quiet. Kuroko spent it with his grandmother. His mother and father were traveling again, and they wouldn’t able to make it home in time for the holidays. They just couldn’t spare the time.

 

Kuroko’s mother had explained this at lightning speed as soon as they had gotten back from the station. There was some sort of crisis happening with the American elections right now, and the European confederation of wizards was meeting to decide what to do about a potential political nightmare on the horizon. It sounded dreadfully boring, and Kuroko’s mother didn’t look pleased to have been summoned away from her family.

 

“Honestly I don’t know _what_ they’re thinking, trying to have an emergency meeting like this when it could wait until after the new year,” Kuroko’s father said, pulling on his coat.

 

“You know politicians and diplomats, dear, everything is a crisis,” Kuroko’s mother replied, kissing him on the cheek. “We’ll be home before your break ends, and we’ll have some time together then,” she continued, addressing Kuroko.

 

A few moments later, they were gone.

 

The house felt too quiet without anyone other than Kuroko and his grandmother in it.

 

Kuroko spent most of his holiday researching in the living room.

 

“My daughter has a strange idea of what is interesting,” Kuroko’s grandmother observed to him one evening. He was taking notes from one of the family tomes on runes, hoping that the private Kuroko library had something more useful than the generic textbooks in the Hogwarts collection. Though it was true that the latter was one of the biggest and most complete libraries in the world, some books just couldn’t be copied or collected.

 

“She spends more time preventing international crises than the people involved in them do,” Kuroko’s grandmother continued, sitting back in the chair and exhaling as she looked over at Kuroko. The teenager continued scribbling down notes on a complicated shield spell that was mapped out with a hellishly difficult maze of runes. He thought maybe this shield was similar to the one naturally surrounding his own body, and knowing what it was supposed to look like might help him fix it.

 

It was closer than he’d gotten in months, and it was practically nothing.

 

“So, apparently, does my grandson,” she continued, sitting across from it. “Working on homework over Christmas? I can’t remember the last time anyone in this family was so diligent with their studies.”

 

“It’s not for class,” Kuroko said, not looking up.

 

“A personal study project then?” his grandmother asked, leaning over to look at what he was writing. “One that needs advanced runic shields? Tricky things those are, mercurial at the best of times.”

 

 _Tell me about it,_ Kuroko thought grumpily, scratching out another chain of runes.

 

“Now, why don’t you tell me what has sparked this interest exactly?”

 

Kuroko didn’t know how to answer that. His pen finally stalling in its note taking as he logically thought through the answers he could give. His eyes rose up to look at his grandmother. He decided to just go with the most honest response he could muster.

 

“My misdirection isn’t working,” he said. Realization dawned on his grandmother’s face.

 

“Ah, I thought there was something different,” she said. “You know, such shields tend to come and go. You might well be best off just leaving it be until it comes back.”

 

“I can’t,” Kuroko said, his voice flat. “I can’t duel without it. I’m barely a wizard already, losing my misdirection is like losing a part of me.”

 

“Now who told my grandson something so stupid?” Kuroko’s grandmother demanded, getting up to sit next to him. “If it’s one of those teammates of yours I will march right over to the Akashi household right now and-”

 

Kuroko had absolutely no doubt that his grandmother would, too. He tried a smile. It felt alien on his face, and hollow without any emotion behind it. The image of his small grandmother, who was over a hundred years old, giving the redheaded Akashi patriarch and his son a piece of her mind should have been hilarious, but Kuroko didn’t feel anything at all.

 

“Nobody told me anything,” he assured her. “I don’t have to be told that to know it. Its part of who I am, and I want it back.”

 

Kuroko’s grandmother ran a hand through his hair, sighing.

 

“I’ll see if any of my old friends know a thing or two,” she conceded. “If it’s that important, we can’t just let it slip away, can we? But in the meantime, I do rather like being able to see you more often.”

 

Kuroko was engulfed in a warm hug. For a moment, he basked in that comfort, before he felt pain running up and down his arms again. He struggled to hide the pain as his grandmother broke away and left.

 

It took him several minutes bent over the book, breathing hard, before he could control the emotions running rampant through him.

 

The winter break went by quickly. Kuroko and his grandmother had a quiet Christmas evening, interrupted only by a surprise floo call from Kuroko’s parents, who were in Germany. Their conversation was brief, but it turned out that discussions were going to last even longer than Kuroko’s mother had thought, and they weren’t going to make it home before Kuroko went back to Hogwarts after all.

 

Kuroko thanked them for trying to get away anyway, and didn’t even feel the pain that should have come with this pronouncement.

 

…

 

Too soon, Christmas break was over. Kuroko was back at school and he still didn’t have a solution. He spent what felt like almost as much time in the library as he had studying his family’s collection over break. He needed to fix his misdirection, and he no longer had the luxury of time.

 

It had been two weeks since break had ended and Kuroko had yet to rejoin his teammates in practice. Aomine had cornered Kuroko as soon as they got back, asking if Kuroko had fixed his misdirection, to which Kuroko politely responded that he hadn’t. Aomine glowered and told Kuroko to fix it soon.

 

 _I’m trying,_ Kuroko thought blankly. _I don’t even know what else to try, but I am trying._

 

That desperation is what drove Kuroko to avoid his friends since he’d gotten back to school. Eating breakfast with Midorima, studying with Momoi, all of it just reminded him of what he had lost.

 

Kuroko was holed up in his corner of the library, once again trying to research his way out of yet another dead end with his misdirection. It was an unfortunate truth that Kuroko just didn’t know _enough_ about runes to be able to figure out what was going on with his shield. At this point, he probably had a better command of advanced rune uses than almost anyone at his stage of learning, but it was useless. Figuring out a complex shield like the one powering Kuroko’s misdirection just wasn’t something a student could do alone, not without the help of a much better informed adult.

 

He had been looking for options for two and a half weeks, and had almost nothing to show for it, except a frighteningly encyclopedic knowledge of runes and their use in wards and shields. But there was only so much Kuroko could pick up from just reading the raw theory. It was becoming apparent that the only way he could solve this problem was by getting an expert to look at the shield that caused his misdirection, and see if they could fix it.

“Hey, Kuroko?”

 

Kuroko snapped the book shut. He was not in the mood to handle anyone poking at him today. The mere fact that he could still be sought out was just a frustrating reminder that nothing he was doing to fix his misdirection was working. The feeling was… Kuroko wanted to call it irksome, but the emotion was a pale shadow of what he might have labeled annoyance just a few months ago. He looked up to say something rude, and stopped when he saw the Hufflepuff and Gryffindor prefects staring back down at him.

 

“How can I help you?” Kuroko asked, his irritation subsiding quickly, never once showing on his face.

 

“Is that Haizaki bastard still messing with you?” Hyuuga demanded, straight to the point.

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

Actually, Haizaki had pretty much left him alone after the third week of classes. Kuroko could count the number of times the Slytherin had even looked in Kuroko’s direction since then on one hand. Whatever Akashi had said in his conversation with Haizaki, Kuroko was convinced it had worked.  

 

“Akashi-kun asked him to stop.”

 

“Very politely, I bet?” Hyuuga asked, causing Kuroko to internally frown.

 

Ah, so this was what they were really after. His gut reaction was to immediately dismiss the two prefects, but he considered what he’d heard of that conversation himself.

 

 _“I’m suggesting you leave him alone,”_ Akashi had said. _“For your benefit more than his, really.”_

 

He’d wondered at the time if that conversation had been a thinly veiled threat. It had certainly sounded menacing, but that was just the way Akashi spoke, wasn’t it? He wouldn’t really _hurt_ anyone, would he? Kuroko wasn’t sure he believed that anymore, if he ever really had. Maybe he should have given it more mind than he had, knowing the path the other Miracles were going down. But no matter what confusing mess was happening inside his head right now, Kuroko was hardly going to rat his teammates out to a Prefect.

 

“Akashi is my friend.”

 

The words felt like a lie on his tongue now, but he said them anyway. Whatever Akashi was turning into now, Kuroko would protect him no matter what. If these prefects were looking to get him in trouble for some imagined offense, Kuroko wasn’t going to give them any ammunition to do it.

 

Even if Akashi _had_ been bullying Kuroko, Kuroko could handle the situation himself. He knew that everyone else saw him as weak. Right now, that might be more true than not, but Kuroko was working on getting his misdirection back, and with it the strength he’d demonstrated last year. He was strong only because of his invisibility, and without it he had nothing else to offer.

 

“Kuroko, you don’t need to defend him,” Kiyoshi said calmly. “We understand you two have history. But we also know some of that gang have been harassing kids in your year, and even younger. We wanted to make sure he wasn’t doing the same to you.”

 

Kuroko didn’t blink, didn’t look away, didn’t allow his face to blush.

 

“Akashi isn’t doing anything.”

 

It was almost the truth. Akashi had hurt him very deeply in at least two entirely different ways, but Kuroko was _almost_ certain that both of them had been entirely unintentional.

 

Hyuuga scowled, but Kiyoshi just clapped him on the shoulder with a smile.

 

“Well if you ever need anything, or if something does come up, you can always talk to us. You do have other options.”

 

Despite himself, Kuroko found the words comforting.

 

“Listen, Riko’s dad is a genius with Wards. I don’t know what it is that helps you with your invisibility, but if you went to talk to him, he might be able to help you use it so that they stop chasing after you all the time.”

 

Kuroko considered this. Akashi had said that he thought Kuroko’s misdirection was connected to a magical shield he produced unconsciously, and even if Kuroko didn’t have the power to fix what was wrong with it himself, a warding master might.

 

It hadn’t occurred to him to try and reach out on his own to solve his problem. He had been intent on following Akashi’s advice, but this seemed like a much better solution than just waiting around for whatever contacts Akashi had to get back to him – or for his emotions to be stifled entirely.

 

“Thank you,” he said politely. “I think I will.”

 

Kiyoshi smiled brightly and waved at Kuroko as they left.

 

…

 

Aida Kagetora had wondered when Kuroko Tetsuya would finally wander into his office.

 

If anyone had asked him why Kuroko Tetsuya would come to the Headmaster’s office, prior to that blustery Thursday morning, he would have guessed it would be to finally report the bullying his Prefects had been shouting his ear off about for four months.

 

He’d had Prefects from just about every year and house in his office ranting to him since September. The first ones had been Hyuuga Junpei, Kiyoshi Teppei, and his own daughter, who had screamed herself hoarse and stormed off when she was done. However, none of them had proof of what Hanamiya, Haizaki, or any of the others they claimed to have been involved in the situation had done.

 

Akashi Seijuro and Midorima Shintarou had appeared in his office together on two occasions, politely insisting that he look into incidents where Kuroko Tetsuya had been injured. Unfortunately, no evidence had ever been provided to him that something had happened, and there was no way for him to follow up on the series of complaints he’d received. The Headmaster had asked the Heads of House to speak to the students who were accused of being involved, but that had (pretty obviously) not resulted in any confessions.

 

With so many reports of bullying, the only thing he could do was call the boy to his office and speak to Kuroko himself. Unfortunately, his brief conversation with Kuroko Tetsuya, the boy had denied that any of the events had ever happened even more vehemently than the alleged perpetrators had.

 

And frankly, with Kuroko refusing to make a complaint of his own, the Headmaster was limited in what he could do.

 

Riko had appeared in his office five more times over the semester, once with Masako Araki, former Hogwarts Champion and now Head Girl, once on her own, and again with Hyuuga and Kiyoshi both individually and together.

 

And then, at some point over the course of the year, a new barrage of complaints had begun to surface.

 

Three separate prefects came to report that members of the _Generation of Miracles_ were stalking Kuroko. He’d listened with half an ear while filling out reports, _almost_ sure that whatever he was listening to was simple jealously over the boy’s friendship with the five other wizards, but he had promised himself that he would keep as close an eye as he could afford to on the situation.

 

If it hadn’t been for the several reports of bullying he’d received before, the Headmaster would have discounted these accusations entirely. In context, they raised a red flag he could not ignore.

 

However, after those first few reports, it had all just stopped. Kuroko Tetsuya had stopped being a topic of conversation altogether.

 

Honestly, Aida had wondered if Kuroko had finally figured out a way to stop the bullying on his own, or if people had just stopped caring that the strongest members of the school were taking advantage of the oddity of Kuroko Tetusya’s floundering misdirection. The Headmaster had investigated discretely on his own, and found nothing he could prove was amiss, but he was pissed off and angry that these reports were happening in his own damn school. Much as he wanted to believe that the lack of reporting meant that nothing was happening, he had been an educator for long enough to know better.

 

He hated that he _knew_ students were being harmed on purpose, but couldn’t do anything about it. He hated that the students under his watch felt the need to close ranks and refused to report when they were hurt, and hid the identities of the ones who had harmed them. Kuroko wasn’t the only one, by any means, that such complaints had been delivered about after all.

 

So after months of rumors and gossip being passed along to his office, when Kuroko knocked on the door to the Headmaster’s office that morning, Aida Kagetora was almost relieved.

 

Perhaps this was the beginning of the end. Kuroko’s own complaint would carry weight that unsubstantiated rumors, even from his Prefects, did not and could not, and he could finally do something.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya,” the Headmaster said. “How can I help you?”

 

“I have been having a problem with my magic, and I think you can help me.”

 

That… wasn’t what the Headmaster had been expecting. He leaned forward in his chair, peering at the small Hufflepuff.

 

“Why do you think I can help you?” the Headmaster asked curiously.

 

“Prefects Hyuuga and Kiyoshi told me that you are a master of warding and shields,” Kuroko continued. “To the best of my knowledge, a large part of my misdirection is tied to a natural shield that produces a constant notice-me-not charm. It has weakened considerably since our victory at the interschool tournament, which has both reduced my usefulness and brought me attention I do not want.”

 

“Because you’re being bullied,” Aida said with a heavy sigh, not willing to dance around the topic any more than he had.

 

Kuroko stared blankly back at him, neither confirming nor denying this. Aida wondered if it was wrong to want to shake the boy until he admitted to having been hurt. Probably. God, why did he even agree to take this job?

 

“Well, they’re not wrong,” Aida said. “I have taken several students under my wing who wished to pursue a mastery in warding, though fewer in recent years. Will you allow me to examine the shields around you?”

 

Kuroko agreed tersely.

 

“Hold still,” Aida said. He blinked, and stared in shock at the physical manifestation of the boy’s protective shields.

 

The headmaster had a unique ability that had allowed him to become an exceptional ward master – rune sight. He could view any kind of magical force or shield as its runic manifestation if he chose to. The shield that surrounded the fifth year Hufflepuff was unlike any he had ever seen before – an extremely powerful notice-me-no charm woven into some minor invisibility spells crafted into a ward that didn’t even seem to be controlled. It was pure wild magic, and he’d never seen anything manifest this way before.

 

Aida Kagetora was a ward master, but even he didn’t know how he would begin to unravel or repair the shield that produced the strange misdirection effect this child had. He was scared that if he let it unravel in order to straighten out the runes and fix it, he could destabilize the Hufflepuff’s still developing magical core. He wouldn’t do that without absolute necessity and the presence of a master healer. The shield itself was not the product of conscious or deliberate magic, which made repairing it tricky for any outside force, even as trained an eye as Aida Kagetora. It was wild magic, the kind that defied natural law and careful study.

 

To find it manifesting in such a way was nothing short of extraordinary.

 

Kuroko Tetsuya wasn’t what he appeared to be at all.

 

He just wasn’t sure there was anything he could do to help.

 

If Kuroko wanted to fix his shields, unfortunately, the only person who could really do anything was Kuroko himself. Aida felt a headache coming on.

 

“I hope you’re as stubborn as my daughter keeps telling me you are,” he said, bracing himself for a long conversation. “Because that is the only way you’re going to be able to fix this. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

 

…

 

Kuroko’s mind was racing.

 

All the things he’d done to shore up his misdirection, all the times he’d allowed Akashi to dictate how he could feel or what he would do had been futile efforts to strengthen his misdirection.

 

All it came down to was a shield. A freaking shield. He had been unconsciously producing a shield around his body for pretty much his entire life. Akashi’s first instincts about what was happening with Kuroko’s magic were absolutely right, but his ideas about how to fix it had been dangerously wrong. The advice he’d taken from Akashi, while well intentioned and probably reasonably based on the situation, was completely off track.

 

Perhaps something about the circumstances of his birth or infancy had triggered some kind of defense mechanism in his magic, because in his subconscious mind he had reached for his magic and used it to hide himself, and as far as his magic was concerned, Kuroko had never stopped hiding.

 

It accounted for his sensitivity to magic. He’d spent most of his life wandlessly and nonverbally maintaining such a powerful shield that was meant to keep him not only out of the line of sight of most wizards, but to gently smear any memory of him in their mind until they stopped thinking about him entirely.

 

He was producing the shield, and he could stop or continue it at any point.

 

He could have trained to shore it up with magic until he was entirely invisible, not just unnoticeable. He could have manipulated the shields to stop being so unnoticeable when it was tiresome for him to be unseen – such as in class, or in his dorm, or when he returned home for the summer holidays.

 

The shield had broken down because Kuroko had unwittingly sabotaged himself. Not only had the shield grown less and less effective as Kuroko had risen to eminence with the Generation of Miracles, but the Hufflepuff’s own motivations had changed as well. He had stopped wholeheartedly wanting to disappear, and had decided to take power and glory for himself, weakening the only thing that had ever truly made him strong.

 

Kuroko felt a wave of frustration rise within him that he was helpless to do anything about. He’d wasted so much time when it turned out that the solution to his problem was utterly simple.

 

At least now that he knew what the shields felt like, he could strengthen them and find better ways to avoid his roommates. It also meant that he could slip away from the notice of the bullies that had been harassing him since the beginning of school. Though the worst of it had ended when Haizaki had stopped harassing Kuroko, the more benign harassment had never really gone away, and Kuroko would be happy to become invisible again.

 

He was going to have to do some work to get the shield functioning again. It had been in tatters since the beginning of the year, probably only still in existence because of what Akashi had convinced him to do. Akashi’s borderline cruel solution had been the thing that saved Kuroko’s misdirection.

 

Kuroko had paid a steep price for something he might not have needed to pay for at all, if he had sought out the help of his teachers and friends instead of being so determined to solve his problems on his own.

 

That was a mistake Kuroko intended to learn from.

 

Kuroko sought out a place where he wouldn’t be disturbed. He sat down cross-legged, and just _breathed._

 

If it took him an hour or a day or a lifetime, he was going to take back the only thing that had distinguished his magic – _that distinguished him -_ in the slightest. He wasn’t going to be helpless and scared anymore. His strength was in the shadows, and he would find a way to return there, to step out of the full view of the light if it killed him.

 

Kuroko sunk into darkness, reaching for the edges of his shield as the Headmaster had shown him.

 

He remembered the feel of Ogiwara’s magic as he bent it to his will as a third year, innocent and wide eyed and only trying to pull off a ridiculous and childish prank.

 

He remembered the feel of his own magic in Professor Shirogane’s final exam, finally responding the way he’d train it to do, coming easier and more naturally than it ever had before.

 

He remembered how it had felt to bend Tsugawa’s and Takao’s magic to his will.

 

He remembered the explosive power of the Generation of Miracles, the way it stung where it had come in contact with his own magic.

 

Kuroko reached deep down inside himself and felt around the edges of his shields.

 

They were frayed and thin, providing almost no protection at all. Kuroko thought it had to be a miracle that they were still holding together at all.

 

_This won’t do._

 

His shields had begun to splinter and break down because Kuroko’s motivations had been divided. He had made the horrible mistake of _wanting_ to be seen, of trying to stand in the light, when it had already been made clear to him that his place was in the shadows. He had overreached, and like Icarus, had fallen. Unlike Icarus, however, he was being given a second chance to save himself.

 

After all, his intentions weren’t divided now. He had one clear motivation, and his entire being focused on what he wanted to do.

 

 _I’m invisible,_ he told the shields. _Forgettable. Hard to find, easy to lose. I slip away as easily as I come. The brighter the light around me, the more I fade into the dark. I am a shadow._

 

The shield obeyed.

 

He felt the layers of magic shifting around his skin. It felt like cold pinpricks moving up and down his limbs, almost like his entire body had fallen asleep. Kuroko remained as still as possible as the shield began to strengthen. The protective shields felt like a comfortable blanket, wrapping him in blessed solitude, hiding him away from the world.

 

After everything, this was for the best. He could finally do what he’d been meant to do from the start and disappear. He would support his lights from the shadows, but he would never again make the mistake of stepping into the spotlight himself.

 

Kuroko knew without even testing it out, that his misdirection was stronger than it had ever been now. He had successfully re-exerted his will over his magic. He had willed himself to vanish entirely, and his shields had done just that.

 

…

 

When Kuroko returned to his dorm room before sunset, his roommates didn’t fall silent. For the first time in months, nobody so much as looked in his direction.

 

They kept up a quiet conversation about their classes that day, and Kuroko gratefully slid towards his bed.

 

Kuroko thought this might have hurt him even more, to see just how far away from his friends that he had grown. Instead, it felt like a steel band that had been gripping his chest for months had finally been loosened, allowing him to breathe freely for the first time since October. The tension that had been in the air every night when he returned to his dorm was gone. Nobody had to work hard pretending they didn’t see him any more – his misdirection took care of that.

 

That night, Kuroko slept deeply and didn’t dream.

 

The next day, it seemed that things were finally back to normal. Kuroko didn’t wake to a suffocating tension that he felt the need to immediately escape. Instead he dressed and left the common room at a normal hour, heading straight down to breakfast.

 

When he sat down at the Hufflepuff table for the first time that year, he wasn’t subject to sidelong glances and whispered comments. He ate in quiet peace. He appreciated the freedom his misdirection gave him more than ever, now that he knew how painful it had been to be without it.

 

When Professor Nakatani called Kuroko’s name during roll in Charms class, and half the class looked around in abject confusion, Kuroko cheered internally, his joy burning so brightly that he felt Akashi’s spell crackle to life dully in his limbs. Kuroko slowed his breathing and calmed his expression before he politely reminded the professor of his existence.

 

Things were back to normal.

 

Later that day, Kuroko was feeling pretty damned proud of himself when he told the professor with a completely blank face that he had been sitting at his desk since the period had started.

 

He’d done it.

 

He’d fixed his misdirection.

 

That evening, Kuroko walked into dueling practice for the first time in three weeks. Aomine, Midorima, and Murasakibara were sparring, and it looked like none of them were holding back in the slightest.

 

Aomine threw a bolt of blue lightning at Murasakibara, who didn’t even move as he raised a dome of stone around himself to absorb the shock. When the lightning dissipated, the dome exploded outwards, forcing Aomine to dive for cover, swearing loudly. He was so busy retreating, he nearly backed straight into a nasty rune configuration Midorima had set up behind him. Kuroko could feel it vibrating from where he was standing on the other side of the room.

 

Kuroko supposed some things never changed.

 

“Excuse me,” he said.

 

Akashi started, but when he turned to face Kuroko, his eyes were gleaming, and the smirk on his face was incredibly satisfied.

 

“Kurokocchi! You’re back!” Kise cheered.

 

“It looks like you have resolved the problem with your misdirection,” Akashi said after a moment. “Well done, Tetsuya.”

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said politely.

 

“It took longer than I anticipated, but I am glad you’re back,” Akashi said.

 

“It’s been so boring without you!” Kise chirped. “I’m so glad you’re coming back to compete with us!”

 

He rushed forward to give Kuroko a hug that the Hufflepuff didn’t reciprocate.

 

“Hello, Kise,” Kuroko said calmly. “It’s good to see you too.”

 

“TETSU-KUN!”

 

Kuroko was pulled into another tight embrace, dragged away from Kise by Momoi’s strong arms. He let her get her excitement out before extracting himself from the Slytherin much more gently than he’d extracted himself from Kise.

 

“Finally!” Momoi flipped her hair dramatically. “I was beginning to worry that you were going to prove me wrong _again._ ”

 

She was smiling as she said this though, and Kuroko was relieved to see it.

 

“Oi, Tetsu!”

 

The commotion had stopped the duel between the three remaining miracles. Aomine ran over to Kuroko, grinning widely.

 

“You’re back!” he said, unnecessarily.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed. “I look forward to working with all of you again.”

 

“Your tactical advantage has been missed,” Midorima said, his cheeks light pink.

 

“Mine-chin is a tsundere,” Murasakibara said lazily. He wasn’t even out of breath after fighting the other two miracles. “Kuro-chin, I’m glad you’re back. Practice was getting annoying.”

 

“I’m glad I’m back too, Murasakibara,” Kuroko said flatly.

 

“Alright, that’s enough,” Akashi said once the team had welcomed Kuroko back. “We need to get back to work everyone. Tetsuya, have you field tested your misdirection yet?”

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“No time like the present then,” Akashi smiled viciously. “It’s been awhile since the six of us have faced off against each other, so let’s try that for a change. Ryouta, you and Daiki will team up with Tetsuya. Satsuki, would you mind setting the shield? It will have to be significantly stronger than usual, since we will _all_ be performing without holding back.”

 

Momoi agreed. She tapped her wand against the rune configuration, activating it.

 

Kuroko, Kise, and Aomine stood opposite the three powerhouses on the other side of the court. There was no doubt that the power advantage tilted very strongly towards one side of the field. Aomine and Kise were smiling fiercely however, both of them fired up with their team once again whole.

 

Kuroko let Aomine shield him from Akashi and Murasakibara’s first powerful attack. He felt the shield shudder under the collective might of the two Slytherins, but it held.

 

Akashi’s next spell forced the shield to fall, however, and he strode forward calmly, wand at the ready.

 

 _I am a shadow,_ Kuroko reminded himself. He ducked around Aomine, letting the Gryffindor’s explosive spellfire cover his movements.

 

Kise saw the direction Kuroko was heading and cast a bright flare right in front of Akashi, preventing the Slytherin from following Kuroko as he moved.

 

And then the Hufflepuff was gone.

 

Kuroko could see all of them looking around for him even as they exchanged spells.

 

He felt calm satisfaction at that.

 

They could keep looking; No light can ever catch a shadow. It would just end up a little too far ahead or behind. And five of the brightest lights in this entire school - maybe the country, maybe even the world - were all crowding each other out right now, leaving Kuroko to slip through the cracks.

 

Kise dodged a strong curse from Murasakibara and Kuroko turned it back on the purple haired giant. Not having practiced with Kuroko for a long time, Murasakibara wasn’t reinforcing his shields as their team was used to doing when fighting the Hufflepuff.

 

Murasakibara went flying, but Kuroko was still moving. He found that the effort needed to move the spells in this round was higher than usual. He wondered absently if that was an effect of the Generation of Miracles getting stronger and more powerful, or if he was just extremely out of practice.

 

Maybe it was a combination of both.

 

Either way, Kuroko was satisfied with the result of his action.

 

His misdirection was functioning normally again. Kuroko found himself sinking down into the power and freedom it gave him. After all, he was a shadow on a court full of the brightest lights he’d ever met. In the space between their light, his misdirection was stronger than it had ever been.

 

What a practical matchup.

 

The Generation of Miracles truly balanced each other out extraordinarily well. Kuroko had none of Midorima’s prescience, but he could see it in the way their strengths cancelled out each other’s weaknesses. From the beginning, they were meant to stand together. They were always going to end up here, on the court. For better or for wrose, their destinies were bound to one another.

 

That was fine with Kuroko.

 

Kuroko wanted to try something he had come up with over a year ago, back when he’d been training with Aomine for the interschool tournament. His magic had not been strong enough then, but he had absolute faith that it would work now. When Aomine cast at him this time, Kuroko didn’t just let it bounce away from him. He added some of his own magic, strengthening the spell.

 

It exploded in a ball of fire on the other side of the arena.

 

Midorima and Akashi were only barely quick enough to get shields up to avoid the overpowered curse.

 

Aomine was grinning, but so was Kise. They switched positions, and the blonde took on Akashi, while Aomine cast a spell that caused the ground around Midorima erupt into sharp bolts of blue lightning shooting up from the floor. The spell succeeded in breaking the other boy’s concentration from running the configuration.

 

With a perfectly composed scowl, Midorima leveled the spikes and dodged away from Aomine. With a wave of his wand, he set up a runic configuration that froze Aomine in place, preventing him from moving. He was getting ready to curse the other boy, but Kuroko saw his chance and moved in the way. He intercepted the spell and turned it right back towards it’s caster.

 

Kise had Akashi on the rails. He had conjured a set of mirrors that moved around Akashi at dizzying speeds. Akashi remained calm as he looked for an opening.

 

With a single spell, Akashi blasted through all of the revolving mirrors. Kise managed to put up a shield in time to protect himself from the remnants of the spell.

 

Akashi did away with Aomine, who was still frozen in place by Midorima’s configuration, and then sent Kise flying out of the ring.

 

With a smile, he straightened up, scanning the field. His eyes narrowed as he swept from one side to the other.

 

“Tetsuya,” he called softly. “Unless you intend to face me one on one, we’re done here.”

 

Silence.

 

Akashi turned around, looking for the elusive phantom.

 

“Tetsuya?”

 

“I’m right here.”

 

The voice came from right behind him and Akashi turned again. Kuroko’s wand was pointed directly at his face.

 

“How long have you been there?” Akashi asked.

 

“Since you blasted away Kise’s mirrors,” Kuroko replied blankly, honestly. “Quite a while.”

 

Akashi blinked. Kuroko could see the Slytherin processing that information. Akashi looked down ruefully.

 

A slow smile spread across his face as he looked back at his phantom.

 

“Well done,” he said. “I didn’t notice you at all.”

 

“You lost,” Kuroko said, sounding confused. “Why aren’t you upset?”

 

Akashi turned his back on the phantom, chuckling a little.

 

“Clearly your misdirection is once again working perfectly, but your magical sensitivity could use a little work. Or didn’t you notice that you’re standing directly on one of Shintarou’s traps?”

 

Kuroko looked down, and noticed dispassionately that there were vines crawling up his legs. They had been moving slowly and had barely tightened yet, which explained why he had failed to notice them.

 

The second Kuroko became aware of the trap however, they clamped down around his legs and reached out towards his wand arm, forcing it against his body. Kuroko struggled uselessly against their grip for a second before falling still.

 

“A lucky accident,” Akashi said, reviving his teammates, before walking over to revive Aomine while Murasakibara lumbered over to Kise.

 

Kuroko wasn’t freed until several moments later, when Midorima released him, looking displeased even though his side had won.

 

Then again, Kuroko had never really seen Midorima as an expressively happy person. The Ravenclaw preferred to keep any emotion not ripe with condescension to himself.

 

“You didn’t know that we hadn’t won until you looked down and saw that I was standing in a trap,” Kuroko accused Akashi as their team gathered to take a break and drink some water before continuing practice.

 

“Not at the time,” Akashi admitted frankly. “I noticed right after I realized where you were.”

 

Kuroko hadn’t expected Akashi to directly admit that there had been a moment when he genuinely believed he had lost.

 

“Does my misdirection meet your standards?” he asked instead.

 

“Tetsuya, if I cannot notice you standing in front of me, it’s a wonder you’re not objectively invisible,” Akashi said, high praise.

 

“Kurokocchi has gotten a lot stronger!” Kise chirped, grinning widely. “It’s going to be so much fun to work with you again!”

 

“Yeah, Tetsu, your misdirection is stronger than ever,” Aomine said gruffly. “You did a good job.”

 

Kuroko accepted this praise and finished his water.

 

They split apart to work on individual training after that. Akashi suggested dryly that Kuroko work on identifying spells and refining his magical sensitivity so that he didn’t end up accidentally stepping into a rune trap.

 

Momoi set up some runes for Kuroko to navigate during practice, smiling as she watched her boys working hard to improve after a difficult duel. She couldn’t hold back the overwhelming worry that they were fast approaching the point where the only person who could challenge any of the Miracles was another of their own group.

 

She didn’t like where those implications took them.

 

And yet, she was thrilled that their team was once again whole.

 

On the way back from practice, Momoi walked with Kuroko, filling him in on everything he had missed.

 

“I’m worried about them,” she admitted. “None of them are trying as hard as they could anymore, which makes it less fun for everyone. Dai-kun especially keeps saying that he’s too – too strong for this.”

 

Kuroko listen to this with a blank face. It seemed that the seeds of the attitude he had seen in their fight with Kiyoshi’s team were taking root. Worse, it seemed that Aomine’s bleak statements were blossoming into an even more problematic approach to preparing for duels.

 

Kuroko was not naive enough to believe that his mere presence could fix things with his friends, but so long as he was around, he hoped he could keep them on track.

 

“They’re going to be okay,” he said, sounding very detached. “I promise.”

 

“And what about you?” Momoi stopped, looking Kuroko right in the eye. “Are you okay?”

 

Kuroko had never outright lied to Momoi in his entire life. He hadn’t felt the need to since the small pink haired Slytherin had forced her way into his life at the beginning of their first year. But he did it then, without hesitation.

 

“I’m fine,” he assured her.

 

“You don’t seem fine,” she shot back stubbornly.

 

“I can’t help how I seem,” Kuroko replied, deliberately ignoring her point. Momoi heaved a sigh and looked away.

 

“We are all excited to have you back,” she said quietly. “I’m glad you fixed your misdirection, and I’m happy that they’re this thrilled about _anything_ but I’d rather not have you on this team at all if you had to hurt yourself to get it back.”

 

“I’m fine,” Kuroko said again.

 

Momoi looked up, her eyes wavering with tears.

 

“Yeah,” she said. Her voice was soft and vulnerable, like she didn’t believe what she was saying, but really, desperately wanted to. “Okay, Tetsu-kun, okay.”

 

….

 

Kuroko had forgotten how much he’d loved being invisible. After all the complications in his life over the last two years, he was happy to go unnoticed.

 

Finally, it seemed like at least something was going right.

 

…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *hides behind couch* Y'all know [where my Tumblr is](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) if you wanna throw shit
> 
> NOTE EDIT; also I'm sorry if I haven't been as responsive to comments, the prosecutors office has been SWAMPED this week and I've been lagging. I'm gonna try and address most of them today but just know I love you all and every time I read your comments it makes my day <3 not to brag but I def have the best readers ever


	17. Murasakibara Has Some Anger Issues

**…**

 

When Kuroko showed up to practice, Aomine wasn’t there.

 

He surveyed the blank room and turned directly around to go look for the navy haired Gryffindor after telling Momoi what he was up to.

 

“Good luck,” Momoi said. “I’ve been trying to get through to him for _weeks,_ maybe if it’s you asking he’ll change his mind.”

 

Kuroko drifted through the castle, wracking his brain for where the Gryffindor could be. He managed to get the attention of the sixth year Gryffindor, who told him she hadn’t seen Aomine since classes earlier.

 

Stymied, Kuroko wandered up to the astronomy tower, knowing his friend’s proclivity towards finding a high place to sit and daydream.

 

He was right on the mark; Aomine was laying flat on the ground, one hand over his forehead as he looked up at the setting sun.

 

“They’re going to be starting classes here soon,” Kuroko tried, but Aomine didn’t turn to look at him.

 

At first Kuroko thought Aomine was just deliberately ignoring him, so after a minute with no response, Kuroko tried again. After waiting another few minutes, and trying several times to get Aomine’s attention, it finally occurred to Kuroko what was going on.

 

His misdirection was working again, and he’d forgotten. Kuroko had to work harder to get people’s attention again. Well, it was a fair tradeoff for the freedom his power gave him, but it _was_ a little annoying when it was Aomine of all people. Aomine Daiki was Kuroko’s partner _,_ his _light,_ he wasn’t supposed to just forget that Kuroko existed.

 

Neither was Ogiwara though, so maybe it was Kuroko’s fault for assuming any differently.

 

Kuroko cleared his throat and decided to try again.

 

“Aomine,” Kuroko said sharply. No response.

 

Kuroko rolled his eyes, and bent over the other boy, looking directly at his face, and tapped him hard on the nose.

 

Aomine blinked. His eyes widened and he shouted in alarm.

 

“Damn it, Kuroko, don’t sneak up on me!”

 

“I didn’t sneak up on you,” Kuroko said calmly. “I’ve been here for quite some time trying to get your attention.”

 

Aomine sighed, and flopped back down against the turrets of the tower, looking up at Kuroko.

 

“What do you want?” he asked.

 

“It’s time for practice,” Kuroko said.

 

“Yeah, and...?” Aomine asked.

 

“And as far as I know you’re still a member of our team so you still need to go to practice,” Kuroko replied sensibly.

 

Aomine snorted. He didn’t even move to get up.

 

“You’re not my mother and neither is Satsuki, no matter how much she wants to act like it,” He said bitterly. “I told you, there’s really no point.”

 

“How about this point – we work better as shadow and light if we know what the other is doing in a fight. We will only be able to coordinate with practice.”

 

“No offense, Tetsu,” Aomine said, “but that last round of fighting proves we don’t need to be in sync in order to win. We’ll just work as we always do.”

 

Kuroko processed this quietly.

 

They had recently represented Hogwarts in their first duel outside of the school. The Generation of Miracles had overwhelmingly done away with their opponents. It hadn’t even been remotely close, and despite the fact that they were now competing in the highest student age group possible, they were finding no competitors to really match their strength against.

 

No wonder Aomine was so certain in his superiority. He certainly did not have anyone telling him that he _wasn’t_ superior, not when he was such a powerful young wizard. Kuroko knew that many members of the adult community were already vying for the attention of the Miracles, wanting to snag them as soon as they left school. At one point, those offers had all come from Quidditch scouts, Kuroko knew, but since all of them had quit their house teams to pursue other interests, he wasn’t sure what they were aiming to do after school anymore.

 

And yet Kuroko wasn’t about to let Aomine’s ample talent go to waste because he couldn’t be bothered to cultivate it.

 

“Just because that one tournament wasn’t hard doesn’t mean we won’t have more difficult ones.”

 

Aomine hummed in disagreement before stretching back out on the ground.

 

“Whatever, Tetsu,” He said, waving Kuroko off. “Shouldn’t _you_ be at practice if you want to work harder to succeed?”

 

Kuroko knew a lost cause when he saw it, and turned to leave, not willing to stand there and argue with his light any more.

 

….

 

Aomine didn’t show up to practice on Wednesday either.

 

“Tetsuya, would you mind taking a moment to speak to Daiki?” Akashi said to Kuroko after practice had been going for ten minutes and there was still no sign of the Gryffindor. “I think he would benefit from some of your… perspective.”

 

Kuroko didn’t need to be asked twice. He’d been itching to go after Aomine again, furious enough to want to give the other boy a serious piece of his mind. This time he headed straight for the Astronomy tower, which is where he knew he would find the skiving asshole.

 

“We have practice,” Kuroko informed Aomine. His exasperation was rising to a level high enough to force Akashi’s spell to act up for the first time in weeks. The fact that he was getting so worked up over Aomine skipping practice actually annoyed him a lot as well, which in turn was increasing the power of the spell.

 

So did Aomine skipping practice itself, which is why he was here: annoyed at his friend and annoyed at himself because he was annoyed.

 

“Yeah?” Aomine asked. “I didn’t notice.”

 

“You are the worst person I know,” Kuroko said with a deadpan expression.

 

“Oh, come on, Tetsu, you know plenty of worse people than me,” Aomine said. “There’s Akashi-”

 

“Get off your ass and go practice shield charms,” Kuroko cut in, taking a stern line. He folded his arms and stared down his light, projecting confidence and power, even though he had precious little to spare of either.

 

“Ugh,” Aomine leaned back, tilting his head towards the sun and closing his eyes. “There’s no point, Tetsu, there’s nobody who can beat me now anyway.”

 

Kuroko fought the urge to hit his teammate – it wasn’t that Aomine didn’t deserve it, because he obviously did. Kuroko just doubted that it would be even marginally effective as a means of coercing the other boy to come back to practice.

 

“That’s not the only reason to go to practice,” Kuroko said instead. “And you’re being an idiot.”

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsu, but I just can’t, okay?” Aomine asked. “I’m already the strongest one in the arena every time we go fight no matter what school we face, and I’m tired of it. It’s boring and stupid and I’m not going to waste time getting better when I’m already the best.”

 

Kuroko sighed internally and decided to take another track. Aomine had always responded to Momoi’s generally gentle, more encouraging touch anyway.

 

“Come back to practice, please,” Kuroko said. “I know you feel like you don’t have any rivals here, but wouldn’t it be terrible if after you graduate, you find someone who could match you on even ground, and you weren’t strong enough to fight them?”

 

Aomine considered this before standing, towering over Kuroko with his immense height as he did.

 

“Fine,” he said. “I’ll go to practice for now. But you had better be right.”

 

Kuroko felt a little vindicated when he walked into practice with Aomine right behind him. Even Akashi looked impressed, like the redhead had wholeheartedly expected Kuroko to fail.

 

Actually, considering Akashi’s oddly worded request, that’s probably exactly what he thought would happen.

 

Kuroko was beginning to get tired of being manipulated.

 

…

 

By nature, the Hogwart’s dueling program was pretty decentralized. Given how large it was, there was really no way to get every single member into a room more than once a semester, and it usually involved the cooperation of several professors, the Quidditch schedule, and multiple student activities to clear out a night in which half the school could assemble together. It wasn’t worth the hassle, so aside from the initial meeting in which Professor Shirogane outlined the rules for the program, most of the information for it was spread by announcements at meals or more commonly, by passing information to the captains of each team.

 

So there wasn’t anything new when the Headmaster stood up at breakfast on Monday and called for the attention of the students regarding an important matter affecting the dueling club.

 

It _was_ unusual for him to do so with such a grave expression.

 

“I will be brief,” he said. “Professor Shirogane has taken ill, and likely will not return for the rest of the semester. We have secured a temporary replacement for the Transfiguration post, who I believe you will find both knowledgeable and able. She will arrive this afternoon, at which point I will introduce her, and I expect us all to give her a warm welcome.”

 

Most of the students were too stuck on the idea that their professor was so ill that even with magical aid, he would not be able to come back to teach for a period that might potentially stretch for months. A few of the students, especially at the Ravenclaw table, were looking worried, likely due to the idea of picking up with a new instructor so close to their O.W.L.s or N.E.W.T.s.

 

“As for the dueling program, the board has decided that it will take charge of the decisions regarding the competing teams.”

 

Headmaster Aida said this through almost gritted teeth, with an expression that projected his annoyance even to the least insightful of observers. “The president of the board, Akashi Masaomi, would like to address in particular the competitors of the dueling club before you head to your morning classes, so I ask that you indulge us for a few more minutes of your time.”

 

As soon as the Headmaster said this, the doors to the Great Hall opened.

 

Kuroko had met Akashi’s father only a handful of times, usually only at the exclusive gatherings held by the old pureblood families. His grandmother held a thinly veiled contempt for the man, and neither of Kuroko’s parents, both of whom were extremely young and frequently travelling, had the patience for the old crowd of stuffy pureblood traditionalists.

 

The patriarch of one of the oldest, most respected families in Britain cut a powerful figure. He was broad shouldered and tall, and he walked with the confidence of a man who did not care in the slightest what others said or thought about him. His posture was impeccable, and the stone expression on his lined face was stern.

 

Akashi Masaomi looked almost nothing like his son. Where he was broad, his son was slight. Where he was tall and imposing, his son’s stature was below average. His hair was brown, not the shocking red of Akashi Seijuro. In all those things, Akashi took after his mother.

 

But upon closer inspection, there was no doubt that Akashi was this man’s son through and through. It wasn’t even in their mannerisms, though as Akashi Masaomi stopped in front of the head table and faced the student body, it was clear he had instilled his own poised movements in his son. There was something of the senior Akashi in the younger’s face - his nose and chin, Kuroko thought.

 

“Good morning students,” Akashi Masaomi said. His voice was gentler than Kuroko would have expected, knowing the junior Akashi. But then again, the Akashi Kuroko went to school with had always been unfailingly kind and polite when needed, so it maybe shouldn’t have been such a surprise that his father was similar in that respect.

 

“As your Headmaster has so kindly said, I am Akashi Masaomi, the president of the board. We have decided that in order to avoid piling responsibility onto a substitute teacher or increasing one of your current Professor’s workloads so close to the end of the year, we will take on the management of the dueling club. I expect you will find that the club will function as it has for quite some time, as we don’t intend to interfere any more than your previous instructor has. However, we will be making one minor change.”

 

Kuroko saw worry on a couple of faces now, and he wondered exactly what kind of change Akashi’s father was talking about.

 

“From now until the end of the year, the board will decide which teams will represent Hogwarts in competitions against other schools, in order to best demonstrate the strength of our school and it’s students. We would like to showcase the power of our school, and continue the strong reputation this program once had. Ten years ago, when this program was discontinued, its motto was as follows: A thousand battles, a thousand victories.”

 

He paused there, letting the words sink in. Kuroko could see many wide eyes and eager faces. The students of Hogwarts were hungry to fight and prove their worth, to live up to a long passed legacy of excellence most of them had never heard of before.

 

“The board wishes only to remain true to this charge, so that every student who graduates from this program will have that reputation standing behind them. That is all.”

 

He said all of this very mildly, but Kuroko immediately saw it for what it was, and he felt the first stirring of concern.

 

If what Akashi Masaomi was saying was true, the board would be selecting teams to compete based on which of them was most likely to win. And even though most of the room was smiling agreeably at this, he could clearly see the expressions on the faces of the Generation of Miracles, and they did not appear to share in the excitement of their fellow students.

 

They weren’t happy about the revelation that they probably would be competing more.

 

Even as Kuroko watched, Murasakibara turned to Akashi and whispered something, and he was scowling. Akashi held up a hand to him, eyes fixed firmly on his father’s face.

 

Akashi Masaomi’s eyes roved the crowd, until he made eye contact with his son.

 

“We as the board want to encourage students in the program to have fun and learn within these walls. However, when we face off against other schools, we will not accept anything short of absolute victory.”

 

For a second, it was like he was speaking directly to his son. The younger Akashi nodded, and the intense moment between father and son passed.

 

“Thank you for your time,” Akashi Masaomi said. On that note he turned, his cloak billowing behind him, and made his exit.

 

...

 

A week later, Aomine started ditching practice again.

 

“Oh, the board told him he didn’t need to come to practice any more,” Murasakibara said when Kuroko asked. “So long as we keep winning, they said he can do whatever he wants.”

 

Kuroko’s eyes widened a little at this. Why on earth would anyone tell him that he didn’t have to practice? That was just stupid. How anyone who had fathered Akashi Seijuro could have so little sense, Kuroko had no idea.

 

And Aomine was stupid too, for taking them up on it.

 

He climbed up to the astronomy tower again, but this time Aomine wouldn’t budge.

 

“I’ll keep coming to matches,” he said. “But I’m not wasting my time at practice anymore.”

 

“You’re being stupid,” Kuroko informed the other boy, unimpressed.

 

“But I’m right,” Aomine said. He leaned back and looked up at the sky, ignoring Kuroko for several minutes of silence. Kuroko waited him out, refusing to back down.

 

“Listen,” he said. “Even if you’re right and I really do have a rival out there somewhere who can challenge me, if I keep practicing they’re just going to lose to me like everyone else. I’m already almost the strongest wizard in our generation.”

 

Frustration welled up inside Kuroko, thick and bitter. He wished he had the capacity to _force_ Aomine to listen to him, to give him the motivation and drive that had burned so brightly in Kuroko for so long.

 

Kuroko had never won anything in his life that he hadn’t been forced to fight for, tooth and nail. He’d won his place in class by spending every waking moment working. He’d won his place by the side of the Generation of Miracles by practicing until he’d literally dropped. He had won back his misdirection only by fighting as hard as he could for it.

 

And there was nothing that went against his sense of fairness than the Gryffindor in front of him, with the world handed to him on a silver plate by the circumstances of his birth and magical power, just deciding not to press every advantage that he had.

 

“You won’t be the best just by trying to be better than everyone else,” Kuroko warned him, one hand clenched into a fist. “You do it by becoming the best that _you_ can be. The only person you need to compare yourself to is yourself.”

 

Aomine sat up, looking at Kuroko like he’d grown an extra head.

 

“What the hell,” he enunciated clearly, “does that even fucking mean?”

 

“It means that you are an asshole,” Kuroko replied, his face still blank.

 

Aomine shrugged and lay back down.

 

“Yeah, but I’m a powerful one, so it doesn’t matter.”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“Fine,” he said. He’d almost snapped. Instead he turned around, resolving to try again when Aomine wasn’t in quite as much of a self-pitying mood.

 

And if all else failed, he figured he could try and talk to Akashi about it. At the very least, he had to care that one of his own teammates wasn’t coming to practice.

 

Right?

 

Didn’t anyone else care about this team anymore?

 

…

 

Aomine’s lack of motivation seemed to be catching, because it wasn’t even a full week later when another Miracle tried to follow his example.

 

They were practicing a new set of spells Momoi had found for them. It had been a little over an hour and Momoi had already left, citing a need to work on another project and reminding them to work hard.

 

So aside from Akashi, only Kuroko, Kise, and Midorima were still there when Murasakibara abruptly sighed, tucking his wand away in his robes.

 

“I’m bored, see you guys later.”

 

“Atsushi, what do you think you’re doing?”

 

“Leaving, obviously,” Murasakibara said, slinging his backpack over his shoulder. “Duh.”

 

“Practice is still going on,” Akashi said. “Come on, we have to get back to work.”

 

“I don’t want to,” Murasakibara replied. “I’m already too good for anyone to beat, so what’s the point of becoming any stronger? I’m already a freak.”

 

Akashi was looking murderous at this challenge to his authority, but Murasakibara was glaring right back. The magic in the air around them was making the space between them ripple.

 

Kuroko actually took a step back from the intensity of their power. Midorima and Kise had stopped their duel and were staring in horrified awe at what was going on in front of them.

 

“Aka-chin, I’m going to do what I want,” Murasakibara growled. “I don’t have to listen to you.”

 

“I’m your captain,” Akashi shot back. With Murasakibara towering over him, he should have looked cowed. The other Slytherin was a full foot taller than Akashi, standing well over six feet tall even as a sixteen year old with more growing to do. But Akashi didn’t back down in the slightest. He looked just as ready to start a fight as Murasakibara himself did.

 

“I can’t simply ignore what you just said,” Akashi continued. “Though this team’s most powerful wizard need not be its captain, I will not abide a challenge to my position in such a blatant manner. And if you can’t understand that by any means but force, then I will give you the honor to try to learn that lesson the hard way.”

 

Murasakibara rolled his eyes, and moved to shoulder past the other boy, but Akashi reached out and grabbed Murasakibara by the arm.

 

“I have to discipline you.”

 

“I don’t care what you think, Aka-chin,” Murasakibara whined. “This is a waste of time, and I’m bored. I’m going back to the common room.”

 

“I’ll make you a deal,” Akashi said. “If you want to make decisions on this team and only come to practice when you feel like it, that’s fine. But you have to defeat me first.”

 

Murasakibara paused, looking irritated.

 

“That’s bothersome,” he replied. “No.”

 

“Then you’ll have to fight me to leave either way,” Akashi said, drawing his wand, unwavering. Any sane wizard would have refrained from antagonizing Murasakibara when he was this obviously angry already, but Akashi looked back at the boy fearlessly. He looked certain he would win this fight, but Kuroko wasn’t as sure.

 

Honestly, any sane wizard should have avoided starting a fight with _Akashi_ in this mood as well, which spoke volumes about how pissed off both Slytherins were that they were gearing up to fight one another when the consequences could be potentially catastrophic.

 

If the two of them fought – really fought, no holds barred, calling upon their every ounce of magical power – Kuroko was pretty sure they would level the school before they were done with each other.

 

Murasakibara sighed, turning around to face the other Slytherin. Gritting his teeth, he pulled his bag off his shoulders and threw it to the side. It hit the wall with a loud thud, and smacked against the ground audibly when it fell to rest on the farthest side of the room. Kuroko stared at the abandoned bag dispassionately.

 

He had never seen Murasakibara this angry before. That, even more than the intensity of the Slytherin’s magic, was making Kuroko’s skin crawl.

 

“Fine,” Murasakibara said. “We can fight. And then I’m leaving.”

 

The purple haired wizard drew his wand, and both of them took up dueling stances, knees bent, wands extended. Akashi’s was technically perfect down to every angle of his posture and arm. Murasakibara’s was looser and more relaxed, but the magical field between them hadn’t let up.

 

“Guys, you don’t need to fight!” Kise said desperately, running between them, arms outstretched as though he thought he could keep them from cursing each other by enforcing distance between them. “Come on, let’s just go back to practice, we don’t need to do this!”

 

“Ki-chin if you don’t move I’ll crush you.”

 

“Ryouta, get out of the way.”

 

Kise stared between the two wizards, eyes wide and fearful. He was terrified, but he also wasn’t backing down either.

 

“Kise, _move,_ ” Midorima said suddenly, looking almost as desperate as the Gryffindor. “You’re not doing any good getting between them now.”

 

“No, I’m not letting us start fighting like this!” Kise said stubbornly. “We’re friends, we’re not supposed to be fighting, we’re supposed to be _practicing!_ Please stop fighting!”

 

“Ryouta, if you don’t move I will simply remove you from my path,” Akashi warned Kise, glaring at the blonde Gryffindor. It was probably a good thing Midorima was smart enough to act then. He strode forward purposefully and grabbed Kise’s shoulder, physically dragging him out of the path of the warring Slytherins.

 

“But, Midorimacchi-”

 

“Shut _up,_ ” Midorima growled lowly, “ _you fool._ You cannot do anything to prevent this. Nobody can.”

 

Kise did shut up then, holding back with Midorima and Kuroko. His eyes were wide and full of tears.

 

“Please, don’t do this!” Kise begged the two of them again, but neither of them listened.

 

Midorima was watching the two wizards almost as dispassionately as Kuroko himself. He looked almost resigned. His head was tilted down, his expression as close to defeat as Kuroko had ever seen on the prideful Ravenclaw.

 

_You cannot do anything to prevent this._

 

Had Midorima known this was going to happen?

 

Akashi struck like a snake, his movements sharp and precise.

 

His spell glanced off Murasakibara’s powerful shield. Akashi hit the ground on the giant Slytherin’s other side, wand at the ready.

 

Murasakibara slammed down a concussive spell right on top of the redheaded Slytherin. Akashi managed to catch the spell on his shield and rolled away as it hit the floor, making the entire room shake.

 

Akashi got to his feet, but Murasakibara was still advancing. He sent a cutting curse flying wildly, and Akashi was thrown back into the wall. His shield had dulled the power of the spell significantly, but there was a visible tear in his collared shirt when he pulled himself upright, struggling under the weight of his opponents’ power.

 

Murasakibara didn’t give Akashi a chance to collect himself. He brought another cutting spell crashing down over Akashi’s head and Akashi stepped to the side only just quickly enough for it to cut a deep swath into the flagstones where he’d been standing.

 

Murasakibara had followed through on his last spell however, and as he turned back, he smoothly moved his wand in another curse, this one hitting Akashi dead on.

 

Akashi tumbled and fell hard, crying out with pain as he landed.

 

Murasakibara advanced, and Akashi was up like lightning. He’d been overemphasizing his injuries, and used Murasakibara’s surprise to attack. He cast a curse at Murasakibara’s foot as he ran by, freezing the other Slytherin where he stood. He fired two stunning spells at Murasakibara’s back. They brought bright purple sparks flying from the other boy’s shield, but it held.

 

Murasakibara growled a curse and melted the ice surrounding his foot, turning around. Akashi was moving again, casting at lightning speed.

 

He cast a bright lumos, blinding Murasakibara and running around his left, cursing the boy twice more as he did so. This time, even Kuroko could feel the pressure of Murasakibara’s shield begin to give way.

 

Murasakibara scowled, and slammed a wall of pure magic into Akashi. The fifth year was thrown back into the wall behind him, head cracking audibly on the stone as he fell.

 

Kuroko stared, eyes wide. He gave no other outward reaction of the concern and fear that was making itself known quietly inside of himself, but he was awed and scared at the display of magic he was watching.

 

He’d wondered, on multiple occasions, how Murasakibara’s power levels would compare to those of their captain. He had even speculated that it was possible that the purple haired Slytherin would have come out on top in an all out fight between the two of them.

 

“It’s true,” Midorima whispered. “Murasakibara is more powerful than Akashi. I’ll be damned.”

 

“Akashi should have been able to compete with him,” Kise murmured. “I didn’t think it would be such a one sided contest!”

 

The three wizards stared in awe as they realized the unbelievable, unthinkable, and now seemingly inevitable result of this match.

 

Akashi Seijuro was going to lose for the first time in his life.

 

“Eh, what’s this?” Murasakibara asked, sounding bored again. “I thought it would at least be a little harder. You’re weak, Aka-chin. You’re disappointing. And I won’t take orders from someone who is only capable of this.”

 

Midorima flinched, turning his face away from the battle.

 

Murasakibara stretched. Standing tall towards the ceiling, Murasakibara looked terrifying. He let his shoulders crack before he brought his arms back down, tucking his wand out of the way.

 

“Forget this,” he said. “I don’t give a shit anymore. I’ve already won. I won’t be forced to show up here if I don’t feel like it.”

 

He turned and walked away, leaving their captain on his hands and knees staring up at his fellow Slytherin with a horrified expression on his face.

 

And then Akashi’s expression changed.

 

Kuroko felt it like a sharp crack of a whip. Akashi’s magical power was fully released, and it forced him to take a step back from the fight in pure awe.

 

Akashi smiled.

 

Then he was on his feet, a whirlwind of magic and movement that Kuroko was hard pressed to follow. Akashi cursed Murasakibara, sharp ice crawling up the other Slytherin’s legs. Murasakibara sent a spell towards him in retaliation, but Akashi easily jumped over it. With two cutting curses so powerful that they raised goosebumps on Kuroko’s arms, he shattered Murasakibara’s shield, purple light exploding outwards as it dissipated.

 

Murasakibara fell backwards onto his ass, looking up at Akashi. He looked like he hadn’t quite processed what had happened, like he couldn’t believe how quickly the tide of the fight had turned.

 

“You’re getting ahead of yourself, Atsushi,” Akashi said, towering over the other Slytherin. All of the tension from before had bled out of his frame, and he looked absolutely relaxed. His posture belied that fact that his magic was still literally pouring off of him in waves. “Don’t make me lose my patience. You’re standing in my way, and I will kill anyone who dares to oppose me. Even you.”

 

Murasakibara was sprawled on his back, staring up at Akashi with a wary expression. He looked liked he believed every word coming out of Akashi’s mouth right now.

 

Honestly, Kuroko did too.

 

And then Akashi attacked.

 

The pure, concentrated power was like nothing Kuroko had ever felt before.

 

Murasakibara threw up a shield, standing to try and force Akashi to yield to him. The air rippled between them, and then burned with light and fire as the intensity of the magic between them came to a height.

 

It was a clash of titans, power against power. Kuroko could feel the heat from where he was standing across the rooms, could feel the way the stones under his feet shuddered from the magical attack.

 

Murasakibara cried out as his shield was overcome by Akashi’s power, and he fell back to his knees, scrambling backwards as Akashi advanced.

 

“I am absolute,” he said coldly. “I always win.”

 

“Fine, Aka-chin, I’ll stay!” Murasakibara said, eyes wide with fear. “I’ll come to practice every day, I promise!”

 

But when Akashi straightened and smiled, he just shrugged. He didn’t look vindicated, just bored. All of the tension in his figure was gone, and it seemed so was his anger and frustration from before.

 

“Forget it. Do whatever you want,” he said. There was something wrong with the way he was speaking, too light and too sharp all at once.

 

He was still smiling.

 

“This goes for all of you,” he said. “So long as you win, I don’t care whether or not you come to practice. I won’t say anything at all. But if we lose, you will all back here every day.”

 

Kise stared in abject shock. Kuroko’s surprise was infinitely more restrained, but he was no less horrified. Not come to practice? Was Akashi asking all of them to ditch and just show up to matches without having worked together? Why would that even be fun? How could he show such disrespect for the wizards they would be fighting, who trained for hours and hours and put all of their hearts into facing them?

 

“What just happened?” Kise asked, eyes wide.

 

“I have no idea either, you fool,” Midorima hissed, concern written into every line of his face. His hand was clutching his lucky item like a lifeline.

 

And then Akashi turned around.

 

One of his eyes was red, as usual. It gleamed like dull blood in the light of their practice arena.

 

The other was bright gold.

 

Kuroko took a step back, shoulders hitting the wall behind him.

 

“As of now, the only thing this team is concerned with is victory,” Akashi said. “I no longer care about the work that you put in to get there, as long as at the end of every duel, we are the winners. But I am absolute, and if I give you an order from now on, it had better be followed.”

 

The amount of power radiating off the redhead was stifling. It was choking Kuroko, making it impossible for him to breathe.

 

Midorima fell to his knees first, head bowed in supplication.

 

Kise followed after him.

 

Murasakibara had been on his knees since Akashi had beaten him, and he hadn’t gotten up.

 

Akashi’s eyes – unnerving, unsettling, _wrong –_ looked to Kuroko. The Hufflepuff stared down his captain, but he didn’t kneel in the face of his overwhelming power the way Kise and Midorima had.

 

“Practice is over,” Akashi snapped. “Leave. All of you.”

 

The rest of the Miracles scrambled to obey, but Kuroko remained behind even as Murasakibara grabbed his bag and followed Kise and Midorima out.

 

“Akashi-”

 

“I know that you liked the way things were before, Tetsuya, but you need to give up on that,” Akashi said bluntly. His voice was soft, kind, but still so _wrong._ “We have reached the limit of what we could do as that kind of team. It is only natural that in order to advance, we take on a new form, and become a different team – the kind that best shows off our individual strengths.”

 

The words Kuroko wanted to say in denial of this were trapped in his throat as his captain spoke. He couldn’t move, couldn’t even breathe.

 

“We are too strong,” Akashi said softly. “Surely you’ve seen it, Tetsuya – this is too powerful a group to achieve harmony any more. We’re no longer children, and so much power can’t reliably come together without clashing violently. We will all be better off on our own. This is the only way I can protect us.”

 

He was wrong, but Kuroko couldn’t open his mouth to say the words. It was like he was trapped in his own body, watching this happen. Akashi was transforming into something terrifying and beyond his control, and there was nothing he could do to save his friend.

 

“I need you to do one more thing for me,” Akashi said.

 

“Eh?”

 

Kuroko finally managed a reaction of some kind, the surprised sound leaving his throat without his control.

 

“I need you to give up on Daiki,” he continued.

 

“But you’re the one who sent me after him in the first place!” Kuroko burst out. He was scared, he didn’t know what was happening, but he knew he couldn’t give up on his friends, not when they had only just come back together again. He couldn’t let them slide away, and yet he could already sense that every single one of them was out of his grasp.

 

“You’re right,” Akashi said pleasantly. “And that was his last chance. Tetsuya, a plate that has been broken will never be whole again, even by magic. It will always by nature be something different than it was before. It can be used if it is repaired, and if it was necessary, I would expend the effort but…”

 

Akashi examined his hands as though he had never seen them before, before looking up to Kuroko, his eyes wide and manic.

 

“There’s no need for that anymore,” he said calmly. “He’s still perfectly useable as is. Good work.”

 

This couldn’t be Akashi. This wasn’t the man Kuroko knew. This wasn’t the student that had agonized over every cut and scrape his teammates got during practice and in the arena. This wasn’t the captain that had poisoned himself because he couldn’t even bear the idea of passing that task onto one of his teammates and watching them be hurt.

 

This wasn’t the boy that had reached out to Kuroko – a nobody whose most impressive talent was that he was entirely invisible – and given him a place to belong, a spot in the sun beside them.

 

The Akashi Seijuro that Kuroko knew was kind. He was a little pompous, a little obsessed with winning, but he was a good person at his core, someone who valued his teammates not just for their skills, but for who they were.

 

The Akashi Seijuro Kuroko knew was the kind of man who could find something to admire in anyone, even if it was just a first year that had helped design a dragon made of ice to help defend a fort during a snowball fight.

 

The Akashi Seijuro that Kuroko knew would never be saying this about anyone, especially not Aomine.

 

“Who are you?” Kuroko demanded.

 

“Tetsuya,” Akashi admonished, smiling, bringing a hand to his chest. His smile looked out of place, and his eyes were still too wide and manic, with one eye still that bright gold that hurt to look at. “Of course, I am Akashi Seijuro. Your captain.”

 

Kuroko’s heart felt like it was in his throat and he was suddenly aware of the pain in his arms. He’d blocked out the first stirrings of pain through his shock, but now that the shock was bleeding into pure horror and fear, the physical pain was shooting through his arms like so many knives. For the first time in a long time, Akashi’s spell was activating, and given the degree of pain Kuroko was suddenly conscious of, it had been doing so for quite some time.

 

“No,” he said hoarsely, unable to do anything except deny it. “This isn’t you!”

 

This wasn’t Akashi, it couldn’t be.

 

“There have always been two of me,” Akashi said. “We’ve merely traded places.”

 

Chills were running up and down Kuroko’s arms along with the pain.

 

“I have changed because this team has changed. To lead a team of such unrivalled power, there can be no challengers to us from within.”

 

The man with the terrifying eyes walked past Kuroko towards the door, only pausing when he drew even with Kuroko.

 

“Do not fight this,” he warned in that calm, too composed tone. He placed a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder, and it burned like ice. “I am absolute. Nothing will stand in my path to victory, not here at Hogwarts or beyond. I will break anyone who tries. Nobody will stand in my way – not the Headmaster, not my parents, not even _you_.”

 

And then he was gone, and Kuroko was standing there alone.

 

He felt cold and empty. He wanted to feel horror. He wanted to feel confusion and betrayal, but there was only paralyzing shock and mild concern there.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath as he folded in on himself, forcing himself to lock all of that away.

 

It took a long time before he was able to breathe calmly again, and make the spell stop working. But even when he did, he couldn’t shake the clinical worry over what had just happened.

 

It was like Kuroko himself had a second half, pounding and screaming inside his soul, locked away in a padded box where his reactions couldn’t influence Kuroko any more.

 

…

 

Their first intramural match of the New Year was against a team of mostly Gryffindor fifth and sixth years, led by sixth year Kasamatsu Yukio.

 

“Just because you’re my senior doesn’t mean I’m not gonna kick your ass!” Kise shouted with a large grin, waving over to the other side of the arena.

 

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Kasamatsu said, shortly.

 

“Yeah, Kise, don’t be ridiculous,” Aomine mocked. “You should just leave the ass kicking to me, since you clearly don’t have the skills for it.”

 

“You’re so mean,” Kise said, turning away from the other Gryffindor. “I’m your teammate, you should be nicer to me. Right, Kurokocchi?”

 

Kuroko looked up from where he was tying his shoe.

 

“Tetsu, you gonna take this jokers side?” Aomine demanded. Kuroko looked between them, at a loss for how he should respond, when he was thankfully rescued by their captain.

 

“Fight the other team, not each other,” he said smoothly, stepping between the two much larger Gryffindors. “I don’t want any of you slacking off.”

 

Kuroko didn’t outwardly react to that statement, but he felt his heart sink a little bit. He didn’t want this to be what dueling was like from now on, but it seemed none of the Miracles were ready to actually enjoy the duel they were about to engage in.

 

His eyes scanned to the other side of the Great Hall, taking in the six wizards they would be fighting. Kasamatsu was the smallest of them, a scowl on his face as he slapped one of the other Gryffindors on the back of the head. When the boy turned, Kuroko saw it was Tsugawa, another powerhouse from their year.

 

Takao was at the edge of the group, grinning at something that a sixth year Gryffindor (Kuroko thought his name was Hayakawa) was saying.

 

The team was rounded out by two seventh year Hufflepuffs that Kuroko didn’t know very well.

 

This was going to be a rough fight. The team would probably be fine, but Kuroko was reasonably certain that he was about to get his ass kicked into next week. As he watched, Takao turned and grinned at Kuroko, waving at the Hufflepuff. Kuroko nodded blankly to the other boy, who looked confused when Kuroko turned away.

 

He was going to do whatever he could to win this fight. Perhaps his teammates could be certain of their victory, but Kuroko could not.

 

The tables had been pushed back and a wide circle was carved into the stone denoting the edge of the arena. It was smaller than the one that they had fought in during the interschool tournament last year, but this was a much less formal duel. Kuroko wondered if the crowd around them was this large and excited because it was the first intramural duel of the year, or because one of the competing teams was the Generation of Miracles.

 

The battle started explosively right out of the gate. It seemed that the students of Hogwarts had learned from the lesson of the interschool tournament and knew they would need an overwhelming show of force to defeat a team of the strongest wizards in the school.

 

Kise was facing off against Tsugawa, but the other wizard wasn’t giving up any ground. For every spell Kise cast, Tsugawa was ready to block.

 

Kise set up a complicated illusion, but Tsugawa simply blasted his way through it, eyes on Kise the whole time. Tsugawa grinned wider and wider as the blonde grew angrier.

 

“Come on, I thought you Miracles would be stronger than this!” he shouted. Kuroko winced as the look on Kise’s face narrowed even further. The blonde started throwing out spell after spell at a rapid pace, forcing Tsugawa back. His shield was strong, but Kise was strong too, and now he was pissed off.

 

“Daiki, go help Ryouta!” Kuroko heard Akashi order from the other side of the court. Kise swore angrily. He knew he _could_ break Tsugawa’s defense, but Aomine’s blue lightning came sparking through the air before he had a chance.

 

Kuroko was finding himself with a bigger problem. It seemed that even now Takao was able to see through Kuroko’s misdirection, though it had taken him longer than usual to.

 

“What is going _on_ with you?” Takao demanded, cursing Kuroko. Kuroko dodged the spell, trying to conserve the strength he did have and catch the other boy off guard. “Are you holding back right now?”

 

“I’m doing the best I can,” Kuroko said honestly, his expression entirely blank. Takao’s eyebrows rose as he realized the other boy was being serious, and then he grinned.

 

“Well I guess even the Miracles are allowed to have a weakness,” he said. “This shouldn’t take long.”

 

Kuroko didn’t get enough warning to dodge the spells Takao sent his way, so he had to push them back himself. After so long working with the Generation of Miracles, Kuroko found the first few spells easy to move, but he was tiring quickly, and Takao was just getting started.

 

This was turning into a disaster.

 

“I know you’re better than this!” Takao said angrily, throwing another spell at Kuroko. It went wild, not even coming close to hitting Kuroko. “Why won’t you fight me? Are you too good for us common folk now, or what?”

 

The spell Takao sent at Kuroko was by no means weak. However, It also wasn’t at the level of power Kuroko was used to fielding from his teammates.

 

Which is why Kuroko was so surprised when he was thrown backwards violently by the force of pushing the spell back towards its caster.

 

It seemed that without the benefit of regular practice, Kuroko had lost some of his tolerance for handling spells the way he used to.

 

Takao yelped and dove just in time to avoid being hit. However, he was prevented from following through on his advantage by Midorima.

 

“Shin-chan!” Takao said, grinning at the Ravenclaw. “You never talk, you never write, you’re gonna give a guy the thought you don’t even like him!”

 

Midorima didn’t respond.

 

Kuroko looked up just as the Ravenclaw set off a spell that let out a line of glowing green runes. Takao took a step back, looking at them with wide eyes. Kuroko saw the exact moment that the Gryffindor boy decided to try and run, but he didn’t get very far.

 

The line of runes twisted in the air menacingly for a moment before shooting towards Takao, wrapping around him like ropes.

 

Still out of breath, Kuroko watched as Midorima advanced on the other boy, wand at the ready.

 

“You’re weak,” he said in a voice that was almost as deadpan as Kuroko’s. “Did you really think that you would pose any challenge to me at all? Did you think that your observational skills would allow you to best me, one of the smartest wizards in this entire school? You’re nothing but a worthless half-blood fool.”

 

Takao’s eyes widened. Perhaps he was as shocked at the vile words Midorima was saying as Kuroko was, or maybe he was just hurt. Either way, before he could spit back a retort, Midorima continued with his spiteful rampage.

 

“You are continually desperate to have me acknowledge you both as an opponent and as a romantic interest, but you are too foolish to see that I am not ignorant to your advances. How on earth could I ever see you as anything more than the trash you are? I am better than you in every way it is possible for one wizard to be better than another. I have nothing more to say to you.”

 

Kuroko was too shocked to react as Midorima stunned Takao and turned away, tsking dismissively. The Hufflepuff couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of Midorima’s mouth. The Ravenclaw had crossed the line so far that Kuroko didn’t even know where to start berating the boy. Before he had the chance to say anything, Midorima had already strode away quickly, leaving Takao’s stunned body behind.

 

_What the hell._

 

Kuroko felt the pain of the spell activating, sparking down his limbs with brutal force. Kuroko had all but forgotten the spell was still active – he resolved to speak to Akashi about it as soon as possible.

 

Akashi and Murasakibara had cleared the field by the time Kuroko turned around to see what the rest of their teammates were doing. It had been a quick fight, but their captain didn’t look happy about it.

 

In fact, Akashi’s expression was murderous.

 

“You are all coming to practice this week. We cannot allow our victory to be so precarious in the future.”

 

Nobody objected to this statement.

 

Kuroko found there to be something fundamentally flawed about this. Even constrained by the kind of magic they could use because of school rules, duels were the most fun when they had to fight for every inch they could claim, rather than taking a victory they were certain of before stepping onto the court.

 

It was only when they were cornered that any of his teammates truly showed the extent of their power, and having to work for it was so much more fun.

 

That said, maybe more training would bring the rest of the Generation of Miracles in line and make them see that they really needed to work to prove themselves. Maybe this was a chance to fix everything.

 

…

 

“Hey there.”

 

Kuroko looked up in shock.

 

Takao Kazunari, was standing there, hands in his pockets, looking less animated than Kuroko had ever seen him. Since their duel a day or two before, Kuroko hadn’t been able to get the look on Takao’s face out of his mind after Midorima had finished insulting him. He couldn’t believe Midorima could be so heartless, and he wasn’t surprised to see the shadows in Takao’s own eyes.

 

“Takao,” Kuroko greeted him, shifting over on the bench beside him.

 

“You look almost as miserable as I am,” Takao said. “You do a better job of not showing it though.”

 

There was a demented part of Kuroko that took pride in that now, after all the conditioning Akashi had put him through to maintain his misdirection.

 

“What do you want?” Kuroko asked. Takao blinked in surprise. A bitter smile spread across his face.

 

“Straight to the point then,” he observed. “Fine. What happened to Shin-chan and why is he being such a dick?”

 

Oh boy.

 

_Our captain and friend has turned into a monster and he took the rest of us with him._

 

But that wasn’t quite right.

 

_They’ve all grown too powerful to be contained, and our Captain has turned into the only kind of wizard that could have any influence over them any more._

 

“Please, Kuroko,” Takao said, sounding desperate. “Things were going really well. I thought we were getting along, and then out of nowhere, he’s just stopped talking to me.”

 

_Join the club,_ Kuroko thought.

 

“I-”

 

Kuroko paused, hesitating.

 

He didn’t even know how to say this. He didn’t know where to begin.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said.

 

“Kuroko, come on. You have to know something!”

 

Kuroko’s blank face fixed on the opposite wall, unseeing.

 

“He’s too powerful,” Kuroko whispered.

 

“What the fuck does that even mean?”

 

“They’re all too powerful,” Kuroko said, turning his blank eyes towards Takao. “They’ve lost what it means to be friends, to duel together, and they’ve been consumed by power. I don’t know when it happened or why, or why it took so long to see, but-”

 

Kuroko caught himself before he could finish. _This is all my fault. I did this. I’m the only one who could have stopped them. I was their friend, and I was too absorbed in myself to realize what was going on until it was too late. And now they’re broken and I can’t fix them, even though I might be the only person who can._

 

“I’m sorry,” he said again.

 

“COME THE FUCK ON!” Takao roared, shaking Kuroko by the shoulders. The Hufflepuff didn’t react. “That’s not a reason! That doesn’t even mean anything! What the hell are you talking about, he’s too powerful? Don’t you even care about Shin-Chan? I THOUGHT HE WAS SUPPOSED TO BE YOUR FRIEND, YOU FREAK!”

 

Kuroko didn’t feel it when Takao punched him in his fury. He didn’t hurt when he hit the ground, he just stared back up with his blank face and blank eyes. All he felt was mild confusion.

 

Takao stared down at him. There was something in his face – pity, horror, anger, Kuroko couldn’t quite place it – before he flushed bright red and stormed away.

 

Kuroko picked himself up off the ground.

 

How had everything gone so wrong?

…

Winter slowly turned to spring, and Kuroko reclaimed his spot as the Shadow of the Generation of Miracles. He supported them from the dark in every round they fought.

 

But after working so hard to reclaim his misdirection, Kuroko could clinically see that something was wrong. His friends fought, but there was no heart in it. They no longer worked as a team, but as five absurdly powerful individuals fighting alone.

 

Kuroko came to practice every day.

 

He ran drills, firing spells at the targets that were set up there. He practiced dodging curses and casting shields until there was sweat running down his back.

 

He practiced conjuring, using his time to reinforce the skills he was building up in class. He found that using magic wordlessly was becoming more and more natural to him by the day.

 

But he was almost always alone.

 

Sometimes Akashi would be there, but he never stayed long. Once, he stumbled upon Midorima, practicing a complicated and offensive runic shield, but the Ravenclaw had left soon after Kuroko had arrived.

 

Sometimes Kise was there, but he never met Kuroko’s eyes. Kuroko was sure that half the time, Kise didn’t even register his presence at all. The blonde would set up targets around in a circle and stand in the middle, practicing his accuracy and speed, his power growing by the day.

 

Without even the sound of spells being spoken, Kuroko spent a lot of time in silence and isolation.

 

Their second official inter-school dueling match was in London. The team travelled to Hogsmeade and then took a portkey, supervised by the Headmaster. Kuroko could only hope that somewhere outside of Hogwarts, the Generation of Miracles would meet their match. A proper rival would force them to abandon whatever insane ideas of superiority they had.

 

…

 

Unfortunately, it seemed that no matter the opponent, there was no team on the school age dueling circuit to challenge the Generation of Miracles in their unquestioned dominance.

 

Hogwarts had taken the national dueling circuit by storm, on the back of six fifth years with too much power and egos that grew larger and more apathetic with every victory.

 

Kuroko watched his friends grow more and more bored with every opportunity they were given. Each of them were still growing, cultivating talents far beyond what they had when they started.

 

Kuroko supposed it should have been inevitable that eventually they would get so powerful that they would start getting in each other’s way.

 

They were facing a team from one of the smaller magical schools in the north of France. They were tough – the team had put up a strong showing against even Hogwarts’ Miracles, but their resistance was doomed to failure.

 

Kuroko saw Midorima casting out of the corner of his eye and turned to watch the other boy just in time to see the results. A glowing green configuration of runes shot out of the end of his wand, circling above the attacking team.

 

Aomine shouted in alarm and dove out of the way just in time to avoid getting caught in the configuration, which sparked with green lightning. A second later, a series of dark clouds gathered in the middle of the arena, following along the circle of runes.

 

The other team was shouting. Their specialist was trying to break the rune configuration and two others were casting spells frantically at the cloud above them trying to break it.

 

Kuroko felt the power of the magic, and knew that none of them would be able to break it now. Midorima was exceptionally good at what he did, and singularly powerful.

 

The dark clouds circled faster and faster, and Kuroko saw a flash of lightning inside of the configuration.

 

Two students screamed at the same time when the clouds started hailing shards of ice down onto them. Kuroko saw them frantically casting shields to avoid being hit. Just as their concentration broke enough that they lost their grip on their main protective shield, Murasakibara struck.

 

The shield was brought down by a powerful concussive curse that blasted away the barrier in a shower of sparks.

 

The ground was still smoking when the magic cleared away.

 

Kuroko realized in an instant that Kise had not been as lucky as Aomine had been in escaping Midorima’s elaborate trap. The blonde Gryffindor had been caught along the outer edges of the configuration.

 

The blonde groaned and rolled onto his back. His dueling robes looked a little charred. He coughed. Kuroko felt a sting of pain in his arms that came with relief upon knowing that the other boy was okay.

 

Kise, on the other hand, did not look relieved. He pushed himself to his feet unsteadily, rejecting the offer of one of the mediwizards who had run out on the field for help.

 

His eyes were burning gold as he stalked back towards his own team, murder in his eyes. His cheek had been cut by one of the ice shards before he’d managed to shield himself, and there was blood dripping down his chin. It was staining his collar, but Kise didn’t move to so much as wipe it off.

 

“Oi, Kise-“

 

Kise shoved Aomine out of the way. He was moving stiffly, as if in pain, but it was hard to tell how seriously he was injured as he stomped up to Midorima.

 

The Ravenclaw didn’t even flinch when Kise pointed his wand directly at his forehead.

 

“What,” Kise asked in an absolutely not calm, but extremely quiet voice, “the _fuck_ did you think you were doing?”

 

Midorima sniffed contemptuously.

 

“You’re the one who couldn’t get out of my way,” he said. “I was _winning the duel_ in case you didn’t notice. So back up and move out of my way, or you’ll get another taste of what I can do. You’re the one who needlessly wasted power – I can keep beating you to the ground all day.”

 

“You son of a -“

 

“Careful about insulting my parentage, there’s a lot more mud in your blood than mine,” Midorima snapped back before Kise could finish.

 

It was a good thing Akashi managed to separate the two when he did, because Kise’s arm had already been ready to swing. If it came to a fight Kuroko was sure Midorima would have no problem cutting his teammate down in the most literal way.

 

“You’re in public,” Akashi said calmly, smiling at the two of them as though nothing had happened. “And people are watching. So put away your damn wands and act like the friends you’re supposed to be or you can _both_ see what _I_ can do and I promise nobody will enjoy it.”

 

His gold eye was gleaming with the promise of violence if they didn’t obey.

 

Midorima huffed, but both he and Kise tucked away their wands.

 

“Good boys,” Akashi said. “Let’s go. There’s nothing left to say about what happened here.”

 

The Miracles left the field to a hushed crowd. Kuroko looked back at the other team, still pulling themselves up from the ground trying to catch their bearings.

 

They looked devastated.

 

Kuroko watched with the detached interest of a scientist as their captain pulled himself to his feet and slowly helped the rest of his team stand.

 

Kuroko wondered how broken he was that this image didn’t hurt him anymore. He turned and followed his teammates out of the arena.

 

“I hate this, Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said loudly when they were in the changing rooms. “This is boring, and I don’t like how much of a waste of time it is.”

 

“Don’t you enjoy dueling?” Kuroko asked Murasakibara. The other boy turned to Kuroko, the brunt of his annoyance falling squarely on the small Hufflepuff.

 

“No,” he said flatly. “I don’t like it. This is stupid. We already know we’re the strongest one’s on the court. No one can beat us, no matter what they try.”

 

“Atsushi, if you want to quit just say so,” Akashi said dangerously, his tone sharp as he turned to face the taller boy. Kuroko was certain for a second that this Akashi would tear into Murasakibara with another display of power like the one he had delivered a few weeks earlier.

 

“I hate dueling,” Murasakibara whined. “It’s a sport that benefits those who are naturally powerful, and almost nobody is more powerful than me. All these weak players trying to challenge us are a waste of time. They should just quit.”

 

Akashi listened patiently to Murasakibara’s complaints, the substance of which boiled down to _just because I happen to be good at dueling doesn’t mean I should be forced to do it._

 

“Listen to me, all of you,” Akashi said quietly. “This is just a step. It is a short obstacle you will all clear with no trouble. In order to do anything on a larger scale, we must first prove our dominance and power here. I ask you all to patiently continue to fight. We will grow stronger, and show the world the true measure of our abilities.”

 

_Larger scale…_

 

Kuroko wondered what those words could possibly mean all the way back to Hogwarts. He was still puzzling through them when he returned to his dorm and while he brushed his teeth.

 

They remained in his head, bouncing around as he lay down to sleep.

 

_A larger scale…_

 

What was Akashi planning?

 

….

 

Kuroko’s confrontation with Murasakibara came not a day later. Murasakibara had been taunting Kise and the blonde Gryffindor was a half step away from bursting out into tears. Kuroko knew that Kise wouldn’t thank him for stepping in, but it rankled a sense of justice he had shoved somewhere deep under the stupor of his emotional control.

 

“Kise, go practice shields,” Kuroko said sharply, stepping in front of the blonde.

“Murasakibara, we need to talk.”

 

“Kuro-chin, this is stupid,” Midorima glared down at the significantly smaller boy. He would have had to bend almost entirely in half to face Kuroko face to face.

 

Kise stared wide-eyed at Kuroko. His mouth was set in a firm line, and an aura of tangible magic was surrounding him.

 

“Akashi are you going to do something about this?” Midorima asked Akashi.

 

Akashi shrugged and smiled at the Ravenclaw.

 

“No,” he said simply.

 

Midorima frowned as he turned towards the two fighting teammates. While he looked like he didn’t care, his hand was curled around his wand, ready to intervene if needed.

 

“Ki-chin is weak, and he should quit the team,” Murasakibara said sharply. “Dueling is a sport you’re either good at or you’re not, and Ki-chin doesn’t have the power to do well at it.”

 

Kuroko’s expression stayed flat and calm.

 

“So do you think I should quit too?” he asked. “Because I have one tenth of the power Kise does.”

 

“Kurokocchi!”

 

“You work so hard it’s exhausting just watching you,” Murasakibara said it like it was an insult, but Kuroko had never been ashamed of the hard work he’d put into studying, into becoming a better duelist, into any of the accomplishments he’d achieved during his short life. That was a compliment, as far as Kuroko was concerned. “You’re never going to be able to fight any of us on a level field one on one, so why do you even bother? You’ll never be the best.”

 

“That’s not the point,” Kuroko said flatly. “I can be better than I was yesterday, and that’s all I care about.”

 

He’d known for years that the idea of ever having the kind of power the Generation of Miracles regularly and casually threw around was a pipe dream. He would never be on their level in that regard, but he had something that was almost as good.

 

“People who are passionate about dueling can get better,” Kuroko continued. “Even strong duelists can be taken off guard by those who work with the right strategy.”

 

Murasakibara huffed contemptuously.

 

“Kuro-chin, you haven’t been passionate about a single thing in your life,” he said, turning away. “I’m bored with this argument. I’m leaving.”

 

As Kuroko watched him go he felt something in his composure break. It didn’t show on his face, but those words had cut pretty deep.

 

Still, better him than Kise, who would be cut even deeper by Murasakibara’s keen eye for his opponent’s greatest weakness.

 

After all, Kuroko had no intention of ever backing down.

 

The right motivation, a precise type of cruelty, might have sent Kise quitting the team. But after Kuroko had fought so hard to stand in this room, he wasn’t turning around and leaving it.

 

…

 

Their next round pitted them against a team that Kuroko already knew was powerful. They had slaughtered their competition with the same ease Hogwarts had. This was a matchup that should have challenged two disproportionately strong teams to the maximum extent of their abilities.

 

But before the round could get properly started, Akashi stepped forward. With a vicious smirk on his face, he slashed his wand downwards, drawing a single large rune in the air.

 

Kuroko didn’t recognize the spell, but when he glanced over at the team, he quickly realized what it was meant to do.

 

Their opponents were stumbling around as though they were drunk, arms pinwheeling as they fought for balance. They were blinking rapidly, as though there was something in front of their eyes they were trying to shake free.

 

It was an illusion. Akashi’s spell had gotten into their heads and caused them to think that the arena was moving wildly around them, altering their perception and vision.

 

He stunned them all with a single spell and turned to leave without so much as a glance backwards.

 

The round had lasted twenty seconds.

 

…

 

Before the next tournament, Akashi gathered their team in the practice room, his expression serious.

 

“The administration wants us to continue dueling on Hogwart’s behalf, and I know it’s tiresome to keep winning as we have been, so I am setting up a new set of goals for you to aim for.”

 

His team listened with rapt attention, the thought of Akashi’s former command still ringing in their heads.

 

_I am absolute. If I give you an order from now on, it had better be followed._

 

“At this tournament, whoever stuns the smallest number of people will be running extra drills until the next time we compete.”

 

“But, Aka-chin, what about Kuro-chin?” Murasakibara asked. “He doesn’t really take anyone out directly.”

 

“Tetsuya is obviously an exception,” Akashi said, glancing briefly at their phantom before moving on. “Are there any other questions?”

 

Kise looked excited at this chance to prove himself, but Aomine, Midorima, and Murasakibara just looked bored.

 

“Fine,” Midorima said, pushing up his glasses.

 

“Good,” Akashi said, smiling tightly. “Now let’s go, we don’t want to be late.”

 

Their next round was a complete bloodbath, though this time it was Aomine who took dominance of the court.

 

Kuroko watched him move and dodge with a speed and grace he had never seen before. When the beginning of the round was called, Aomine ran forward. He didn’t bother with his wand. He didn’t even bother pretending to gesture.

 

With a single jerk of his hand, the ground in front of his opponents rose up into the air. Aomine blasted it forward.

 

Most of them managed to shield, and returned fire. Aomine lept and dodged. When he came down from the air, he sent blue lighting ricocheting towards the opposing team.

 

He followed this up with two frigid blasts of ice, freezing any opponents who had managed to avoid the lightning.

 

Silence fell in the arena, the spectators too shocked to even clap.

 

One student had completely overcome six strong duelists at a national tournament.

 

Kuroko heard the whispers among them even from down in the arena.

 

_He’s a monster. He’s incredible. He’s terrifying._

 

It made him uneasy.

 

The last thing Aomine needed was to be further ostracized or lionized, but it seemed that by virtue of his own rapidly developing power, Aomine was doomed to remain alone on his pedestal.

 

Kuroko ran to catch up with Aomine to fist bump him for a round well fought. But Aomine kept moving, ignoring his shadow.

 

“I tried to listen to you, but there isn’t anyone worth fighting,” Aomine said, without looking at Kuroko. “That kind of team play just isn’t how we win. In fact, I don’t need you to cover me any more. My spells are more than strong enough to get where they have to be on their own without you. I don’t need you to magnify my strength.”

 

Aomine walked away from the offered fist, and Kuroko felt something in his heart shatter.

 

This wasn’t what he wanted.                        

 

This wasn’t the victory he’d tasted last year, wasn’t the kind of power he’d discovered among his cadre of Miracles. It was something bitter and sour, best left abandoned. And yet, his fellow students embraced this way of thinking as though it was for the best.

 

He could feel something ripping inside of him at the knowledge that he was being left behind. At the fact that he wasn’t strong enough to join them, that he was letting every single one of them down.

 

This was his fault.

 

Whatever was broken in his teammates, he could have stopped it. If he had been strong enough to stand up to them, to force them to see what they were doing, this never would have happened.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes tight against that realization, unable to escape the cold truth of it.

He watched Aomine walk away, and every step rang with finality.

 

This would be the last round of dueling that Kuroko would compete in with the Generation of Miracles. After this, he was going to stop dueling.

 

He couldn’t do this anymore.

 

That realization settled like cold lead in Kuroko’s stomach, even though he knew it was for the best.

 

Much later, Kuroko lay in bed, staring at the top of his canopy. He wondered how the other miracles would react when he resigned. Would they even notice?

 

That thought just made him feel empty all over again. Kuroko felt a spark of pain in his hands, but it was barely anything. It didn’t even really hurt, just like the loneliness and loss he was feeling weren’t terribly strong.

 

He felt like he should be crying. He felt like he should be having some kind of emotional response to the knowledge that his friends were borderline sociopaths and he was about to give up on the only friendships that had gotten him through the last year of his life.

 

But there was nothing.

 

Kuroko tried to muster anything. Fear. Hate. Resentment.

 

He wished he could feel some sense of loss at the fact that after everything he had sacrificed to stay on this team, he was turning his back on it.

 

He wanted so badly to be able to scream and rage and shout about the Miracles. He wanted to want to hit Aomine in his stupid, smug superior face, but he couldn’t even muster the emotion for that.

 

Why wasn’t he crying?

 

Kuroko only felt mild concern for the fact that after such a gut wrenching rejection, he couldn’t feel anything at all.

 

If this was the trade he had made for his misdirection, so be it. There was a price to be paid for any kind of magic, Kuroko knew that. Akashi’s spell had given him the focus and control necessary to be able to exert his will over his magic to the point where he was able to shift the shields around him without any help at all.

 

He closed his eyes, rolling over to try and get comfortable in the dark. He thought about everything he’d gained in the last two years, and everything he’d lost. He thought about the price he had needed to pay to get his misdirection back. He thought about all the pain that had followed him through his fifth year, and came to the conclusion he was still better off. Even as a broken freak, at least he could hide.

 

After all the pain he’d felt this semester, the sorrow, the loss, the rejection, feeling nothing at all actually seemed immensely preferable.

 

Kuroko thought his decision would hurt him more, but in the end it turned out that it was surprisingly easy to make.

 

He wasn’t going to compete with the Generation of Miracles any more. He couldn’t watch them hurt themselves, each other, and other teams like this.

 

It wasn’t like his presence was contributing a great deal to their ability to defeat other teenagers anyway. The Miracles would manage, and Kuroko would retreat into the shadows, where at least he wasn’t going to have to take responsibility for other students getting hurt.

 

…

  
  
  


 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heads up; When this arc is done, I will be taking a 2-3 week break from posting. As many of you know, I don't actually write 10k a week; most of this fic has been pre-written and edited. However, I find myself running short on backlog to keep posting, mostly because I have added some interim chapters between already completed ones, and I need some time to finish them.
> 
> As such, after chapter 19, you can expect to wait a bit. Don't worry - the sudden deviation from my rigorous updating does NOT mean this fic is being abandoned, it just means that your humble writer is binging energy drinks and bad chinese food in an effort to crank out more content. I'll make a post tonight on [my tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com), and you can feel free to send me questions there (or here too). At any rate, I'll post a reminder with chapter 19, and now I really need to get moving if I don't want to be late to court.
> 
> <3


	18. Make Kuroko Visible 2K16

…

 

Kuroko didn’t go to practice that next night.

 

Or the night after.

 

He didn’t go to their match on Wednesday, or the debrief of that match on Friday.

 

Slowly, a week passed.

 

Kuroko kept to himself, as silent and invisible as he’d ever been. He actively used his misdirection in any class that involved him and any other member of the Generation of Miracles. He took great care to arrive only just as the professor did and to leave before anyone could speak to him.

 

He didn’t want to talk to any of them.

 

He hadn’t seen what was staring him right in the face. He was the only person who could have stopped this, but he’d embraced the chance because he knew it would make him powerful.

 

He deserved this silence, after having failed so spectacularly.

 

Time seemed to be moving too slowly and too quickly all at once, slipping through his hands like water, and soon enough Kuroko hadn’t attended dueling practice in two weeks. He had yet to tender his official resignation to the club, but he’d cut the Generation of Miracles out of his life for now. He didn’t know if there would ever be a point when he would welcome them back into it, but at this point, they were all so wrapped up in themselves he was done with all of them.

 

Kuroko was determined not to compete with them ever again, not after the last few duels they had fought together. The team didn’t need him. Hell, most of them didn’t even need a team, let alone some runt of a broken shadow who could barely keep pace with them at the best of times. Kuroko was sure that all of them, from Kise to Akashi, could take on a six person team on their own without any support whatsoever, and they all knew it too.

 

Kuroko was content to retreat even farther into the shadows, where none of his former teammates sought him out.

 

Somehow, being on his own all of the time was still less lonely than having to watch the empty shells that looked like his friends go about their daily business like nothing was wrong. Kuroko didn’t know these people any more. They weren’t the friends that he had made during the tournament last year. Worse, Kuroko had no idea how to get those friends back.

 

That monday, during their Transfiguration block shortly after Easter, something very odd happened to break the quiet monotony of Kuroko’s life. There was another, older light that shone into the shadows Kuroko hid behind, and nobody was more surprised than the phantom himself when it happened.

 

Kuroko walked in and sat down at his usual spot in the back of the room, taking out his books and note taking materials. He was just settling in as a large group of students walked in.

 

Kuroko had all but tuned out Ogiwara’s presence. His former best friend hadn’t looked his way in months and hadn’t spoken to him in even longer. Kuroko no longer let himself dwell on what was going on in his old friend group, or all the things he was missing. Thanks to Akashi’s spell, he hadn’t had to dwell on the pain of that rejection since Christmas, something he was thankful for.

 

Kuroko had written the other boy out of his life in October, shortly after he and the rest of their house had started to shun Kuroko.

 

But that day, something changed.

 

Ogiwara broke away from the conversation he’d been having with Furihata and made his way over to Kuroko’s corner of the room.

 

For the first time in nearly a year, Ogiwara willingly sat next to Kuroko during their morning Transfiguration block.

 

The Ravenclaw girl that had been taking the desk to Kuroko’s right since the beginning of the semester went to sit where Ogiwara had previously been sitting. She did so without so much as a curious glance their way, which should have been the glaring hint that there was more than pure coincidence involved. Kuroko was too busy trying to process what was happening to question whether or not the Hufflepuff fifth year had arranged this beforehand.

 

Ogiwara didn’t say a word to him. Not while they dug their homework out of their bags, not while the professor droned on continuously about their coming exams, and not when they were tasked to wordlessly completing their first animal transfigurations.

 

Instead of using the spell the professor had outlined for them, Kuroko reached towards his mouse with his magic, examining the creature as he had his own shields. Imposing his own will and magic on this creature seemed like nothing compared to the lonely months Kuroko had spent imposing his will over his emotions and finally gaining control of his magic.

 

Kuroko accomplished his transfiguration in a blink of an eye, though it was Midorima several minutes later who received ten points to Ravenclaw for having managed to finish the process first.

 

That was fine by Kuroko.

 

Hell, it was pretty much the status quo since Kuroko had discovered the quirk of his magic that Akashi had shown him and helped him turn into a weapon. The less he was noticed, the better. From the shadows he could refine his magic and continue growing stronger on his own, now that he understood the nature of his own power.

 

Finally, the lesson ended, and they packed their bags up.

 

Before Kuroko could leave the immediate vicinity of his desk, a hand shot out to grab his wrist.

 

“Please don’t disappear again.”

 

The voice was quiet and rough. Kuroko turned to his longtime friend and housemate, the boy who had become all but a stranger to him over the last six months.

 

“I’m right here,” he said blankly. “I’ve been here this whole time.”

 

He’d said the words so many times. Often they were said on the border of exasperation and anger, sometimes in jest, and occasionally in fondness. But this time, they carried more weight than they ever had before.

 

Ogiwara blushed bright red and let go of Kuroko’s wrist.

 

“I don’t want us to be strangers like this,” he admitted quietly.

 

“I don’t like it either,” Kuroko said.

 

“Can we talk?” Ogiwara asked. “Please?”

 

Kuroko nodded, throwing his bag over his shoulder. They had one more class today – their Potions block – but this was infinitely more important.

 

“I know where we can go,” he suggested.

 

Neither of them noticed Midorima watching them leave with a hawkish expression. Nor did they see when the Ravenclaw threw his bag over his shoulders and left the classroom at a brisk pace.

 

This was a development he had not anticipated, and he doubted that Akashi would be pleased with it. Midorima thought to himself that he should have known better: today was a good day for Leos to cure misunderstandings, and Aquarius was well suited for forgiveness.

 

Kuroko and Ogiwara, oblivious to the plotting happening around them, walked out the front doors to the castle, down to the shore of the lake. The silence was stilted and awkward, neither knowing what to say to the other. They had grown so far apart, and the space between them was so immense it hardly brooked thinking about.

 

The iciness of their relationship was inversely proportional to the warmth it had once emitted. Neither knew what to do or how to behave now that apparently both of them wanted it to thaw.

 

When they finally reached the shore of the lake, Kuroko finally stopped. He took a seat at the edge, just above the line where the water was gently lapping at the shore. Ogiwara sat next to him, preserving just enough space that they wouldn’t accidentally be touching.

 

They sat there for a long time, watching the waves move gently against the shore, while Ogiwara struggled with what he wanted to say. Kuroko let him, not wanting to pressure the other boy or forcing him to speak. He was more than patient enough to wait until Ogiwara had the right words.

 

He was somewhat surprised then, at what came out of the other Hufflepuff’s mouth when he was finally ready to speak.

 

“Do you remember the day we met?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I didn’t even realize you lived in the same room as me at first,” Ogiwara said. “It was embarrassing as fuck, especially since the very first thing I did in front of you was blow up a desk.”

 

“Technically, the first thing you did was threaten the bodily safety of Midorima, and _then_ you blew up a desk while you were trying to prove that you could make a feather float just as easily as he could,” Kuroko said flatly. “It was funny.”

 

“Yeah,” Ogiwara blushed, running a hand through his hair. “Man, that was so uncool.”

 

“I disagree,” Kuroko replied. “I thought it was very cool.”

 

“Only because you wanted to use my destructive power to blow up a school toilet.”

 

“That is a lie. You’re the one that wanted to use my invisibility to prank a girls’ restroom.”

 

“Nah, I’m pretty sure this was all your fault,” Ogiwara said.

 

“You are wrong.”

 

Ogiwara laughed outright. It was a sound Kuroko hadn’t heard in a long time, and one he had dearly missed.

 

“Man, we were regular terrors, huh?” Ogiwara asked. “Your invisibility and my tendency to blow things up instead of cast spells… we were a great team.”

 

“We were.”

 

Kuroko remembered how, as tiny first years, Ogiwara had somehow navigated the castle under the throes of a high fever because he realized the healer had forgotten about Kuroko. He remembered the shock of having someone who could  _see_ him, who actually  _wanted_ to see him. Ogiwara had always been a good friend, no matter what was going on around them. 

 

They sat there like that for some time before Kuroko spoke again.

 

“I am sorry,” he said, bowing his head towards the water. “I am the one that forgot myself and my friends once I had the slightest taste of power. I was selfish.”

 

Ogiwara gaped at him.

 

“How on earth are _you_ sorry?” he demanded. “I’m the one that decided that I couldn’t handle my friend suddenly being _cool,_ and _popular,_ and having other people in his life. I was jealous, and petty, and angry-“

 

“I did not make time for the people in my life who are most important to me,” Kuroko cut in.

 

“ _I_ let everything people were saying get to my head: that you’d only been pretending to be weak to be my friend, that I was pathetic by comparison, and-“

 

_Everything people were saying?_

 

Kuroko wasn’t aware that there even _had_ been rumors going around related to him at all, outside of the general sentiment that someone as weak as him should never have been elevated to the level of the Generation of Miracles. Despite the general decrease in his misdirection, he was rarely ever talked about.

 

“What?”

 

Ogiwara had tears streaming down his face.

 

“Your friends are giant dicks,” he said finally. The words felt bitter in Kuroko’s ears, mostly because he knew how true they were. He had some idea what they might have said to Ogiwara.  After watching what they’d done to Kiyoshi, to Takao, and to so many others, he was almost afraid to ask.

 

On the other hand, he had to know. This was his fault, his responsibility.

 

“The Generation of Miracles?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“What did they do?”

 

Ogiwara’s face flushed.

 

“I shouldn’t have said anything. It wasn’t them. At least I don’t think so. There were lots of rumors about them, but…”

 

But clearly there was something there because Ogiwara’s shoulders rose to meet his ears and his body hunched in on itself, as though he was protecting himself.

 

“Shige – _what did they do?”_

 

Ogiwara didn’t say anything for a long time.

 

“They took you from me,” he said, his voice sounding dead and lost. It was so unnatural to hear Kuroko’s general tone of voice these days coming from his once best friend.

 

“If I had stopped you from joining that stupid tournament, they would have left you alone.”

 

“I do not think that is correct,” Kuroko said slowly. “Once Akashi knew what my magic could do, he was never going to stop until he dissected it entirely to find out what made it tick and how he could turn it to his advantage for as long as it was still to his advantage to use it.”

 

Ogiwara grimaced.

 

“I know you’re still friends with them-”

 

“I’m not,” Kuroko cut in shortly. “I have stopped competing with them.”

 

Ogiwara gaped.

 

“But you’re _incredible_!”

 

“I was _holding them back.”_

 

“That’s bullshit!”

 

Something broke in Kuroko then.

 

Ogiwara’s immediate gut reaction to defend Kuroko even after everything that had happened between them was genuinely heartwarming. He hadn’t _felt_ anything this strongly in so long that he almost didn’t recognize the wave of gratitude and affection that rose up in him like a tidal wave.

 

It was accompanied by a wave of pain that Kuroko shoved aside because right now he  _wanted_ this, wanted to be able to feel the warmth of this feeling.

 

He smiled, eyes shining overly bright with tears that hadn’t come to him in a long time. They didn’t fall, and the smile was small, but it was a lot for Kuroko.

 

It was the most emotion he’d shown, had felt, in _months_. It had been a long time since Akashi’s spell had felt the need to assert its existence again, but Kuroko didn’t even care. This joy was like a warm sun on a freezing winter day, and it was worth the chance that his misdirection might fray to be able to feel this again.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said. It took him several seconds to collect himself enough to continue speaking. “But he was right. All of them have surpassed the need for my misdirection when they have the power to take what they want without having to fight for it at all.”

 

“Yeah well, I was stupid enough to give up our friendship once, but I thought that Akashi and the rest were smarter than that.”

 

Kuroko didn’t even know how to respond to that.

 

“So how have you been?” Ogiwara asked. “If you’re not dueling anymore?”

 

“It has been… quiet,” Kuroko said at last. Quiet was the only word he could think of that didn’t sound ridiculously self-pitying.

 

“I have heard that the Quidditch team is performing well,” Kuroko continued, desperate to shift the attention away from himself.

 

Ogiwara let out of a huff, aware of what Kuroko was doing, but unwilling to call him out on it just yet. Instead he grinned, and launched into an in depth tale of how Hufflepuff had performed at their last game against Ravenclaw.

 

Kuroko smiled contentedly.

 

Class was difficult. Dealing with the collective mental breakdown of the Generation of Miracles was difficult. Keeping himself sane in the process was difficult. Getting through every silent, lonely night since the Generation of Miracles had started breaking apart had been difficult - but this? This was easy.

 

Being Ogiwara Shigehiro’s best friend wasn’t difficult at all. If there was anything Kuroko would say he was truly, exceptionally good at, it was this. This above and before anything else in the entire world.

 

Their friendship had always been that way – natural and easy in a way no other friendships Kuroko had managed to cultivate were, even with the rest of their dorm mates. They’d needed to suffer through a freaking plaque together to finally start speaking to each other.

 

Hell, it had taken over a year for Kuroko to truly warm up to his teammates, and even then there had always been a divide between them. After all, Kuroko wasn’t one of them. He didn’t _really_ understand the struggles they faced as they fought against their own power. That had become clearer and clearer with every passing day he spent with them.

 

But with Ogiwara, they had always been able to understand each other. It had been like that ever since the first day they had met and become friends. They had stepped in time, a light and the shadow cast behind it, always together.

 

And whatever else had gotten in the way of this friendship, Kuroko promised himself that he would fight for it as hard as he could. He wasn’t giving up on his friendship with Ogiwara this time. He’d come to realize that it was the most precious thing he would ever have, and he didn’t want to let it go, not for fame or power or even the Generation of Miracles.

 

_Especially_ not them.

 

…

 

When he and Ogiwara returned to the castle, twin smiles on their faces, they had missed all of Potions and the sun had already set, leaving them in the dark as they hiked back up the hill towards the castle. While winter had most definitely receded, it wasn’t exactly warm, and both boys were shivering by the time they made it to the Entrance Hall.

 

“Dude, I’m starving, I hope they’ve still got the good pudding out.”

 

_Some things never change, no matter how much time passes,_ Kuroko thought fondly. He didn’t realize he was smiling until he registered that they’d been standing still for longer than necessary.

 

“What is it?” he asked. Ogiwara shook his head, blushing.

 

“You never smile like that anymore,” he said. “I should have known better – you’ve been even more miserable the last few months than I’ve been.”

 

Kuroko shook his head with a denial on his lips but Ogiwara cut him off.

 

“You’re my best friend, I should have realized you had nothing to do with what they were doing on the court. I know you better than that, and I feel like a massive tool.”

 

“It wasn’t your fault.”

 

Ogiwara’s expression twisted. He didn’t say anything else, but Kuroko knew he wanted to loudly disagree.

 

“We should go eat,” Kuroko said.

 

Ogiwara heartily agreed, and for the first time in over five months, they walked into the Great Hall together. They even sat down in the same place they’d been sitting for four years before their friendship had deteriorated.

 

“Hey, Ogiwara, you lost us twenty points for not showing up to class, what-”

 

Kawahara clamored up off the bench to wave his arms angrily at Ogiwara, but stopped when he saw Kuroko standing in front of the other boy.

 

“Yeah?” Ogiwara asked, shoving half a roll into his mouth in one go as he sat down. “That’s terrible. Takeuchi must have been so upset. Ask me if I care.”

 

Kawahara looked between them again, before obviously deciding not to ask about what had happened.

 

“You’re such an asshole,” he said instead. “Did you have a lame as fuck friend reunion while we were losing every chance at winning the House Cup, you-”

 

“Oh shut up, Kawahara,” Furihata advised. “Don’t lash out at Ogiwara just because you have feelings.”

 

“He-”

 

“You can just say ‘Kuroko, I’m glad your brain started working again and you realized you were hanging out with a bunch of assholes’ and we can go back to being friends now,” Furihata said, clearly unwilling to deal with any more bullshit over the dinner table.

 

Kawahara chewed angrily, but didn’t contradict the other boy.

 

“I am sorry,” Kuroko said. “I owe each of you an apology for how I acted all of this year. I behaved reprehensively, and I hope that you will allow me to make it up to you.”

 

Kawahara huffed, but his demeanor thawed considerably.

 

“Yeah well, it hasn’t been the same without you,” he allowed. “I don’t like what our dorm has been like these last few months.”

 

“If that room got any quieter it would be a graveyard,” Sakurai said cheerfully. “I saved you the last of the vanilla pudding, Kuroko.”

 

_Oh Merlin._

 

Kuroko managed to avoid crying in the middle of the Great Hall, but it was a very near thing. The spell that Akashi had cast on him was flaring up, reminding Kuroko not to display the emotions he was feeling so strongly now.

 

Kuroko had never found himself resenting it quite as strongly as he did right now, and resolved to, in the first free moment he had, find a way to get the redhead to remove it. He hadn’t needed to think much about it since he’d gotten his misdirection back, but he was fairly certain it was now completely unnecessary.

 

How on Earth had he given up _this_ just to try and win at fucking dueling? _This_ was what was important. _This_ is what he should have been holding onto since the beginning.

 

The five of them were together again. The conversation was stilted and slightly off, stopping and starting awkwardly here and there but it was clear that nothing had fundamentally changed about them. They were still friends, even if it was going to take some work to get back to where they had been.

 

Kuroko was so engrossed in this that he didn’t notice the sharp look Akashi was sending at the Hufflepuff table.

 

Sakurai did not.

 

He also didn’t miss the meaningful looks that passed across the hall, when Akashi made eye contact with Aomine, at the Gryffindor table, or Midorima at the Ravenclaw one.

 

A pang of fear lanced through Sakurai’s heart. They were surrounded by powerful enemies, enemies that wanted to stand between them and the friendship they had only just begun to repair.

 

Sakurai might have been a muggleborn nobody with no family name, no title, and no miraculous gift of control over magic. But he’d learned strategy at the side of Imayoshi Shouichi, one of the most diabolical human beings to ever walk the earth, and he wasn’t giving up on his friends without a fight.

 

His left hand rested on his wand, and when Akashi’s eyes slid from Kuroko’s back to Sakurai’s face, Sakurai glared back.

 

Hufflepuffs didn’t give up on their friends. If Sakurai had to teach the most powerful student in the school that lesson, he would, no matter how much he got beat up in the process.

 

The Miracles might have been able to intimidate them before, but now there was no way that all of the male fifth year Hufflepuffs would be bullied into giving up their friendship with Kuroko.

 

They were never going to let that happen again. They had learned from their mistakes, and they were going to stick together, no matter what they had to do to make that happen.

 

Sakurai resolved to make sure of it.

 

…

 

Once they returned to their dorm, Ogiwara immediately turned around, gesturing for Kuroko to take a seat on his bed. The rest of their housemates were urged to sit in a circle, all facing each other.

 

“Kuroko listen, we need to talk,” Ogiwara said. “All of us. I think we need to lay everything we know out on the table. Because I have the feeling that all of us think things that aren’t exactly right, and we need to clear the air now. And I mean really clear the air, because if we don’t, then that’s going to be one more weakness they can latch onto.”

 

By _they_ , Kuroko knew Ogiwara meant the Generation of Miracles. He wanted to object to that, but right now he was having a hard time defending any of them.

 

“Can you tell me why you started ignoring me?” Kuroko asked instead. His voice didn’t reflect any of the desperation and loss he’d felt at the time. Kuroko was pretty sure he would never feel anything as deeply as he had felt that pain. It had taken months of physically painful conditioning just to stop dwelling on the topic all the time, and even now thinking about it made his heart ache.

 

Ogiwara blushed and looked down. None of the Hufflepuffs would look Kuroko in the eye.

 

“Uh, yeah, that’s actually item number one,” Ogiwara said. “Look, why don’t we tell you our side first, and then you tell us yours.”

 

Kuroko agreed to this softly. Ogiwara settled back and took a deep breath.

 

“So sometime in the beginning of the year, Haizaki cornered all of us upstairs in the library, in that study room nobody ever uses anymore,” Ogiwara said.

 

“It was around the same time as when you kept popping up with bruises everywhere and were always running off to spend time with with the Miracles.”

 

Kuroko shifted uncomfortably.

 

“Haizaki threatened us,” Sakurai continued. “It was really scary. He cursed Kawahara pretty badly, and then told us if we kept hanging out with you he was gonna hurt the rest of us too.”

 

Kuroko listened to this with a blank face. Kawahara’s hostility during dinner made a lot more sense now.

 

“Haizaki told us if he saw us talking to you, he’d get the Generation of Miracles to come rough us up,” Fukuda added. “He was pretty convincing about it.”

 

“So you started ignoring me because of Haizaki?”

 

“We ignored the most important part of being a Hufflepuff,” Sakurai said sadly. “We’re supposed to stick together no matter what, and we left you out to dry.”

 

“And like the next week the Miracles got this big name on roughing up their opponents,” Kawahara put in. 

 

“Yeah, that whole fight against Kiyoshi and all of them wasn’t cool,” Furihata said. “Everything Murasakibara said to Kiyoshi was totally uncalled for. Tsuchida was _crying_ afterwards. Hell, we all saw Tsugawa and Takao crying after that duel too, and half the school heard what Midorima had to say to Takao. It was pretty rude.”

 

“I thought Tsuchida was crying because Koganei’s cat bit him?”

 

“I’m pretty sure he was crying before.”

 

“Even Mitobe was upset and he’s _never_ upset,” Furihata finally said, cutting through Fukuda and Sakurai’s bickering.

 

“I agree,” Kuroko said quietly. “It wasn’t acceptable. I told Akashi, but he didn’t listen. I tried talking to all of them, but - it didn't work."

 

He’d tried so fucking hard to get any one of them to listen to him.

 

“They’ve been pretty awful,” Kuroko said, unable to find the words to describe watching his friends lose themselves in the strength of their own powers.

 

“That’s an understatement,” Fukuda said.

 

“So Haizaki threatened you, and then the way the Miracles acted afterward made you sure he would make good on his threat of having them attack you if you were to associate with me in any way,” Kuroko summed up clinically.

 

Ogiwara winced.

 

“Yeah, pretty much.”

 

“Why didn’t you go to a professor?” Kuroko asked. “Or talk to the Headmaster? Threatening people is definitely against school rules.”

 

A very awkward silence followed this question.

 

“Why didn’t you come and tell _me?_ ”

 

All of the Hufflepuffs seemed to be looking anywhere but Kuroko, hoping someone else would answer the question for them. Kuroko waited them out – he was pretty sure he was a lot more patient than any one of them. He had to be, what with most people taking a ridiculously long time to even notice his presence.

 

It was Kawahara who broke first.

 

“We didn’t think you wanted us to.”

 

Kuroko tilted his head to the side in genuine confusion.

 

“You didn’t tell anyone about Haizaki beating you up – which by the way, don’t think we’re not having a fight about later, because we pieced that bit together a while ago,” Ogiwara said. “You didn’t complain about the way the Miracles were behaving and from the rumors about your team, we were pretty sure that you cared a lot more about fitting in with them than talking to us. You kept competing with them even after all the awful things they were saying and doing to everyone, so we thought you either didn’t care or agreed with them outright.”

 

Well.

 

Kuroko supposed he deserved that, but that didn’t mean it didn’t hurt.

 

“And after that you were always hanging out with them all the time. We figured you were cool with what they were doing or just didn’t care, but we didn’t really want to find out either way so we kept it going,” Fukuda said blunty.

 

“It wasn’t that,” Kuroko said. He knew he owed them an explanation for why he had clung to the miracles, even after he had learned what they were willing to do to other students. He just wasn’t sure how to do it.

 

“My misdirection broke,” Kuroko started softly.

 

“What do you mean?” Ogiwara demanded.

 

“Everyone could see me,” Kuroko admitted. “I think – after the tournament, everyone knew who I was, and even my misdirection couldn’t combat that. It only worked when I didn’t interact with most of the school on a regular basis. So it started breaking down.”

 

Here he paused, unable to met any of them in the eyes until he had finished talking.

 

“I stopped being useful to the Miracles, and I tried so hard to get it back,” Kuroko said. “Akashi suggested that if I were less… visibly emotional, he said, I wouldn’t attract as much attention and it might help repair my misdirection.”

 

Understanding lit in Ogiwara’s eyes. Kuroko knew he didn’t need to explain to the other boy what had happened. Ogiwara had already figured out that Kuroko’s even blanker expression had been brought on at Akashi’s request.

 

“I believed that the only way I could get my misdirection back was by clinging to my teammates as best I could. I ignored the fact that it wasn’t getting better no matter what I tried and kept fighting to be able to duel with them, no matter how much higher the cost kept rising. I thought maybe if I repaired it and could fully compete with them again, they would listen to me.”

 

Kuroko didn’t have it in him to see the horror in his housemates’ faces if he told them the truth. He couldn’t bear to see that terrible mixture of horror and pity in their eyes the same way he had seen it in Takao’s.

 

He never wanted anyone to look at him like that again, like he was something very precious and breakable that had just shattered.

 

He thought about how Akashi had characterized Aomine, towards the end. Broken, but _usable_.

 

He wondered if the Slytherin thought the same thing about him.

 

Either way, he didn’t want to spell out the details for his roommates. He cut to the chase.

 

“It didn’t work,” Kuroko said instead. “So I decided to try and find my own way of fixing it. That was… simpler than trying to fix them. I saw what was happening and I hated it, but I couldn’t control them. I couldn’t even _duel_ with them after a while. And when I finally got my misdirection back… they’d changed too much.”

 

“So we’re all idiots who assumed that everyone else was ignoring them on purpose when really all we needed to do was powow like six months ago and find a way to deal with Haizaki,” Ogiwara summed up. "Holy shit, we're stupid."

 

“Yeah,” Furihata agreed.

 

“Man, I misjudged you,” Kawahara said, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. “I’m sorry, Kuroko.”

 

“I didn’t exactly give you any reason to think better of me,” Kuroko replied.

 

“Alright, are we done blaming ourselves or does anyone else want a turn?” Ogiwara asked, looking around the room. Kuroko was almost certain he was being sarcastic.

 

“Sakurai?”

 

“Sorry!” Sakurai yelled, turning bright pink.

 

“Great contribution, thanks,” Ogiwara muttered.

 

“Sorry for not contributing!”

 

Ogiwara heaved a long breath.

 

“It’s okay,” he said. “So we’re all good? Anyone have anything else to bring up?”

 

“Sorry, but before we finish, what are we doing do about the Miracles and Haizaki?”

 

Sakura looked a little uncertain at bringing up this topic, but the set of his jaw was determined.

 

“Do we need to do anything about them?” Furihata asked nervously.

 

“We could just leave them alone and hope they don’t bother us,” Fukuda added hopefully.

 

“We can’t,” Sakurai said. “Akashi saw that we’re talking to Kuroko again, and he didn’t look happy about it. All of you have seen what he can do to his competition in a fight, what do you think he’ll do to us?”

 

“Why should he care?” Kuroko asked quietly. “He shouldn’t care who I spend my time with. I’m no longer his teammate and even if I was, they don’t need me. Even with my misdirection working, they’re strong enough that all I do is hold them back.”

 

“You didn’t see the look on his face,” Sakurai insisted.

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

Four Hufflepuffs stared in shock at Kuroko.

 

“Are you serious?” Ogiwara asked. “Is this for real?”

 

“Nobody’s that unobservant,” Fukuda said. “Come on, you know what we mean.”

 

Kuroko stared blankly at all of them.

 

Ogiwara huffed out a frustrated breath.

 

“Tetsu, you’re pretty bad with people.”

 

“I get that a lot."

 

Ogiwara chuckled despite himself.

 

“I think Sakurai is right,” he said. “We do need to have a plan to deal with the fallout here. Haizaki threatened us and we don’t know where that threat was really coming from or what will happen now that we’ve put a wrench in that plan. I vote we stick together, use the buddy system, and record and report anything even vaguely suspicious that happens.”

 

“That seems unnecessary,” Kuroko said.

 

“It goes double for you, Tetsu,” Ogiwara replied.

 

"Shige-"

 

"Haizaki is a threat; we know that for certain," Ogiwara argued. "Even if we're wrong and the Generation of Assholes isn't up to anything, we need to be on our guard against him. We should think of ways we can get him caught in the act, but for now we should make it as hard as possible for any of us to be caught alone by him. That means sticking together and that means using a goddamn buddy system even if I have to permanently stick you to me, got it?"

 

Kuroko knew better than to argue with his hard-headed friend, so he decided not to say anything else.

 

“We’re not going to let anything happen, okay?” Ogiwara said. He wasn’t only looking at Kuroko either now, making eye contact with the rest of their housemates. “We’re gonna stay together, because that’s what we Hufflepuff’s do best.”

 

“Hear hear!” Fukuda said.

 

“Well said,” Furihata grinned.

 

“Thank god one of us has some sense,” Kawahara said.

 

“You said it just right,” Sakurai agreed.

 

Kuroko just smiled.

 

After so long tiptoeing around this very room, it was nice to have it feel like a home again.

 

With their relationship thawed from its icy chill, the Hufflepuffs were at last back to normal. Kuroko dared to have the optimism to believe that this would be the end of the drama they saw this year.

 

…

 

Everything changed, and nothing did.

 

Kuroko thought he’d been lonely. He had severely underestimated the extent to which that was the case.

 

Even when he’d been hanging out with the Generation of Miracles on a regular basis before Christmas, they had been slowly drawing away from him. He wasn’t on the same level of power as they were and soon he was almost as beneath their notice as anyone else.

 

Just like anything else they didn’t need, the Miracles had discarded him.

 

Kuroko had continued to compete with them, but at the end of the day, they hadn’t really been a team anymore, and nobody had been having any fun.

 

Spending time with the Hufflepuffs was fun in a way Kuroko couldn’t remember experiencing for some time.

 

The day after Kuroko and the Hufflepuffs made up, Kuroko went to Kiyoshi.

 

The other boy was studying with some of the other sixth years. It took a few tries to get his attention, but Kuroko finally managed it.

 

“Ah, look who it is!” Kiyoshi smiled broadly. “Our own Phantom. How can I help you?”

 

“I need your help,” Kuroko said shortly.

 

“Of course,” Kiyoshi said at once.

 

“Can we walk in private?”

 

Kiyoshi agreed, and the two of them retired to the far corner of the common room.

 

“I need you to get rid of a spell someone cast on me,” Kuroko said shortly.

 

“Why not just ask a professor?” Kiyoshi asked.

 

“I can’t,” Kuroko said after a moment. He didn’t know how he was going to explain what he needed if Kiyoshi kept pressing, but the other boy shrugged.

 

“Sure, I’ll see what I can do,” he said. “Let me take a look.”

 

Kiyoshi waved his wand at Kuroko, and Kuroko watched with interest as a series of runes rose out of his body, glowing a soft white as Kiyoshi looked through them.

 

“Ah now, here we are, I assume this is what you meant,” Kiyoshi said, frowning. “That’s quite a curse. Actually, this is borderline Dark, who did this to you? It’s been here a while, and it’s rooted _deep._ ”

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything. No matter how he responded, Kiyoshi was bound to see right through it, so he chose silence over any incriminating statement he could have made.

 

“I... see,” Kiyoshi said after a moment. “This is… I don’t think I can safely get rid of the spell, but I can block it off. You need to promise me that as soon as you can, you’ll see a qualified cursebreaker or healer about this – this spell is serious. This isn’t about protecting your pride, you could do serious danger to yourself by ignoring it, and what I can do isn’t going to fix that.”

 

“If you can block it off, please do what you can,” Kuroko requested politely, choosing to deliberately ignore the boy’s other statements for now.

 

Kiyoshi glared down at the runes for several minutes. Kuroko held as still as he could, feeling the other boy’s powerful magic taking root around him.

 

It couldn’t have been more than fifteen minutes before the older boy was done.

 

“There, can you tell whether or not it worked?” Kiyoshi said.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how to deliberately force himself to feel anything. It had been a long time since he’d managed a normal emotional reaction to anything; he wasn’t sure he could still do it, especially not on command.

 

But then he saw the rest of the Hufflepuff fifth years walk into the common room together. Ogiwara immediately made a beeline for where Kuroko was standing with Kiyoshi and Kuroko felt something. It was a pale shade of the powerful emotion he had felt upon realizing as a first year at Hogwarts that Ogiwara had no trouble seeing or finding him when he was really looking. But it was still emotion, and Kuroko could feel it without any pain coming from his arms.

 

“It worked,” he told Kiyoshi gratefully. “Thank you for taking the time to help me.”

 

“Anytime,” Kiyoshi said with a broad smile, the shadow of worry lifting from his eyes. “I’ll see you later, Kuroko!”

 

Kiyoshi jogged back to the table on the other side of the room to rejoin his study mates.

 

“Good luck!” Kiyoshi called brightly.

 

“What was that about?” Ogiwara asked, coming up to Kuroko.

 

“He helped me with a spell,” Kuroko said evasively. He knew that there would come a time when he had to come completely clean with Ogiwara about how far he had gone in his desperation to get his misdirection back. But that day didn’t have to be today, and that moment didn’t need to be now.

 

They would have plenty of time for Kuroko to explain to his best friend what had happened to him, and Kuroko was more than willing to put it off.

 

At any rate, there were more important, pressing issues.

 

“Breakfast?”

 

Ogiwara grinned.

 

“Now see that’s what I’m talking about!”

 

…

 

Kuroko had forgotten what studying in the Hufflepuff common room was like.

 

With exam season ready to crash down on the fifth and seventh years like a ton of bricks in the form of standardized tests, it was more important than ever to keep on task. The fifth years surrounded one half of the table by the fire, surrounded by stacks of books, loose notes, and carefully bound assignments.

 

They sat in a loose circle, drilling each other on each subject, with one student in the round taking responsibility for writing the quiz sections for each class.

 

Every study aid they had made in the last six months were laid out on top of the mess of papers. Every once in awhile an elf would pop by with a new pot of coffee, which sat in the position of honor at one end of the table.

 

Mitobe wandered by usually a few hours after lunch in those lagging hours when it seemed like nothing could keep them awake, and distributed lemon bars, or brownies, or some other form of baked good. Koganei was usually with him, smiling broadly. Kuroko could see the bags under his eyes, but the Gryffindor seemed perfectly content to be spending time with his Hufflepuff boyfriend, no matter what the hour.

 

Kiyoshi had stopped by both sides of the table to offer his encouragement to the students facing their standardized tests. Like the rest of the sixth year students, he was facing tough exams, but nothing like the level of pressure associated with N.E.W.T.s and O.W.L.s.

 

“You’re all so tense,” Kiyoshi observed to them one weekend afternoon, leaning over the back of Fukuda’s chair. “Just relax and have some fun studying! This stuff is really cool once you can get to the higher levels and really start getting into the advanced magic. You have to master this first, no matter how much it sucks.”

 

Kawahara groaned from where his face was buried in his arms.

 

“We’re gonna die,” he muttered.

 

“That’s the spirit,” Fukuda said, looking through his notes, obviously not really having heard what Kawahara had said.

 

“Ah, Furihata, the Head Boy wanted me to let you know that they changed the time of the Prefects meeting, and they’re going to start in about half an hour, just so you know,” Kiyoshi said. “I’m just putting my bag away before I head over. Anyway, good luck, all of you!”

 

The tall sixth year walked past, still smiling. Furihata rolled his eyes.

 

“What if I didn’t go?” he asked.

 

“It is your job as our representative and the senpai to all the younger kids,” Ogiwara said sternly. “You’re supposed to be responsible.”

 

Sakurai laughed into his own notebook.

 

“Sorry,” he said, “but you saying that is kind of hilarious.”

 

“Wanna fight about it?” Ogiwara demanded.

 

“Sorry!” Sakurai yelled, holding his book up as a shield.

 

“Guys,” Furihata said wearily, not really expecting his admonitions to do anything. “I’m going to start heading up to that Prefects meeting, try not to burn the common room down while I’m gone.”

 

“No promises,” Fukuda said bluntly.

 

“Perfect,” Furihata muttered. “How about you lot just try not to spill anything on my stuff, okay?”

 

He pushed back his chair, ready to get up.

 

“I’ll come with you,” Ogiwara said, standing at the same time. “We’ve got to stick together, remember?”

 

“I’m literally just going to a prefect meeting, it’s not like anyone would be stupid enough to try and attack me there,” Furihata said, but he looked a little more comfortable at the idea of leaving the common room with Ogiwara by his side.

 

“Hey, that doesn’t mean something won’t happen,” Ogiwara said. “I’ll bring a textbook and read outside, that way it’s not a big deal, now come on.”

 

Furihata shrugged and followed Ogiwara out of the common room, waving goodbye to the rest of the Hufflepuffs.

 

“Ten bucks says it ends in disaster,” Kawahara said.

 

“I’m not taking that bet,” Fukuda replied. “I once saw Ogiwara melt a cauldron.”

 

“In fairness he hasn’t done that since last year,” Kuroko put in.

 

“Yeah, but he did set fire to a couch over break,” Fukuda replied.

 

“That sounds right,” Kuroko said.

 

“Anyway, summoning charms,” Sakurai said loudly to catch all of their attentions, “to review, the theory behind the charm…”

 

…

 

Three hours later, Furihata left the prefects meeting, tapping Ogiwara on the shoulder. The other Hufflepuff had spread his study guides out across the floor in front of him and was studying diligently.

 

“You done?” Ogiwara asked.

 

“Yeah, come on,” Furihata said. “Thanks for hanging out and waiting for me.”

 

“No problem man,” Ogiwara said, stretching before he started gathering his effects together and getting ready to leave.

 

“Let’s get back to the common room and get some sleep,” Furihata mumbled.

 

“Right behind you,” Ogiwara replied.

 

The two of them wandered back down the hallway.

 

“Good meeting?” Ogiwara asked.

 

“Yeah, we figured out the schedule for supervising move out after the semester is over,” Furihata said. “Aside from the last meeting this is pretty much it.”

 

“That’s good though,” Ogiwara said sleepily.

 

“Yeah, we’re almost done with the year,” Furihata said.

 

One minute the two boys were talking sleepily.

 

The next, a beam of sickly yellow light came shooting out from around the corner. It hit Ogiwara square in the chest. Mid sentence, the boy crumbled to the floor.

 

Ogiwara slumped against the wall, not moving.

 

“Wow, that was really effective!”

 

Furihata flinched at Haizaki’s voice as it came echoing down the hall. He drew his wand in a quick jerky motion.

 

Haizaki laughed at the younger boy.

 

“You think you’re gonna fight me right now?”

 

“Y-yeah,” Furihata stammered. “I’ll-I’ll fight you if I have to.”

 

“That’s hilarious,” Haizaki replied with a slow smirk.

 

“G-Get out of here, Haizaki,” Furihata said, his voice shaking and his eyes wide. His aim was probably a mile wide but with Ogiwara out cold against the wall he was ready to do whatever he needed to in order to defend them both.

 

“Yeah right, you gonna make me?”

 

Furihata trembled. Haizaki’s grin grew even bigger as he raised his wand to curse the other boy.

 

Haizaki never got the chance.

 

A bright red spell blasted straight passed the other boy, leaving a scorch mark on the wall behind the Gryffindor.

 

“Sorry!” Sakurai called. “The next one really will hit you though!”

 

Haizaki whirled around, and found himself looking down three wands belonging to yellow and black clad students. The fifth year Hufflepuffs stood in a single, united line.

 

“Oh, Merlin, thank you,” Furihata said.

 

“We thought you guys were taking a bit too much time to get back,” Kawahara called over to the other Hufflepuff.

 

“So what, there’s a bunch of miniature losers too,” Haizaki sneered at Kawahara, who flinched back.

 

“Leave us alone,” Fukuda snapped, the scowl on his face truly frightening as he stepped forward.

 

“Sorry, but what’s your freaking problem?” Sakurai added.

 

“What, you think any of you can beat me?” Haizaki snorted. “I’ll take all five of you on together, none of you will stand a chance.”

 

“Six.”

 

“You’re going – what?”

 

“Six of us,” Kuroko said from behind Haizaki, forcing him to whirl around in another ridiculous whirlwind, putting his back to three students with drawn wands as Haizaki looked back at

Furihata. Beside the shaking Hufflepuff, the blue haired invisible boy was glaring at Haizaki. His wand wasn’t drawn, but the look in his eyes could have melted steel.

 

Haizaki’s face turned white.

 

“Where the hell did you come from?” he demanded.

 

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Kuroko said, his voice sharp. “I suggest you leave. Now.”

 

Haizaki took another look around, but Kuroko could see in the expression on his face that his decision was already made.

 

“Fine, I didn’t want to waste my time with you pathetic babies anyway,” he scowled, shoving his hands (and wand) back into the pockets of his robes. “Get out of my way losers.”

 

Hilariously, the Gryffindor turned sharply, preferring to shoulder his way between Kawahara and Sakurai than to walk by Kuroko.

 

Maybe that was just the fastest way to get to wherever he was going.

 

Kuroko didn’t spare too much thought for it, because a minute later he was running towardsOgiwara, kneeling down beside the other boy.

 

“You alright?” Kuroko asked.

 

Ogiwara sat up, nodded, and promptly threw up a mass of wriggling slugs.

 

Kuroko managed to avoid getting hit with the slime, but it was a close thing.

 

“Oh, gross,” Furihata said, making a face.

 

“That’s disgusting,” Sakurai said, and then blushed. “I’m sorry, Ogiwara!”

 

Ogiwara waved his hand as he let loose another wave of slugs.

 

“Hospital wing,” Fukuda said immediately. “We need some help to make this stop, or it’s gonna be a rough night.”

 

Ogiwara nodded, clutching his stomach.

 

It seemed like he didn’t trust himself to open his mouth without puking another round of slugs.

 

“Let’s get him up and walk him over,” Kawahara said, but with the exception of Kuroko, nobody seemed really eager to come near the slimy mass of slugs separating them from their roommate.

 

“Shige, is this the only thing he did?” Kuroko asked blankly.

 

Ogiwara nodded.

 

“Okay, I need you to stand up,” Kuroko said, but Ogiwara didn’t seem to hear him. The Hufflepuff shook his head slowly before barfing up a line of disgusting slugs.

 

“Shige-chan – MERLIN, MORGANA, AND MORGAUSE THAT’S SO GROSS!”

 

Momoi’s loud, high pitched screaming made most of the Hufflepuffs wince as the Slytherin strode over, her robes billowing behind her. Momoi tossed her books to the side as she walked, and the stack stayed together, neatly floating behind her. The pink haired Slytherin pulled her wand out from behind her ear and with a wave vanished the pile of slugs.

 

“Shige, what did you do this time?” Momoi demanded. “This is why you need female friends, to stop you from doing stupid stuff like-”

 

“It wasn’t his fault,” Kuroko said politely, cutting into Momoi’s tirade. “Could you help us get him to the Hospital wing?”

 

“No need for that,” Momoi said, rolling her eyes. “A woman’s touch is all he really needs.”

 

With a tap of her wand to Ogiwara’s head, the Hufflepuff leaned back, looking significantly less green.

 

“Better?” she asked.

 

“Oh yeah,” Ogiwara rasped, looking up at her. “Man do you have great timing. Long time no see.”

 

“Yeah,” Momoi agreed. “Managing a dueling team and doing my apprenticeship has taken a lot of my time this year.”

 

Ogiwara was still sweating a little, but he nodded.

 

“You should be fine now,” Momoi said, reaching out a hand to take the books that had been floating behind her. “I’ll see you later, Shige-chan, Tetsu-kun!”

 

Ogiwara leaned his head back against the wall.

 

“You alright?” Kawahara asked.

 

“Nah, I just realized that now I owe Momoi,” Ogiwara moaned. “She’s never going to let me forget it. _Never._ ”

 

Kuroko patted Ogiwara on the shoulder sympathetically.

 

“No, she won’t,” he agreed.

 

Furihata laughed nervously.

 

“Isn’t she your friend?”

 

“Yeah,” Kuroko said when Ogiwara paused.

 

“She hasn’t said anything to me since November,” Ogiwara said softly, looking a little hurt.

 

“If she wasn’t managing the dueling club, I doubt she’d be talking to anyone,” Kuroko said, trying to comfort him. “She’s working really hard, Shige.”

 

Neither of them wanted to have a discussion about their pranking activities in such a public place, so Ogiwara just nodded. Kuroko resolved to make sure that whatever bad feelings between the two of them would be resolved soon.

 

After all, he knew that Momoi didn’t approve of what the Miracles were saying and doing any more than Ogiwara or he himself did.

 

Late that night, sitting in bed staring up at the canopy of his bed, Kuroko thought about Haizaki’s odd response to Kuroko’s presence.

 

Sure, he unsettled people by appearing in seemingly random places and moved around the castle silently and unnoticeably, but Haizaki had dealt with that before. More than that, he’d never had a shocked reaction to Kuroko’s appearance like that before. Certainly, the Gryffindor had no problem pushing Kuroko around at the beginning of the year; he’d bullied Kuroko without so much as a second thought.

 

So what could possibly explain why  he had looked as if he’d seen a ghost?

 

Kuroko had to wonder.

 

What could account for the change in Haizaki’s behavior?

 

He was almost asleep when he realized the answer.

 

It was so simple, so ridiculous, that it hadn’t occurred to Kuroko until the very last second.

 

Haizaki wasn’t afraid of _Kuroko._

 

_“I’m telling you to leave him alone. For your benefit more than his.”_

 

_Kuroko heard Haizaki laugh dismissively, but the other boy didn’t contradict Akashi._

 

_“Yeah, sure,” he said sarcastically._

 

_“Do you want to make me angry, Shougo? Because I will destroy you if you persist in being such a thorn in my side.”_

 

Akashi had handled the revelation that Kuroko was being bullied by threatening Haizaki. Kuroko didn’t know exactly what Akashi had said when he'd leaned down close and whispered something to the other boy, but the thinly veiled promise of retribution had been pretty obvious from the context of the conversation. 

 

Haizaki might have no problem going after the other Hufflepuffs, but Kuroko it seemed, was off limits. Obviously, it was Akashi’s threat still weighing on him that had caused him to retreat so quickly.

 

That made sense.

 

Satisfied that the world once again made sense, Kuroko rolled back over and went back to sleep.

 

…

 

After that, things settled down.

 

Kuroko waited on tenderhooks for the other shoe to drop, unable to help feeling like something terrible was coming.

 

Ogiwara shared Kuroko’s suspicion. The Hufflepuffs had banded together, watching the rest of the school with wary, careful eyes.

 

One sunday afternoon while they were studying Sakurai felt a tap on his shoulder and turned, half in his chair, wand drawn and ready to shout out a spell. He narrowly avoided cursing Mitobe. The sixth year ducked gracefully, the basket of brownies he was holding nearly hitting the ground before Koganei levitated it to safety.

 

“SORRY!” Sakurai shouted, stumbling over himself in an effort to get out of his chair and apologize to the other Hufflepuff.

 

“Such paranoid kouhais you have,” Koganei teased them, still looking a little pale. “Kiyoshi was right, the O.W.L.s this year must be hitting the fifth years really hard.”

 

“It’s not paranoia if they’re really out to get you,” Furihata muttered under his breath. Kawahara snorted into his notes, and Ogiwara gave the quiet sixth year Gryffindor a tired smile.

 

Mitobe gave the group a pair of thumbs up.

 

To be honest, things _were_ pretty tense. None of them really felt comfortable walking around the halls alone anymore, not when Haizaki had already been proven to have zero morals, and with the ever-standing threat of the Generation of Miracles hanging over their heads.

 

And yet, just when it seemed like things might have calmed down after all, Kuroko saw something that put his guard back up all over again.

 

He’d trailed somewhat behind the other Hufflepuffs as they left the Great Hall after dinner. They were still in sight when Kuroko caught a glimpse of Akashi and Kise, leaving the castle together.

 

It was almost, but not quite dark out, but it was a Wednesday. Kuroko knew for a fact that neither student had Quidditch practice anymore, having quit their respective teams to compete in the interschool tournament last year.

 

So where were they going?

 

Kuroko glanced at the group of his housemates, who had already gotten up the main staircase and were heading towards the library.

 

They were far enough away that Kuroko would lose Akashi and Kise if he went after them to get them to come with hm.

 

Besides, Kuroko would go more unnoticed alone.

 

He wanted to know what his former captain was up to.

 

The Hufflepuff slipped out of the castle behind Akashi and Kise. The sun was setting, casting long shadows across the grounds and setting the sky ablaze in hues of red and gold.

 

Kuroko kept a decent distance behind Kise and Akashi. He was close enough to know that they weren’t talking, but far enough to remain unnoticed.

 

Akashi and Kise were heading towards one of the greenhouses. Kuroko supposed it was a decent place to have a clandestine conversation. Between Kise’s uncharacteristic silence, and Kuroko’s knowledge that neither had any reason to be returning to the greenhouses this late, he knew that whatever this was, Akashi was trying to have a private conversation with the blonde.

 

The two shut the door behind them. Kuroko felt the wave of magic locking it, and walked over to the window to see if he could see anything of value.

 

He couldn’t hear anything, but in the shadowed greenhouse, Kuroko could see Akashi and Kise talking casually. Akashi was standing by the other window, and Kise was sitting on the table, his expression serious.

 

Kuroko watched with narrowed eyes as Akashi and Kise spoke quietly. Kise wasn’t reacting to anything Akashi said, which made it hard for Kuroko to divine what the subject of their conversation was.

 

Finally, Kise nodded sharply. Akashi smiled politely, and Kise pushed himself off the table to face him. The two of them shook hands and headed for the door together.

 

Kuroko didn’t like the look of either of his former teammates wore right now. He was extremely nervous about whatever they had just decided.

 

Kuroko only just managed to get to the other side of the door so that it would hide him as it opened. His misdirection was functioning better than it ever had, but Akashi had an uncanny way of seeing through his power, even during a duel. He didn’t want to chance being seen.

 

Kuroko waited until both of his former teammates were almost back to the castle before he started to follow them, his mind racing.

 

Kise and Akashi had just held a relatively short conversation, one they might have even been able to have had more discretely in the castle.

 

Had Akashi been counting on someone following them, or at least seeing the two of them leave or return?

 

Had he wanted someone to know about the meeting?

 

Kuroko didn’t know if he was more willing to believe that Akashi had engineered some secret meeting and made sure that Kuroko would follow him to it, or that Akashi had been so careless as to have a secret conversation where anyone might have seen him.

 

Well, it wasn’t like knowing that Akashi and Kise had had a conversation together told Kuroko anything else. For all Kuroko knew, they’d been having a personal conversation that had nothing to do with anything.

 

Kiyoshi was probably right – all of the Hufflepuffs were getting paranoid.

 

When Kuroko made it to their study spot in the library, Ogiwara was (probably justifiably) furious at Kuroko for having gone missing.

 

“We were terrified, you can’t just wander off like that!” Ogiwara lectured him. “Not with everything that’s happened this year, how many times do we have to say that we need to stick together?”

 

“I hear you,” Kuroko said seriously, sliding into a seat. He’d wrestled with telling his friends what he had seen, when it could legitimately have been nothing at all.

 

“Listen to what I just saw though-”

 

When Kuroko was done, the Hufflepuffs agreed that it could have been anything at all, but they would keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary.

 

….

 

As it turned out, Kuroko didn’t have to wait very long at all to find out what ‘it’ was.

 

Three weeks to the day after the Hufflepuff fifth years had reunited, and four days after Kuroko had seen Akashi and Kise talking seriously in the third greenhouse, things took a turn for the weird.

 

Kuroko didn’t see how the fight started, but it was pretty hard to miss once it got going. Haizaki and Kise were going at it in the middle of the Great Hall and ignoring everyone and everything around them.

 

Haizaki was shouting and shoving Kise in the shoulders when Kuroko showed up. Haizaki was running his mouth with some shitty insult. Students had gathered in a wide ring, some cheering, others nervously looking around for professors. Kuroko noted that Kise hadn’t so much as raised his wand to defend himself as he was pushed back several steps.

 

What was he doing?

 

“Come on, Haizaki, you don’t wanna start this again,” Kise said lightly, a smile still fixed on his face. “I don’t want to fight with you, and we’re causing a scene.”

 

Haizaki snarled.

 

“I don’t give a shit if the entire school wants to watch me beat your ass you pansy little prettyboy.”

 

“Whatever,” Kise said, turning away from the other boy. Kuroko tensed as Kise turned his back on a dangerous and potentially violent opponent.

 

Predictably, Haizaki spat out a spell, but Kise was already turning, a dangerous glint in his eyes, as he deflected it.

 

“Now you’re just making me mad.”

 

Haizaki snorted.

 

“Where do you get off thinking you’re better than me?” he snarled. “You’re just some stupid, muggleborn kid like me, but you’re running around with all these pumped up elitist purebred assholes, I mean come the fuck _on!_ ”

 

“Careful now, Haizaki, those are my friends you’re talking about.”

 

Kise had yet to lower his wand, and with every word, Kuroko could see the blonde fighting to hold himself back from attacking the other boy.

 

“How pathetic does an Ancient and Noble house have to be to associate with an urchin like _you_ anyway? I guess it’s true what they say, the Akashi family always has been an inbred bunch of idiots and-”

 

Weirdly, Kuroko swore he saw Kise smile for just a second before the blonde straightened out of a dueling stance, letting his wand fall harmlessly to his side.

 

“Haizaki Shougo,” Kise said formally. “You have insulted the honor of an Ancient and Noble House. As a vassal under its protection, I demand satisfaction for the insult.”

 

The abrupt change in Kise’s demeanor, going from angry to calm and formal in less than a second, distracted Kuroko from the content of what he was saying, but only for a moment.

 

Kise was challenging Haizaki to an honor duel?

 

Kuroko vaguely remembered his grandmother’s lessons about the circumstances under which honor duels were fought. They were very old fashioned and strictly conducted among the oldest, strictest, and most pretentious old houses. Kuroko’s own family name was Ancient and Noble too, but they had stopped caring about the pomp and circumstance of such petty traditions as a family line a long time ago.

 

As such, Kuroko’s education on the subject of honor duels went about as far as the knowledge that they existed, and nothing more.

 

Haizaki was bent over laughing, trying to catch his breath. He made a great show of straightening up and wiping tears of mirth from his eyes.

 

“You can’t demand combat for an insult like that,” Haizaki sneered. “You’re not even a pureblood!”

 

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Akashi said, stepping forward. “My father has been waiting to announce the news formally, but I suppose now is as good a time as any. Kise Ryouta has been adopted into my family as a ward of the Ancient and Noble House of Akashi. He has every right to demand satisfaction for an insult to the family that has taken him in.”

 

That was news, even to Kuroko.

 

He hadn’t heard a single word about this. When had it happened? Why? What had happened that Kise had needed to be adopted into a pureblood family, and why had the strict Akashi patriarch agreed?

 

Kuroko’s mind was spinning with questions, but the most pressing one right now was left burned in the back of his mind. After all, a decision like this couldn’t be mere weeks in the making. Akashi must have approached his father about the issue long before winter break, back when, as far as Kuroko had thought, he and the Generation of Miracles were still friends.

 

Why hadn’t anyone told him?

 

“Break it up, break it up now!”

 

Headmaster Kagetora sounded furious as students scattered to get out of his way.

 

“Headmaster,” Akashi said pleasantly.

 

“What is going on here? Why are my students brawling in the middle of the afternoon?”

 

Kise turned, smiling that picture perfect smile of his.

 

“I have challenged Haizaki Shougo to an honor duel, Headmaster,” he said respectfully.

 

“This is ridiculous,” the Headmaster said, settling himself almost between the warring Gryffindors. “I don’t have to allow students to duel on school grounds, and I won’t allow blood feuds to be carried into these halls.”

 

“Haizaki has insulted the honor of a Noble and Ancient house that has done me a great kindness,” Kise said earnestly. “As an adopted child of the Akashi clan, it is my prerogative to defend the house that has given me shelter and made me its ward against the defamation of another wizard. Even the Hogwarts charter doesn’t allow me to simply ignore such an insult.”

 

“And I’ve no problem taking on this challenge,” Haizaki said. “If the pretty boy fake pureblood wants a fight, he can have it, and then we can see what the honor of his house is really worth after all. I’ve beaten him dozens of times before and I’ll do it again.”

 

“No,” Headmaster Aida said. “I don’t care whose honor has been trodden on or who feels insulted by whom, you’re done here.”

 

“Headmaster,” Akashi said, intervening smoothly. “I apologize for the interruption, but I feel I should draw your attention to the school bylaws that do expressly allow for the resolution of non-lethal honor duels by strict codes of conduct. We may be students, and we may be young, but our predecessors have always maintained our rights to defend our own honor when it is sullied.”

 

“A bylaw the president of the board has been asked to remove for years,” the Headmaster growled, scowling. Akashi smiled a little at that.

 

“Whatever my father has been asked to do or not, the bylaw is still in place, and I ask that you respect it. Otherwise I will have to take up the insult to my family myself, and I would really prefer not to.”

 

Haizaki looked like he wanted to say something at that, but he managed to hold himself back at the last second. Kuroko had never figured the Gryffindor for being particularly smart, but he certainly knew a losing fight when he saw one. Nobody thought Haizaki had a single chance against Akashi, but Kise was a far fairer fight - at least in Haizaki's eyes. Kuroko could see how Haizaki at least might believe that he still had a fighting chance at beating the blonde Gryffindor, even though he knew there was only one way this was going to end, and it wasn’t going to be with Kise loosing. The blonde was a better duelist than most people gave him credit for, and the air headed persona he'd sold to Teen Witch Weekly with a wink and a smile, was about as real as the cognitive benefits of snake oil.

 

Meanwhile, the Headmaster seemed to be considering what Akashi had said.

 

“Very well,” he said. “I will defer to our charter for now, but I expect the codes of dueling conduct to be observed to the letter, do both of you understand?”

 

Kise nodded.

 

“Sure, sure,” Haizaki said lightly.

 

“I will have members of the board provide each of you with an in depth explanation of the rules in question. Deviation from those rules will result in severe punishment. If you’re willing to wait to settle the question of your honor until the board can be summoned, that is the only way in which this duel will be allowed.”  
  


“That’s fine by me,” Kise said.

 

“Hell, me too.”

 

“Then a regulation arena will be constructed after dinner for you to have your stupid honor duel, and we’ll be done with this shit,” the Headmaster said. Several first years giggled at the cursing as he glared at the two fifth years. “In the meantime, don’t the lot of you have classes to get to?”

 

…

 

The board arrived during dinner. Twelve adult wizards, some of the most respected members of the magical community in Britain, joined the head table, sternly watching the students as they ate.

 

Akashi Masaomi didn’t so much as look in the direction of the Slytherin table, making quiet conversation with the Headmaster while the meal continued.

 

As dinner tapered off, there was no great rush to exit. It seemed that word of Kise and Haizaki’s honor duel had gotten around, and everyone wanted to stay and watch the two powerful wizards face off.

 

The two wizards in question were the perfect picture of opposites. Haizaki was sitting on his own at the end of the Gryffindor table, scowling into his plate. Kise was smiling, joking around with his fellow students, and generally radiating an aura of sparkling lack of concern.

 

Kuroko knew better by now, but the act was very good.

 

All too soon, it was time.

 

The Great Hall was expanded and four of the board members went down to lay the runes to create a shield around the area in which the two sixth years would fight. One of the board went over to speak to Haizaki. Another approached Kise.

 

Akashi Masaomi just watched. Kuroko wondered if he wasn’t interfering because he knew why the duel was happening, and decided to stay out of it to appear impartial.

 

The two Gryffindors stepped out into the arena, discarding their robes. Kise rolled up the sleeves of his white collared school shirt, while Haizaki discarded that as well, choosing to fight in his school slacks and undershirt. They cut quite an interesting contrast.

 

“Who do you think will win?” Ogiwara asked Kuroko quietly.

 

“I think…” Kuroko paused, watching Kise’s expression carefully. “I think Kise would not have challenged Haizaki unless he had something up his sleeve. Moreover, I doubt Akashi would have allowed the challenge to proceed if he thought Kise was going to lose.”

 

At face value, that was.

 

Kuroko couldn’t shake the feeling that something was wrong here. Kise had been carefully goading Haizaki towards this point. The huge personality shift the second Haizaki had insulted Akashi and his house told Kuroko that Kise had been ready for it, had planned on making the challenge and picking this fight. Had Akashi set up this entire exhibition, including arranging the adoption of Kise into his own family, just to finally prove that the illusionist he had chosen was stronger than the one he had discarded?

 

That sounded like Akashi all right.

 

Maybe that’s what the conversation Kuroko had seen was about. Akashi and Kise had decided on a way in which to bait Haizaki into a fight, and that was that.

 

Something still didn’t feel right about that though, and Kuroko couldn’t put his finger on it.

 

“Haizaki’s been running his mouth off since last year about how Kise only got onto the team on a technicality,” Furihata said nervously. “I think he’s still pissed.”

 

“So is Kise,” Kawahara said. “Look at him. If looks could kill, Haizaki would already be on the floor.”

 

Any further conversation was cut off by the headmaster.

 

“You can begin this absurd waste of time and mockery of my school whenever you’re ready,” Headmaster Aida said.

 

Beside Kuroko, Ogiwara snorted quietly.

 

“Doesn’t exactly hold back, does he?”

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“Well then pretty boy, let’s have at it!” Haizaki said.

 

“I’ll even be generous enough to give you the first shot,” Kise grinned back, all teeth. “After all, it’s ladies first, isn’t it?”

 

Haizaki snarled, leaping forward. He let loose a rain of curses that Kise shielded himself from easily, yawning into his left hand.

 

“Oh come on, is that all you’ve got?” Kise laughed, dancing away from another chain of Haizaki’s curses.

Why was he taunting the other boy?

 

Haizaki shouted with rage, and pressed his advantage. He cast spell over spell, sending a ball of fire, then a white hot bolt of lightning, and followed by another fireball.

 

Kuroko watched in awe as Kise dodged the first fireball. The blonde bent back, literally flipping his body away from the spell and landing securely on his feet. He yelled in triumph as he raised a shield in time to send Haizaki’s lightning arcing away from him, slamming against the top of the barrier.

 

Kuroko felt the floor shake as it hit and the rain of sparks obscured Kise’s next spell.

 

When he could see again, the two were trading curses, not even bothering to find cover. They ducked and shielded, a blur of yellow and grey.

 

Kise cast a spell that sent a whirlwind of little colored lights to surround Haizaki. They darted in and out randomly, suddenly shining very brightly before dimming.

 

Haizaki drew his wand down in a jagged motion, sending them all dark.

 

“Face it, Ryouta!” he shouted. “No matter what you call yourself, no matter who makes you part of their family, you’re never going to be better than me! You’re always going to be second best - the weaker choice.”

 

Kise’s eyes narrowed.

 

“That’s where you’re wrong,” he said. “I’m better than you, and it’s time for you to recognize it.”

 

Haizaki screamed in frustration, sending a bolt of pure magic towards Kise.

 

Kuroko watched in astonishment as Kise didn’t even attempt to run away from the powerful attack. Instead, Kise threw up a shield, taking the brunt of Haizaki’s considerable strength and testing it against his own.

  
“When you get tired of hiding, let me know!” Haizaki yelled gleefully. He ended his spell, and sent another crack of lightning at the other Gryffindor.

 

Kuroko felt more than saw the other boy’s shield break. Hazaki didn’t seem to have been paying attention, and readied another powerful lightning spell.

 

Kise fell to one knee, eyes wide in fear.

 

“Alright, you got me! I yield!” he cried. He held his hands up and away from his body, signalling surrender as clearly as could possibly be telegraphed.

 

But it wasn’t right. Something wasn’t right, because Kuroko knew what Kise sounded like when he was cornered and desperate. Somehow – this wasn’t that. This was the same mask Kuroko had watched Kise don on multiple occasions, the false persona that Kuroko had only begun to unravel.

 

This sounded like the Kise that was pulling his opponents into a trap, but this fight was already over. It had lasted only a few, intense minutes, but Kise had yielded, right?

 

It almost looked and sounded like Kise was pretending to throw the fight.

 

What was Kise doing?

 

Kuroko glanced at Akashi. The redhead Slytherin was impassive, his expression giving away nothing. He was watching the duel with an intense focus, as though it wasn’t yet done, even though Kise had already yielded.

 

What was going on?

 

Kuroko turned his attention back to the two feuding students, looking for any sign that something was out of place, that things were about to go wrong.

 

Haizaki smirked and turned away from the kneeling Gryffindor in front of him.

 

“I told you,” he said. “It doesn’t matter how brilliant you are, you’ll never be as good as me. And you know what that makes you? Nothing more than plain old trash.”

 

And then Haizaki’s eyes widened. Kuroko felt the ripple of magic in the air – magic he wasn’t sure any of the other spectators felt. The only reason Kuroko was aware of it at all was because of his increased control over his shield. He could feel the magic sliding over it and away from him towards the arena below. A second later, Haizaki turned, his wand in the air, his expression wild. He fired a powerful curse, hitting Kise squarely in the leg.

 

Kise screamed.

 

The sound ripped from his throat in a guttural sound as he grabbed at his leg. Kise’s face was wrenched in pain, his eyes clenched shut, teeth grit together in the effort of trying to silence himself. The entire crowd was shouting, screaming at the foul play.

 

But Kuroko wasn’t watching the blonde. His eyes had gone back to Akashi, who was smiling just a little bit as the Headmaster and Professor Harasawa ran into the arena, immediately pulling Haizaki away from the fallen Gryffindor.

 

Kuroko had spent a great deal of his life just watching people, and he knew that the expression of stunned disbelief on Haizaki’s face was not the expression of a man who had just cursed another student in cold blood.

 

If anything, Haizaki looked more confused than anyone else in the room.

…

 

In the end, Haizaki wasn’t expelled. As far as the school was concerned, punishing either student involved for their actions during an honor duel was murky territory at best. Haizaki had a clean record aside from the single dueling accident with Kise, and had no other official marks against him. It was generally accepted that he had gotten pissed off at Kise’s taunting, and acted rashly in the heat of a fight. It happened, and since neither student bore any lasting damage, all authorities involved seemed content to leave the situation as it was without imposing further punishment on the boys.

 

Whatever had actually happened during that duel, whatever had caused Haizaki to attack Kise the way he had, Kuroko was sure it was exactly what Akashi had wanted. As usual, the Slytherin was ten steps ahead of everyone else, and planning for every possible contingency. Kuroko would have been impressed if he wasn’t so angry at the situation.

 

What was this supposed to prove?

 

And for whose benefit had this entire display been put on? Clearly Kuroko was meant to know that Akashi had organized this, but why?

 

Kuroko couldn’t believe how brazen Akashi’s tactics had been. Had Akashi really thought he could frame Haizaki for attacking Kise after provoking him? What purpose did this serve?

With Akashi there was always a reason, the trick was finding out what it was.

 

Kuroko considered at length what the outcome of this fight was supposed to have been.

 

If Akashi’s intention had been to get Haizaki expelled before the term ended, he had failed. But Akashi had seemed pleased, so perhaps he had just wanted to put a black mark on the otherwise seemingly untouchable student without dirtying his own hands.

 

But why? As far as Kuroko knew, Akashi couldn’t care less about the other boy. So what goal did this serve if this wasn’t about Haizaki?

 

Kuroko could only imagine.

 

Akashi was, as a general rule, entirely unpredictable. He moved people around like they were chess pieces, and he did whatever the hell he wanted to do without regard for how it would affect people outside of his plans.

 

None of the other Hufflepuffs had a good idea what the redhead wanted either.

 

“Beats me,” Ogiwara said, shrugging. “After all, he’s an asshole. I don’t think he’s ever happy unless he’s messing around in someone’s life. I’m just glad he chose Haizaki instead of us for a change.”

 

“Well, it is suspicious timing,” Sakurai said thoughtfully. “I mean why target Haizaki _now,_ let alone at all? Haizaki has never done anything to Akashi.”

 

“But he has done shit to Kuroko,” Fukuda said. Kuroko opened his mouth to refute that assertion, but all four of his roommates rolled their eyes.

 

“You didn’t fool us,” Ogiwara said. “Just because we were too scared to go against what we were told to do, doesn’t mean we’re full on blind. We all know what happened, or at least can guess.”

 

“You think he targeted Haizaki because of me,” Kuroko said blankly. “How does that make sense?”

 

“Because he has a creepy obsession,” Kawahara said. “Like, a really creepy one. We’ve been over this before, they’re all a little touched in the head when it comes to you in particular.”

 

“They’re all a little touched in the head, period,” Ogiwara grumbled from his bed.

 

Kuroko fought down his instinct to disagree with that immediately. Yeah the Miracles were being assholes right now, but they weren’t always that way, and Kuroko hoped maybe they could one day change. They weren’t touched in the head so much as misguided, but he didn’t want to have that fight. Not with Ogiwara, especially not now.

 

“Well anyway, it’s true,” Sakurai said. “Whatever Akashi’s doing, I have a bad feeling that he’s managed to get pretty much whatever he wanted out of the duel.”

 

Kuroko also had a bad feeling that Sakurai was exactly right about that at least.

 

…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, some answers for all of you who have been begging for them!
> 
> Meanwhile, in housekeeping matters, remember that next week is the last chapter for this arc. I'm working hard on Arc II already to try and outrace my posting schedule, so I appreciate all the positive responses to me taking a hiatus after - what are we on now, 18 straight weeks of updates? I think my posting schedule for this fic is longer and more reliable than most of my relationships have been lol. 
> 
> ANYWHO, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you next week for the thrilling conclusion of the first arc! If you can't get enough of me in the meantime, [head on over to the giant tire fire that is my tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)
> 
> Happy thursday friends!


	19. Kuroko Could Use A Rememberall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up cuz shits gonna hit the fan

…

 

Kuroko woke in a corridor.

 

It was dark and the hallway was empty.

 

He shivered and all at once registered how cold it was.

 

He must have been lying on the near-freezing flagstones for some time, given the stiffness of his limbs and the chill in the air. His skin felt cold and numb.

 

It had to be really late.

 

Kuroko looked around blearily. He moved to straighten up when his hand touched something soft and warm.

 

Kuroko screamed, scampering back, his hand losing its grip in a pool of something slimy and slick. He fell, hitting the ground with a jolt that did nothing to help his sudden panic.

 

Kuroko scrambled to his knees, slipping in the dark liquid. He moved frantically and panicked until he managed to support himself. He drew his knees up to his chest, forming a small protective ball around himself.

 

The blue haired Hufflepuff held his hand up to his face and stared in unfocused horror at the dark liquid running down his arm in a slow rivulet.

 

Blood.

 

It was blood.

 

Holy shit there was blood everywhere, a fucking pool of it -

 

He gasped in revulsion, trying to wipe the blood off and clean it away, but all he was doing was smearing it around, making it worse. His hands were painted with dirt and blood and the more he tried to scrub it away, the more it spread. Kuroko paused at the sight of the mud. He looked down at himself and realized that he was covered in dirt –

 

Hadn’t he been coming back from Herbology? That had been long before sunset, over an hour before dinner. The sky outside told him that he was correct in assuming that it was late. It was completely dark out, and the light of the moon was shining in the slowly congealing blood.

 

A sound from nearby made Kuroko jump again, and he stared in abject horror at the dead body lying not half a foot away from him.

 

No, not dead. The body heaved a shallow, shaky breath that was as loud as cannon fire in the silent hallway. Kuroko reached out a shaking, blood stained hand to the figure’s shoulder and pulled the other student towards himself.

 

It was Ogiwara.

 

Kuroko felt white-hot fear coursing through his veins, like someone had poured hot lead into them.

 

Ogiwara’s body was so still and pale that Kuroko had the horrifying thought that the boy might really be dead. Kuroko placed his hand on the boy’s chest and sighed with relief when he discovered that Ogiwara was still breathing. It was faint, but at least it was there.

 

What had happened? Obviously they had been attacked, but by whom? How?

 

Weren’t they supposed to be safe inside the castle?

 

“Shige-”

 

The word came out in a wheezing, terrified breath, almost no louder than the sound of Ogiwara’s barely there inhale.

 

Kuroko was panicking. He, and only barely registered that he couldn’t feel the pain he’d come to associate with such strong emotional reactions.

 

Later, he’d be grateful for the work Kiyoshi had done to block Akashi’s spell. But for now all he could think was that he needed to _do something immediately or his best friend was going to die._

 

Ogiwara needed help; that much Kuroko knew. He had to get the other boy to the hospital wing.

 

Kuroko pulled his sore and pained body to his feet.

 

Kuroko levitated Ogiwara’s body, the spell taking a toll on his already hurt form. He staggered forwards, Ogiwara’s body moving in front of him. Kuroko felt weak and exhausted – had he been fighting? Why had he and Ogiwara been this far out of the way of the normal student body traffic?

 

Each step felt like it took hours.

 

The blood had dried, tacky and itchy on Kuroko’s arm. He didn’t think he was hurt, but he was completely drained, like he’d just been through a duel.

 

He felt heavy and slow.

 

It seemed like an eternity had passed before Kuroko reached the hospital wing.  

 

He pounded on the closed door desperately, his fist thudding weakly against the wood.

 

“Please!” he begged, his voice hoarse and too quiet. Nobody would hear him, not with his misdirection, not like this. He couldn’t make his lungs work hard enough to draw in air, he couldn’t force his voice to go any louder. “Please, someone’s hurt, we need your help!”

 

Kuroko slammed his wrist weakly against the door. The force wouldn’t ordinarily have managed to make a noise, but Kuroko felt the magic drawn out of him. When his fist weakly made contact with the door, a deep sound like a bell echoed from the wood. Kuroko sagged against the doorframe. He was pretty sure if he needed to do that again, he wasn’t going to be able to.

 

Ogiwara’s limp body was only levitating about an inch above the floor.

 

Kuroko’s magic was at its limit.

 

It took another minute of silence before the door was opened.

 

“What’s the meaning of this?”

 

“We need help, please!”

 

The healer’s eyes widened as he took in the bloodied fifth year and the student being levitated behind him.

 

“By the Fates,” the Mediwizard whispered. “Come in at once.”

 

Kuroko obeyed his order, and barely felt it when the older wizard took control of the levitation spell. Kuroko sagged against one of the bedposts, the world swimming in and out of his vision.

 

He tottered forward, sitting down on the bed next to Ogiwara once the other boy was gently placed there by the healer. Kuroko kept his hand interlocked with Ogiwara’s. He didn’t know what had happened, but he knew that he had to stay with his friend. It was very important that Kuroko protect Ogiwara now.  Someone… someone wanted to hurt his friend. They wanted to destroy him. Kuroko couldn’t let his best friend out of his sight, not until he knew for a fact that Ogiwara was going to be okay.

 

While examining Ogiwara, the healer cast a spell at the fireplace, and a warm, roaring fire sprang to life. He summoned a bright ball of energy and called into it as well.

 

“Headmaster!” he said clearly. “Two students have been harmed in the school. Notify Professor

Harasawa and join me at once.”

 

The fireplace flared green several seconds later, and Aida Kagetora stepped through, still in his nightclothes. A moment after that, Professor Harasawa came in behind him, pulling a shirt over his head as he did.

 

“What happened?” the Headmaster asked at once.

 

“Two students were attacked,” the healer said. “Harasawa, could you see to our other Hufflepuff, I know you just got back to the school a few hours ago, but –“

 

Harasawa looked around and immediately spotted Kuroko. Swiftly, he stepped over to the fifth year placing a bracing hand on Kuroko’s shoulders.

 

“You did well to bring your friend here,” he said at once. “Will you let us take care of you both now?”

 

Slowly, Kuroko nodded.

 

“Good,” Professor Harasawa said. “Now, please let go of your friend. I will examine you on the bed right next to his. You don’t need to move more than a little bit.”

 

Kuroko cast a fearful glance at Ogiwara. If he let go of the other boy, he was afraid that Ogiwara would completely disappear. He still looked so pale, and he wasn’t moving.

 

“I promise we will take good care of Ogiwara as well,” Professor Harasawa said softly. “You have nothing to fear here.”

 

Kuroko nodded to this. These were his teachers. As gruff as Professor Harasawa and the Headmaster could be, neither had ever lied to him and both had stood up for him when it had mattered.

 

Slowly, he released his death grip on Ogiwara’s hand. It fell limply onto the bed, a soft sound that was almost lost in the bustle around them.

 

“Thank you, Kuroko,” Professor Harasawa said. “Now please, onto the bed.”

 

Kuroko obeyed this request without a word.

 

“Are you injured?”

 

Kuroko mutely shook his head, his eyes fixed on Ogiwara’s face.

 

“Can you tell me what happened?”

 

Kuroko didn’t react to this question, wracking his brain for answers.

 

He’d been walking down the corridor to the Hufflepuff common room. He’d been coming back from Herbology, and was going to shower before dinner.

 

That was coming back to him now.

 

But… Where had Ogiwara been?

 

Kuroko shut his eyes tightly.

 

Ogiwara had run ahead. He had forgotten… something. Kuroko couldn’t remember what Ogiwara had needed, it hadn’t been important.

 

Not important enough to risk this.

 

The other Hufflepuff couldn’t have been more than a few minutes ahead of Kuroko.

 

Kuroko wouldn’t have let the other boy get too far ahead. The Hufflepuffs had been sticking together like glue since they had rekindled their friendship, there was no way Ogiwara could have been far.

 

That meant Kuroko had seen the attackers. He had seen who had hurt his friend. He knew what had happened, but he _couldn’t remember._

 

Kuroko tensed his fists. He knew that he knew the answer. He knew that he had seen Ogiwara’s attackers, but the memory remained a washed out shadow, completely beyond his reach. The air was caught in his lungs, and he couldn’t breathe past the knowledge that he’d been right there while his friend was being attacked and hadn’t been able to do anything to stop it.

 

“I was coming from class,” he said softly to fill the space. All he could see was Ogiwara, lying deathly still on the cot just beyond the professor’s face. “Shige was ahead of me.“

 

This clearly wasn’t helping the professor, who was waiting patiently, but intently for some kind of response.

 

“He ran ahead, and I didn’t see him,” Kuroko said. “I remember walking in the corridor and then I was waking up. There was blood everywhere, but I don’t remember- and Shige is _hurt_ -”

 

“Perfectly understandable,” the professor said kindly. “We’ll fix him up just fine, there’s no need to worry about Shigehiro. He is in good hands.”

 

Kuroko grit his teeth. Why couldn’t he remember what had happened? His mind was a mess of painful emotions. He didn’t know what to think, how to feel.

 

“I want to check you over to make sure you haven’t missed being injured somewhere, can I do that?” Professor Harasawa asked. Kuroko nodded again, falling silent. He endured several rounds of spells before the professor pulled back.

 

“Headmaster, Kuroko is not in need of medical treatment,” he said. “And I don’t detect any active spells on him. We should contact a mind healer as soon as we’ve secured the school and see if any magic was done to affect his memory. I’m going to alert the ghosts to block off the corridor and see what I can find of our attacker’s magical signature before it evaporates.”

 

Kagetora nodded grimly.

 

“Wake Professor Sanada and take him with you. I will go alert the board and the aurors. They’ll floo straight to my office and come here.”

 

The Headmaster and Ancient Runes professor strode out together, moving quickly.

 

Kuroko stayed on the bed next to Ogiwara, his knees drawn up to his chest, his eyes fixed on his friend.

 

_Who did this?_

 

Kuroko couldn’t think past that one question, no matter how hard he tried. His best friend’s skin was the same grey-white of the hospital sheets he was lying on. It made the dark blood stand out even more starkly against his skin.

 

_Who did this?_

 

The healer’s wand was shining with pink light, gently sinking into Ogiwara’s pale skin. Kuroko could hear the low murmur of spellwork, the clink of bottles, and the even breathing of the healer as he fought to save Ogiwara’s life.

 

_Please god, don’t let him die._

 

Kuroko watched the healer work, unable to move his eyes away from his friend.

 

His knees were drawn up to his chest, and his eyes were unfocused and wide.

 

Something was vibrating under him. It took far too long for Kuroko to register it was his body shaking so hard that the bed was creaking.

 

_Why couldn’t he remember?_

 

Kuroko tried to run through his afternoon, trying to pinpoint the exact place where his memories dropped off, but his mind was a jumbled mess and nothing wanted to set itself in order.

 

None of this made any sense.

 

Why would anyone hurt Ogiwara?

 

A few adult wizards walked into the hospital wing, holding a hurried and quiet conversation with the healer. Kuroko didn’t recognize them and made no attempt to listen in on what they were saying.

 

He needed answers.

 

The wizards left. The healer smeared a foul smelling potion on Ogiwara’s chest, where Kuroko could see one edge of a jagged cut, still gaping wide. It steamed a little when the paste from the bottle hit it.

 

Sometime later, the healer finished treating Ogiwara and wrapped his chest and right arm in thick bandages.

 

He leaned against the wall, exhaling deeply.

 

It was well into the early hours of the morning when Kuroko was jolted into full awareness by the echo of hurried footsteps and the swish of robes. He looked up to see the Headmaster standing at the foot of Ogiwara’s bed.

 

“I came as soon as I was able to return. The board had me well after midnight.”

 

“Yes, well,” the mediwizard said. “This student has been cursed with a dark spell.”

 

“Someone is using dark magic at Hogwarts?” Headmaster Aida asked, and for the first time since he’d ever heard him speak, Kuroko realized the man’s voice was clear and sharp as steel.

 

Perhaps he drew his surly persona around him to relate to his students, or to insulate himself from the stress of the job of Headmaster. But right now, Kuroko could feel the Headmaster’s power rippling through the room: dormant, but ready to strike. He’d never experienced the man’s pure strength in such a way, and it was almost terrifying.

 

“I’m afraid so.”

 

The exhale of breath sounded very much like a curse.

 

“Will he be alright - Ogiwara, isn’t it? He’s a Hufflepuff.”

 

“Yes, he is. And he will be, soon enough. It might take a week for me to release him, but he will be

as good as new.”

 

Kuroko let go of a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Adults sometimes lied to children, if they thought it would make them feel better. But hearing it from one adult to another comforted him more than he thought he’d needed.

 

“Dark magic at Hogwarts,” the Headmaster breathed again, as though he could barely even believe the words. “We haven’t had that since… well since long before my time. This is far beyond anything I’ve had to handle before. Do you have any idea who it was?”

 

“He may be able to tell us himself,” the healer said. “The only other witness was the other fifth year Hufflepuff, who brought him to me. He said he heard Ogiwara screaming, but did not reach him in time to see his attackers.”

 

“I see.”

 

Kuroko’s hands tightened into helpless fists, but he let his head fall back again in defeat. He wanted to be able to remember.

 

“You have your suspicions as well, don’t you, Headmaster?”

 

The Headmaster had been walking away when the healer said this, and he paused by the infirmary doors. Framed by the light of the hallway, he looked terrifying. Kuroko felt hope catch in his chest. For all that he was grumpy and occasionally foul mouthed, Aida Kagetora was a smart and canny man. There was a very good chance he would discover on his own what had happened without the need for Kuroko’s memories to return.

 

“I do,” he said carefully. “We found no signs of trespass on the school grounds. Nobody, not even a student or professor, has left or returned to the grounds for several days, which either fortunately or unfortunately limits our suspect pool drastically. Someone in this school cursed my student, and I have already demanded that all of my professors surrender their wands to be tested and take a sample of veritaserum to verify that they had no knowledge or part in this. When we are done here, I will ask you to do it as well.”

 

“Of course. So you’re convinced it was student then?”

 

The healer sounded scandalized at the thought that a student could have done something like this.

 

“I’m afraid so,” the Headmaster said tensely. “I asked permission from the board of the school to interview all of our students as I have our staff, but it was denied. They believe it would be _grossly invasive_ , and of course they’re absolutely right. I have no right to ask hundreds of students to take a truth potion without any proof that anything happened, even if I believe I know exactly who the culprit may have been.”

 

“Do you intend to do anything about it?”

 

The Headmaster stood in silence for several long seconds, frozen as still as a statue.

 

“If I were to find a single shred of proof connecting any one of the students I suspect to this incident, I would expel all of them in a heartbeat. The board could not stand between the perpetrator and my wrath, of that I promise you. Magic is dangerous, and this is what I have been afraid of since Shirogane came to me with his list of dueling competitors.”

 

“Would you really be so harsh?”

 

The Headmaster turned. Every line of his face was carved with anger. He looked like an avenging angel, framed by moonlight, skin glowing eerily. Kuroko felt the magic radiating off him like heat from a furnace.

 

“I detest bullying,” the Headmaster hissed, “and I will not tolerate it at _any_ level, but _especially_ not

of this malicious, violent sort. There will be no second chances, no mercy, no leniency for those responsible when I find them. This kind of behavior is unacceptable and _I_ _will not have it in my school!_ ”

 

Without another word, he turned and slammed through the doors.

 

Kuroko found himself finally able to relax once he was gone. His clear anger on Ogiwara’s behalf had fuelled a terrible rage within his magical aura.

 

The healer clucked his tongue, and glanced over to where the fifth year was lying, still

unconscious.

 

“Of course not, Headmaster,” he said quietly. “I don’t like that this is happening either.”

 

Soon after, he checked on Ogiwara for a final time. The way his posture relaxed somewhat made Kuroko feel more optimistic about Ogiwara’s chances of coming out of this okay.

 

The Healer tapped on Ogiwara’s arm with his wand, setting up what Kuroko recognized as an alarm spell to alert the healer if his patient’s condition worsened. He sighed in relief before turning to the fireplace and tossing in a handful of floo powder. The healer called out “Headmaster’s office!” and vanished in a blaze of green light.

 

And then Kuroko was alone with his unconscious friend.

 

Kuroko stood, stretching out muscles that had cramped up from sitting so still for so long.

 

Dark magic?

 

Who had used that kind of power in the castle?

 

Kuroko needed to think this through logically, but his brain felt like it was moving through sludge.

 

He just couldn’t get himself to _think._

 

Kuroko had the thought that maybe he didn’t _want_ to think about it. He wanted to go back to yesterday morning, when everything was tense, but at least everyone was okay. He wanted to go back to when Ogiwara was okay and the biggest thing they had to worry about was their upcoming exams.

 

He couldn’t breathe beyond how much he wanted to just forget and pretend everything was fine.

 

But he couldn’t forget.

 

More than that, Kuroko knew that if he did, he would never be able to help find who hurt Ogiwara.

Kuroko had spent almost an entire year learning how to control his emotions. He closed his eyes against the world, and pushed the storm of panic, anger, fear, and shock down as far as it would go. He forced his breath to even out and his pulse to calm.

 

It took a long time, but Kuroko could feel that distant, clinical persona settle around him again.

 

He wasn’t shaking, and his mind felt clear.

 

Even with the fog of panic lifted, Kuroko still couldn’t remember where he had been earlier, and how Ogiwara had gotten attacked. All he knew was that he had that memory somewhere, maybe even buried behind a wall Ogiwara’s attackers had created, and he was determined to break it.

 

Whoever had attacked Ogiwara – and it seemed from what the Headmaster had said it had almost certainly been a student – they were willing to go to extremes to remain hidden.

 

Whoever had hurt Ogiwara like this wouldn’t blink twice before erasing the memories of any witnesses who caught them in the act.

 

This train of thought left Kuroko with another unsettling realization: Whoever had attacked Ogiwara had obviously noticed Kuroko, and knocked him out, potentially erasing his memories. That meant they could see him.

 

With his misdirection functioning better than it ever had, nobody should have been able to find him, even if they were carefully watching for an observing shadow.

 

That was in and of itself a more useful criteria for narrowing down a pool of suspects than anything else Kuroko had managed to list. Even some of the Miracles struggled to see through his misdirection when he really wanted to stay hidden.

 

Kuroko was going to find this person, and when he did, they would pay.

 

He slid off his cot, looking back at Ogiwara.

 

The boy’s skin was still tinged with grey, but his chest was rising rhythmically, and his breath was strong.

 

Kuroko reached out to touch his best friend’s hand. He felt the weak but steady pulse there, and he knew that Ogiwara would be okay.

 

The other Hufflepuff was strong, he would survive this.

 

Kuroko’s stomach churned as he wondered whether or not their attacker had intended for his friend to live through this curse.

 

If Ogiwara woke up without remembering either, finding his attackers would be entirely up to Kuroko.

 

“You will be okay,” Kuroko swore, his voice too loud in the silent hospital wing. “I’m going to find who did this to you and you will be okay.”

 

It was an oath he wholly intended to keep.

 

…

 

It was still dark when Kuroko returned to the common room, padding quietly through the silent halls of the castle.

 

He didn’t know how late it was, but it had to be almost morning at this point. Kuroko thought it must have taken several hours to get Ogiwara all the way to the hospital wing, and he had then spent several hours more that he had stared at his best friend’s listless form.

 

The fire in the common room was burned down, but not extinguished. The embers glowed warmly in the hearth.

 

“Kuroko!”

 

Kuroko turned his head towards the sound of his own name, surprised to hear it at all.

 

All four of his remaining roommates had been sitting at the table by the far wall. Furihata was already out of his chair, taking a few steps towards the blue haired Hufflepuff, the others close behind.

 

“What happened? The Headmaster came in and told us that the school was on lockdown and we weren’t to leave the common room because a student had been hurt. Then we realized Ogiwara wasn’t here, and that you had to be with him-” Furihata was nervously rambling.

 

Kuroko became very aware of the blood on his robes and skin. He probably looked terrible.

 

“I’m fine,” he said bluntly. “Shige is being tended to by the Healer. They said he will be okay.”

 

“How did you manage to fight off Akashi?”

 

“Yeah, we saw him just a second after you left, how did he manage to corner you so quickly?”

 

“We figured he’d been planning something since the duel between Haizaki and Kise, turns out he was just biding his time.”

 

It took Kuroko a moment to realize what the rest of his housemates had assumed had happened, and his mind kind of blanked out. They thought Akashi had attacked him.

 

They were so sure of it that they had started with that assumption.

 

But that couldn’t be right.

 

“What? No.”

 

Kuroko denied this out of habit.

 

“What are you talking about? Who else would hurt Ogiwara like that?”

 

Furihata sounded stymied that Kuroko could even be considering alternative suspects.

 

“Kuroko has a point,” Sakurai said, and then blushed when everyone looked at him. “Sorry!”

 

Kawahara sighed and patted Sakurai on his shoulder.

 

“No, go ahead, what do you mean?”

 

“Well,” Sakurai hedged. “What about Hanamiya?”

 

Kuroko thought about the duel last year in which Hanamiya had grievously injured Kiyoshi. That curse had been borderline dark, and there was the possibility that he had discovered more dark magic since then to use against his fellow students.

 

“What about him?” Furihata asked.

 

“He already hurt Kiyoshi, what’s to say he wouldn’t decide to go after another Hufflepuff?” Sakurai demanded.

 

“We don’t know that for sure,” Fukuda ventured. “Suspecting him just because he’s creepy doesn’t make any sense, and isn’t actual evidence. By that logic it was probably Imayoshi!”

 

“We basically do know Hanamiya would do something like this,” Sakurai shot back, red in the face and uncharacteristically loud. “Just look what he did to Kiyoshi! And lay off Imayoshi, he’s a good guy!”

 

“Just because he’s your boyfriend-”

 

Sakurai looked like he was about to punch Fukuda. It was probably a good thing Kawahara decided to take that moment to interven.

 

“Shut up, both of you!” he shouted. “This isn’t helping Ogiwara! We need to figure out who did this. We can write Imayoshi off because he was on Prefect duty with Aida tonight. There’s no way he got away from her for long enough to mess someone up.”

 

“And because he wouldn’t do it!” Sakurai snapped.

 

“Okay, okay, that too, but having an alibi helps,” Furihata said nervously. “So, Hanamiya or Akashi? Who do we think did this?”

 

“I think that Hanamiya would rather attack someone in plain view, he’s not the kind of person who would bother with hunting down someone in a dark alley,” Fukuda said. “He picks on people in the arena, not outside of it. My vote’s on Akashi.”

 

“I don’t think it was _Akashi_ I think it was _all of them_ ,” Kawahara spat out, anger in every syllable.

 

He left no doubt as to who he meant by _all of them_ and Kuroko found that his stomach lurched uncomfortably at the thought that his former teammates might have done this.

 

It had been a long time since Kuroko and any of the Generation of Miracles had actually acted like friends. Aomine blew him off more often than not, and Kise was only ever practicing, trying to fight his way into Akashi’s good graces.  Midorima had held nothing but visceral contempt towards Kuroko since the night they’d first formally met, but even that had frozen into something even more dismissive of late. Even Murasakibara seemed, well, _bored_ spending time with their tiny hanger-on.

 

Those thoughts hurt a lot.

 

Sure they were acting like assholes, but did that mean any one of them could have done this?

 

The rest of the Hufflepuffs were busy laying out their laundry list of complains against the miracles.

 

“Remember what Murasakibara did to Kiyoshi?”

 

“What about that time Aomine tried to shove Sakurai down the stairs because he was moving too slowly?”

 

“What Midorima said to Takao during that duel was absolutely foul, you should have seen his face afterwards-”

 

“Murasakibara made two first year’s cry and quit dueling because he told them it wasn’t even worth bothering when they were so bad at it-”

 

Kuroko tuned out his roommates’ arguing as he stared down at the grain in the table, trying to reason through what had happened. If only he could _remember._

 

Kuroko considered just how much hurt the Generation of Miracles had dealt out not just passively in their neglect of their friendship, but actively and maliciously towards the rest of the student body. He wondered how many other students hated them even more than they admired the group.

 

He thought about Murasakibara, pounding Kiyoshi into the ground while mocking him for thinking he could protect his team. He thought about Midorima’s savage dismissal of Takao’s affections, his callous disregard for the student body as a whole.

 

He thought about Kise’s face during the duel with Haizaki, how he might have baited the boy into a trap just to have the excuse to get him expelled.

 

He thought about the vicious way in which Aomine cut down their competition in every duel and then walked away without even pretending to pay homage to the work their opponents had done to prepare for their duel.

 

Kuroko thought about Akashi cursing Murasakibara into submission, about heterochromatic eyes that shone, one like dry blood, one like Galleons glinting in firelight, and he shivered.

 

Would any of them have cursed Ogiwara outside of a duel?

 

“No.”

 

Kuroko looked up, seeing that his roommates had yet to register his presence, so he cleared his throat.

 

“It wasn’t them,” he said.

 

Still nothing.

 

Kuroko felt a surge of aggravation and pointed his wand at his throat magnifying his voice in the quiet common room.

 

“Hey!”

 

All four Hufflepuffs jumped in their seats, screamed, and then turned to look at Kuroko.

 

“When did you get here?”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“I’ve been sitting here this whole time,” he said as patiently as he could. “I got here an hour ago and we were talking, remember?”

 

“Oh, yeah,” Sakurai said at once. “Sorry, what did you want to say?”

 

“We’re ignoring the obvious suspect,” Kuroko said. “I know we’ve been worried about Akashi this whole time, but I know he and the rest of the Miracles could not have done this.”

 

All of them were ruthless, but he comforted himself with the knowledge that he had never seen any of them engage in a single act of violence outside of a structured duel.

 

They were arrogant and powerful and bored, and that was a dangerous combination, but they weren’t sadists and bullies. They’d been called monsters on the court, but they weren’t the same off it. Kise might have baited Haizaki, but Kuroko forced himself to remember that Haizaki had been bullying Kise for at least a year. If anything, it was the only way Kise could publicly stand up for himself without being known as the kid who got bullied.

 

Midorima’s cruel dismissal of Takao had been just that, a dismissal. When Takao was taken out in the duel, Midorima hadn’t taken it any farther. Aomine was bored, but he’d never taken to toying with his opponents the way Hanamiya did, he just skipped a lot of practice. To the extent Murasakibara had ever hurt anyone, it was with his words, more out of careless childish petulance than maliciousness.

 

And Akashi was just doing what he thought was practical to keep his team together. They had fractured, and he became strong enough to hold them together by the only means he could think of.

 

They weren’t monsters. Not the way other people meant it.

 

Kuroko was sure of that. He had never seen any of them escalate violence, on or off the court.

 

They didn’t want to hurt anyone, they just wanted to win. Kuroko couldn’t imagine a world in which any of them deliberately sought out a student to do them injury.

 

All of this was going to take too long to say so he merely got to his original point.

 

“There is one student in this castle who has cursed and threatened us before,” Kuroko said. “Only one student who has a record of consistently bullying us in particular, and who only a week ago cast another dark curse at Shige.”

 

“Haizaki!” Furihata shouted, his eyes widening with recognition. “You’re right, it had to be him!”

 

“But why would he just curse another student?” Sakurai asked, not sounding wholly convinced.

 

“Maybe he was bored,” Kawahara grumbled. “Maybe he meant to really hurt Ogiwara last time and wanted to finish the job. Why would he bother cursing Ogiwara last week, or Kawahara at the beginning of the year?”

 

“Maybe,” Fukuda said, looking back at Kuroko. “He intended to reach another target.”

 

“What?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Think about it. After class you left to run after Ogiwara, saying he shouldn’t be alone. Ogiwara looked back and made us promise to remember that you’d gone with him. Anyone could have heard it and Haizaki’s been picking on you since day one. We’re pretty sure he was threatening us as a way to indirectly bully you, so… it makes sense.”

 

“But he stopped,” Kuroko said.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because… I think Akashi threatened to report what he was doing.”

 

“And in your opinion, if Haizaki wanted revenge on Akashi, is he stupid enough to go after him personally?”

 

“Of course not.”

 

“What about any of the other Miracles?”

 

“They’d kick his ass.”

 

“Even Kise?”

 

“Yes, and if Kise did get hurt, Haizaki would be expelled for attacking him a second time. Even Haizaki has to know that there is no way that a second injury against the same opponent could not be easily overlooked as an accident.”

 

“Even you?”

 

Kuroko looked around the table, astonished to find that none of his year mates contested the characterization of him as a Miracle.

 

“Haizaki could beat me up without even using his wand,” Kuroko said, certain of that. Haizaki had never needed magic to hurt Kuroko. It might have been a grave insult to a more sensitive wizard, but Kuroko accepted his limitations.

 

Fukuda made a motion that was obviously supposed to make his point self evident.

 

“So… you think he tried to attack me, but got Ogiwara instead. And that he wanted to make a point to Akashi that he doesn’t care what he thinks.”

 

“I think he thinks you’re Akashi’s weak spot.”

 

“Akashi doesn’t have weak spots,” Kuroko said immediately.

 

“Ah, because he’s _absolute_ ,” Kawahara smirked knowingly. “Anyway, it’s that or Haizaki just wanted to fuck up some Hufflepuffs because he threatened us and we ignored him, and then he tried to attack Ogiwara and we stopped him. Maybe it didn’t matter _which_ of us it was, only that he was pissed off.”

 

That sounded more likely than whatever conspiracy Fukuda was hinting at.

 

“Sounds about right,” Furihata said. “So what do we do?”

 

“We should go tell the headmaster!” Fukuda said.

 

“No way, we don’t have any proof! What are we gonna say, Haizaki’s an asshole and we think he hurt our friend because he’s a jerk?” Sakurai asked.

 

“We think he hurt our friend _because he’s done it before,_ idiot,” Fukuda said.

 

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean that he definitely did this time, and nobody ever believes kids,” Furihata said.

 

“Well, you’re a prefect! Why don’t you go and say something anyway! If they don’t believe us – we’ll just have to prove it ourselves!”

 

“I- I don’t know about that,” Furihata said, nervous again.

 

“It’s gonna be fine, the worst that can happen is they won’t believe you and we work together to find more evidence,” Fukuda said encouragingly.

 

“You can do this Furihata!” Kawahara cheered.

 

“Maybe we should wait until the morning? Sorry for interrupting, but we’ve been up all night,” Sakurai said.

 

Kuroko, whose gaze had fallen to the windows of the common room, enchanted to reflect the weather outside even from below the castle, finally spoke up again.

 

“Guys, it _is_ morning.”

 

And it was true – the sun was starting to rise and the sky was a hazy green, soon to lighten.

 

They had indeed been up all night.

 

Kawahara yawned.

 

“We should try and sleep for a bit anyway,” he said. “Sakurai’s right – if we look like we spent all night coming up with crazy conspiracies, nobody will believe us when we say it was Haizaki.”

 

Kuroko agreed with this sentiment. With the adrenaline and shock fading out, he was beginning to realize how tired he was. He felt it deep in his core, the magic he’d used to help get his friend to the hospital wing, the long trek from the corridor where he’d woken up, whatever had happened –

 

Kuroko was tilting forward before he realized he was falling.

 

Thankfully, he almost fell on top of Sakura. His housemates noticed him just in time and managed to catch the Hufflepuff.

 

“Should we call a professor?” Sakurai asked uncertainly, looking at the unconscious student.

 

“Nah, he’s probably just tired,” Furihata said. “Let’s get him back to the dorm and let him sleep.”

 

…

 

It was a quiet, somber group of four Hufflepuffs that headed down to breakfast several hours later.

 

Kuroko had woken briefly, but only long enough to assure his housemates that he was not in need of medical attention, just rest.

 

His housemates acquiesced reluctantly, and headed to breakfast together without him.

 

They walked shoulder to shoulder, as though they were afraid that losing physical contact with each other, even for a moment, might result in losing yet another Hufflepuff.

 

If the eyes of the Hufflepuff fifth years had been mistrustful before, they were downright paranoid and hostile now, even just walking up to breakfast.

 

They stopped together, just inside the doors of the Great Hall, watching the student body with sharp, hawk-like expressions.

 

Kawahara glared with open hostility at the group of Miracles who had walked in before them and were separating to go to their various house tables.

 

Fukuda and Furihata nervously eyed Haizaki as he sat at the Gryffindor table with a satisfied smirk on his face, grabbing a piece of bacon off a shivering first year’s plate.

 

Sakurai appeared more neutral than the others. Still, he carefully watched Hanamiya strut towards the end of the Ravenclaw table with the same natural confidence he always carried around with him.

 

Furihata sighed, his eyes roving the faces of all their fellow students.

 

“At least one of the people in here is an unthinkable monster,” he said, shaking his head. “What do we do about it?”

 

“We work together and find the answer,” Sakurai said, sounding more sure than Furihata. “We find evidence, and we bring it to a teacher who will act on it. We’re not gonna let them get away with it, no matter who it was.”

 

His eyes shifted over to Haizaki, who shoved a third year out of his way to reach for the plate of bacon.

 

“Children.”

 

The four Hufflepuffs turned to see Professor Harasawa standing in the doorway. There were bags under his eyes, but nothing about his tone or posture belied his exhaustion.

 

“Perhaps the four of you should find a seat at your house table?”

 

He suggested this firmly, but not unkindly.

 

“Sorry!” Sakurai shouted, blushing bright red.

 

“No need to apologize.”

 

Behind the professor emerged the headmaster, who removed a bright purple pair of sunglasses and scowled down at the four of them.

 

“Get to breakfast then,” he said.

 

The four immediately turned tail towards their usual end of the table.

 

Breakfast, as it turned out, was not a substantial meal.

 

Sakurai kept knocking over bowls and goblets, shouting apologies so loudly that the seventh years down the table kept wincing.

 

Across from him, Furihata was shaking like a fall leaf in a gale, about to drop.

 

Fukuda looked physically ill, and Kawahara was moodily pushing food around his plate without actually getting any of it into his mouth.

 

Suddenly there was a loud bang as the doors of the Great Hall burst open. Sakurai yelped and Kawahara jumped, trying to avoid the spray of orange juice from the cup he knocked over (again).

 

Twelve wizards and witches stepped through the doors, led by a now familiar figure.

 

Akashi Masaomi looked entirely bored by the situation as he and the rest of the board of governors joined the professors at the head table. They gave off an impression of stillness and calm, though the bags under some of their eyes betrayed them – the board had been woken early as well.

 

The arrival of the board had caused whispers to echo across the Great Hall.

 

The Hufflepuffs looked around to see the reactions of their chosen suspects.

 

Akashi hadn’t even looked up, betraying the fact that he’d already known his father and the others would be coming. Midorima was scowling into his breakfast (not unusual), and Kise and Aomine looked surprised, but not worried. Murasakibara looked as bored as ever.

 

There was no perceptible change in them.

 

Fukuda and Furihata, who had looked immediately to Haizaki, saw a different story.

 

The Gryffindor had turned as white as a sheet.

 

Furihata elbowed Sakurai, nearly sending another cup over as he jerked his head in the direction of the Gryffindor table.

 

Sakurai followed his gaze with narrowed eyes.

 

“What do we do?” he whispered.

 

Furihata’s hand clenched into a fist.

 

“They already know everything we do,” he said. “It’s him, it has to be. They’ll expel him by tonight, that’s why the board is here.”

 

Aida Kagetora stood up at the head the table a few minutes later.

 

“I will be short,” he said gruffly. “As many of you have been informed, the common rooms were placed on lockdown last night. I believe at this point you all have the right to know why; A student was found injured in the school. All we know at this time is that the wards of the castle have not been breached. Today, the Aurors will be coming to conduct an investigation into this event. The board is here to oversee their work, and to examine the situation themselves. I expect your full and unwavering cooperation with both of them. For today, I ask that no student be left to wander around the halls alone. Our Heads of House and Prefects will be working together for your safety, so please comply with their requests as well. That is all.”

 

Every student in the Great Hall seemed to start talking at once.

 

They all seemed to have a strong opinion about who the attackers were, and which student was attacked. Some of the students started looking nervously up and down their house tables, and over between them to see if they could recognize a face that wasn’t there.

 

It didn’t take long for Hufflepuff to realize that their Quidditch star wasn’t at breakfast. The somber looks on the fifth years’ faces did the rest of the explaining none of the Hufflepuffs were insensitive enough to ask them to do.

 

The volume in the hall just grew louder as this information passed between tables.

 

Furihata hid his face in his hands, unsure what to do.

 

“We should go,” Kawahara said definitively. “Come on, we have studying to do.”

 

Studying was literally the last thing on any of their minds, but it did give them all an excuse to return to the relatively unbothered quiet of the common room.

 

It was a thankfully short trip once they escaped the sharp gazes of the student body inside the Great Hall.

 

As they started slowly setting up their study materials at the Hufflepuff table, Furihata sat entirely upright.

 

“Wait,” he said loudly.

 

“What?” Fukuda demanded.

 

“Hold on, there’s – we were supposed to do something else, too-”

 

There was another reason they were meant to be in the common room. Furihata was sure of that when they walked back in together. It was like déjà vu, like a word on the back of his tongue he couldn’t quite catch.

 

There was something else they were meant to do that was very important, but he just couldn’t remember.

 

None of them noticed when Kuroko slipped by them, carrying his bag over one shoulder and making a beeline for the door.

 

…

 

It wasn’t until the following Wednesday that Ogiwara returned to class, if briefly.

 

Kuroko saw him first when he entered their morning Transfiguration block. Ogiwara raised his head hesitantly (as though afraid that raising his eyes above the floor would result in another attack), looked around, and then took the seat he’d been occupying for most of the year, far across the room from Kuroko.

 

Ah.

 

So that’s how it was going to be then.

 

_You’re always going to be my light, for as long as you want to be._

 

How long ago had it been since Kuroko had said those words to his friend? Since the very first night of the Inter-school tournament, since he’d been named Champion. It felt like decades ago, even if it had only been a little more than a year.

 

Everything had changed in the past year. They’d grown so far apart that Ogiwara’s light could no longer reach his former moon. Larger, brighter suns had stolen Kuroko away  before discarding him with along with their humanity, leaving Kuroko alone in the shadows.

 

Okay, maybe that wasn’t a perfect metaphor, but the point stood.

 

Kuroko couldn’t blame the other boy for the choice he had made. Not at all. It was very likely that whoever had attacked Ogiwara had done so because of Kuroko. He probably had decided he was better off without the attachment of such a dangerous friend.

 

Ogiwara wasn’t at lunch. Kuroko overheard two Hufflepuffs saying that he was packing.

Apparently his parents had come to Hogwarts to speak to Ogiwara, arriving directly after Transfiguration. Ogiwara was going home, probably transferring out of the school. He’d be leaving that night.

 

Word had gotten out that someone had attacked the fifth year. The general consensus of all the students at the Hufflepuff table was that Ogiwara’s departure was for the best, and that they hoped whoever had hurt the boy would be caught soon. Talk soon turned to who, if anyone, would be the attacker’s next victim.

 

Kuroko felt his appetite evaporate.

 

He pushed away from the table, no longer hungry. He felt the burning need to escape as fast as possible, to run until he’d left the events of the last week far behind him.

 

He was already in the Entrance Hall when he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned immediately.

 

“Tetsu-kun.”

 

Kuroko didn’t think he’d ever seen Momoi looking quite this distraught. Her face was blotchy and red, and she was hunched over the collection of books in her arms as though she hoped she could hide behind it.

 

“I need to talk to you.”

 

“Okay,” Kuroko consented, allowing Momoi to pull him up the grand staircase and into an empty classroom.

 

Once Momoi had sealed the door behind them, she turned to the Hufflepuff, her eyes bright with tears.

 

“Why did you stop coming to practice?” she demanded.

 

“Because they don’t need me anymore,” Kuroko said blankly, calmly. “With the kind of team Akashi wants to form, having a duelist whose fundamental strength rests in being able to connect the other players and work with them is futile. His vision of a team of titans too strong for any team to face doesn’t involve teamwork.”

 

Momoi’s eyes narrowed, but she didn’t disagree.

 

“Tetsu,” she whispered. “Are you quitting dueling?”

 

“I don’t want to duel with them anymore,” Kuroko said, surprising himself with how true the words were. “Not the way they are now.”

 

“But we could help them-”

 

“Momoi, you will always be my friend, but I can’t ignore the way that they’ve treated everyone this year.”

 

“So you’re just giving up!”

 

“I am picking my fights,” Kuroko corrected her gently. “There’s nothing I can do, not anymore.”

 

“And what about me?” Momoi demanded, her voice raising and waivering. “What about the promise you made me, what about that? You told me you would make sure nothing happened to them, and you _lied!_ Tetsu, I never thought you would just give up on them, I thought if anyone could save them it would be you and you _promised!_ How am I supposed to just lose two of my best friends in the same week and just ignore that?”

 

Tears were streaming down her face, and Kuroko reached out his arms, automatically hugging the girl, knowing the physical contact would make her calm down.

 

“I did everything I could, but they believe they’re too strong to listen to anyone weaker than them,” Kuroko said when she’d stopped shaking. “I know you’ve been friends with Aomine for a long time, and I know you want to help them however you can. If you find a way, I will help you as best I can, but I cannot compete on this kind of team.”

 

“I know,” Momoi whispered into his shirt. “You’ve always been the best of us.”

 

“Now you’re the one lying,” Kuroko said blankly, patting her head. “Are you alright?”

 

Momoi sniffed and nodded hesitantly.

 

“Thank you,” she said.

 

She raised her hand and the wards on the door fell. Kuroko pulled it open and vanished behind it.

 

That night, he made his decision.

 

Kuroko wrote his letter of resignation from the team. It was simple, quick, and brutally to the point.

 

_To the attention of the captain,_

 

_I resign from the dueling club, effective immediately. I apologize for any inconvenience._

 

_Kuroko Tetsuya._

 

He’d hesitated over the greeting, pen hovering over the paper in indecision, but in the end he couldn’t even bear to write Akashi’s name down on the parchment, not with the sight of Momoi’s tears so fresh in his memory.

 

He took it with him, drying the ink with a quick spell, and rolled it up as he left the common room.

 

On his way out, Kuroko passed Ogiwara standing by an adult witch and wizard he assumed were his former best friend’s parents. Ogiwara turned his head, catching Kuroko’s eye. Kuroko paused, wondering if he would say anything. However, any hope that had risen in his chest was immediately crushed.

 

The other boy blushed and looked down again, his eyes turning away.

 

Kuroko wanted to know why he hadn’t told the teachers who had cursed him, if he remembered anything from that night at all, but he couldn’t say anything. He wanted to apologize for not being able to remember, or not being able to defend Ogiwara well enough to protect him from whatever had happened. He never got the chance.

 

Obviously Ogiwara either remembered who attacked him and was too terrified to say anything, or he’d come to the same conclusion as the rest of the fifth year Hufflepuffs - that Ogiwara had been attacked because of Kuroko.

 

Either way, that was the other boy’s business, as was Ogiwara’s choice to leave the school. Kuroko could only make decisions for himself. He wouldn’t force his association on Ogiwara, especially since his friendship had brought the other boy nothing but pain.

 

He could no longer do anything about Ogiwara, nor could he aid in finding whoever attacked the boy, but he could make the right decision about the Generation of Miracles. In that regard Kuroko felt like his mind was clearer than ever. Even though he was scared to make the decision, he knew exactly what he needed to do.

 

Walking towards the practice room felt like walking to his death.

 

After all there was a good reason Kuroko had put off tendering a formal resignation to the club for so long.

 

Kuroko didn’t want a confrontation. He wouldn’t win it. Even a verbal sparring match with Akashi would probably result in the other boy convincing Kuroko to stay, and that everything was perfectly fine. More than anything, Kuroko didn’t want that.

 

Outside the door of the practice room, he paused.

 

There could be ramifications for what he was going to do.

 

He’d be losing the only five people he’d been able to talk to for a while. His only friends for a long time.

 

But even those friendships had frayed.

 

He’d lost the five members of the Generation of Miracles to their own talents and egos.

 

They didn’t need him anymore.

 

But more importantly, right now, he didn’t _want_ them to need him. They were going down a road that terrified him, and there was nothing he could do to pull them back.

 

All he could do was get the hell out of their way.

 

He took a deep breath to brace himself and walked into practice.

 

None of the Miracles noticed him.

 

Kuroko exhaled in relief. Obscurity. Sweet, sweet invisibility. It was the only strength that had given him even a snowball’s chance in hell of standing in the same arena with such powerful giants and fighting by their sides. And now, it was his protection from them.

 

He considered bringing himself to Akashi’s attention. Perhaps Aomine’s. Part of him knew they deserved to hear this in person.

 

And then he remembered how his “team” had mercilessly and deliberately torn down their opponents – many of whom were Kuroko’s friends - in order to prove that they were without equal. How they had been willing to destroy their friendships and relationships to get what they wanted.

 

They deserved nothing. He owed them nothing.

 

Kuroko left the letter of resignation on top of Akashi’s bag, and left, as silently as he had entered.

 

His heart ached.

 

He had no doubt that this was the right thing to do. He’d wanted more than anything to save them, but there was no way to do that by staying, that much Kuroko knew for sure.

 

Like the Phantom he’d been nicknamed, Kuroko vanished from the Generation of Miracles.

 

…

 

Kuroko had been somewhat afraid that his formal resignation from the dueling club would spark a reaction. Given Akashi’s reaction when Kuroko had threatened to quit the club at the beginning of the year, it wasn’t entirely irrational to assume that he might do something drastic to bring Kuroko into line should he attempt to buck Akashi’s absolute authority once again.

 

As it turned out, that fear was baseless.

 

Akashi did nothing. He said nothing. He made no attempt to reach out to Kuroko, or even acknowledge the Hufflepuff’s departure from the dueling club. Nor did any of the other members of the Generation of Miracles. Even Aomine, Kuroko’s supposed light, seemed to have nothing to say and no desire to have any interaction with him.

 

None of them so much as glanced in his direction, not even in the classes that they shared together.

 

Well then.

 

Kuroko was alone, but he preferred the silence. Even if it was lonely, it was better than being used, or being the reason other people got hurt.

 

He should have left them a long time ago.

 

He never should have let his friends and housemates try and put themselves in danger. He’d made that mistake twice, and he wasn’t going to let it happen again. Haizaki had known that Kuroko valued his friends, and had used them against him to try and force Kuroko to bow to his whims. When Kuroko refused, he’d gone after them and physically attacked them.

 

Better that none of them could see him in the first place.

 

It was better this way.

 

Kuroko wrapped himself up in the magical shields that had kept him from being easily noticed all his life, and reinforced them to the point of almost true invisibility. He went entirely unnoticed wherever he went – in class, in the library, walking in the corridors, no matter where he went, he maintained his anonymity.

 

His invisiblity was shattered only for a few seconds each class, as roll was called. And then as soon as the Professor had called Kuroko’s name, he would move on, and the world would forget he was there at all.

 

The quiet that had surrounded his life once the Miracles had left him behind had prepared him at least a little for this forcible exile from social interaction. He spent a lot of time wondering if he had  mastered this before, could he have prevented what had happened to the Generation of Miracles and to Ogiwara? He wondered if he’d been stronger, more astute, maybe he could have come to his best friend’s aid in time to actually help him, instead of only being of enough use to get him to the Hospital Wing.

 

Perhaps if he had been stronger, Haizaki would not have been able to so readily target them.

Kuroko wondered if somehow his intervention could have stalled the Generation of Miracle’s dissent into whatever insanity was gripping them now. If there was anything he could have said or done to pull them back towards the people they had once been.

 

He ignored the painful twinge in his heart every time he let that thought cross his mind. He would give anything – his life, his magic, the world, whatever – to have the friendship they had once shared returned to them. With that unattainable dream so far out of reach, he had to face reality.

 

And this reality, the nightmare that Kuroko lived every second of his life, was that his friends hated dueling, maybe magic in general, and were being driven mad by the strength of their own power. This reality was that Kuroko’s best friend had been attacked with dark magic, and that there was a student wandering around the castle, successfully avoiding detection, who had hurt him.

 

It burned to know that the culprit had succeeded.

 

But the anger faded. It had burned, bright and pure and was the first real emotion Kuroko had known in a long time, but he simply didn’t have the energy or mental space for that level of reaction anymore.

 

His need for revenge dulled and faded, like a rusted knife. It felt empty and hollow, like an echo in a long canyon. It felt as if the emptiness might reach out and swallow him whole.

 

Kuroko thought maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad outcome either.

 

…

 

Their O.W.L exams came in a flurry of stress and complaints from the student body as a whole.

 

Kuroko, who had nothing but time to himself to revise, was less concerned than most of his classmates. In fact, he spent almost all his free time in the library now, or holed up surrounded by his notes in the common room. He didn’t feel ready to face his dorm mates again, knowing that he had been the reason Ogiwara left Hogwarts. Studying kept the guilt and loneliness at bay, and so he studied like a man possessed.

 

At mealtimes, he sat alone, face buried in a textbook, going over his highlighted portions.

Honestly, it wasn’t that much different than many other fifth years. The students at the Ravenclaw table – and many Slytherins as well – were practically running themselves into the ground to get through exams.

 

Kuroko heard rumors that some muggleborn students were having their parents send them energy drinks and caffeine pills, which they were using to mix in with their coffee to stay awake longer. The bolder students, muggleborn and otherwise, were trying their hand at making potions that would keep them awake for days on end. More than one overly ambitious Ravenclaw and four Gryffindors ended up in the hospital wing after one very seriously miscalculated attempt at such a potion. That disaster resulted in a schoolwide announcement that there was a list of acceptable potions and herbs that could be used in studying, and any students caught using substances not on the list would face serious punishment.

 

If any similar incidents occurred among the Slytherin students they either had the ambition to ensure that they accomplished their goals without resulting harm, or had the sense to keep any problems to themselves to avoid any trouble.

 

For Kuroko, the exams breezed by in a haze of repetitious questions, exhaustion, and contentment at the silence around him. He was sure it would take weeks to get the smell of parchment out of his nose, and his hands seemed permanently stained with ink, but finally, the exams were over.

 

“How did it go?” Kiyoshi demanded of Kuroko, the night after the last exam.

 

Kuroko looked up in alarm. He’d been reading by the fire. Nobody else was in his immediate area – most were in the main part of the common room, having an impromptu party. The seventh years were sitting in a circle, taking shots of – Kuroko looked away, not wanting to know and thus become complicit in their mischief– and his gaze fell on the sixth year prefect who had jumped over the back of the couch Kuroko had been sitting on to land next to him.

 

Kuroko was surprised, mostly because it had been approximately three weeks since anyone who wasn’t a teacher had willingly spoken to him. To be honest, Kuroko hadn’t really talked to Kiyoshi since before the last time the Generation of Miracles had dueled him, and had all but assumed that after Ogiwara had left, the older boy wanted nothing to do with him.

 

“The exams were okay,” Kuroko said, as an alternative to voicing his surprise.

 

“Are you pleased with the work you put in?” Kiyoshi asked.

 

Kuroko nodded, though his face remained expressionless.

 

“I’m sorry I haven’t been around as much as I should have been,” Kiyoshi said quietly. “I wanted to come say hi after I got back from the hospital, but I only got back just in time to get up to speed revising for exams. Lucky, huh?”

 

Kuroko tilted his head to the side in confusion. His expression didn’t change, but worry and panic lanced through his heart. He knew Murasakibara had all but brutalized the sixth year. Had the Generation of Miracles succeeded in actually putting another friend of Kuroko’s in the hospital?

 

But Kiyoshi waved his hand like it was nothing.

 

“Just some complications,” he said with a smile, and Kuroko felt a bitter sting of relief that at least his former friends had not also been responsible for this hurt. “Junpei was angry at me, but it happens, so there you go. It was an accident, nothing more. I pushed myself harder than I needed to, and I’ll need to rest my magical core for a while before I can get back into dueling. I guess I was just too excited to get back on the field with everyone!”

 

He smiled and rubbed the back of his head self consciously, and Kuroko thought he could understand that sentiment.

 

“You haven’t fully recovered from Hanamiya’s spell,” Kuroko said.

 

“Oh, I’m fine,” Kiyoshi said brightly.

 

Kuroko seriously doubted that, but held his tongue. He had no doubt that Hanamiya had deliberately injured Kiyoshi, even if he couldn’t prove it. Furthermore, Teppei’s smile didn’t seem to reach his eyes when he’d said that last bit about being fine, and Kuroko was almost as sure that Kiyoshi knew it too.

 

It seemed like there were a lot of people hiding secrets in Hufflepuff lately.

 

But it just wasn’t in Kiyoshi’s nature to hate or hold grudges. Kuroko envied that a little, because his heart right now was full of so much anger and hate he thought he could burst. Kiyoshi seemed willing to let old blood dry and flake away, but Kuroko couldn’t – wouldn’t, refused to, was offended by even the possibility of doing so.

 

He felt hurt, he felt betrayed, but most of all he was just plain goddamn angry, and he wanted to smash Akashi into pieces.

 

Somehow Akashi had changed, and he’d taken the rest of the Generation of Miracles with him.

They were making a huge fucking mistake, and while Kuroko had genuinely liked the students he’d competed with last year, those students were entirely gone.

 

Kuroko wondered if this silence imposed by the Generation of Miracles was meant to convince him to come crawling back to them begging to be allowed to compete with them once again. If so, Akashi and all the others could wait until the sun burned out and the stars faded because Kuroko had no interest competing with people whose vision was so narrow they couldn’t see a world beyond themselves.

 

More likely, they just didn’t care.

 

That thought left Kuroko feeling emptier than ever, and he clenched his hand into a fist.

 

“I need to take a walk,” he said quietly.

 

“Do you want company?” Kiyoshi asked.

 

Kuroko looked up, his face blank.

 

“I will be fine,” he said.

 

“I suppose you will,” Kiyoshi responded with a broad smile, reaching out to ruffle Kuroko’s hair.

 

“Watch your back, will you?”

 

He loped off to go join the seventh years across the room, and Kuroko slipped out of the common room into the dimly lit passageway beyond.

 

He needed to move. He felt restless, like there was somewhere else he _needed_ to be, right this second, but he didn’t know where or why that was.

 

Kuroko started to walk, wandering aimlessly in the halls. With no attacks since the one on Ogiwara, the school had somewhat relaxed their patrols in the corridors, not that Kuroko was in any danger of being spotted.

 

He found himself, after quite some time, in the Astronomy Tower.

 

As Kuroko walked towards the open archway leading to the wide turret, he noticed something important.

 

He wasn’t alone.

 

The figure was framed against the full moon. From behind, with the light against him, Kuroko couldn’t tell who it was.

 

They were standing still, leaning out over the parapet and surveying the night.

 

The air was thick with humidity, but there was a chilly wind beginning to blow in. The dusty and earthy smell of coming rain filled Kuroko’s nostrils, but he stayed, his curiosity driving him onwards.

 

He walked forward, his feet noiseless on the stone, until he was only a few feet behind the other student. From here, Kuroko could see the Gryffindor tie poking out from the back of his collar. The boy wasn’t wearing robes, but he was still in school slacks, the sleeves of his white collared shirt rolled up to his elbows.

 

Beyond that, all the details of the figure were obscured in shadow.

 

The sky darkened as a thick grouping of clouds drew closer to the moon. Kuroko watched dispassionately as the moon disappeared behind the clouds.

 

Down below, the wind rustled gently against the surface of the lake.

 

There was a real storm on the way.

 

The shadow was still there.

 

Whoever it was, they weren’t moving. They were just standing there, leaning over the parapets of the castle.

 

Kuroko took another step forward.

 

A loud sniff made him pause, as the boy turned his head to the side, and Kuroko finally recognized him.

 

“You never could sneak up on me,” Takao said, his voice sounding just as dull and lifeless as Kuroko’s. “What do you want?”

 

Kuroko stayed silent. He didn’t have an answer for that, not one he could or wanted to share.

 

He wanted Ogiwara back. He wanted his friends, unhurt and unbent by tragedy. He wanted his team, strong and vibrant and happy as they had once been. He wanted to be carefree, running through the castle causing mischief with Ogiwara and Momoi.

 

He wanted to turn back everything and start over, rip the last year of his life out of his soul and try again, do better, make fewer mistakes, save all of them…

 

But even that desire was muted and lacked any kind of vibrance or heat. Kuroko didn’t really want anything anymore, except maybe to be left alone.

 

Takao laughed mirthlessly.

 

“I thought so,” he murmured. “What are you doing here?”

 

“I was walking,” Kuroko said blankly. He thought it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t up in the tower for any particular reason, given that classes were over and both of them had nowhere they needed to be but in bed.

 

“You were walking,” Takao repeated, and then he laughed again, that cold laugh devoid of any humor. “Of course you were.”

 

Kuroko had no idea what that was supposed to mean.

 

“You know, I thought you were just as bad as them for a long time, but they did an even worse job on you than me, didn’t they.”

 

Kuroko had no idea what that meant, either. Devoid of context, Takao seemed to be rambling about nothing.

 

“But then you might be the only other person who knows what it’s like to be left behind by the people you care about.”

 

Kuroko didn’t answer, but he didn’t think he was expected to. Takao seemed perfectly happy to continue his one-way conversation.

 

“You know, you’re right,” Takao said, sounding more cheerful for the first time in the conversation.

 

“Maybe it is better to disappear.”

 

Above them, the sky flashed with lightning, cutting through the cloudy night and turning it into bright electric day for a fraction of a second.

 

Less than a second later, the booming crack of thunder sounded. The skies opened up and the rain started to pour.

 

Kuroko stood there in silence, dispassionately looking out at the grounds as the rain continued to relentlessly come down in thick heavy sheets of water, as though someone was repeatedly emptying buckets over the entire castle. Within seconds, both boys were drenched to the skin.

 

There was another crack of thunder. Takao flinched. Kuroko did not.

 

“It’s better this way.”

 

With the pounding rain and the wind rising, Kuroko almost didn’t hear the quiet words as they left Takao’s lips.

 

Without warning and without preamble, the Gryffindor fell forwards. As Kuroko watched, he kept going and going, until he was leaning too far over the parapet. His legs lifted off the floor, and Takao completely vanished from sight.

 

Kuroko blinked once before turning back into the castle to escape the rain.

 

…

**END ARC ONE**

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, holy shit. I have officially closed the word document for this arc, and I've been hard at work building up Arc II. I probably won't start posting anything until I have a good 5-6 completed chapters, so I will see all of you back here no later than mid-August. My current plan is to skip two thursday updates, and be back in three weeks so that I can start posting chapters before my new semester at law school starts *screams into the void*
> 
> Come say hi [at my tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) if you get lonely in the meantime. Otherwise, I will see all of you lovely ducklings in a few weeks! <3


	20. Kuroko Goes on A Magical Cruise

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA Kuroko is here to fuck up JKR’s terrible understanding of North American magic  
> AKA KAGAMI FINALLY SHOWS UP ARE YOU PEOPLE HAPPY

**ARC II: A NIGHT WITH NO MOON**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

 

**End of fifth year:**

 

_The late afternoon sunlight was orange as it streamed in through the classroom windows._

 

_The converted classroom that had served as a practice room for the Generation of Miracles all year was quiet as the five wizards faced each other in the center._

 

_Tonight was their last night at Hogwarts as fifth year students._

 

_“We know already that there are none who can challenge us on our level, not now,” Akashi started. His voice was gentle, soft as the gentle breeze outside._

 

_“We have, in our own way, already turned to each other to find the competition that we all crave,” Akashi continued. “But there is a limit to how much we can challenge each other as teammates.”_

 

_“What are you saying, Akashicchi?” Kise asked, looking confused._

 

_“He means we’re not competing together next year, dumbass,” Aomine said. Kise frowned._

 

_“But-”_

 

_His objection was contained by a single look from the former captain of the Generation of Miracles. Once Kise had stopped talking, Akashi turned to the Miracle standing to his right._

 

_“Shintarou?”_

 

_“I have already spoken to Ootsobu,” Midorima said, knowing what Akashi wanted from him at once. He tried not to be annoyed that Akashi had known (had expected) that Midorima had already planned on leaving the Generation of Miracles. After all, almost as certainly as Midorima had seen Akashi’s plans in the future, Akashi had known that Midorima would know._

 

_“His team performed admirably last year,” Akashi said lightly. There was no judgement or approval in his voice, just neutral commentary on their success._

 

_“Not well enough.”_

 

_Ootsobu had left the Gryffindor Quidditch team to take on the captaincy of his now graduated older brother’s team, surrounded by almost exactly the same combination of duelists, at least for now. Midorima had secured his spot on that team a month before, having been bright enough to see the writing on the wall even without using his extraordinary ability to see the future._

 

_“I’d be disappointed if you felt otherwise,” Akashi said. “They will support you to a strong victory.”_

 

_His eyes shifted to Aomine, the next in the circle. Aomine was staring back, clearly not having intended to switch teams until after Akashi had mentioned it, not that he would admit it. Luckily, Akashi gave him the direction he needed._

 

_“You will speak to Shouchi before the year ends.”_

 

_Aomine yelped._

 

_“Imayoshi? Really? Come on!"_

 

_“Are you going to argue with me about it?”_

 

_Aomine glared at the Slytherin, eyes burning with more passion than any of them had seen him display in quite awhile._

 

_“Fine,” he growled._

 

_Akashi smiled and moved on to Kise. Before he had the chance to ask the blonde what team he intended to join (or pass on an order Kise would refuse to accept), Kise straightened, his eyes burning with challenge._

 

_“I’m going to join Kasamatsucchi’s team.”_

 

_Akashi didn’t comment on this, and his gaze moved on._

 

_Kise’s hand clenched into a fist at his side. Akashi was underestimating him again. Underestimating him and Kasamatsu and all of the strong duelists that the Gryffindor had drawn to him. Kise was going to prove him wrong if it was the last thing he did._

 

_Kise had always been full of light and fire, had always been ready for a fight – even if he more often than not was on the losing end of that fight against his teammates._

 

_But this was one he intended to win._

 

_Akashi had turned to the last of the five, the Miracle on his immediate left._

 

_“Atsushi.”_

 

_Murasakibara didn’t bother groaning or arguing with his captain. He waited for Akashi to lay down his sentence._

 

_“Araki Masako is still collecting for her team, isn’t she?” Akashi asked, already knowing the answer. “”You will get along with her. You will also speak to her before you leave for the summer.”_

 

_“Fine,” Murasakibara agreed._

 

_“Good,” Akashi smiled broadly. “Next year should be quite the interesting tournament, don’t you all think? I will be looking forward to it all summer.”_

 

_None of them had to ask whose team Akashi planned on joining. The answer was obvious._

 

_Akashi would never join someone else’s team; he would be forming his own, from scratch. Perhaps the better question would be who would be joining their captain._

 

_Akashi made to leave, but Murasakibara called out to him before he had moved so much as a step away from the circle of young wizards._

 

_“What about Kuro-chin?”_

 

_Akashi smiled faintly._

 

_“He will join our game as well,” he said. “Though I don’t believe he’s made the decision yet. If there is anything I have learned to trust about Tetsuya, it is his unwavering stubbornness.”_

 

_“Aka-chin, are you being stupid on purpose to prove a point again?”_

 

_Akashi looked up at the other Slytherin innocently._

 

_“I don’t know what you mean.”_

 

_Murasakibara rolled his eyes. He looked from Aomine to Midorima to Kise, and then back to Akashi._

 

_“You’re going to make me go through the effort of saying it?” Murasakibara whined. “It’s already bothersome enough as it is.”_

 

_Akashi’s gold eye glinted dangerously in the dying light of the sun, but he didn’t say anything._

 

_Murasakibara huffed, looking like he was struggling to find the words he needed. In the end, it was Kise who spoke up, saving Murasakibara the trouble._

 

_“You mean what are we going to do about the fact that we’re all in love with Kurokocchi?”_

 

_The temperature in the room seemed to plummet. The pleasant smile didn’t drop from Akashi’s face as he spoke. When he did, his voice was so neutral and gentle that his surprise could almost be mistaken for being genuine. Almost, anyway._

 

_“All of us, really?”_

 

_Aomine snorted._

 

_“Keep dreaming asswipes, none of you even have a shot.”_

 

_Kise glared at Aomine, who folded his arms defensively over his chest._

 

_“I’m his_ light _moron. And the only one who can beat me is me!”_

 

_“Correction,” Akashi said thoughtfully. “You_ were _his light.”_

 

_Kise grinned at what he perceived to be support, and went in for the kill._

 

_“Maybe at the beginning of the year there wasn’t a chance for any of the rest of us, but you didn’t see Kurokocchi’s face every time you ditched practice. You broke his heart, I’m pretty sure you’re not his light anymore.”_

 

_“Hey, screw you!”_

 

_“_ Super _creative, did you come up with that all by yourself? Because-”_

 

_Whatever Kise wanted to add onto his insult, he was interrupted by a giant hand physically separating him from Aomine._

 

_“Your bickering is boring,” Murasakibara sighed. “Kuro-chin liked dueling with you Mine-chin, that’s it._ _Ki-chin, all you do is smother him. It’s irritating. You both try so hard when you know you don’t even have a chance.”_

 

_“Murasakibaracchi-!”_

 

_“In the court, in Kuro-chin’s heart, whatever. I don’t understand why you keep struggling against the fact that you’ll never beat me.”_

 

_“That’s enough,” Akashi said, when Aomine looked like he was ready to turn this into an all too_ _physical brawl._

 

_“Oi, Akashi, you gonna stand here and say you like Tetsu too now?”_

 

_Akashi’s smile was positively serene._

 

_“Daiki, I_ made _him,” he said softly. “I saw his potential and pulled him under our wing and shaped the development of his extraordinary gifts so that he could become a formidable duelist, under the right conditions. He’s forgotten that, but he will remember. I’m the first one who really_ saw _him not just for his insufficiencies, but for his potential. Whatever else Tetsuya is, first and foremost he is_ mine.”

 

_Kise frowned at that, but there was no further argument._

 

_Midorima pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, his scowl deepening considerably._

 

_“Is that all you wanted to say?” he asked. “Standing here is a waste of time, and so is this useless conversation.”_

 

_“Of course,” Akashi said magnanimously. “I just wanted to remind you all of what is at stake here. The next time we meet, it will be as enemies.”_

 

_“I look forward to it,” Aomine said, smiling viciously. His teeth glinted dangerously in the dying light of day. It seemed that the fight with Kise and Murasakibara had riled him up and he was ready to prove his unquestionable superiority._

 

_“I’ll beat you for sure this time!” Kise shouted._

 

_Aomine scoffed and rolled his eyes._

 

_“Put your magic where your mouth is why don’t you,” he said, looking annoyed. “The only one who can beat me is me.”_

 

_“And I’ll crush all of you,” Murasakibara said, sounding even more annoyed that Aomine, if that was possible._

 

_The three of them left. Midorima wasn’t far behind when Akashi called him back._

 

_“Shintarou.”_

 

_Midorima stopped._

 

_“I noticed your lack of contribution to the conversation a moment ago. It was quite telling.”_

 

_There was a long pause in which Midorima tried to work out exactly what Akashi was trying to get at. In the end, he decided directness would be the path of least resistance, and turned around to face his now former captain._

 

_“And what did it tell you?”_

 

_“That you are as loathe to speak about your feelings about Tetsuya as you are to share how you_ _feel about anything.”_

 

_Midorima huffed out a single, contemptuous laugh._

 

_“Why,” he asked plainly, “must I continually remind you all that I am literally prescient?”_

 

_Akashi’s smile widened. Too late, Midorima allowed himself to see the trap this short conversation had led him into._

 

_For all his prescience, he was still three steps behind Akashi when it came to his brand of verbal sparring._

 

_“So you know who will win our contest.”_

 

_Midorima nodded stiffly._

 

_“I have seen this future play out in several different ways, and I do not believe entering that fray will be of any benefit to me.”_

 

_“I see.”_

 

_“Wherever my… affections… may or may not rest,” Midorima said, spitting out the word “affection” like it was something dirty to avoid speaking of at all costs, “I do not believe it would be a compatible match, nor a worthwhile use of my time. There is only one competition I fully intend to win next year.”_

 

_“Perhaps,” Akashi said mildly. “But I disagree with you about one thing. I think you underrate how well you and Tetsuya might fit together. After all, you both value the strength it takes to do whatever you are able to in order to reach your goals.”_

 

_Midorima sighed, but didn’t dignify this with a response._

 

_“Who is it?”_

 

_“Excuse me?”_

 

_“In the end, who do you see winning Tetsuya?”_

 

_Midorima didn’t bother answering the question, the scowl still fixed firmly on his face._

_“I see,” Akashi said after a few moments. “So are you angry because of the outcome you have seen, or is there something else bothering you?”_

 

_“Have a good summer, Akashi,” Midorima said, turning away from his captain. “I will see you in the fall.”_

 

_Akashi chuckled as Midorima left. He was relatively certain that his Ravenclaw friend was more than just jealous over the (obviously sure) outcome of their coming contest. There had to be something else troubling him, but the world would have to be literally ending for Midorima Shintarou to bend his pride enough to ask for help._

_Akashi would just have to make himself available in the event that Midorima did want to speak to him._

 

_“Farewell for now, Shintarou,” he replied mildly._

 

_Akashi had seen the confirmation of what he really wanted to know in Midorima’s eyes when the other boy had been turning away anyway. Akashi would win this contest as he had every other. He was_ absolute _, and his victory was assured. Whatever else might be coming, Akashi would come out on top, of that he was certain._

 

_…_

 

The boy with the pale blue tuft of hair was difficult to follow as he shifted between travelers crowding around the baggage claim in the airport. His unusual coloring should have made him stand out, but he received even less attention than an ordinary child travelling alone normally would.

 

Kuroko moved through the packed airport with ease. He was used to being an invisible traffic hazard in crowded situations, but his size and observational skills allowed him to stay out of the way of any major accidents. He shifted between the gaps in the bustling crowd, unnoticed among the throngs of people.

 

Muggles, Kuroko thought, looking around at the airport, were really quite ingenious in their designs.

 

His parents had put him onto a plane in London about nine hours and an entire ocean ago. Kuroko had travelled by muggle means before, on the few occasions when his parents took him with them when they travelled. When it came to such huge international distances, Portkeys and Floo networks became unreliable, and Apparation was dangerous. There was more than just the potential to end up somewhere hundreds of miles away from one’s intended destination; young wizards and witches travelling by such means could destabilize their still developing magical cores, and cause lasting injury to their development.

 

Planes, all told, were a much safer and more dependable way of getting halfway around the world. Not to mention how much simpler they were. Magic that allowed far reaching international travel required quite a bit of power to maintain and tended to be subject to

strict control and regulations.

 

So after severely reminding Kuroko not to even think about doing any magic on the plane, Kuroko’s parents had left him to board and travel to his destination alone.

 

The first few weeks of summer had passed quietly. Kuroko had returned home and shut himself in his room.

 

He wrote to Ogiwara every day, but every time he sent out his family owl, it would return with the letter unopened.

 

Every rejection closed Kuroko off more and more.

 

Ogiwara hated him. Had left Hogwarts without so much as saying a word. His attacker had never been named or caught and Kuroko found himself sinking more and more into the emotionless state Akashi had helped him cultivate.

 

It was a convenient way to hide himself away from the storm of uncontrollable guilt and anger that scared him so intently.

 

He would have been happy to spend the entire summer on his own, but his grandmother had noticed the change in Kuroko, and was hardly about to let that happen. Two days into the summer she confronted him.

 

_“What happened.”_

 

_Kuroko felt his throat close up._

 

_He couldn’t. He was still trying to come to terms with what he knew had happened. He wasn’t ready to share that with anyone, let alone his grandmother who would only show him pity._

 

_“Nothing,” he said quietly. “Nothing happened.”_

 

_“I see,” his grandmother replied dryly. “And I suppose this ‘nothing’ is completely unrelated to those six miracles of yours?”_

 

_Once upon a time, Kuroko might have flinched at that tone of voice and blushed at having been caught in the deception. Instead he just met his grandmother’s eyes with that blank stare of his._

 

_“You’ve always been quiet, but don’t think I haven’t noticed how worse it has gotten,” his grandmother continued sagely. “I’ve never thought much of Masaomi’s parenting, and it’s showing itself in an ugly way now.”_

 

_Kuroko couldn’t respond to that, not without giving away something he really didn’t want to. He remembered last Christmas, when his grandmother had threatened to go right over to the Akashi household and give their patriarch and heir a piece of her mind._

 

_He hadn’t doubted then that his grandmother’s fierce protectiveness would cause her to do just that. Kuroko still had no doubt that that was the case._

 

She must have talked with his parents, because less than a week later, his mother had given Kuroko an ultimatum over breakfast.

 

_“You’re sending me to America?”_

 

_Kuroko didn’t much care one way or the other. Between being lonely in Wales and being lonely in America, he didn’t see much of a difference. He accepted this as soon as his mother told him her plan. From her expression, she had definitely expected more of an argument over sending him to another country, and was worried about the fact that her sixteen year old son had nothing to say about being suddenly uprooted._

 

_“Just for a month,” she explained. “It will be good preparation for you to decide whether you really do want to take an apprenticeship. And since you’ll be doing a little bit of everything, you will get a good feel for what you want to do.”_

 

_At the moment Kuroko felt like he didn’t want to do anything other than stay in his room away from the general population of the world, but that was obviously something that was going to be weighed in this consideration. At least in an apprenticeship, he would likely be kept busy and moving, and maybe that would free him from spending all his time fighting to remember anything that could help identify Ogiwara’s attacker._

 

_He resolved himself to spending his last month of freedom in a weird country with strange people and worse food._

 

_At least he would be far away from the Generation of Miracles and Hogwarts and everything else that was causing him so much frustration and pain right now._

 

_Perhaps a month without constant bothering from Kuroko might make Ogiwara more willing to speak to him when Kuroko returned._

 

_Maybe it would be good._

 

_Yeah, right._

 

_Kuroko was sure that this was going to suck._

 

It was late, but when Kuroko stepped out into the night, the air around him was still warm. The oppressive humidity of Wales had been replaced by the dry heat of Los Angeles. Kuroko hadn’t realized what a boon that would be until he was actually physically experiencing it for himself.

 

It made sense. After all, Los Angeles was technically a desert.

 

Kuroko’s parents had given him instructions for getting to the apartment he would stay at for the month and a half he would be spending in America. Their friend here in the States had made the arrangements for them, and passed on the information.

 

Kuroko would not be meeting this friend until tomorrow. For tonight, all he had to do was get to his new apartment.

 

After trying and failing for several minutes to hail a cab, Kuroko admitted that his misdirection was defeating him. He gently tapped one of the security guards at the airport on the shoulder, and explained that the cabs were driving by without seeing him.

 

After getting over his fright, the guard hailed him a cab and told him to travel safely.

 

He was tired – after travelling for over eight hours, he was ready to go to sleep.

 

“You sure you wanna be in West Hollywood around this time?” The cab driver asked. “There’s a lot of strange folk around that area no matter the time of day.”

 

Strange folk, huh.

 

“The kind of folk who run around dressed all funny in the middle of the afternoon, and they’re always up to something weird,” the cabbie added. “What are you doing out here in LA anyway?”

 

“I’m a student,” Kuroko said.

 

The cabbie prattled on as they moved through the city.

 

Kuroko watched the lights go by outside in silence. He was no stranger to the muggle world, even though he was the son of two pureblood wizards. That didn’t mean that he wasn’t still astounded by the things muggles could do with their inventions.

 

Kuroko could hardly believe that the brightly colored signs could shine the way they did without magic. The metal cars and busses passed in a haze of street noise, functioning on some unseen technology. Just watching the world go by, Kuroko could scarcely believe that such a society could exist without magic.

 

The cab dropped Kuroko off at a tall brick apartment. Kuroko made his way inside, and took an educated guess based on the room number etched into his key what button to press in the elevator. Not a minute later, he was standing in the small apartment that was his for the next six weeks.

 

_Home sweet home._

 

It was small, which didn’t bother Kuroko (not that much ever did really _bother_ him anymore). There was a small kitchen off to the right, and a main room on the other side of the counter with an already made bed and a desk. A door to the left hung open and Kuroko guessed it led to a bathroom.

 

Kuroko double-checked that he had the instructions for finding the Master Healer’s office the next day, and decided that he was due for some sleep.

 

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

 

…

 

Kuroko was up well before the sun. With the eight-hour time difference between Los Angeles and his home, Kuroko felt disoriented and tired, even though he’d gotten several hours of sleep.

 

He remembered from the last time he had travelled far with his parents that it would take a few days for his body to adjust to the change in time zones. A combination of sleeping droughts and pepper up potions could impose a sleeping schedule that would help him get used to a different schedule more quickly.

 

When Kuroko left the apartment, there was someone in a hoodie and shorts on the corner, shuffling a deck of cards. Kuroko looked just long enough to see the deck of cards hover unnaturally in the air as the cards shuffled themselves between their owner’s hands before looking away.

 

That was not what he was expecting, but Kuroko didn’t react as he carefully crossed the street, hyper conscious of the fact that his misdirection made him especially vulnerable while doing so.

 

Luckily, Kuroko did not have to go far in order to get to his destination; The office of the Master Healer turned out to be two blocks away.

 

Kuroko looked down at the address and back up to the store, unsure if he had found the right place. It was certainly the same address, but he was looking at the doorway to what purported to be a plant nursery.

 

Well, he’d heard of magical buildings hidden in stranger places. Nobody would glance twice at this kind of shop front; certainly, nobody would assume it was the office of a real wizard practicing healing.

 

Kuroko pulled open the door.

 

Inside, he saw a small store lit by skylights. Kuroko was pretty sure he’d seen a second story to this building, so they had to be magic in some way, but the wide windows providing more natural light were not. There were several rows of tables, on which different types of plants rested. Kuroko identified flowers up front, vegetable plants towards the back, and three whole rows of cacti, with two rows of fruit trees by the right wall.

 

To the left there was what looked to be a decorative stone arch, but Kuroko could already see that there was more to this place than met the eye, and was willing to bet it too played a magical role.

 

Straight ahead, a teenager was sitting at a desk. She had shockingly green hair, buzzed down short on one side, and long everywhere else. Two metal studs pierced her eyebrow, and Kuroko saw a line of rings up both her ears.

 

Even in the summer heat of Los Angeles (which, despite lacking humidity was no joke), she was wearing what looked like heavy combat boots that she was resting on the table in front of her.

 

The teenager didn’t look up when Kuroko came in. She flipped a page in the comic book she was reading, thoroughly engrossed.

 

“Hello,” Kuroko tried, walking up to the desk.

 

The girl blew a bubble out of the gum she had been chewing, and flipped another page.

 

“Hello?” Kuroko said louder, waving a hand in front of her face.

 

A few more tries got her attention, and the girl looked up from the pages of her comic book, unimpressed that someone suddenly appeared in front of her.

 

“Yeah?” she asked.

 

“I’m looking for Master Healer Takeda,” Kuroko said.

 

“In there,” the teenager said, twitching her head towards the door about a foot to the side of the desk. When she moved, Kuroko saw a tattoo of a dragon fighting a knight literally moving across her skin. He was engrossed by the sight of the dragon breathing fire into the girl’s collarbones before it darted away to the other side of her neck.

 

“You wanna go find the healer or you wanna stare at my ink some more?”

 

“It’s very cool.”

 

The girl lazily raised a fist in the air.

 

“Right on,” she said without any enthusiasm, returning to her magazine with the same bored aura as before. “Bye, little man.”

 

Kuroko didn’t waste any time in exiting the room with the rude girl He followed a short, twisting metal staircase up a floor, and pushed open a large white door.

 

Whatever Kuroko had been expecting to see, this wasn’t it.

 

The Hogwarts dungeons were dark and windowless, which by virtue tended to make potions a pretty dreadful and dreary subject. The cauldrons were all the old fashioned style and make, with traditional wood fires underneath for heating.

 

This was nothing like that.

 

Kuroko didn’t even know if he really had the words to describe the strange room he was looking at. He didn’t even know where to begin cataloguing the differences.

 

He could identify it as a potions lab, but only barely. There were four rows of gleaming silver counters, each one set with three large industrial sinks and a wide clear area – presumably for preparing ingredients.

 

By each workstation was a set of twisted metal coils, and there wasn’t a fire in sight.

 

But stranger still, the walls didn’t have pickled ingredients and dark cauldrons, but an array of glass tubes and jars, shining in the open light of the sun. The back windows slanted, allowing plenty of natural light in, along with the low hanging bright lights over each counter.

 

Only one of the stations was in use at the moment. A woman with dark hair was wearing a pair of – well, Kuroko thought they looked like large glasses, except they formed a clear shield around the entire top part of the woman’s face. She was wearing white, just like the room, and was carefully measuring a lavender liquid into a glass jar like the one Kuroko had seen on the walls.

 

Satisfied with whatever she had done, the woman carefully poured the mixture into the clear glass bowl on top of one of the coils, where it hissed, and turned bright green.

 

The woman removed a wand from the front pocket of her coat and with a wave, sent a small cloud of dried beetles into the mixture. It didn’t hiss this time, but the color changed to a dark forest green. The woman waved her wand, smoothly moving the odd cauldron to another coil.

 

This was obviously some baffling mix of muggle and magical techniques, and Kuroko was enthralled.

 

“Hello,” he said, stepping into the room.

 

The woman was busy chopping roots, and didn’t answer.

 

Kuroko tried a few more times to catch the woman’s attention before she finally looked up, mid cut, a surprised look on her face.

 

“Oh, sorry! How long have you been there?”

 

“A few minutes,” Kuroko said. “I am looking for Master Healer Takeda.”

 

“I am Master Healer Takeda,” the woman said, straightening up. “And you must be my new intern.”

 

Kuroko blinked. He’d been expecting a much older, more male healer from what his mother had said of her American friend.

 

“I am Kuroko Tetsuya,” he confirmed for her, rather than say something that would give away his surprise and potentially cause offense.

 

“I see. My father asked me to take you on as a favor to your mother as he no longer actively practices his craft.”

 

Ah, that answered that question.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said politely. “I hope I do not disappoint you.”

 

The woman’s expression softened a little.

 

“We’ll see,” she said. “Help me prepare some ingredients and I’ll see what I think.”

 

Master Healer Takeda gestured towards the station next to her own, making a point of showing Kuroko where she drew the tools for chopping and cutting ingredients from. She placed several long roots, and put Kuroko to work.

 

She set Kuroko to chopping Valerian Root. Once Kuroko clarified that she needed it in fine strips, he set to work. He usually did the ingredient preparation for their potions when Momoi could not, because Ogiwara’s clumsiness often overrode the usefulness of his knowledge. The muggle knife made smoother and cleaner cuts than his own, and he worked slowly and methodically to make sure he didn’t make a mistake due to inexperience.

 

After a few minutes of rhythmic chopping being the only sound in the room, the Master Healer

broke the silence.

 

“Your mother said you were interested in Warding, do you have anything to say about that?”

 

“I liked dueling,” Kuroko said, not looking up.

 

“Liked, in the past tense?”

 

Kuroko shrugged at that. The knife paused briefly before he continued chopping rhythmically. His blank mask hadn’t shifted out of place, but he pulled his emotions more strongly under control. He didn’t really have an easy response to that question, so he decided to say nothing at all.

 

“Well, dueling is fun, I’ll give you that. Many kids like yourself like to duel because it’s high paced, creative and fun. It’s an excellent activity for teenagers and young adults because it helps exercise the body, mind, and magic all at once. Adults enjoy it because they can use the showiest and coolest bits of magic they know, and it’s always a fun spectacle just to watch. However, it’s not a career, as I’m sure you know by now. The only wizards who use offensive magic of that nature are Officers, Master Warders, and occasionally curse breakers, none of which is an easy field to practice in.”

 

Kuroko nodded, and pushed the completed pile towards her.

 

“Perfect,” she said. “Now I need a cup of squeezed mint extract, if you please.”

 

Kuroko set to rolling the liquid out of the thin leaves. Master Healer Takeda busied herself with several cauldrons at once, moving between them efficiently.

 

“So what attracts you to Healing?”

 

“I like potions,” Kuroko said mildly. “I’m good with Herbology too.”

 

“Just like?”

 

Kuroko kept working, his face giving nothing away.

 

“My friends and I used to prank the student body with potions.”

 

“Pranks, huh? Not really well suited to a delicate field like potions.”

 

“We once made a solution of invisible dye that only showed up a few hours after it was applied. We fixed it with a solution that make it impossible to remove and magically renewing, and then exploded it all over a class. Within a day the entire school was covered in drawings.”

 

“Clever,” Master Healer Takeda said. “Immature, but clever.”

 

“I’ve been told I have very little stamina and power, but make up for it with clever uses of what I have,” Kuroko said.

 

“I see,” Master Healer Takeda said.

 

She was focused on the potion, stirring it precisely and tapping it with her wand to put the potion into stasis.

 

“Come here,” she said. Kuroko obeyed, standing next to her above the cauldron.

 

“Tell me what’s in this cauldron,” she said, gesturing to the orange concoction.

 

Kuroko didn’t even need to run through the mental log he kept of Midorima’s chart to know what was inside the cauldron, not with exams so close behind him.

 

“It’s a variant of a wit-sharpening potion based on the ingredients, but it’s the wrong color.”

 

“Well spotted,” the healer said. “Could you guess what I have changed about this potion?”

 

“Mint,” Kuroko said, “Instead of ginger.”

 

“What does that tell you about the change of effect on this potion?”

 

“That you didn’t use armadillo bile,” Kuroko replied instantly. “Since you haven’t melted the cauldron.”

 

That had been Ogiwara’s mistake. He had used mint instead of Ginger in a wit-sharpening potion he’d tried to brew in first year. They had almost melted away the floor of the potions classroom before their professor stepped in. Kuroko wasn’t likely to forget that mistake any time soon.

 

“Very good,” the Healer said. “I used Sloth bile. Last test – could you tell me what change that would affect – aside from the obvious color difference?”

 

Well it was definitely still a wit sharpening potion, but Kuroko had no idea what that substitution would do to the ordinary recipe.

 

“I don’t know,” Kuroko admitted.

 

“That’s fine,” Master Healer Takeda said. “I wouldn’t expect any student who wasn’t officially apprenticed yet to recognize such an advancement when it was only recently developed. Here in the States, this variation of the wit sharpening potion has recently been shown to be an effective treatment for wizards and mundane folk alike with ADHD, allowing better concentration and focus for students with learning disabilities with fewer side effects.”

 

“You sell potions to Muggles?”

 

Master Healer Takeda looked at Kuroko for a long moment.

 

“Well, you’re bright enough,” she said. “I suppose you’ll do for an intern. So I’ll tell you this now – especially here in West LA, the line between magic and mundane is more blurred than what you might be used to. Here, we serve the statute of secrecy by integrating completely into communities. You can find real magicians performing on streets here, arithmancers working in accounting offices, healers running pharmacies and nurseries, and inventors working all the time to blend our worlds.”

 

“Don’t non-magical people notice that?”

 

“Oh sure, but you could parade a dragon down the Venice boardwalk and all people would do is applaud the excellent prank and ask how you built such a realistic machine. Last week two wizards went at it on Hollywood and Vine and someone put it on the internet. Wizard Safety Patrol didn’t even bother wiping any minds or trying to get rid of it. They didn’t need to, because the most common thing people were saying about the video was how the edited effects looked ‘fake.’ The more advanced technology gets, the less we worry about the simple mistakes and slipups. People are less likely to start shouting about burning the lady who sells everyone plant seeds than the recluse hermit who never leaves the house, you know?”

 

Kuroko was listening with rapt attention.

 

Clearly, this was a very different place than he was used to.

 

“Here’s what I’m going to do,” the Healer said. “Next week, you’re my errand boy. I’m going to send you out all over the city, and I want you to _watch_ and see what things are like here. I’ll put you to work brewing when I’m satisfied you can use our updated labs.”

 

That was fair enough.

 

“For now,” Master Healer Takeda said, “how much do you know about mundane safety equipment in labs?”

 

…

 

Kuroko got a crash course in brewing potions using muggle technology. They used gas based burners, which allowed for better control over temperature and a multitude of new safety equipment ranging from goggles to latex gloves to the chemical shower in the corner.

 

(“Don’t worry about the shower, I’m not putting you to work with lead sulfate or anything, that’s all graduate level chemistry, and you’d do most of the practical work with that as an apprentice out of school. I don’t think British N.E.W.T.s even cover it, though I could be wrong. If anyone is working with dangerous chemicals, you can shadow them from a safe distance if you’re interested,” the Master Healer had said disinterestedly, and Kuroko recognized only about half of what she was saying.).

 

There was a resident Potion Master, but they were only in the office two days a the week, and the operation was largely run by Master Healer Takeda. The front of the store functioned as a basic muggle nursery, but walking through the stone archway on the far side allowed one to enter a larger wizarding greenhouse.

 

“This is where you’ll do most of your work for me, either collecting ingredients, or going out into town to get them. Otherwise, when you shadow me I expect you to take good notes and pay attention,” the healer explained.

 

Finally, Kuroko was shown the clinic where Master Healer Takeda saw patients.

 

“We aren’t a fully equipped hospital, so I mostly treat chronic patients on an outpatient basis,” she said. “Most of my patients are older folk, but I’ve got one teenager running around with a new pair of legs a healer up in San Francisco grew for him from scratch. He sees me twice a month for a refill on about ten different potions, among other things. Other than that, I’ve got chronic allergies, a couple of magical injuries, and some curse patients.”

 

Kuroko’s mind was spinning with all of the new information he’d been given, but he thought he had a decent command over what he was expected to do. Honestly, given that he was mostly just shadowing the healer, he didn’t think any individual thing he needed to accomplish was going to be too hard.

 

It just seemed like he was going to drop before he finished all of them.

 

Still, he nodded when the healer asked him if he understood everything.

 

“Alright, your first job is to go find me some rarer herbs,” the healer said, waving her wand in the air and conjuring a scroll.

 

“This is a list of what I need you to get me by five tonight. It’s-” the healer checked her watch

“-almost noon now, so go get lunch and come back at the end of the day. The stuff you need to buy has an address for the store and some cash, and everything else should be fairly easy to find out in the hills, we just don’t grow it in the building.”

 

The healer tossed Kuroko a card folded in a piece of paper. He fumbled catching it, crumpling the paper and sending the card to the ground. Kuroko scrambled to pick it up.

 

“Ever use a bus before?”

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“That’s a bus pass, you can use it to get places,” the healer said. “The other paper is a bus schedule. If you have even the slightest inclination towards healing, one of the first things you must do is understand people. This is an area where mundane folk do a lot of extremely fast advancement and understanding their culture and mentality will make you a better wizard for it.”

 

That… sounded reasonable. From what Kuroko had already seen, the Master Healer was greatly improving the quality and efficiency of her work with muggle tools, so it made sense that their research and knowledge might also be worth reading and understanding too.

 

“Ah, do you have a phone?”

 

Kuroko fished around in his bag, holding out a thin brick of metal that his parents had given him before he boarded the plane.

 

“Know how to use it?”

 

Kuroko shook his head. The Healer sighed, and Kuroko was wondering if she was second-guessing her plan to send him out into the city by himself. She took the phone from him and pressed a button at the bottom, letting the screen light up. She fussed with it, putting down a number.

 

“I’ve saved my phone to your contacts, you can find it here,” she said, quickly moving through the screens to show Kuroko how to find it again. “Ask one of the other interns to give you a full tutorial some time, these things are more useful than a communication spell. If you run into an emergency, call me. But it had better be an emergency, understand?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Excellent. I’ll see you back here at five.”

 

The words were a challenge if Kuroko had ever heard one. The Master Healer was testing him, as she had done with the line of questions about the earlier potion.

 

“Before you leave,” the Healer interrupted him as he neatly folded away the map the Healer had given him, “When you return, I want a full list of potions that could be created using that combination of ingredients.”

 

Kuroko nodded again. This time when he left he was not held back.

 

Down the stairs and back through the nursery in front, Kuroko stood in the bright dry heat of LA’s summer, trying to get his bearings.

 

Kuroko unfurled the list of addresses and items the Master Healer had given him.

 

The first one was for an apothecary somewhere in the area. Or at least, Kuroko guessed it was an apothecary simply because there were several items listed that the Master Healer wanted from that location.

 

Ten blocks away, Kuroko found the store.

 

He glanced down at the address, and then back at the front.

 

How on Earth did wizards in this city find anything when it was all mixed in with muggle stuff? Kuroko wondered. How did they prevent muggles from accidentally wandering somewhere they shouldn’t when there was no centralized location for all the stores and services that wizards provided? Or did it really just not matter, as the Master Healer had implied when she had tried describing the very different nature of this city to him?

 

Obviously, it was a working system, but it was baffling to Kuroko, coming from a cultural society in which the tiniest slip up, the most minor interaction with a muggle, was fraught with danger and to be avoided at all costs. 

 

The front of the store was an occult shop. Wandering towards the desk, Kuroko could sense that pretty much everything on display was simple junk, none of it holding real power. The heavy amulets and silver pentacles and decorated daggers all looked… pretty ridiculous.

 

So instead, he marched up to the desk. Nobody was there, but there was a bell. Kuroko hit it a couple of times before an older man with greying hair opened a back door and came into view.

 

He looked around in confusion for a few moments while Kuroko tried to catch his attention.

 

Finally the man started, noticing the teenager at last.

 

“Ah, hello!” he said. “How can I help you?”

 

“I need these,” Kuroko said blankly, handing over the list that Master Healer Takeda had given him.

 

“I’m sorry, we don’t-”

 

“Master Healer Takeda requested that I purchase these items at this store,” Kuroko said blankly.

 

“I’m not a muggle.”

 

“Muggles, huh?” the older man chuckled. “You must be from abroad. A word of advice: out here they’re mundane, muggle is kind of a rude word to use.”

 

Kuroko just stared at the other man.

 

“Okay, fair enough. Let’s see… Beetle eyes, yes we’ve got that, and that of course, just got in a new shipment... I’ll pull these from the back, wait just a moment.”

 

Kuroko left the store a few minutes later, having secured the purchases for the Master Healer in his satchel. Well, that at least had been a fairly painless first stop, Kuroko mused. This city was loud and vibrant and very strange, he could already tell.

 

Back out in the heat of the morning, Kuroko checked his list.

 

Freshly gathered sage from Griffith Park was the second item he needed.

 

Kuroko, who had definitely seen dried sage (a much more useful ingredient in most healing spells and potions) even in the muggle section of the extremely odd apothecary behind him, thought that perhaps this was meant to be frustrating or annoying.

 

It was quite possible that the Master Healer was just testing him to see when his patience would break.

 

Kuroko’s Hufflepuff sense of hard work, and the fact that he rarely found the energy to emotionally react to anything, let alone mild hazing, was working in his favor here.

 

So instead of being pissed off as he was sure he was meant to be, he found the right bus stop, and waited.

 

It wasn’t like there was anything else he would rather be doing, anyway.

 

Kuroko boarded the bus and took it almost all the way to the end of the city, where the park entrance sat in the foothills of the mountains.

 

Kuroko had never seen natural terrain that looked like this – rocky and brown, with mountains rising high up into the sky. A large white sign with the word HOLLYWOOD on it kind of ruined the natural vibe of the park, but Kuroko thought it was kind of quirky.

 

Plus it was a good landmark to avoid getting lost.

 

Kuroko had plenty of time left to meet his deadline and wandered into the ranger station of the park. He read through some of the history of the park, and noted a map of the area. Towards the back of the station, Kuroko sensed something magical.

 

Sure enough, on the back wall, a large painting of a wildcat shifted into a display about the magical creatures and plants that inhabited the park.

 

It seemed even wizards were welcome here.

 

With his eyes peeled for sage, Kuroko walked past the grassy entrance with the myriad of picnic tables and smiling families, and started up the trail towards the sign.

 

He was sure to find sage soon, and he was right – not five minutes into the trail, he spotted some down a slight incline to his left.

 

Gingerly, Kuroko made his way down the incline. He sniffed at the plant, confirming by smell that it was in fact the herb he was looking for, before uprooting several bundles worth of the plant. When he was done, he wrapped them up and placed them back into his satchel.

 

Kuroko took his time climbing back up to the trail. Given the steepness of the hill and the overwhelming heat, he was reaching the edge of his stamina. Kuroko had to rest and catch his breath once he finally made it up to the trail.

 

On even ground at the bottom of the trail, Kuroko unfolded the list, scanning to the bottom of the page.

 

The third and final item was a penny from the bottom of a memorial fountain just outside the park.

 

That was convenient. Looking up from the paper, Kuroko could see the exact fountain he needed to retrieve a penny from.

 

Kuroko stared into the light blue waters, shimmering in the too bright heat.

 

He wondered what it said about him that he didn’t think this was ridiculous. He couldn’t think of a single potion that would require such an artifact, though he could name at least two rituals and a handful of runic binding for which it could be an incorporated or critical element.

 

Maybe it had to do with the rust on the coin formed by a specific kind of water in a particular location, Kuroko thought, though he sensed nothing magical about the fountain.

 

Kuroko set his bag down by the fountain and shoved his arm into the water up to his shoulder, pulling out the closest coin he could see.

 

He wrapped it in a cloth and placed it in a plastic bag, before putting it with the other items.

 

That was that then.

 

Kuroko hiked the satchel back over his shoulder and pulled out his map, determined to meet the deadline the healer had set for him. He made it with half an hour to spare, walking through the doors into the blessed air conditioning of the office at four thirty.

 

By the time Kuroko was getting off the bus a block down from the Master Healer’s office, he had come up with his requisite three potions, and he recited them in a succinct list for the Master Healer after he placed a line of bags on her desk.

 

“Your knowledge of potions is adequate,” the Healer said, leaning back.

 

Kuroko contained his curiosity for approximately two more questions before he just had to ask.

 

“Master Healer Takeda?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why the penny?”

 

The Healer shrugged.

 

“I wanted to see if you could follow directions.”

 

“Are you satisfied?”

 

“Can you name three magical diseases that could be spread by touch on a coin resting in a fountain?”

 

Kuroko shook his head. He didn’t think he could name one.

 

“Then that’s your homework for tonight, and I'll ask you again when you show up tomorrow. In the meantime, let me show you what you’ll be doing for me this summer.”

 

After that, the healer had Kuroko organizing patient files. By the time he was done with the first box she’d given him, it was well past five.

 

Kuroko’s head was spinning with all of the new information he’d learned that day.

 

“Seven in the morning,” Takeda said, just as he reached the door. “I’ll put you to work helping me on rounds and sorting case notes.”

 

Kuroko agreed to this, and headed out into the dry heat once again.

 

As he was walking, he decided that as close as the healer’s office was to his apartment, he should detour and look around the neighborhood a little.

 

He found himself wandering quietly along the streets as the sun sank lower in the sky. It wasn’t quite ready to set yet when Kuroko found himself at a small park.

 

It was paved over, and clearly set up for some kind of muggle sport. Kuroko watched as two boys chased each other around the yard, shouting and cheering.

 

Intrigued, he crossed the street to get a better look at what they were doing.

 

One of the boys was a redhead, his muscled and bare chest gleaming with sweat. The other boy was black and had dark, short-cropped hair. He was wearing a sleeveless shirt above his shorts.

 

Both of them appeared to be fighting over an orange ball.

 

Kuroko watched the redhead knock the ball free from his opponent’s hands, twist, and jump, landing it neatly in the basket on the other side of the court.

 

“YEAH!” he shouted. “Beat THAT!”

 

“Tiger, you’re killing me here!”

 

“Then keep up man!”

 

The other boy grinned back, and with a neat defensive move of his own, got the ball to the other side of the court before the redhead could catch up, and made a basket of his own.

 

“Back to even!”

 

“Yeah but it’s two points left to win,” Tiger grinned back, bouncing the ball between his hand and the pavement with the ease of practice.

 

He bounced the ball on the ground in front of him, looking like he was about to try and cut to the left, but at the last second twirled around and headed in the opposite direction, whirling gracefully.

 

Kuroko was enthralled.The redhead was tall and broad, built with muscle stacked on muscle, but he moved with the grace of a ballerina or a giant cat.

 

As Kuroko watched, the redhead stole the ball from his opponent. He ducked under the other boy’s arm, shouting in joy and victory as his body smoothly transitioned into a jump shot.

 

The ball swished through the hoop, not even touching the rim.

 

“Tiger” hit the ground already springing back into motion.

 

His opponent scored on him, but the redhead got the ball back and was making a beeline for the other side of the court.

 

Kuroko was impressed; this was a highly active, energetic game, and the redhead was keeping pace with it. His stamina must be incredible.

 

“Eat my dust!” Tiger shouted, bouncing the ball down the court, making wide strides. The other boy, not slowed by the... need.. to bounce the ball down the court, quickly caught up.

 

Kuroko wasn’t quite sure of all the rules to this game aside from getting a point every time the ball was scored through one of the baskets. He’d never had quite enough exposure to the muggle world to understand the intricacies of their sports, even if he could at first glance pass as one in terms of dress and mannerisms.

 

Tiger fell back, looking like he was going to transition into a long shot like the one Kuroko had just watched him make. But a second before Kuroko was sure he was going to jump, the redhead ducked down and took the ball with him.

 

The dark haired boy had jumped for the ball, fooled by the redhead’s deception. Kuroko watched the second boy take the ball the rest of the way to the other side of the court while the dark haired boy was still turning around and getting his bearings.

 

The redhead jumped for the basket.

 

Kuroko’s eyes widened.

 

That had to be magic, because there was no way the human body was intended to fly like that.

 

The redhead boy rose on the wind, seemingly suspended in the air over the court for an

impossibly long amount of time.

 

Then the boy hit the ground, a wide grin spreading across his face.

 

Kuroko felt his breath catch in his throat.

 

Kuroko had admired the boy’s form and movement but even still, the boy was beautiful. He was tall and broad, Kuroko had already noticed that, but when he wasn’t moving it was easier to see the well defined shape of his muscles, dripping with sweat from the physical exertion and -

 

Oh.

 

_Oh._

 

_I think I might be gay._

 

The realization didn’t really mean much to Kuroko. He’d never seen himself as the kind of person who would engage in romantic relationships anyway. Kuroko had assumed, all things considered, that he was asexual.

 

That seemed to have been an entirely misplaced assumption.

 

The boy ran his hands through his hair, red and black strands spiking up indiscriminately. He was talking to the boy next to him. The dark haired boy said something causing the perfect redhead to smile.

 

Merlin.

 

Kuroko was absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent sure he was gay.

 

It was a good thing Kuroko was invisible, because the amount of time he’d spent watching this boy he didn’t even know was probably highly inappropriate at best, and downright objectifying at worst.

 

“See you later, Tiger!” the second boy was saying, waiving to the redhead. “If I wait any longer I’m gonna be late again!”

 

“Oh come on, one more basket!”

 

“Sure, next week! Watch out for those legs!”

 

The second boy gathered his things, put his shirt back on, and grabbed one of the two bicycles leaning against the fence of the yard, grinning as he left.

 

The redhead exhaled, still catching his breath from the game.

 

Kuroko was moving forward before he’d processed what he was doing. He couldn’t stop himself from being interested in talking to this boy.

 

“Hello.”

 

The redhead shouted and jumped, predictably. Kuroko figured he should be less surprised by this reaction at this point.

 

“AHH! A GHOST!”

 

Kuroko let the redhead get the perceived jump scare out of his system before introducing himself.

 

“I’ve been here the whole time,” he said politely. “And I’m not a ghost.”

 

“Then who are you?”

 

With the redhead towering over him, Kuroko realized something he’d been neglecting while watching the other boy play basketball.

 

Whoever he was, this boy was a wizard, and a powerful one. Kuroko could sense his magic – it was almost suffocatingly strong, and almost as wild as Aomine’s. He didn’t have the sheer power of one of the Miracles, but there was the potential there.

 

“I am Master Healer Takeda’s aide for the summer,” Kuroko said. “My name is Kuroko Tetsuya, and as I said, I am not a ghost.”

 

Kagami shrugged at that, and then smiled broadly.

 

“Okay, Kuroko, huh? Names Kagami Taiga!”

 

Taiga. Of course. Cute.

 

That explained why the other boy had called him “Tiger.” It was hilariously ironic that Kagami’s given name sounded so much like the lithe jungle cat when Kuroko had just been comparing his grace and movement to the same kind of animal.

 

“So are you a wizard? If you’re working for Takeda?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Any good at dueling?”

 

“I competed on the school team in several duels,” Kuroko said, holding back the critical truth of it.

 

Kagami was watching Kuroko with almost as much curiosity as Kuroko himself was suppressing.

 

“Huh, usually I can tell when someone’s a strong dueler,” Kagami said. “I can smell it, you know?”

 

Interesting. So Kagami was magically sensitive, as many powerful wizards tended to be. Where Kuroko’s magic sensitivity gave him more of an emotional feeling about a wizard than a physical sensation, it seemed Kagami’s manifested in an olfactory response.

 

“You don’t smell like anything though,” Kagami said, tilting his head to the side in consideration before he shrugged. “But hey, hold on-”

 

Kagami scrambled for his bag, which was several feet away, and came back with a phone and a grin as wide as the horizon.

 

“Let me give you my number, we should duel sometime!”

 

For a moment, Kuroko had an almost violently vivid flashback.

 

Two years ago, he’d looked up into Aomine’s face in the Great Hall, and the boy had looked at him just like that, with cautious respect and burning excitement in his eyes. Two years ago, he’d watched Aomine in class and on the field with a wide smile and a thirst for life and a passion for dueling that resonated with something deep inside Kuroko that he hadn’t even known was there.

 

Aomine’s light had lit a fire inside of Kuroko, and even after Aomine had given up on going to practice and on finding a true rival, it had continued to burn.

 

Kagami reminded him so much of Aomine _before_ everything had gone to hell that it almost stole his breath.

 

“Sure,” Kuroko agreed.

 

“Heh, I’m not really supposed to be dueling for a bit,” Kagami admitted, looking down and shuffling his feet. “But in the meantime, do you know anything about basketball?”

 

Kuroko did not.

 

Kagami’s genuine smile just got bigger.

 

“Come find me next Friday, we play basketball in the evenings once or twice a week,” Kagami said. “I’ll teach you.”

 

“Okay,” Kuroko agreed.

 

He didn't know what it was that made him so readily agree to meet Kagami again. Maybe it was just his similarity to Aomine, before, that piqued Kuroko's interest, but Kuroko really did want to see Kagami again. Besides, watching Kagami and the other boy face off against each other in that muggle game had been a sight in and of itself, and Kuroko was curious to learn more about the game.

 

He was actually looking forward to next Friday, when he would be able to see Kagami again. 

 

…  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience in waiting for the arrival of this arc! I promised today would be the latest day I would update, and here we are, right on schedule! I had hoped to get a chapter in last thursday, but I wanted the extra time. We should be good to go for weekly updates here on in, so I'll see you next week - relatively same time, same place!
> 
>  
> 
> ALSO AND THIS IS VERY CRITICAL, [SOMEONE MADE FANART???](http://uranolatry.tumblr.com/post/148143230421/a-long-overdue-drawing-based-off-of-the-wise-mans) OF THIS FIC??????? Uranolatry deserves a medal, go check out their super cute art of Kuroko, actively using his misdirection it's so good 
> 
>  
> 
> Follow #600k or bust on my tumblr, [MercurialInK,](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) if you wanna watch for updates!


	21. Kagami Has An Explosive Personality And Really Nice Abs

 

…

 

As fate turned out, Kuroko did not have to wait an entire week to see Kagami again.

 

Three days after Kuroko had met Kagami playing basketball, the very same redhead walked through the doors of Master Healer Tadeka’s office while Kuroko was transcribing notes from her recording device. The Healer was on the other side of the office, carefully organizing pill bottles and stoppered glasses. Kuroko had learned that muggles had perfected the art of storing and preserving sensitive compounds, and he was a little jealous of how many resources the Master Healer had built up here. Brewing back at Hogwarts was going to feel like going back to the stone age.

 

“Yo, Doc, what’s up?”

 

Kuroko saw the healer sigh and turn to asses the teenager.

 

“Tiger, are you supposed to be straining those legs of yours?”

 

“Nah, come on. I was just playing basketball, I wasn’t even doing any magic this time!”

 

Kagami sounded indignant.

 

The Healer pursed her lips and turned to Kuroko, who was following her today.

 

“Tetsuya, meet the most incorrigible of my patients, Kagami Taiga. Would you like to try and explain to him that _any_ stress, magical or not, is capable of destroying newly grown bone and muscles?”

 

“Who are you – AH, WHERE DID YOU COME FROM?”

 

Kuroko looked back at Kagami blankly.

 

“I’ve been here the whole time,” he said dutifully.

 

“Oh hey, it’s you – Kuroko! That’s right, you said you were working for Takeda this summer, I’d completely forgotten! What’s up?”

 

“When regrown, a bone doesn’t have the density or strength of a regular appendage,” Kuroko recited, ignoring the greeting. “They are weak and hollow, filling themselves structurally from the outside in. If too much stress – shock from jumping and landing, for example – is placed on the bone, it could shatter inside your leg. If the ligaments are torn they do not heal, and have to be magically reattached which is an extra six weeks of recovery, eight when undergoing recovery for major magical medical procedures and-”

 

“OI, OI, I get it, I get it!” Kagami shouted, holding up his hands in surrender and falling back on the table. “Listen, Takeda, I’m SO BORED you have to give me something here, I’m literally dying.”

 

“You are literally on your way to recovery,” Kuroko said with the same deadpan expression.

 

“I see you’ve met,” the healer smiled.

 

“He _duels_!” Kagami said earnestly, sitting up and smiling.

 

Kuroko completely forgot to correct the other boy when he smiled like that.

 

He’d forgotten it when Kagami asked. The boy’s excitement was so infectious that for a moment, Kuroko was willing to forget the events of the last few months entirely.

 

But when the boy asked if he was a competitive duelist, Kuroko answered without even thinking about it. Of course he dueled. It was the best thing he had going for him at Hogwarts.

 

He had just forgot to say that he’d quit.

 

“Don’t even think about dueling,” Master Healer Takeda said sharply. “For at _least_ another two weeks. You have to _rest._ I know you’re bored, Kagami, but if you ever want to get back onto the field, you have to heal.”

 

“Okay, okay,” Kagami groaned, leaning back. “So what about basketball? Can't I at least do that?”

 

“I’ve already told you that you may do _light_ exercise. That doesn't include your interpretation of basketball, at least not yet.”

 

Kuroko was pretty sure Kagami had no idea what the word moderation meant with regards to basketball (or literally anything), and felt that this was a seriously wise piece of medical advice coming from the Master Healer.

 

“That said, let’s take a look at the density of your bones and see where your ligaments and muscles are at,” the healer said. “Legs up. If they look good enough, I might okay you to do more extensive exercise.”

 

Obligingly, Kagami swung his legs up onto the examination table.

 

Healer Takeda tapped Kagami’s left leg with her wand, bringing up an image of the limb above the real thing.

 

“Note that a superficial examination of the skin indicates healthy growth,” she said. Kuroko took notes, watching as the healer waved her wand, now turning her attention to the image. The incorporeal version of Kagami’s leg shimmered, the layer of skin vanishing  to show the thick muscles of Kagami’s leg.

 

“Muscle growth is strong,” the healer murmured. “Patient having completed PT, is physically active.”

 

“Damn right!” Kagami grinned.

 

“Alright, alright,” the healer rolled her eyes, waving her wand again. The image shimmered a second time, and showed the bone and tendon connections.

 

“Tendons are still weak, but the good news is that they can sustain normal physical activity and strain,” the healer said.

 

“Awesome!” Kagami said, getting ready to throw himself off the examination table.

 

“Not so fast,” the healer said. “The real test is your bones, stay where you are.”

 

Kagami groaned and rolled his eyes, but he sat back obediently.

 

“Alright, Doc,” he said.

 

The healer banished the image of Kagami’s leg with a flick of her wand and returned it to the front pocket of her apron.

 

She placed a hand on Kagami’s leg, and Kuroko saw the yellow glow of magic. The healer looked intently at Kagami’s leg. Kuroko was sure that she was examining the growth of cells in the boy’s bones, seeing how strong they had become.

 

A moment later, the glow stopped. The healer adjusted her glasses and looked at Kagami.

 

“I have good news and bad news,” she said.

 

“Lay it on me,” Kagami said.

 

“The bad news is that I’m not clearing you to duel yet.”

 

“Oh, come on! I feel fine!”

 

“You still have work to do growing your bones, and I am ordering you to refrain from using large amounts of magic so that you avoid undoing all the wonderful work I and others have done so that you could have legs again after what you did to yourself.”

 

Kagami scowled, clearly not happy with this ultimatum, but he nodded.

 

“Fine,” he said. “What’s the damn good news then?”

 

“Play basketball to your heart’s content,” the healer said. “Your bones are dense enough that no minor shock will cause enough damage to hurt your progress. The physical conditioning will do you some good, and won't hinder your progress."

 

“ALL RIGHT!”

 

Kagami was already on his feet, fired up. Kuroko couldn’t help but feel a surge of affection for the other boy. His excitement was endearing.

 

“I’m going to go shoot some hoops now!” Kagami shouted, sprinting out of the office at full speed. “See you Friday Kuroko!”

 

Kuroko blinked as the door slammed closed behind the redheaded wizard, bouncing back from where Kagami had thrown it open with all his might.

 

“That boy,” the Master Healer sighed. “Well, anyway. Time for a quiz; if you had a patient that required the re-growing of critical limbs, what combination of medications would you prescribe them?”

 

Kuroko didn’t bother sighing. Master Healer Takeda did this three or four times a day, usually trying to catch him off guard with information she felt he should have picked up from patient charts and different combinations of ingredients.

 

He tried to glance over at Kagami’s file, still sitting next to the Master Healer.

 

“No cheating,” the Healer said, tapping the file with a small smile.

 

“I don’t know,” Kuroko said.

 

The Healer pursed her lips.

 

“Next time you will,” she said, and passed over one sheet from the file with her prescription list.

 

“Always know what your patient is taking before you meet with them,” she advised him. “Say a patient in Kagami's condition was coming to you complaining of chronic pain from resulting from his procedure. Would you recommend any common pain potions?”

 

“No,” Kuroko said absently. He hadn’t made it all the way down the list, but he already knew the critical anti-inflammatory ingredient in most pain relieving potions would cause at least two ingredients in the bone marrow potion Kagami was taking to turn toxic.

 

“I see. How would you handle the issue of your patient’s pain?” the healer asked, sounding like she was legitimately asking and didn’t already know the answer. Kuroko had no doubt that she just wasn’t done watching him squirm.

 

Thankfully, he already knew the answer: Acetaminophen did not react with the magical ingredients of bone regrowth potions in the same way potions would, and provided a medically and magically safe substitute for minor aches and pains associated with the kind of recovery that Kagami was experiencing, at least at this nearly-finished stage of the healing process.

 

“Muggle pain medications.”

 

“You’re learning.”

 

Kuroko certainly hoped so.

 

…

 

Despite himself, Kuroko was on tenderhooks waiting for Friday. He’d been in Los Angeles a week, and he was excited to see Kagami again.

 

Kuroko found Kagami on the basketball court where they had met the first time.

 

Kagami was sitting on top of the back of one of the benches, with his feet resting on the seat. There was a basketball in his lap, but he was just letting it sit there.

 

“Hello,” Kuroko said. Kagami looked up, and smiled when he saw Kuroko.

 

“Hey,” Kagami said. “Glad to see Takeda didn’t keep you too late.”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed.

 

“Sorry you had to hear all the messed up shit about my legs.”

 

“I am sorry that I found out without your wanting me to,” Kuroko replied. “It didn’t bother me aside from knowing it was personal information you might not necessarily want others to be aware of.”

 

Kagami chuckled.

 

“You’re a pretty good guy Kuroko, even if you’re always popping up unexpectedly in kind of creepy ways,” he said. “So, basketball?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“You will have to teach me.”

 

“Hey, that’s no problem! I can’t believe you’ve never played basketball, come on!”

 

Kuroko ran (significantly slower than Kagami, who bolted at top speeds) after the redhead onto the court.

 

“Alright, I’m going to pass to you, just catch!”

 

Kagami bounced the ball towards Kuroko, who failed to grab it in time, and went running after it.

 

“Don’t worry!” Kagami called. “We’ll get you playing like a pro in no time!”

 

Kuroko, as it turned out, was not very good at basketball.

 

A small group of teenagers trickled onto the court as the sun set. Kagami introduced them to Kuroko and as soon as there were enough people to start a game they were off and playing.

 

No one minded that Kuroko couldn’t make a single shot, or that he fumbled more often than not. Most of them were really nice to him, when they remembered he was there.

 

Kuroko was mid wondering if he could apply his more passive dueling strategy to basketball when they called it quits for the night. It was well past dark, and time for most of them to get home.

 

Kagami clapped Kuroko on the back. The Hufflepuff was hyperaware of the contact, trying not to stare at Kagami’s well-muscled arm as the redhead withdrew it.

 

“See you Sunday?” Kagami asked the group eagerly. Shouts of affirmation came from everyone as they headed off the court, scattering in various directions.

 

Kagami turned to Kuroko as they walked towards the gate together.

 

“This time Monday’s we usually duel on the court,” Kagami said softly, wistfully. “I come to watch, because at least I can get the idea of what they’re up to, so that when I finally get to use magic again, I can kick their asses. Sunday and Wednesdays are pure basketball though, so that’s still pretty fun.”

 

“Okay.”

 

“You should come,” Kagami said. “You said you dueled, having a whole new group of people to fight with might be fun.”

 

Fun.

 

The word sounded almost foreign, applied to dueling. It hadn’t been fun in so long…

 

“Maybe,” Kuroko said. “I’ll see you later, Kagami.”

 

He took little to no time vanishing into the night.

 

…

 

Kuroko did go to the basketball court three days later, on Monday. He was running late from work, having spent his afternoon arguing with a group of fairies that wouldn’t let him take clippings off a rare species of magical cactus in Bryce Canyon.

 

They’d dumped him in a pond and sent him rolling down a hill before he’d managed to summon a small arm of one of the cacti to him.

 

He’d come back to the office covered in mud and pond scum, proudly bearing the hard won ingredient.

 

“Bummer,” the receptionist said, barely looking up at Kuroko when he asked if the Master Healer was still there. “She left like, ten minutes ago.”

 

Well, it had still been a victory against the fairies.

 

Anyway, by the time he’d made it to the court, everyone else was already there, and had started dueling.

 

Kuroko found Kagami in the stands, watching the two wizards exchange spells, shouting with excitement at every attack and parry.

 

“COME ON, _DEFEND_! KEEP THAT SHIELD UP!”

 

“Hello, Kagami,” Kuroko said.

 

“HOLD STEADY YOU – AHHHH!”

 

Kagami jumped, falling sideways, nearly off the bleachers.

 

“Where the hell did you come from?”

 

“I have been here the whole time.”

 

“Oh, come ON!” Kagami moaned. “Give a dude some warning!”

 

“I tried,” Kuroko said.

 

He had. Just not very hard. There was something endearing about how theatrically Kagami reacted to Kuroko’s presence that didn’t exactly incentivize Kuroko to stop surprising the other boy.

 

“So, what do you think?” Kagami asked, gesturing to the court once he’d gotten over his surprise.

 

Kuroko watched one of the boys fire off a bright red stunning spell, only for it to bounce off the other duelists shield up into the night sky.

 

“They’re dueling right out in the open.”

 

“Yeah, super cool, right?”

 

Kuroko nodded, watching the two teenagers exchanging spells. Brightly colored bolts of light exploded between them, and the sound of their voices and spells echoed around the park and down the quiet street. Kagami was practically twitching next to him, absentmindedly shifting as though forcing himself not to jump down and join the dueling going on below.

 

“How is it you don’t get in trouble for this?” Kuroko asked. The teenagers weren’t even trying to hide what they were doing.

 

“Anyone who comes by is just going to think we’re playing with some high tech toy or some new gadget or whatever. Most technology looks pretty much like magic to the bitchy older crowd anyway. No mundane cop is gonna pay attention to some random idiot ranting about magic anyway, they’d just think whoever reported us was crazy. Hell, I heard that a bunch of teenagers got filmed dueling and someone put the video _online_ and nobody cared. Everyone said it was fake.”

 

“That’s insane,” Kuroko said. He’d spent most of his life legitimately believing that any slip up, no matter how minor, might cause society itself to destabilize. It seemed that at least here, magic – and magic of many different kinds – blended in harmony with the mundane world.

 

As he watched, one of the boys took out a handful of feathers and blew on them.

 

In a heartbeat, they turned into a flock of green birds that flew had his opponent, turning to vines as they hit the other boy, binding him in place.

 

The other boy just grinned and gave a high pitched whistle, burning them away.

 

“I could do this all day!” he shouted back.

 

“Oh now they’re just showing off,” Kagami laughed. Even laughing, he sounded strained.

 

“You wish you were dueling with them,” Kuroko said.

 

“Of course I friggin’ do!” Kagami said wistfully. “I hate just sitting here, I miss being able to duel, and I can’t wait to be done healing my legs.”

 

Of course. Kuroko recognized the burning need in the redhead’s eyes, because it spoke to a fire deep in his own heart that hadn’t been extinguished yet either. He wanted to be back on the court too, a revelation that probably shouldn’t have been as surprising as it was.

 

Kuroko sat next to Kagami, watching the shadows lengthen across the court as the sun began to set. The two finished dueling, letting the next pair take the court.

 

“I, uh, kind of blew up my legs,” Kagami said after a while.

 

Kuroko didn’t respond, just stared back at the other boy, letting him talk. He’d surmised from the Healer’s comments that Kagami was in recovery for a very serious injury, one that had necessitated the magical re-growth of Kagami’s entire body, but he hadn’t pushed the healer for more details. The redhead looked sheepish, rubbing the back of his head like he was embarrassed.

 

“It was pretty stupid,” Kagami continued. “I was interning for a new Ward Master, and I kind of overreached. I managed to get myself caught in a really dangerous rune configuration. One second everything was going fine and I was on the cusp of a brand new, amazing development in practical rune application, and the next…”

 

Kagami looked down.

 

“It was… ah, not much fun.”

 

Kuroko thought that sounded like a severe understatement.

 

Kagami looked up, a serious look on his face.

 

“I haven’t been able to do much practical rune work or anything for the last year and a half. They had to get the curse out of what was left, and that took six months all by itself with me stuck in a goddamn bed barely able to move, and then I had to regrow a whole bunch of parts from scratch.”

 

Kagami leaned back, looking upwards.

 

“I’m so BORED of studying!” he moaned to the sky.

 

“What were you trying to do?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Huh?”

 

“When you blew off your legs,” Kuroko said bluntly. “What were you doing?”

 

“Oh! I was working on a trap configuration combining a powerful flame spell with a magic seeking detector and a ten foot range.”

 

“What were you protecting that needed that kind of magic?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Nothing really, it’s just my friend managed to set up a magic detecting configuration that could recognize general power signatures from specific wizards while he was at Salem. His parents sent him off like two years ago because they wanted him to get ‘the right sort of education’ or whatever. I thought if I could do something really clever, they would let me in too. Not like I could get in on my connections or whatever, since my family’s its own walking scandal.”

 

Kagami chuckled, his eyes falling back onto the competing duelists below. It looked like the rounds were finishing up for the evening, as the first few duelists started trickling out of the court, heading (presumably) towards home.

 

“I competed against Salem,” Kuroko said suddenly. “We didn’t get to face them team to team, but they came to Hogwarts to duel with us. I didn’t realize there were other schools out here than them and New York.”

 

Kagami turned to stare at Kuroko, looking like Kuroko had just said something very strange and highly offensive all at once.

 

“Oh, don’t say that too loudly where Master Healer Takeda could hear you,” he said. “Man, you British wizards really do think the entire world is about you, don’t you?”

 

Kuroko just stared at Kagami.

 

“Okay, short lesson,” Kagami said, straightening up. “It’s probably fair that you only know the super bougie, really strict schools of magic. New York, Salem, and Roanoke are the three big old schools that were created by colonists coming over from the British Isles. Sacramento has another old school established by Spanish conquerors. Those four are I guess what you would call “Ivy League” schools of magic. They’re all about the rules, and that’s where these old purebloods tend to gravitate.”

 

Kuroko was fascinated. He sat up straight, paying close attention to everything Kagami was saying.

 

“Most cities have pretty good community schools based on local traditions. Plus you’ve got your bougie elitist privates out in Northwest. There are a bunch of really big state run schools, with a little bit of everything for everyone. Most of the schools out here around LA are based in the Mexican heritage of the area, with some Spanish influence. Out in the Midwest I think there are some schools run on reservations, trying to preserve some of the older traditions, but that’s hard. Especially when for a lot of people who were oppressed, keeping their magical tradition was hard. New Orleans and some of the southern states have some schools that were founded with end of slavery, back when black kids couldn’t go to the same schools as white ones, even if they were wizards. American wizarding tradition comes from so many different roots and cultures, but of course if you want to impress the old stuffy purebloods who made all the decisions, pretty much you go to an Ivy or you give up.”

 

“You seem bothered by that.”

 

“Well yeah! I can’t even hang out with my childhood friend because I’m not _good enough_ for him or whatever. It’s dumb. But yeah, don’t go around thinking that the U.S has only got a handful of schools for wizards. We’re _everywhere._ And that’s just the States, North America has a hugely diverse wizarding population, and there are a lot of places where our magical and mundane communities are almost entirely integrated. I guess your government deliberately looks the other way because I can’t imagine that whole rules based crowd being crazy about the way we do things down here.”

 

Kuroko couldn’t see that either. From what he’d seen of LA so far, he was pretty sure it would give even his grandmother an aneurism, let alone the likes of Akashi Masaomi.

 

“So you wanted to go to one of the Ivy League schools, and tried to impress them with a really cool runic configuration?”

 

“Yeah, but then I blew off my legs and that kind of went out the window,” Kagami said. “So my asshole parents got my old teacher to petition Hogwarts to let me in.”

 

Kuroko sat up straight.

 

“You’re going to Hogwarts next year?” he asked.

 

“Yeah,” Kagami grinned. “I’ve been dying to say it since I realized you had to be a Hogwarts student but I totally forgot! How wild is it that I would run into you here, huh?”

 

Kuroko agreed. The chances of such an introduction were… Well, they weren’t likely, certainly. That two students attending Hogwarts should meet in Los Angeles was a serious statistical improbability at best.

 

After several long, quiet minutes, Kagami looked back over at Kuroko.

 

“So, now you know my story; I blew off my own legs. What’s stopping you from dueling?”

 

“Who says I’m not dueling?”

 

“Just because you’re hard to notice doesn’t mean I don’t know regret when I see it,” Kagami said. “You’re almost as jittery sitting here on the sidelines as I am, and that’s saying something. You could go duel any time you wanted, so what’s up?”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“My teammates are assholes.”

 

“Get new ones. In the meantime, why not just do what makes you happy?”

 

Kuroko wished his world view could be as clear as Kagami’s.

 

“I’m working on it,” Kuroko said, looking over at the redhead. His hands clenched into fists over his knees. “You will find that some of the most powerful students in the world duel at Hogwarts.”

 

“Really?” Kagami asked, his eyes shining eagerly.

 

“They call them the Generation of Miracles,” Kuroko said.

 

“Miracles, huh? Sounds pretentious as fuck.”

 

Kuroko smiled without really meaning to. He didn’t see Kagami’s own grin widen at the sight of Kuroko’s.

 

“So you don’t want to duel because those kids are the worst?” Kagami asked.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how to explain his feelings to this boy who clearly had never understood the kind of emotional upheaval that had not only destroyed Kuroko but had also driven him to quit dueling.

 

“Have you ever hated dueling?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Never,” Kagami said instantly.

 

“Yeah. They made me hate dueling, and magic, and everything about it.”

 

“Man,” Kagami said. “That sucks. I can’t say I relate, but even imagining it is awful. But I mean, just watching you it’s pretty damn clear you don’t hate dueling now, or at least not so much that you don’t want to go back. So when Takeda finally clears me to be able to duel again, you and I are facing off, got it?”

 

Kuroko nodded, a warm feeling spreading across his chest.

 

“Yes,” he agreed.

 

“See you next week!” Kagami shouted.

 

“See you,” Kuroko whispered. In the dark, he let himself smile down at his hands.

 

Kagami was going to come to Hogwarts.

 

_KAGAMI WAS GOING TO COME TO HOGWARTS._

 

The beginning of something that felt like hope was blooming in Kuroko’s chest.

 

…

 

That Friday, Kuroko was downstairs in the Master Healer’s office sorting paperwork and case files, but it wasn’t long before the Healer flooed into her office in a whirlwind of green fire, snapping at Kuroko.

 

“Upstairs, lab,” she said.

 

“I’m brewing today?” Kuroko asked. The Healer nodded tersely, still walking quickly.

 

“Burn salve,” she said shortly. “Some fires up in Malibu have burned a lot of people and quite a few animals, and I’m the main supplier in the city. Everyone’s on board today, so scrub up.”

 

Kuroko followed the healer, dutifully washing his hands.

 

“Off with the bands too, they’ll interfere with your work,” the Master Healer said in that same clipped tone. Kuroko knew better than to argue with her. He just hoped that she would be too distracted by the brewing to notice anything amiss.

 

He slid off the sweatbands and put them into his pocket, trying to move as though nothing was wrong.

 

When he started washing his hands, Kuroko realized something that was in fact very strange.

 

The black lines that had spread across his wrists and part of the way up his forearm were gone.

 

His arms were bare.

 

Kuroko stared down at them for a few seconds, trying to process when that had happened.

 

He hadn’t taken off the bands in weeks except to shower, and even then he tried to avoid looking down at his arms. He didn’t really even want to see the skin underneath the fabric hiding it, and magic allowed him to leave them in place without them getting ruined or overly dirty.

 

Still, what had changed? Had the lines gone away when Kiyoshi had suppressed the spell?

 

In his heart, Kuroko knew the answer. The lines were gone because he’d given into the spell. He’d stopped fighting its control.

 

He didn’t have strong emotional responses to anything anymore.

 

The spell wasn’t hurting him because it didn’t need to any more.

 

Feeling dull and empty, Kuroko followed the Master Healer to the brewing room. Every station was already full.

 

“You can brew burn salve right?” the Healer asked absently. Privately, Kuroko thought that she must have been very distracted to not have asked him that right from the beginning before letting him up into her labs.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said.

 

“Then get to overflow, you know where everything is. Three batches, then start bottling and labeling what everyone else has done. I want to front end all the brewing in case anything goes wrong.”

 

Kuroko agreed, and the Healer turned away, her attention drawn to her own brewing.

 

It took over an hour for Kuroko to brew three cauldrons full of the thick orange paste. When he was done, he left them on the counter with the others and then went in search of a box of smaller containers for the potion. He found one, and started labeling.

 

It was arduous work. His hands cramped, but there was just no efficient way to do this by magic.

 

Kuroko dolled out the caldrons with one of the other interns, and left the empty ones to be cleaned by another team of interns. They made good progress.

 

The Master Healer took the first twenty jars, her top two apprentices, and a shoulder satchel, telling the crew to keep brewing as they walked out the door.

 

The sun set. Kuroko kept filling jars. One of the apprentices came back at around five to pick up the rest of what they had plus whatever the crew in the other two labs had brewed.

 

Around six, the tattooed receptionist (her hair electric blue this week) came upstairs carrying ten boxes of pizza. Well, they were floating in a neat stack behind her, but still.

 

“Boss let me expense it,” she said amid loud cheering from the potions labs. “But you come downstairs in shifts to eat or she’ll kill me! You know the rules: hands clean before you come down to touch the food or go back up to brew, and no eating in the lab!”

 

She went back down the stairs with the pizza.

 

The interns and apprentices ate in shifts. They’d left the last two boxes for the Master Healer and the two apprentices she’d taken with her to the site of the chaos.

 

“It’s like this every summer,” one of the interns complained. “You’d think people would learn to clear the damn brush scrub from their summer homes.”

 

“S’not anyone’s fault there’s a drought,” one of the other interns argued.

 

“Yeah but it’s they’re fault they’re making it worse,” the first intern replied.

 

“I don’t think the two bickering back and forth for a bit. Kuroko ate his pizza and wondered how many times this crew had been thrown into emergency mode to handle mass casualties to know the procedure as well as they did.

 

The entire crew was still there when the Master Healer returned at nine pm, covered in dirt, soot, and blood. She smelled like smoke. Neither of the apprentices were in much better shape.

 

“Woods and Vallejos, you’re on reporting duty,” she told the crew. “Fifteen minutes, sort by patient name and severity, then get gone. Everyone else go home. The Malibu crew is on night shift, so the rest of you are off duty. Thank you all for your help tonight. I'll see you all no earlier the ten in the morning tomorrow."

 

If she was tired and worn out by either the healing or the fire, the Healer certainly didn’t show it. With all eyes on her, she was standing straight and speaking clearly. More cheering erupted at this announcement, and the room couldn’t seem to clear fast enough. Kuroko followed the rest of the interns and cleaned up in very short order, stopping to grab one of the uneaten and cold slices of pizza on the way out of the building. He'd taken a liking to the American food, and he was exhausted and hungry. 

 

It wasn’t until very late that night, sitting in bed, that Kuroko remembered what he had discovered.

 

He hadn’t put the wristbands back on giving him a clear view of his skin as he held his arm back up to his face in the light of the moon.

 

He had been right; his arm was clear.

 

Whatever had been affecting him before, it was certainly gone now.

 

…

 

The next week, Kuroko made sure to get to their basketball practice a little early. Kagami was the only other person there, but he didn’t notice Kuroko’s arrival.

 

The redhead’s eyes were closed. He was standing in the middle of the court, his lips moving silently. As he got closer, Kuroko watched Kagami spring into motion, diving to the right and rolling, coming up with his hand out.

 

Kagami breathed heavily before transitioning into another movement that had him rolling across the court and coming up with his arm held up in a block.

 

The more Kuroko watched, the more he realized.

 

Kagami was reliving last week’s duel.

 

He was going through it step by step, attack and parry, as though the other duelists were still on the field.

 

Kagami must have an incredible kinesthetic memory to be able to do that just from watching a duel. It was almost like Kise’s observation skills. But even Kise didn’t necessarily memorize entire duels, he could just duplicate what he saw. Watching Kagami go through the motions of his training, Kuroko realized that Kagami did remember everything. The redhead knew every single blow and defense that had taken place.

 

It was closer to Momoi’s categorical memory, but also not quite.

 

Kagami might not be able to duel, but with such an incredible level of focus, he was physically and mentally training for the day when he would be allowed to use his magic again.

 

Kuroko’s heart broke all over again for the boy who had been locked out of the world he’d loved so much for so long.

 

Kuroko’s attention had wandered away from Kagami while he was trying to place the exact skill the other boy had, but his attention quickly returned to the redhead when the boy started shouting.

 

“AH! HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE FOR!”

 

“Quite some time,” Kuroko answered honestly. “I was watching your training. You must have an exceptional memory.”

 

“Nah, I suck at studying,” Kagami dismissed. “Come on, I was pretty much done, let’s work on your shooting!”

 

…

 

A few days later, one month into Kuroko’s time in Los Angeles, Master Healer Takeda cleared Kagami to duel again.

 

“ _Light_ dueling,” she had stressed to the redhead, who had jumped up and whooped for joy.

 

“Come on Kuroko, let’s go duel right now!” Kagami shouted.

 

“No, he’s mine until five, just like every other day of the week,” the healer snapped. “You can play with your friend when he’s done working for me.”

 

Kuroko hid a smile for Kagami’s exuberance. Truthfully, he was excited to face Kagami too, and see what the other boy could do.

 

He had his suspicions about the other boy’s potential, but he needed to be proven right before he told Kagami the truth about how he used his misdirection in duels.

 

He counted down the seconds to five o’clock, and nearly ran out of the office when the healer released him. He could hear her laughing behind him, but he didn’t have it in him to care.

 

Kagami was shooting hoops on the basketball court. It wasn’t a night when their group was scheduled to meet up, so he was on his own, making baskets in the late afternoon sunlight.

 

“Hi.”

 

Kagami yelped at Kuroko’s interruption, but grinned when he saw the other boy.

 

“Okay, damn you, you have me all curious about your mysterious dueling skills,” Kagami said. “And now that I have the all clear to duel, I want some answers!”

 

“I’m not hiding anything.”

 

It was the truth, kind of. Not contributing information wasn’t the same thing as hiding it, but it was a fine distinction.

 

“Okay then let’s go,” Kagami said. “I want you to know something Kuroko - I don’t just duel for fun - I duel because I want a fight and the stronger my opponent, the better. So help me out here and show me what I can expect from your Generation of Miracles!”

 

Kuroko shrugged off his jacket and rolled up his sleeves.

 

He was determined that tonight would not be when he would show Kagami all of what he was capable of.

 

First he wanted to see if his measure of the boy was correct.

 

“What a coincidence,” Kuroko said calmly. “I also have wanted to face you one on one since we met.”

 

Kagami was grinning widely as they faced off on either side of the court.

 

“Ready whenever you are, Kuroko!” Kagami said. “I’ve been waiting for this all summer!”

 

Kuroko swallowed down the urge to blankly remind the other boy that they hadn’t known each other for the entire summer and nodded back.

 

Kagami’s first curse came faster than Kuroko expected, and he dodged out of the way as he felt the spell sizzle by. It was a stunner, and Kuroko could practically feel the energy it left behind.

 

He was right: Kagami was powerful. Untrained and untested, working wholly on instinct, but powerful.

 

Kagami was already moving, stretching out his arm and sending a whip of fire towards Kuroko.

 

Kuroko dodged it, letting his own magic brush just up against it.

 

Kagami’s magic felt like Aomine’s.

 

The thought made Kuroko’s stomach roll, and he was unprepared for the third spell that sent him sprawling into the fence.

 

“Hey, you okay?” Kagami shouted.

 

Kuroko pulled himself to his feet, leveling his wand.

 

“I am fine,” he said.

 

Kagami’s magic felt like Aomine’s from _before._ It was warm, and wild, and bright.

 

Kuroko sent out two weak stunning spells, neither of which came close to hitting their mark. Kagami dodged them both easily, concentrating hard.

 

He sent two spells at Kuroko, who fell backwards trying to avoid them. Kagami cut off his retreat with a wall of fire and stood, his wand pointed at Kuroko.

 

Kuroko realized, looking up the other boy’s arm and into his face, that he hadn’t seen the wand this entire time.

 

Kagami had an affinity with wandless magic too.

 

“Wow,” Kagami said. “You’re terrible. Stop messing around! You think just talking a big game would be enough to beat me? It’s like you’ve never cast a single offensive spell in your life!”

 

Well, that was almost true, actually.

 

Kuroko didn’t let the assessment of his traditional skills deter him from his newfound realization.

 

_Kagami was strong enough to be his light._

 

The beginning of a plan was beginning to form in his mind, an idea that Kuroko had never considered before taking form.

 

“Tch, if you’re the best wizarding Britain is going to have, moving is going to suck even more than I thought,” Kagami said bluntly. That kind of hurt, even if it was accurate.

 

“I don’t have very strong fundamentals,” Kuroko agreed instead. “But you’re amazing. I knew before we started that you were the better duelist; I just wanted to see your strength for myself.”

 

“Listen, man,” Kagami exhaled, throwing himself down onto a bench. “I don’t wanna be mean or anything, but you should quit dueling. People talk about putting in hard work and effort and that’s okay and all, but the only thing that really matters in the end is talent, and you don’t have any.”

 

Kuroko didn’t even react to this bold statement.

 

“I disagree,” he said blankly.

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kagami demanded.

 

“First off, I like dueling,” Kuroko said. “And second of all, I see things differently than you do. I don’t care who’s strong and who’s weak.”

 

After all, for all their strength, the Miracles had let him down more spectacularly than anyone he had ever known, and for all their weakness, Kuroko’s Hufflepuff classmates had defended him when it really mattered. The Miracle’s strength was their greatest weakness, one that Kuroko didn’t share.

 

“What did you say?” Kagami demanded.

 

“I’m not like you. I’m a shadow.”

 

This was not particularly helpful to Kagami (not that Kuroko had intended for it to be), who just made a face and leaned back so he was lying down. Kuroko was still out of breath, but Kagami hadn’t even broken a sweat while wiping the floor with the blue haired boy. It was kind of embarrassing.

 

After a long few seconds, Kagami grinned widely.

 

“So how do I stack up against those miracles of yours?”

 

“They’re not mine,” Kuroko denied. “You’re very good. But right now, they would crush you. You wouldn’t even be able to reach their feet.”

 

“Oi, don’t say it so bluntly!” Kagami shouted.

 

“It’s true,” Kuroko said. “They’re very powerful.”

 

“We’ll see,” Kagami said, but he sounded uncertain in the face of Kuroko’s overwhelming conviction.

 

They parted ways under the light of the moon. Kuroko hoped that he would have the chance to show Kagami his dueling before they met up at Hogwarts.

 

The beginnings of what felt like a plan were forming in Kuroko’s mind.

 

Maybe with Kagami by his side, he could bring the Miracles back to who they had been before their rise to power.

 

…

 

Kuroko felt his time in the States rushing forward all too quickly. He collected herbs for Master Healer Takeda, worked on his potions, and did the research assignments she demanded of him. No other major mass casualties required the same level of attention as the fire they’d dealt with previously, and for the most part things went smoothly.

 

Kuroko realized he was getting more of the Master Healer’s questions right than wrong and that was a point of serious pride for him. He was improving almost as much as he had with Midorima as a study partner.

 

But the things he enjoyed, the part of his summer that really stayed with him, were his nights.

 

Kuroko lived for the sunset: when he left the lab and went scrambling towards the basketball court six blocks away, with it’s Spartan hoops and plain fence and worn blacktop, and the people who occupied it.

 

Well, one person in particular.

 

As the sun set, that was where Kuroko felt most at home.

 

Kagami seemed to love nothing more than basketball, except maybe magic. Kagami wasn’t just a fanatic – he lived for the sport. The stronger his opponent, the happier he was. The redhead was just as happy to lose as to win.

 

“It’s better if I can’t win,” Kagami told Kuroko once. “Those are the fights that make me stronger.”

 

Kuroko believed it. He’d seen the fire in the other boy when they had dueled. He knew that he had to show Kagami his dueling soon.

 

…

 

On Kuroko’s last full day in the United States, he finally built up the courage. He said goodbye to the Master Healer, who encouraged him to continue to pursue his study of healing, and invited him to return to his internship the next summer. He smiled and thanked her before heading to the basketball court earlier than usual.

 

He found Kagami shooting hoops, smoothly bouncing the ball around the court with almost supernatural grace.

 

Kuroko watched him for a few minutes before trying to draw the other boy’s attention. Kagami jumped, but quickly relaxed and smiled when he saw that his intruder was Kuroko.

 

“Oi, if you’re skipping work, Takeda will kill me!”

 

“I left work early,” Kuroko replied, placing his satchel by the bleachers.

 

“Alright, well, you’re here now, do you want to duel?”

 

He sounded a little doubtful after their disastrous duel the week before, but Kuroko took it in stride.

 

After all, Kagami had only seen his weakness so far. Kuroko thought maybe it was time to show him his strength.

 

“I’m going home tomorrow,” Kuroko volunteered.

 

“What, already? No way!” Kagami shouted. “Come on, now we really have to duel! You’re gonna pick up some moves before school starts, you hear me?”

 

“Can we invite some of the others?” Kuroko asked. “Two on two? There’s something I need to show you.”

 

“Sure, the more the merrier!” Kagami said, pulling out his phone. “But why do we need more people?”

 

Kuroko didn’t answer the other boy.

 

“Okay, fine, I guess you can keep your secrets. I’m warning you though, they’re gonna make you be on my team given you’re not… you know…”

 

“I’m aware of the limitations of my power,” Kuroko said. “And it is easier to show you when we are teammates anyway.”

 

Kagami shrugged.

 

“Okay, that’s cool,” he said. “Wanna warm up with me?”

 

The redhead was already pulling a basketball out of his bag.

 

Kuroko declined, deciding to hang back and watch the other boy dominate the court all by himself.

 

Not ten minutes later, a small crowd had shown up and the duel was about ready to start. Kuroko was excited, more fired up for a duel than he had been for a very long time.

 

He could barely remember what this had felt like, but he wanted to show off what he could do for Kagami. Kagami had shown him that they could be teammates.

 

Now Kuroko wanted to show Kagami that as well.

 

As soon as the duel began, Kuroko allowed himself to disappear. Both of his opponents naturally focused on Kagami – the more powerful and better known threat on the court.

 

He was amazing.

 

Kuroko repositioned himself around the edge of the ring and bounced a stunning spell back towards one of the boys, making him fall. His teammate had the good fortune of noticing quickly and reviving him before shielding them both from a stream of fire laid down by Kagami.

 

Kuroko could dully hear the crowd cheering on Kagami’s good shot, but Kagami’s eyes were narrowed in confusion.

 

Kuroko knew that the boy could sense something was off as he redirected the spells bouncing wildly around the arena. The boy had amazing observational skills, of course he knew when spells were coming from a direction where nobody was there to cast them.

 

Kagami cast a spell that went wide and exploded against the shield on the other side, making the boy straighten up with an angry look on his face.

 

“Hold on,” he said. “Time out!”

 

The shield came down, and the other boys groaned. Kagami quickly located Kuroko and was stalking towards him with murder in his eyes.

 

Kuroko stood there, not flinching away, as the redhead bore down on him.

 

“YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO SAY THAT KIND OF STUFF BEFORE A MATCH!” Kagami grabbed for the front of Kuroko’s shirt, but the Hufflepuff ducked just in time. The loud American kept trying to snatch at Kuroko, who neatly evaded his grip.

 

“Hey, Tiger, come on, leave the kid alone-”

 

“You’ve been holding out on me!” Kagami shouted.

 

“You never asked,” Kuroko said. Kagami snarled, but one of their friends pulled Kagami away.

 

“Dude, you wanna duel or you wanna brawl?”

 

Kagami glared at him, glancing back at Kuroko.

 

“Alright, show me what you’ve got!” Kagami said. He seemed reluctantly excited about what he had just seen Kuroko do, as soon as the anger that had caused him to try and attack Kuroko had subsided, and he realized the implications of the other boy's abilities.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed. “I will show you something else I can do. If you will, cast the most powerful spell you know at me when you believe all of our opponents’ attention is on you.”

 

“What? No way! You don’t curse your teammates, that’s dueling 101! Plus, no offense, but I’ve seen your shields and I don’t think you could take it.”

 

“I will not be harmed,” Kuroko said calmly. “Please cast your strongest offensive spell directly at me in the middle of the duel, and then duck.”

 

Kagami nodded.

 

“Okay Kuroko, I believe in you, don’t let me down!”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I will do my best,” he said.

 

The duel started again. Kuroko used a flurry of spells to vanish and watched as his opponent’s focus narrowed down to Kagami.

 

Kuroko took a few steps to the right, positioning himself for the attack.

 

Their opponents separated, running in opposite directions. Kagami chased after one, still managing to fend off curses from the second at the same time. The other two boys were trying to flank the redhead, having completely forgotten about the fourth person on the court.

 

Kagami was busy fielding curses. Watching him dodge and move was an art, it truly was.

 

Kagami made eye contact with Kuroko and Kuroko watched his hand move, causing the air to ripple between them.

 

Kagami didn’t hesitate. He pointed his wand towards Kuroko, igniting a massive fireball hurtling towards the Hufflepuff. Kuroko braced himself, ready to catch the spell. He closed his eyes as it reached him, feeling the magic for what it was – wild, untamed, and burning with power.

 

It wasn’t the bitterly overpowering strength of Aomine’s lightning spells, but it was plenty strong. Considering Kagami hadn't been actively dueling in over a year and was still rebuilding his stamina and practicing his spells, it was actually fairly impressive.

 

Kuroko split the spell in half, catching both of the other duelists completely unguarded.

 

The boys were sent sprawling into the fence, shouting that they yielded.

 

And then the court went silent.

 

“Holy shit, Kuroko,” Kagami said quietly. “That was really something!”

 

Kuroko nodded, but he was busy pulling out the first aid kit from his bag. Within seconds, their opponents had been healed from the damage done by the spell, and everyone was recounting the duel.

 

Kagami sent Kuroko at least one very confused look during the subsequent conversation, which revolved almost entirely around Kagami’s “Super cool duplicating fire spell.”

 

Kuroko had shrugged and smiled.

 

He was a shadow. He was used to being ignored – it’s what gave him his strength. As he’d kept telling himself over and over again as a fourth year, the people who mattered knew what he could do.

 

Kagami looked bothered and pissed about it, but he didn’t know what it had been like for Kuroko when the whole school knew what he had done in the tournament. He didn’t understand, not yet.

 

He was only starting to understand how Kuroko’s power worked. Which was fair – sixteen and some years with his own magic had not left Kuroko with a very good idea on its mechanics either, but he was working on it.

 

By the time they left, it was fully dark out, and the streetlights glowed amber in the night.

 

Kagami was uncharacteristically silent and Kuroko felt no need to fill the silence between them.

 

“I see why you competed with such talented duelists,” Kagami said finally. “What on _earth_ did they do to drive you away? You’re _amazing.”_

 

He said it the same way Aomine used to and it nearly broke Kuroko’s heart all over again.

 

 _“Kuroko Tetsuya, that was brilliant!”_ Aomine had cheered, sweeping the smaller boy up in a massive hug _. “You are positively amazing!”_

 

Kuroko had to remind himself twice that Kagami was not Aomine, and that Kagami would not make Aomine’s mistakes.

 

Kuroko wouldn’t let him.

 

“I’ve decided,” Kuroko said.

 

“Decided what?”

 

“I am a shadow,” Kuroko didn’t look at Kagami as he said this, walking down the dark street. He didn’t see the redhead keep his eyes fixed on him as he looked down, hoping for the right words. “As you have seen, I cannot fight on my own. For that, I need a light.”

 

Finally, he looked up.

 

Framed in a halo of light from the streetlamp, Kagami was the very picture of what Kuroko was asking for.

 

“The brighter the light, the darker the shadow,” Kuroko continued, as he watched Kagami try to understand what he was saying. Akashi’s own words tasted bitter in Kuroko’s mouth. He couldn’t remember who had said them first, but he’d heard them so many times in Akashi’s pleasant tone that Kuroko wanted to rip them out of his own memory and leave them as far behind as possible.

 

And yet, they were the truth.

 

The brighter his teammates shone, the better Kuroko functioned in the shadows.

 

Kagami didn’t understand that yet, but he didn’t need to. Kuroko had been practicing his misdirection, had been deepening the shadows around him. When Kagami came to Hogwarts, he and Kuroko already knew each other so well that they would move together smoothly – though not nearly as smoothly as Kuroko and Aomine had. Not yet, anyway.

 

Kuroko needed a light to guide the Generation of Miracles back to the people they had been.

 

Kagami would be the instrument of their downfall. That was the only chance Kuroko had to get his friends back.

 

He was Kuroko’s only lingering hope.

 

“I will be the shadow to your light,” Kuroko told Kagami. “And I will make you the strongest duelist in the world.”

 

Kagami stared down at him, his expression pinched.

 

“You are the weirdest and most embarrassing person I have ever met,” he said sincerely. “But yeah, you wanna come along for the ride while I beat down the Generation of Miracles? You got it.”

 

When Kagami turned away, Kuroko smiled.

 

He had his light. Now all they needed was a team.

  
…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies if there are any errors in formatting, I'm having A Day and didn't get the chance to check, but I'm leaving my computer behind and going on a trip and I wanted to update sooner rather than later. Anyway I'm super late, so see y'all on the other side!


	22. Takao Kazunari, Gay Senpai Esq.

…

 

_Above them, the sky flashed with lightning, cutting through the cloudy night and turning it into bright electric day for a fraction of a second._

 

_Less than a second later, the booming crack of thunder sounded. The skies opened up and the rain started to pour._

 

_Kuroko stood there in silence, dispassionately looking out at the grounds as the rain continued to relentlessly come down in thick heavy sheets of water, as though someone was repeatedly emptying buckets over the entire castle. Within seconds, both boys were drenched to the skin._

 

_There was another crack of thunder. Takao flinched. Kuroko did not._

 

_“It’s better this way.”_

 

_With the pounding rain and the wind rising, Kuroko almost didn’t hear the quiet words as they left Takao’s lips._

 

_Without warning and without preamble, the Gryffindor fell forwards. As Kuroko watched, he kept going and going, until he was leaning too far over the parapet. His legs lifted off the floor, and Takao completely vanished from sight._

 

_Kuroko blinked once before turning back into the castle to escape the rain._

 

Kuroko bolted upright in bed, gasping for air.

 

His blood was racing, his eyes were wide, and he felt a very real wave of fear and concern.

 

He’d watched Takao jump over the ramparts of the Astronomy Tower without a second thought.

 

Kuroko had pushed his emotions so far down that he hadn’t reacted to the sight of a fellow student trying to commit suicide. As far as he knew, he might have watched a student successfully commit suicide, and simply turned around to go back into the castle.

 

He had no idea whether or not Takao was even alive right now.

 

He needed to find the Gryffindor, and he needed to do so immediately. The urgency of the situation pressed on Kuroko as though he was back on the ramparts, standing in the rain, and the threat was still imminent and right in front of him.

 

Kuroko scrambled out of bed, his hair sticking up wildly in every direction as he struggled to find a quill and parchment in the dark. He pushed the pile of letters to Ogiwara that had been returned unopened, letting them scatter on his floor carelessly. He didn’t even bother lighting a candle to help him in his haste.

 

The letter he wrote to Momoi was probably almost completely unreadable, but if there was a single person who would know where any given Hogwarts student lived, it was Momoi Satsuki, and Kuroko needed her advice as quickly as possible. She knew everything about everyone and that was a fact. Kuroko said so in his letter, hoping the affirmation would encourage her to be inclined to help him. Haste and worry did not favors for his shaking hand as he penned the note.

 

Kuroko crept through his house in the dark, knowing that he wouldn’t wake anyone anyway.

 

Their family owl was resting on her perch in the breakfast nook. She hooted sleepily at the small wizard when he entered.

 

Kuroko tied the note to the owl’s leg.

 

“This needs to go to Satsuki,” Kuroko told the owl very seriously.

 

As though accepting her solemn responsibility for such an important letter, the owl hooted back.

 

“Get a response from her as fast as possible,” Kuroko urged the owl. She took off into the night, through the open window spelled to allow the owl entry and exit from the house, but no other bugs or rodents.

 

Kuroko watched the owl fade into a speck in the dark before yawning loudly.

 

It must be very late, or very early. He couldn’t yet see the first light of dawn, but it couldn’t be too far off.

 

Now that he was actually dealing with the memory that had woken him so violently, Kuroko was sure he’d be able to get back to sleep.

 

Thankfully, Momoi’s letter returned the next day. It wasn’t even afternoon when the Kuroko family owl swept into Kuroko’s room, holding out a leg with Momoi’s response tied to it. Her neat handwriting spelled out the address Kuroko had asked for, and a sharply worded request to be told what was going on. 

 

Kuroko drafted a quick thank you and a vague explanation about wanting to talk to the Gryffindor about dueling.

 

He was encouraged that Momoi had not mentioned anything about a death or suicide. Surely, if Takao had been successful in his attempt, Momoi would have said something. The fact that nobody seemed to mention it, that there was no news on the subject from any corner, bolstered his confidence a little.

 

Still, he wanted to speak to the Gryffindor for himself. He wanted to see with his own eyes that Takao Kazunari was not dead.

 

Minutes later, he was flooing into the Leaky Cauldron and heading into muggle London.

 

After his summer spent in a mostly muggle community, Kuroko was more than comfortable navigating the streets of London on his own. He could clearly see the difference between this city and Los Angeles. Even a glance told him that the borders between magical and mundane communities stood more rigidly here than in America and they would be much harder to lower.

 

It was evening by the time Kuroko arrived at the row house that matched the address Momoi had given him. Standing in front of the door, Kuroko worried for the first time that he probably should have sent Takao a letter or let him know he was coming (because of course the other boy was fine), but he walked up to the door undeterred.

 

He wanted to know for sure that his classmate was okay and he would not be delayed any farther.

 

Kuroko had failed to help Ogiwara: he wasn’t going to fail Takao as well. He was determined to help the other boy if he could.

 

An older woman who Kuroko surmised was Takao’s mother opened the door.

 

Kuroko politely introduced himself as a friend of Takao’s from school and took it as an extremely positive sign that she smiled and invited him into the house.

 

That meant nothing too terrible had happened. Her reaction could only mean that Takao was fine, even though Kuroko had watched him jump over the side of the Astronomy Tower.

 

“He hasn’t quite been himself lately,” she said, and Kuroko breathed a little easier at that confirmation. “Perhaps a visit from a friend will cheer him up.”

 

Takao’s mother led him to the door of the other boy’s room.

 

“Takao, your friend is here!” she said, knocking on the door. There was no answer.

 

“I’m sorry,” she said. “He’s been… well, it’s been difficult since the end of the school year really, and he still won’t talk to me about what happened. I know it had to have been something at that school, but...”

 

Her voice trailed off, and Kuroko could hear what was left unsaid. Takao’s mother wasn’t a witch, and she had no idea what to do for her wizard of a son who clearly needed more than an ordinary level of help. She had no idea how to even start conceptualizing what Takao might have gone through at a school for magically gifted students.

 

“It is fine,” Kuroko replied. “I will try and see if he will maybe speak to me.”

 

“Thank you,” his mother said gratefully. “I’ll be just downstairs.”

 

She walked back down the stairway, casting an anxious glance back at Kuroko and the closed door he was standing in front of.h

 

Kuroko knocked softly on the door. He heard a few loud bangs beyond it before the door opened.

 

Takao was standing there in muggle sweatpants and a graphic t-shirt, his hair messily falling over his forehead like he had done nothing to tame it.

 

“Hi.”

 

“What the hell are you doing here?”

 

Kuroko had not, until this exact moment, considered what he was actually going to say to Takao when he finally came face to face with him. He had no idea how to even broach the topic. He hadn't exactly expected Takao to welcome him, but he wasn't sure how to respond to open and obvious hostility either. He decided to just cut straight to the chase.

 

“You jumped off the Astronomy tower.”

 

Takao folded his arms, glaring at Kuroko. Kuroko found himself glad for strict British rules regarding teenage use of magic outside of Hogwarts; the Trace on the Gryffindor’s wand was probably the only thing preventing Takao from full on cursing Kuroko right now.

 

“Yeah,” he said defensively. “The fuck do you care?”

 

“I did not at the time,” Kuroko admitted, lowering his head. “I did not even process what had happened until yesterday.”

 

Takao tilted his head to the side.

 

“O-kay,” he said, clearly wondering whether he was supposed to believe Kuroko or not. “I’m gonna need a better explanation than that.”

 

“Akashi suggested that if I control my emotional reactions to what happened around me, I would be able to fix my misdirection.”

 

Realization dawned across Takao’s features, followed by an angry scowl.

 

“And of course you both fucking took it too far because you have no idea when to quit and he doesn’t have enough conscience to stop when he knows he’s hurting you,” he spat. The sudden vitriol and anger in Takao’s voice surprised Kuroko. “You know, I didn’t ever take you for an idiot, but you take that Hufflepuff commitment a little too far.”

 

“He was correct-”

 

“Bullshit,” Takao snapped. “You were doing fine with your misdirection before Akashi was your captain, and you let him run roughshod over you because he’s Akashi fucking Seijuro, but seriously? You know what most sane people do when they find that the way they chose to handle a problem is too difficult? They look for another way to solve their issues! They don’t keep trying something that’s hurting them. Just because it’s hard doesn’t mean it’s working!”

 

“Why are you angry on my behalf?” Kuroko asked bluntly.

 

“Because I’m so fucking sick of those assholes hurting people. Here I’ve been thinking you were one of them, then you show up at my door and I find out that they haven’t hurt anyone more than they hurt you!”

 

_How Gryffindor_ , Kuroko thought. But untrue: Kuroko knew that many more people had been disheartened and damaged by the casually destructive egos of the Generation of Miracles. The boy in front of him was a prime example of this.

 

“I’m not the one who tried to commit suicide,” Kuroko said flatly.

 

Takao grit his teeth and turned away, his arms unfolding and his hands curling into fists. He looked like he was getting ready for a fight and physically trying to force himself not to hit Kuroko at the same time. His entire body was a line of tense muscles, like a trap just waiting to snap closed.

 

Several long moments of silence passed before he spoke again.

 

“I went up there to watch the Gryffindor Quidditch team practice,” Takao said softly. “I knew they would be there. Maybe I was hoping one of them would catch me after all.”

 

“You survived because they caught you.”

 

Takao nodded.

 

“It was Miyaji who grabbed me,” he said. “The older one. He caught me by the arm about halfway down and that's when he started yelling. He and Ootsobu shouted at me for _hours_ after they got me down to the ground, too.”

 

“They were right to,” Kuroko said.

 

“Yeah,” Takao said. Then he laughed, smiling a little bit. It was more genuine, much less like the mocking shadow of a smile Kuroko had seen Takao wearing before. “Yeah, they were. And here we are. So are you satisfied I’m not dead?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said. “But that wasn’t the only reason I came here tonight.”

 

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Takao said bitterly. “Why are you here?”

 

“I am sorry.”

 

Takao stared at Kuroko for a full minute in silence.

 

“What the fuck?”

 

“I want to apologize to you for what my teammates did and said to you over the course of this year. I don’t know how they have managed to convince themselves that the way they are acting is acceptable, but it is not.”

 

“You’re right about that,” Takao said, but his voice didn’t have any of the same fire it had in it when he’d confronted Kuroko about Midorima during the school year.

 

They stayed silent, staring at each other for a while, before Takao spoke again.

 

“You know, I wasn’t kidding,” he said at last. “Back in fourth year, when I told you that we’re the same. We’re supporting players who function best in the shadows, and as a result, we both see more than any other duelist. We never narrow our focus to one corner of the arena.”

 

“You said you hated me,” Kuroko said, but he wasn’t offended by it.

 

“Ah, that’s what it’s like with a rival, isn’t it? You hate them for besting you and you appreciate them for making you stronger.”

 

“A rival?”

 

The thought was alien to Kuroko. People like Aomine had rivals – Kuroko had no match on the field. He was weaker than every duelist he’d ever seen on the court.

 

“Every time I find a way to see through your tricks, you come up with something new, and every time you do, I have to work that much harder. You’re a good duelist, Kuroko, but this year I’m going to kick your ass.”

 

Kuroko felt his blood thrum in response to the challenge. It was the same challenge he’d been issued by Akashi Seijuro what felt like a lifetime ago.

 

_I would like you to take that sixth spot. You have a unique talent that will assure our school victory._

 

He’d believed then that he did not have the power to stand on the field of the Generation of Miracles, and yet in the hope that he might be able to anyway, he’d competed.

 

And he had won.

 

He’d resolved to return to the field of competition with Kagami by his side. Kuroko didn’t know what hope there was that they could take down his old teammates, but he was ready to try, once again. He just hadn’t thought he might meet Takao on the field again.

 

“You’re going to duel again?”

 

“Ootsobu offered to let me onto his team,” Takao said. “I don’t know if it was supposed to be a favor, or pity, or whatever. But I decided that no matter which one it was, I’m going to join him, and I’m going to kick the rest of the Miracle’s asses.”

 

Kuroko nodded solemnly.

 

“Not if I defeat them first,” he said. “You are right. We are both shadows and rivals, but I will win this contest.”

 

“You sound very assured of that,” Takao said, his eyes narrowing. “Hold on, if you quit the Miracles’ team, who are you gonna be competing with?”

 

“I don’t know yet,” Kuroko admitted. “Forgive me, but it doesn’t matter because I will not lose. As you said, we are both shadows. The brighter the light that accompanies the shadow, the darker it becomes. I have found a new light that will not be outshone in the arena.”

 

Takao looked confused for a second as he worked his way through that metaphor. He came out the other side looking confused and impressed all at once.

 

“Damn,” he said, shaking his head with a small smile on his face. “Someone finally made an honest man out of your gay ass?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kuroko said blankly. Internally, he was cursing very loudly because the truth was that when Kuroko had first met Kagami Taiga, he had no interest whatsoever in finding a dueling partner. Takao had seen right through him – as usual.

 

Takao put a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

“Kuroko,” he said solemnly. “I’ve had to listen to two years of this crap, and it’s time I said something, for your own good. It’s really, really gay to call someone your light. Like a hundred percent of the people who heard you say that assumed you were sleeping with Aomine in a sexual way kind of gay. Him or any of the other Miracles, anyway.”

 

“You’re ridiculous, it’s just a metaphor.”

 

“Uh huh, yeah, and denial is just a river in Egypt,” Takao smirked. “Tell me about this new _light_ of yours.”

 

Kuroko eyed the other boy suspiciously, wondering if this was a trap of some kind.

 

“He loves magic more than anything else in the world,” Kuroko said, because that was safe enough. “My parents sent me to America for the break, and I happened to run into the one wizard in the country transferring to Hogwarts in the fall.”

 

“You’re seriously unbelievable,” Takao laughed. “Let me guess – he’s tall, super muscled, loud, and always ready to fight?”

 

“You are ridiculous and wrong,” Kuroko repeated his phrase from earlier because he didn’t know what else to say.

 

“Hit the nail a little to hard on the head?” Takao grinned. “Hey, it’s cool, you have a type. So do I, I’m not gonna make fun of you too much for it.”

 

“I thought we were talking about dueling.”

 

“I’m talking about another kind of _dueling,_ ” Takao said, wiggling his eyebrows at Kuroko. “Does this mysterious American transfer know how you feel or have you been just as emotionally constipated with him as you are with everyone else?”

 

Kuroko didn’t dignify that with a response.

 

“I should go home soon,” he said instead. “Thank you for speaking with me. I am happy that you’re alive.”

 

He retreated quickly, Takao cackling behind him.

 

…

 

Kuroko’s O.W.L results had been sitting on his desk when he came home from America several days before. He hadn’t wanted to touch them, not caring enough about how he had done in his classes to take a second look.

 

But with only two weeks left to go until he was due to return to Hogwarts, he needed to make his class selections and pick up his books. He was guaranteed acceptance into any class he was able to test into, so it hadn’t exactly been a high priority item for him.

 

Now, it was finally time.

 

Kuroko’s parents both looked up when Kuroko came into the dining room for breakfast carrying the thick parchment envelope.

 

“Are those your test results?” Kuroko’s father asked.

 

Kuroko nodded wordlessly, holding it so they could both see the green ink over the front, identifying it quickly.

 

“Well eat first, test results second,” Kuroko’s mother said, passing him a plate with an egg and toast.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said, taking the plate.

 

Ten minutes later, Kuroko had finished eating and both his parents were looking at him expectantly.

 

Hardening himself against disappointment, Kuroko reached for the envelope and opened it swiftly.

 

Once he might have been openly and outwardly thrilled at the grades. Now he didn’t react at all to the piece of paper.

 

“Well, don’t keep us in suspense!” Kuroko’s mother urged. “How did your O.W.L.s turn out?”

 

Kuroko wordlessly turned the piece of paper over so that the grades were facing up, and slid it across the table.

 

“This is wonderful!” his mother said, scanning the grades. “Three Outstandings! I think you even outscored your father!”

 

Kuroko’s father nodded in agreement at this, taking another sip of coffee while he scanned the grades.

 

“I think you outscored your mother too,” Kuroko’s father said with a small smile over the rim of his cup.

 

Kuroko’s mother gave him a light tap on the shoulder, mock annoyance on her face.

 

“Am I wrong?”

 

“You know, I don’t even remember,” Kuroko’s mother said, false indignation fading into thoughtfulness. “You may not be, but that’s not the point right now.”

 

Kuroko had watched the back and forth between his parents with a blank expression,  not reacting when his mother turned back to him.

 

“So which classes do you think you’ll continue for N.E.W.T level study?” his mother asked.

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“Runes,” he said. “Charms and Potions probably. Maybe Defense Against the Dark Arts.”

 

“Defense?” his mother asked. “Ah, you’ve been bitten by the dueling bug, haven’t you?” 

 

Kuroko didn’t flinch at that. He nodded briefly.

 

“Well you should make your decision now based on what you want to do when you leave school,” his mother said. “I know we spoke about taking on a permanent healing apprenticeship when you graduate. That would require Herbology and Transfiguration as well as Potions. With your experience this summer behind you, is that something you still would want to do?”

 

Kuroko shrugged again.

 

“I’ve been thinking of apprenticing under a Ward Master,” he said quietly.

 

“Warding?” his father’s eyebrows knit together in surprise at this, and he glanced at Kuroko’s mother for support. “There’s not much demand for Warding, it’s a little esoteric. Most successful Master Warders are fairly powerful.”

 

“That’s not to say that you can’t be successful as a Ward Master with a great deal of clever application,” Kuroko’s mother cut in quickly, giving her husband a meaningful look. “You have excellent scores in Runes and Defense, and your participation in the dueling club certainly will have applications to warding.”

 

Kuroko had figured the same thing. But it was more than just a career for him now: he wanted to know the truth about his own magical core. He wanted to understand how his misdirection worked, and how he could manipulate it to his own will. He had begun that process on his own, but he wanted to understand _why_ and _how_ it worked.

 

To do that, he didn’t just need the help of a Master, he needed to become one.

 

“Have you thought beyond a Mastery what you would want to do with it?” his mother asked.

 

Kuroko shrugged once again.

 

“Well, you certainly have time to spare,” his father said. “And your options aren’t limited by any means. You’ve done well enough that you’ll have quite a spread of N.E.W.T.s too. You don’t have to take the tests for all the classes you sit through as well, so you still have time to decide where you want to specialize your interests.”

 

Kuroko thanked his father politely and went back to his breakfast.

 

…

 

All too soon, it was time to return to Hogwarts.

 

On September first, Kuroko’s grandmother took him to King’s Cross to say farewell.

 

“I’m so proud of you, Tetsuya,” she told him, her voice wavering as she hugged him goodbye. “You’re going to do so many wonderful things, and I know that you’re only going to keep making us more and more proud.”

 

Kuroko didn’t react to the embrace, and when his grandmother pulled away, she gently ruffled his blue hair.

 

“Do your best,” she told him, her eyes shining with tears. “And write me more often.”

 

“Yes, I will,” Kuroko agreed. He bowed to his grandmother and turned to get onto the train.

 

“Be safe!”

 

Kuroko turned, and ran back to his grandmother, giving her one last hug before boarding the train.

 

He watched at the window as she continued to wave at him until the giant hunk of metal began to pull out of the station. The matriarch of Kuroko’s family was too dignified to run after the train like some of the younger siblings who followed it’s progress, but she looked like she wanted to.

 

All too soon, the station was far behind, and the train was powering steadily through the countryside. Kuroko settled in to watch the hills go by, idly fishing out a light novel from inside his bag.

 

He had not spelled his door, so Kuroko wasn’t really surprised when it opened about ten minutes into the ride, sliding open to reveal one of his fellow students.

 

“Hi, Kuroko!”                                       

 

Kuroko looked up to see a grinning Kiyoshi sticking his head around the door to the compartment.

 

“Mind if I come in? I’m doing rounds and checking in on all of our Hufflepuffs – and the first years, of course.”

 

Kuroko shrugged, and Kiyoshi beamed, pulling the door open the rest of the way.

 

“Congratulations,” Kuroko said, gesturing to the Prefect badge on the boys’ robes. “Prefect again?”

 

“I guess someone has to keep you little badgers in line,” Kiyoshi said playfully. “I tried to reject it, but the Headmaster wouldn’t let me so I guess I’ll be balancing this with the dueling club again. At least I managed to talk him out of making me Head Boy.”

 

Kuroko wondered whom the Headmaster could have assigned that role to, if not Kiyoshi Teppei, but he was more interested in the other thing the seventh year had said.

 

“You’re competing again this year?” Kuroko asked. After the older Hufflepuff having spent a good part of the summer in the hospital for dueling injuries for the second year in a row, Kuroko hadn’t thought that Kiyoshi would be so quick to jump back into the arena. Then again, Kiyoshi was hardly a Hufflepuff for nothing, and the students in the house of the badgers were resilient, if anything.

 

“I convinced Junpei - eh, sorry, Hyuuga to continue with the team,” he said with a wide smile. “Even if I can’t compete for a while, we still want to fight together, even after everything.”

 

Kuroko blanched. He could translate that subtext just fine. Kiyoshi had probably followed the Gryffindor prefect around and lambasted him into submission. Riko might have been in on it purely for the potential entertainment from the spectacle.

 

Kuroko was glad that the three of them had each other. They made a strong team together, at least when they weren’t fighting with each other.

 

“Who else is joining you?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Some Hufflepuff seventh years from last year, a few of your own year-mates we finally brought on board, Aida of course, and we’ll see who else. They’re changing a lot of the rules this year, now that they know how popular dueling has become. After last year, I bet there’s hardly a single student in the school who won’t have a team. I think half the school is swearing on their honor and that of their family that they’re going to take down the Generation of Miracles.”

 

“It will be good for all of us,” Kuroko observed. “Everyone in the school will have the opportunity to do a lot of practical work, and it will help many students stay focused on their classwork.”

 

Kiyoshi nodded sagely.

 

“I just wish I could fight with them,” he said wistfully, a hand absently rubbing at his knee. “I guess I overdid it last year, and I don’t think I’ll be able to do something this dynamic for a while. The healers are worried about me using that kind of magic for a little while.”

 

“They’ll do well anyway,” Kuroko said, more because he knew it was expected than because he trusted the sentiment.

 

“You could compete with us you know,” Kiyoshi said casually. “I’m sure Aida would love to poach a Miracle; though given what I saw of your relationship last year, I would guess it wouldn’t be so much poaching as it is picking up a rough diamond someone decided wasn’t ready to finish yet.”

 

Kuroko managed not to flinch, but it was close. Kiyoshi’s quiet statement proved he was more observant than Kuroko would have ordinarily given him credit for. Sometimes, with Kiyoshi, it was hard to tell. Which was stupid, because he already knew Kiyoshi was a lot smarter and sharper than he let on. It was almost Slytherin, really.

 

“I’m surprised you found so many people willing to come back to get beaten down by the Generation of Miracles for the second year in a row.”

 

“Oh, haven’t you heard?” Kiyoshi asked. “None of them are competing together this year.”

 

Kuroko sat straight up in his chair.

 

“What?”

 

That was definitely news.

 

Kuroko had been assuming that the five of them would compete together, perhaps making space for another duelist to ignore on the field. If they were competing with different teams, fighting them wasn’t just possible - with Kagami as his light, Kuroko thought they might have a shot at winning, with the right team.

 

“The rumors are all up and down the train,” Kiyoshi continued. “They’re saying there was a falling out of some kind.”

 

He was speaking cautiously, as though Kuroko might have answers to a question he wasn’t directly asking.

 

“I wouldn’t know,” Kuroko deadpanned, processing this new information. He’d known there was dissent in the ranks, so to speak, but there was no way he’d foreseen them all breaking up and competing on different teams. “I quit the team last year.”

 

“WHAT?”

 

It was Kiyoshi’s turn to look shocked.

 

“They made me hate dueling,” Kuroko said quietly. “For a while I hated _magic,_ too.”

 

“Well this sounds like the kind of thing for Prefect Teppei to help with,” Kiyoshi said with a broad smile. “Tell me everything. I can’t believe you of all people would quit at anything, let alone dueling. Since you started, it seems like dueling has been your entire life!”

 

“Don’t you have rounds to do?”

 

“They’ll wait,” Kiyoshi said, waving his hand vaguely. “Now, like I said, tell me everything.”

 

Kuroko sighed. There was no match for Kiyoshi’s sheer, stubborn persistence. He might as well give in now and save himself the energy.

 

“Aside from being invisible, I’m only good at blocking spells,” he said cautiously. “I can only ever redirect other people’s magic. I can barely cast spells on my own. I’m useless by myself.”

 

Kiyoshi was silent for a long moment.

 

“That sounds like it’s a limit you’ve placed on yourself,” he said. “Just because you’ve always done it one way doesn’t mean you have to keep doing it like that.”

 

“But I _can’t!”_ Kuroko insisted. “I don’t have the kind of magical power you or any of the others do!”

 

“Yes you do.”

 

The words were so blunt, unhurried, and honest, that they felt like a bucket of ice water being dunked over his head.

 

“You can feel magic in a way most people can’t, so I assumed you knew,” Kiyoshi said, placing his hand on the other boys shoulders. “You have impressive shields that hide it all the time, but from the first time I tapped you on the shoulder, I could feel how powerful a wizard you are.”

 

Kuroko was baffled.

 

“But all I have is my misdirection! I can avoid being noticed and I can slightly move spells around me. It’s a nice trick, but it doesn’t require any power.”

 

The strongest thing about Kuroko was his capacity to find the brightest lights and work side by side with them.

 

“Oh, Kuroko,” Kiyoshi smiled. “First of all, that’s not even a little true. And second, Merlin’s best tricks were his misdirection! He was most famous for his illusions, and he was one of the most powerful wizards to ever live. You’ve decided this means you can only fight defensively, but that’s up to you.”

 

Kuroko’s mouth hung wide open.

 

“But I can’t do magic like that.”

 

“You can do whatever you want, you just have to know what that is,” Kiyoshi smiled knowingly.

 

Kuroko tried to puzzle through this weird, riddle-like statement as the tall Hufflepuff stood.

 

“Our dueling team is going to meet Monday, Thursday, and Saturday this week at seven pm in one of the practice rooms down the Charms corridor,” Kiyoshi said with a wide smile. “You know who we are, and you’ve seen us compete. I’ll leave it to you if you want to join us or not. Either way, I’ll see you around!”

 

And with that, Kuroko was alone in the compartment again.

 

He had a lot to think about.

 

_You can do whatever you want, you just have to know what that is._

 

He’d decided to come back and join a dueling team. He hadn’t given much thought yet as to whose team he would ask to join, but he already knew that Kiyoshi had the kind of team that valued the same principles that Kuroko did. They emphasized dynamic team play with strong offensive tactics.

 

This was the answer Kuroko had been looking for.

 

To calm the storm of confusion in his own head, Kuroko pulled out his Transfiguration textbook and started going over their readings for the first week again.

 

Kuroko didn’t get very far. His reading was disrupted not ten minutes later by the sound of the door opening a second time.

 

“Oh, there you are.”

 

Kuroko looked up in alarm.

 

“Oh calm down, I’m not here to bully you again,” Hanamiya said, stepping into Kuroko’s compartment and locking the door behind him. Kuroko tensed, his hand not far from his wand as he prepared himself for a fight he would inevitably lose.

 

“You’ll forgive me if I don’t believe that, based on previous experience,” Kuroko replied tensely. Hanamiya rolled his eyes.

 

“Yeah, but that was before Shouchi told me all about how you grew a pair of balls.”

 

“Sho-”

 

“Imayoshi Shouchi, seventh year,” Hanamiya waved his hand as though the details were irrelevant. “He’s starting his own dueling club. Actually, I hear the intramural dueling competition is going to be extremely interesting this year. They’re all citing your Miracles as their _inspiration._ Rumor has it that the first team to take down a team with a Miracle on it is going to win the entire betting pool’s worth of gold. Everyone’s out for blood after how they treated us last year.”

 

He paused, as though he was waiting for Kuroko to take the bait. When he didn’t Hanamiya rolled his eyes.

 

“Aside from our goodie two shoes Iron Heart starting his own team, Imayoshi _confided_ in me that he managed to _poach_ one of Akashi’s Miracles.”

 

He grinned conspiratorially.

 

“He didn’t poach him,” Kuroko said dully, looking out the window. “Whichever one of them it was, Akashi told him to go to Imayoshi.”

 

“See, that’s what I figured too,” Hanamiya sounded pleased that Kuroko had drawn the same conclusion he had. “I did some digging. Every one of those damned Miracles is on their own team. Kasamatsu took in the loud, blonde one, Otsubo has the obsessive compulsive genius with a fetish for divination, and poor Araki apparently had the large purple one announce he was joining her team before she’d even publically announced that she was going to make one.”

 

Kuroko internally snorted at this characterization of his former teammates. It was hilariously accurate, though there were two Miracles missing from the line up Hanamiya had given him...

 

Which put Aomine with Imayoshi by default based on what Hanamiya had said earlier, because there was no way that Akashi would join a team he that he wasn’t the captain and commander of.

 

“Why are you telling me this?” he asked.

 

“There’s nothing I hate more than people like them,” Hanamiya said, and Kuroko turned back to him, interested despite himself.

 

“People like them?”

 

“Self important toadies that think they’re too good to get crushed,” Hanamiya replied. “But even geniuses like them are just like everyone else when they’re broken. Trash.”

 

“A very interesting philosophical perspective, yet both substantively meaningless and without any relevance to me.”

 

Hanamiya chuckled.

 

“Shouchi was right, you did grow some balls,” he said, a wide grin on his face. “I can’t believe you’re the same kid that was moping around the toilets last year because his friends didn’t like him any more. How about this then: I believe crushing every one of Akashi’s precious Miracles like bugs beneath my shoes would prove an amusing diversion from the inane boredom of everyday life in the castle. I believe you and I might have a shared cause in that. I also believe you might be useful in helping me achieve that end. If you’re interested.”

 

“You want me to join your dueling team and help you wipe the floor with my former teammates,” Kuroko clarified duly.

 

Hanamiya nodded.                                                                             

 

“That’s the spirit,” he smiled.

 

What the _hell_.

 

Kuroko managed to spend almost an entire year either being stepped on by the more powerful students of his school or completely invisible, and now two people, one of which had stepped on him before, were asking him to join their dueling teams.

 

“I will consider your offer,” he said diplomatically, lying through his teeth. He’d finished considering that offer almost as soon as Hanamiya was done making it, and he had zero interest in joining any team captained by the dangerous Ravenclaw.

 

“Don’t think about it for too long, Phantom,” Hanamiya shot back. “I don’t have a whole lot of patience.”

 

Kuroko would have laughed at that if he wasn’t fairly certain Hanamiya was still straddling the very fine line between asking for his help and kicking his ass.

 

When Kuroko said nothing more, Hanamiya stood up gracefully.

 

“Well, this has been fun, but I have first years to bully, people to torture, mayhem to cause, you know the drill. Come find me if you want to talk.”

 

Hanamiya pulled open the door and came face to face with Midorima. The Slytherin smirked. Midorima glared.

 

“Move out of my way,” Midorima said imperiously. Kuroko wondered if he’d been taking lessons from Akashi, or if the mimicry was unconscious. He almost had the voice down pat. Actually, it was almost uncanny.

 

Almost as uncanny as the fact that Kuroko hadn’t really spoken with the other boy for the better part of six, maybe eight months, aside from interacting with him on the dueling court, and now the Ravenclaw was here to talk to him.

 

“Don’t forget what we talked about, my dear Tetsuya!” Hanamiya waved dramatically before slipping under Midorima’s arm.

 

“What did he want?” Midorima snapped from the doorway. Kuroko heard the anger in his voice. It was the first time he’d spoken to Midorima face to face since before _that night_ and with Kuroko still undecided as to the culprit, he didn’t like the way that voice made him feel. Mostly, he was filled with his own fiercely burning rage, simmering just under the surface. He couldn’t forget the contempt in Midorima’s voice when he’d spoken to Takao during their duel, nor the pain in Takao’s eyes right before the Gryffindor had jumped off the Astronomy tower. Kuroko couldn’t forget the expression on the Ravenclaw’s face when Kise had confronted him after the duel in which Midorima had carelessly endangered Kise just for an easy win, and how easily and cruelly Midorima had dismissed Kise’s fury.

 

Haizaki had been the one to hurt Ogiwara. Kuroko reminded himself of that. He had no right to lay everything that had gone wrong in his life last year on the Miracles.

 

Nevertheless, Midorima had no right to demand anything of him.

 

Even if Midorima hadn’t been involved in the attack on Kuroko’s friend, the other boy still hadn’t talked to him in months. He’d acted like an asshole to his friends and treated the other students of Hogwarts like trash. Midorima had no right to turn around and make demands on Kuroko’s time now.

 

_Please go away,_ Kuroko thought, but didn’t say.

 

“Wasn’t he the one that hit you last year?”

 

“Haizaki’s the one who hit me,” Kuroko replied dully. “I told you and the next week I walked in on Akashi threatening him. I wonder how that happened.”

 

“You’re mad at us for protecting you?” Midorima asked, voice rising in bewilderment. “Kuroko, I don’t understand you at all!”

 

“I wish you wouldn’t try,” Kuroko murmured softly, but Midorima heard anyway and his eyes narrowed even further. Kuroko considered reminding the green haired Ravenclaw exactly why he was mad at him and the rest of their former teammates, but that felt like a lot of effort for a fairly pointless result.

 

“I heard you will be competing with Ootsubo-kun,” Kuroko said after a moment. Midorima exhaled through his teeth and primly sat himself onto the seat opposite Kuroko.

 

“Yes,” he replied. “It should prove a competitive team. They fared extremely well last year in the tournament and they have a few promising new members.”

 

_You included_ , Kuroko thought, wondering how much he would have to anger the Ravenclaw to make Midorima leave.

 

“Is that why you stopped competing with the others?” Kuroko asked curiously. “Because you realized the only way it would be an even fight is if you were dueling each other? Or did you just do whatever Akashi asked without thinking about it?”

 

This was easy, Kuroko thought vindictively. He and Midorima had never gotten along well, even when things were good. It was second nature for them to turn prickly and rude towards one another.

 

Midorima didn’t take the bait. He ran a hand through his hair, slightly dislodging his glasses.

 

“Kuroko, I’m not here to fight with you.”

 

“Then why _are_ you here?”

 

“I wanted to know if you were dueling again this year. Did Akashi convince you to compete with him?”

 

Kuroko paused. Huh, it seemed the quick-witted Ravenclaw was attempting to outmaneuver their old captain. That was actually kind of funny. Even funnier was the fact that Midorima apparently didn’t trust Akashi, despite the fact that he’d clearly done exactly as the redhead had asked. Midorima had outright _assumed_ that Akashi had kept his ace up his sleeve, and refused to let go of Kuroko.

 

If Kuroko could even still be called Akashi’s secret ace, anyway.

 

“No,” Kuroko replied. “Akashi-kun has not spoken to me since last year, at which point he was under the impression I was holding you all back. If you exclude orders he’s given me, we haven’t actually spoken since last December.”

 

He narrowly kept the bitterness out of his voice, but it was a close battle.

 

“Then he’s an idiot,” Midorima shot back, and then looked so horrified it was amusing.

 

“I meant – you are a practical asset,” he said, flushing red, and pushing his glasses up his face to cover for his emotional response. Kuroko supposed tsunderes couldn’t be expected to change their spots. It was just as endearing as it had ever been, even when Kuroko was mad at him.

 

“Then have you decided to compete this year?” Midorima asked.

 

A brilliant, vindictive, angry idea occurred to Kuroko.

 

And it seemed that Midorima was actually interested enough about whether or not he was competing for this to work, should he play his cards right.

 

When he was absolutely sure his deadpan expression was firmly in place, he looked Midorima right in the eyes.

 

“Yes,” he said. “I have.”

 

Midorima leaned forward, tsking impatiently.

 

“May I ask with whom?”

 

“Hanamiya Makoto has asked me to compete on his team,” Kuroko said. It was pure truth, though thoroughly misleading in the delivery.

 

It was exactly as worth it as Kuroko had imagined. Midorima froze, his face went an interesting shade of red, then pale white. He choked on the breath he’d been taking in when Kuroko spoke.

 

“Excuse me,” Midorima said, as soon as he had collected himself, and jumped to his feet. Kuroko almost – almost – laughed watching the taller green haired boy run out of the compartment. The smile on his face fell the second Kuroko realized that Midorima was running straight to Akashi.

 

After all, Midorima might argue with and try and fight Akashi all he wanted, but he was one of the boy’s loyal pawns nonetheless.

 

This year was off to a great start.

 

It was a prank he’d pay for the second Akashi heard about it. In order to avoid having to face the redhead’s wrath, Kuroko warded his door with as many notice-me-not charms as he could, and locked it firmly.

 

Finally, he settled back to enjoy the quiet around him.

 

He never thought he’d miss last year’s isolation, but he supposed there were virtues to even the worst situation.

 

Still, he couldn’t help but smile a little looking back out the window.

 

If you’re supposed to start the year the way you intend to live the rest of it, he was off to a fantastic start.

 

It wasn’t until long after Midorima left that Kuroko really processed one of the details his conversations had revealed.

 

Takao had said that he was going to join Ootsobu’s team; apparently, so was Midorima.

 

The Gryffindor was going to be pissed all to hell.

 

…

 

Kuroko found the other sixth year Hufflepuffs huddling in the cold waiting for a carriage. Thankfully he managed to get into one with them without incident.

 

The Great Hall was as welcoming as ever, especially in contrast with the cold almost Fall evening outside. It was dry, which was a blessed relief, especially for summer in the Scottish highlands.

 

Kuroko used his misdirection to avoid having to talk to anyone while he made his way to the Hufflepuff table. Combined with the pressing crowd, Kuroko’s misdirection ensured that he safely made it to his table without incident, and was free to look around the hall, hoping to see Kagami.

 

There was no sign of the tall redhead. It wasn’t long before the student body settled down and the massive doors of the Great Hall burst open, causing Kuroko to smile.

 

Kuroko had left America only two weeks ago, but that didn’t mean that he hadn’t missed the other boy. The loud American was a welcome sight in the Great Hall.

 

Kuroko thought it looked like Kagami might have grown another inch since they had said goodbye in Los Angeles. At the front of a group of tiny eleven-year-old wizards, he just looked so out of place it was funny. The redhead was looking around the hall, eyes moving up to the extraordinary enchanted ceiling. He didn’t seem to be aware of the attention of the entire Hogwarts student body focused directly on him, their curious whispers echoing all across the hall.

 

The first years and Kagami assembled in front of the Head Table, and finally, the noise level died down again.

 

The Headmaster stood and stepped forward, scowling. Kuroko thought he looked like he’d aged a lot since the end of last year, but he supposed running Hogwarts these days had to be a pretty stressful job.

 

“To our new students, welcome,” he said. “And to our older students, as always, welcome back. Try not to burn down the school, please. We've lasted this long, I'd like to keep that streak going.”

 

Some of the first years tittered nervously at this in their neat line down the middle of the Great Hall, but the older students chuckled outright.

 

Kuroko, who had firsthand knowledge of the fact that between his, Ogiwara’s and Momoi’s antics, and the shenanigans of the Generation of Miracles, the school had probably been at risk of a full on conflagration several times, didn’t find the joke as funny as his peers.

 

“Let’s get straight into things so we can get straight out of them,” Kagetora continued. “Before we begin sorting the first years, we have a new student joining our sixth year class, so please welcome Kagami Taiga, who is transferring here from America.”

 

The extremely tall student separated from the mass of first years, walking up beside the Headmaster.

 

The redhead made an almost comical image as he loped towards the stool that was hilariously and impractically tiny for him. Kuroko leaned forward with interest even though he had literally no doubt as to where Kagami was meant to be. Kagami wore everything he was on his sleeve – he was righteous and bold, and excessively loud about both. He was daring and brave and protective; essentially, Kagami Taiga was everything that the house of lions aspired towards.

 

Kuroko’s well-grounded suspicion was confirmed not half a second later as the Sorting Hat shouted “GRYFFINDOR!” to the hall at large, still hovering half an inch above the boy’s head.

 

Kuroko clapped loudly for his friend, drawing a confused glance from Sakurai, who jumped when the blue haired boy drew attention to himself.

 

It took Kagami a few seconds to work out that his table was the one decked out in red and gold, but he walked over quickly enough.

 

Kuroko watched as Hyuuga moved over to make space for the boy next to him, drawing Kagami into conversation.

 

Kuroko relaxed slightly. Aomine hadn’t even looked over at the front of the room during Kagami’s sorting, but Kise was watching Kagami with sharp eyes. Kuroko wondered if Kise sensed how powerful Kagami was, or if he was just interested in the student who would be transferring into his dorm. Kuroko didn't think Kise had any magical sensitivity in that regard, which meant his interest was likely the latter.

 

At any rate, it was sure shaping up to be an interesting year.

 

Before the houses parted for the night, Kuroko found his way to Kagami’s side.

 

“Hello,” he said, tugging on the sleeve of the new Gryffindor’s robe.

 

Kagami jumped and looked down, grinning as he saw the smaller Hufflepuff.

 

“Kuroko!” he said. “I was looking for you all over the train! I figured your misdirection was hiding you. It’s good to see you!”

 

“It’s good to see you too, Kagami,” Kuroko said blankly, but honestly. “Welcome to Hogwarts. Congratulations on Gryffindor.”

 

“The house of the brave,” Kagami preened. "So the hat thing told me, anyway."

 

“It fits.”

 

“Thanks,” Kagami grinned back. “So, about dueling – have you decided on a team?”

 

“I saw that you met Hyuuga,” Kuroko said. “His team emphasizes team play and dynamic, full group attacks that can utilize my misdirection well. Their ace will not be able to fight with them because of an injury from last year. I believe that they will be a good team to join.”

 

Kagami tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.

 

“Alright then,” he grinned. “I believe in you Kuroko, so let’s do this. If you say the glasses kid has a good team, then that’s the one we’ll join.”

 

_I believe in you._

 

“Good night, Kagami,” Kuroko said, trying hard to not react to the statement.

 

“Oh, wait!” Kagami said. Kuroko paused.

 

“So um, I gotta ask before you disappear again,” Kagami said, suddenly grinning very widely. “What’s up with your Headmaster?”

 

“I’m sorry?”

 

“I mean, with how he dresses?” Kagami said, obviously frustrated by Kuroko’s inability to understand what was upsetting him.

 

“I don’t understand.”

 

“Kuroko, _why does your headmaster dress like a pimp_?”

 

“What?”

 

“You know, with the lime green suit and the tiger fur lining and the colored sunglasses?”

 

Kuroko looked blankly at the other boy.

 

“This is how he normally dresses.”

 

“Your headmaster dresses like a pimp and you haven’t even noticed?”

 

Kagami sounded absolutely scandalized. Kuroko could honestly say that he had no idea what the other boy was talking about.

 

“Many traditional wizards raised in European pure blood families struggle to understand aspects of muggle culture like fashion.”

 

“He has a bejeweled pimp cane!” Kagami practically screeched.

 

Too late, Kuroko saw the shadow come up behind his friend.

 

“ _Do I now_?”

 

Aida Kagetora sounded one part amused, two parts furious, as he loomed over the large, newly sorted Gryffindor.

 

Kuroko decided discretion was the better part of valor and left his American friend to create a new school record of getting in trouble on the very first night back to school.

 

Kagami was turning out to be almost as much of a delinquent as Kuroko himself. How perfectly delightful.

 

**…**

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Coming out a little early but hey, nobody ever complained about waiting too short a time for an update, amirite? Anyway, come find my gay ass over at [Mercurialink](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com), my Tumblr and I hope you enjoyed the update!


	23. Kawahara Eats A Cat And Other Side Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's not a full chapter, for which I'm sorry, but it is an update! This is more of an interim chapter because my Beta so helpfully noticed that the way in which I had sorted the characters in this AU created some really interesting roommate pairings that would be worth exploring, which I kind of ran with. So basically, this is the chapter that was never going to exist and then it did, and I hope you enjoy it.

**…**

 

Hanamiya Makoto had lived the majority of his life at Hogwarts in the desperate hope that he would get a glimpse of what had to be a truly ridiculous beauty routine on the part of his House and roommate, Mibuchi Reo.  

 

With this being their last year at school, he was more driven than ever. Merlin, he’d spotted _hair curlers_ sitting on Mibuchi’s night stand once. He was pretty sure a picture of the always perfectly primped Ravenclaw wearing them would be worth its weight in gold for blackmail material (or tabloid material, if Makoto was honest with himself). 

 

“I cannot _believe_ the Headmaster made you Head Boy,” Makoto groaned, staring up at the ceiling, arms folded behind his head. He was lounging across his bed still mostly dressed, save for his missing shoes. “What was he even _thinking?_ ”

 

Ravenclaw provided its students with shared double rooms, with extended storage for books (though Hanamiya was sure that even the Gryffindor and Hufflepuff dorms, both of which placed all of the students of the same gender and year in the same room would magically provide the storage for any student that needed or requested it). Slytherin did the same as Ravenclaw, though luckily after fifth year, each of their students had their own room. The castle certainly had the space for it, and given the virtues Slytherin espoused, it was important for students to have their own space and privacy. 

 

Space and privacy – two concepts Hanamiya hadn’t experienced in his own room since he’d moved in with Mibuchi back in first year. Hanamiya only ever regretted the house he had been sorted into when he remembered that by now, he could have been sleeping in a room of his own. 

 

As he finally decided to pull himself out of bed in order to change his clothes, Hanamiya idly wondered if any of the other Ravenclaws could be convinced or scared into switching rooms with him.

 

It would mean losing the opportunity to get his blackmail material, but at this point all Hanamiya wanted was some peace and goddamn quiet. He was trying so hard to control his temper that he nearly missed Mibuchi's retort.

 

“Careful Mako-chan, or I’ll have to take points off for being rude!” Mibuchi trilled from the other side of the room. “It’s not polite to be jealous, and it’s bad for your skin.”

 

“ _It’s not polite to be jealous_ ,” Hanamiya mocked under his breath.

 

“What was that?”

 

“Nothing!” Hanamiya hissed, a half second away from strangling the overly flamboyant seventh year. “Merlin, I was so glad it wasn’t that miserable Iron Heart, but you might actually be worse.”

 

“Careful there Mako-chan,” Mibuchi smiled, gently twirling his wand between his hands. “Don’t forget that while you might be an Uncrowned King, so am I, and I know all your best tricks.”

 

Hanamiya snorted. That was hardly accurate.

 

“Sure, sure,” he said. “Keep telling yourself that if it makes you feel better. You’re honestly insufferable, you know that? I’ll bet it’s only a matter of days before you start taking points off people for not having appropriately coordinated outfits!”

 

Mibuchi’s eyes lit up. Hanamiya winced as he realized his mistake.

 

“You think I could do that?” he asked excitedly. “This school has such a crisis of fashion, maybe I could whip it into better shape… and these uniforms are so _unfortunate_...”

 

He trailed off thoughtfully, and Hanamiya cursed himself mentally.

 

He wondered how often he could get away with sleeping in the common room. Maybe the library. Maybe Imayoshi would let him sleep on his floor. God, anything would be better than this.

 

“I think the first time you tried you’d lose the badge,” Hanamiya said instead. “Or, if you started with me, your tongue.”

 

Mibuchi stuck said tongue out at Hanamiya, but gracefully swept into his own bed.

 

“Alright then, have a good night Mako-chan!”

 

 _Help me,_ Hanamiya thought grumpily, throwing himself back into his own four-poster.

  

Down the hall, still sitting in the common room despite the late hour, Midorima sighed over another Tarot card.

 

The Divination professor had suggested the cards as a tool. Midorima had always felt more comfortable among the stars but thought perhaps his cards might provide more specific insight into the nature of the dreams he had been having of late.

 

The Hermit. The Tower. The Chariot.

 

Midorima did not know what to make of that combination. Certainly, he knew what they meant alone. The Hermit was introspection and rest, a time for peace and solitude. It represented at it's core a need to retreat from frustrations and find new illumination. The Tower was blinding and violent revelation, leading to war. Midorima especially didn’t like the idea of the Tower coming into play the year that the Miracles decided to fight each other. He hoped it wasn’t an indication that their feud was going to blow up the school or something. The Chariot was another card that heralded, hard won struggle between the most fundamental forces within and without the reader. It represented the sun, but was associated with Midorima's own moon sign: Cancer.

 

He’d seen Aomine and Murasakibara’s approaching meltdowns coming from a mile away (he’d only had a glimpse of what Akashi would become, but it had been more than enough to terrify him months in advance), but now? Midorima’s visions told him nothing of the immediate future. The stars offered none of their usual illumination.

 

Something was about to change. A new element out of his control had been introduced, and he was flying blind.

 

The immediate future was clouded, but Midorima could read the far horizon like his own daily horoscope, and he was terrified.

 

Disaster was coming. The kind of disaster and destruction that was invoked by The Tower never boded well, and combined with the positioning of Mars, it boded even worse. Midorima was quite sure that there was something much more important than petty schoolboy feuds and dueling tournaments coming for them.

 

This was the doom he had predicted the first time he sat next to Kuroko in Runes, back in fourth year. It felt closer than ever - something terrible was coming, something worse than the collective meltdown of Midorima’s teenaged dueling team. 

 

It took Midorima a long time to go to sleep that night, and by the time he did, he was resolved to find a way to make the future clearer.

 

Perhaps if he knew what was coming and could seek the revelation and illumination implied by the Hermit and the Tower, he could find a way to stop what was coming. This might be his only chance.

 

…

 

Kuroko was cornered by his housemates almost as soon as the group of Hufflepuff sixth years made it to their dorm. The door had only just snapped shut when Furihata turned to him, a determined look in his eye.

 

“We’re not going to let you withdraw and deal with this crap alone,” he said. “You’ve been returning our letters unopened all summer and-”

 

“Letters?” Kuroko interrupted.

 

“Yeah like every day!” Fukuda said loudly. “We were worried about you!”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, oh!” Furihata shouted. “Come on! What do we need to do to convince you that we need to communicate?”

 

“Seriously, Kuroko, it’s when we don’t share information that it gets easy for anyone to just drive us apart,” Sakurai said passionately, and then blushed and apologized for being so harsh.

 

Kuroko endured this tongue lashing until it seemed that his housemates had burned out all their frustrations, before he answered them.

 

“I’ve been in America for most of the summer,” he said. “It’s a very long trip for an owl. I imagine they returned the letters rather than fly the full length of the Atlantic Ocean and then double the trip over the breadth of the United States too."

 

This took a moment to sink in. Furihata still looked half angry as he responded.

 

“America?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Why were you in America?”

 

“I was interning under a Master Healer in Los Angeles,” Kuroko said.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Oh,” Kuroko nodded in agreement, and Furihata blushed. In an instant, all of the tension bled out of the room.

 

“Dude, that’s pretty cool!” Kawahara said. “I didn’t know you wanted to do healing?”

 

Kuroko looked blankly back at him.

 

“I don’t know,” he said. “It was okay. We’ll see. What did everyone else do for their summer?”

 

“Oh, uh, I helped my mom in the bakery,” Sakurai said. “Oh, that reminds me!”

 

Sakurai reached under his bed and pulled out a brown box, which he passed to Kawahara, on his left.

 

“I made cake pops!”

 

“What the hell,” Fukuda asked, “is a cake pop?”

 

“Look!” Sakurai said eagerly, pointing to the box.

 

On a series of twelve sticks, twelve balls of frosting (with, presumably, cake underneath) were balanced. They had been carefully designed so that each looked like a different color and design of cat.

 

“Oh, these are so cute!” Furihata said. “Did you make them?”

 

“Yeah!” Sakurai nodded, grinning eagerly. “I saw them in a muggle bakery and I’ve been experimenting with them all summer!”

 

“Oh man, dude, I think you messed up,” Furihata said.

 

“I’m so sorry!” Sakurai said, bowing his head in embarrassment.

 

Furihata furiously worked to backpedal this comment.

 

“I just meant that I don’t know if we can eat these and destroy such amazing work!” he said.

 

As Kawahara picked out a bright pink cat, it yawned widely, and then let out a loud, adorable meow.

 

“Congratulations, Sakurai, you’ve created a food I never want to eat,” Kawahara said, making Sakurai look from Furihata to Kawahara, his eyes wide and worried.

 

“S-sorry!” Sakurai shouted.

 

“Nah nah, I just meant it’s really cute!” Kawahara shouted, alarmed by Sakurai’s sudden contriteness. “I’m sure it’s really good, look-”

 

Kawahara took a bite of the spiked frosting, made to look eerily like whiskers. The magic on the cat mercifully stopped as he was eating it.

 

“You’re a genius, this is amazing!” Kawahara burst out. “The pink is strawberry, guys! Sakurai, thank you for bringing these, they’re so good!”

 

Sakurai looked so surprised it honestly was a little heartbreaking.

 

Kawahara passed the box onto Fukuda, and regaled them with a tale of his summer hiking in Europe. Fukuda shrugged when asked about his summer and said his family had gone to France to meet up with the rest of his very large family for a pagan festival ritual. Most of it had been spent picking flowers and other produce for the party and helping prepare the grounds.

 

“That sounds really cool,” Sakurai said. “I kind of hate having such a small family, since it’s just me and my mom and dad.”

 

Fukuda seemed to get a little less embarrassed at this and told them about some of the antics his younger cousins had gotten into while picking blueberries.

 

Furihata had spent his summer at a Quidditch camp in Canada and excitedly raved about the plays he wanted to run with the Hufflepuff team.

 

“Plus this girl I met in Canada said she would go out with me if I became the best at something! So I’m gonna work really hard and do my best!” Furihata said earnestly.

 

Kawahara snorted a little.

 

“Koki, a girl in Canada? Really? We’re supposed to believe that?”

 

“Yeah!” Furihata said, turning red. “What of it?”

 

“Fine, what’s her name?” Kawahara challenged.

 

“It’s Alberta,” Furihata said and Kawahara collapsed with laughter again.

 

“Anyways, forget that for a second, aren’t you joining a dueling team?” Fukuda asked, stepping between the two of them before Kawahara could keep ribbing Furihata for his probably fake story about a girl. “How are you supposed to do that and Quidditch?”

 

“Well I’m going to join a team and I’m going to do my best there too, but I probably won’t do much more than bench warm,” Furihata said, looking embarrassed. “I’m strong, but I’m nowhere as good as some of the people here. I figure I can duel, but I don’t have a career in it. I still want to try and compete though!”

 

“You still want to be a professional Quidditch player?” Sakurai asked.

 

“Hell yeah!” Furihata said enthusiastically. “I’m gonna be the best! Plus we need a new playmaker and center Chaser, so…”

 

The quiet that filled the end of Furihata’s sentence was very telling. He cleared his throat.

 

“They made me Captain,” he said in the absence. “I’m the only one who’s been on the team for more than a year, and I have to replace over half the team. I took it because I knew we needed someone who remembered all the old plays, and had enough experience to manage the rest of the players. They would have had to appoint a fourth year otherwise.”

 

“Koki, that’s amazing!” Fukuda said. “You’re a Captain!”

 

“Captain Koki, that’s adorable,” Kawahara said with a grin, reaching over to thump the brunette on the back. “You’re going to be great!”

 

“Oh don’t thank me,” Furihata said, grinning. “I told Professor Harasawa that if I was Captain, I wasn’t going to be a Prefect. I couldn’t do both and I thought any one of you guys would make a better prefect than some poor fourth year would make a Captain."

 

“You’re all heart,” Fukuda said dryly. “I’ve seen what you do, I don’t want that job. Not that I was asked, but still. No thanks.”

 

“I’m pretty sure you dodged a bullet man,” Kawahara said sagely. “Well, they didn’t ask me either, so that leaves-”

 

“They asked me,” Sakurai said, blushing. “I’m sorry I didn’t say anything before! I didn’t know Furihata had asked to have it taken away so I didn’t want to say anything and make things tense!”

 

“Congratulations,” Furihata said with a genuine grin. “They should have asked you first anyway. I’m kind of glad I don’t have to have the responsibility any more. Plus, this means you might make Head Boy next year!”

 

“I think they should have asked Kuroko,” Kawahara said, pointing at the blue haired Hufflepuff.

 

Kuroko, who was mid bite on his bright red cake pop and enjoying the banter, froze at being addressed.

 

“What?” he asked.

 

“Think like a professor, guys. Why wouldn’t you want your Prefect to be someone who can see everything that goes on in your House when you’re not there, without anyone knowing he saw them?”

 

“That’s true, Kuroko’s the perfect person to catch people red handed breaking the rules,” Furihata said. “And he never gets into trouble so they wouldn’t have to worry about him abusing his authority.”

 

Kuroko choked on his cake pop.

 

“Excuse me,” he said. “But I think Sakurai will make a much better prefect.”

 

“I don’t think you give yourself enough credit-”

 

“I was the one who blew up the girls’ bathroom in first year.”

 

“I’m sorry, what?” Sakurai asked.

 

“I did the post-it notes in our third year too,” Kuroko said, taking another causal bite of his cake pop. His roommates were staring at him with shocked, horrified expressions.

 

It was honestly the most satisfying reaction Kuroko had ever gotten in his entire life.

 

“Midorima’s cauldron?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“The thing with the toilet paper?”

 

Kuroko nodded again.

 

“The noodle incident?”

 

Another nod.

 

“Holy shit,” Furihata whistled quietly.

 

“I’ve been doing it this whole time,” Kuroko said.

 

“Aren’t you afraid I’m going to report it?” Sakurai asked.

 

“No.”

 

Sakurai looked a little insulted for a second, but he shrugged, having decided that he really wasn’t going to tell on his roommate anyway. Kuroko had been absolutely right; Sakurai would stay quiet.

 

“Oh man,” he said. “I’d wondered why all the pranks stopped but – that was because you started dueling!”

 

Kuroko nodded again.

 

“Well I’ll be damned,” Kawahara said. “Kuroko, you’re pretty freaking cool, you know that? You are officially the coolest Hufflepuff in the dorm. You little rebel!"

 

Kuroko didn’t respond to this, choosing instead to eat the rest of his cake pop.

 

It really was very good.

 

“I guess Sakurai makes sense for a prefect anyway,” Furihata said after a bit. “He can make you feel bad for breaking the rules with just one look, it’s pretty impressive.”

 

“Sorry!”

 

“Not this again!”

 

“I’m sorry for starting this again!”

 

Sakurai was beaned by four pillows at once.

 

…

 

Momoi was spread out on the couch with a pad of parchment on her lap, running through her calculations from the end of the last school year.

 

It was time to see what her predictive powers could do. With mere math, she was reasonably sure that she could tell exactly what powers or skills a duelist would develop, or was likely to work on. She was hoping to predict, based on their skill set and personalities, what kinds of tricks they might develop.

 

 _Who needs prescience when you have a woman’s intuition?_ She asked herself smugly. Midorima’s visions were cute and sometimes even useful, but this was hard data: real information based on fact. It was all well and good to know about whatever next catastrophe was on the horizon and what one’s luckiest items were, but what Momoi did took more than just power and a rare magical gift - it took _brilliance._

 

“Hey, cute girl!”

 

Momoi turned her head to Imayoshi, who was smirking at her with a shit eating grin from the other side of the table to her right. She sat up straight, glaring at him.

 

“Made you look,” he said.

 

“What do you want, Imayoshi?” Momoi asked, putting her papers back into her bag. She had no desire to share her work yet.

 

“Well, here’s how it is,” Imayoshi drawled. “I don’t know if anyone else has asked you, but I’m pretty sure you’re one of the biggest assets any dueling program could have. See, I asked myself this summer which duelist I was most worried about, and I couldn’t help but think that the only person in this whole damn school I wouldn’t want on the other side of the court was you.”

 

“Me?” Momoi asked, caught entirely off guard.

 

“Yeah, you,” Imayoshi said, shoving his hands in his pockets. “You’re scary-smart, and you really do know what everyone on the court is about to do at any second, don’t you?”

 

Momoi hummed thoughtfully. That was quite flattering, actually. It was nice to be recognized for her talents. Still, Imayoshi was asking for something he couldn’t have, if only for one critical reason.

 

“I don’t duel,” she said slowly, like she was explaining something to a small child. “I don’t like running around and pretending to fight for no reason.”

 

“I knew all that talk about fun and teamwork was a load of motivating crock,” Imayoshi grinned and pushed up his glasses.

 

Momoi smiled widely, viciously, the smirk of a predator on the hunt.

 

“Dueling _is_ fun,” she said. “And I do adore cultivating talent in wizards and witches, just as much as I enjoy being part of a close knit team bound by strong friendships. What I’m saying is that I don’t _play_ at fighting. When I duel someone, it will be for real, and they won’t be getting up again.”

 

Imayoshi let out a short, barking laugh.

 

“Duly noted, but don’t worry yourself about that; I’ll be more blunt. I wasn’t going to ask you to duel with me. The way I figure, I’ve got my team and I don’t need another powerhouse with a wand. What I want isn’t your magic, as powerful as I know you are – it’s your brilliant mind on my side. Come manage my team, Momoi, if you would. Please.”

 

He bowed his head forward and looked almost contrite. Momoi didn’t believe it for a second, but it was a very good act.

 

And Imayoshi had not been lying when he’d said he respected her intelligence. He was padding the compliment a little, but he wasn’t deceiving her.

 

Momoi had not given much thought to whether or not she would join a new dueling team. She had considered very strongly that she would find out which team Aomine had been foisted upon and help keep him in line. At the very least, she would make sure he avoided getting expelled and it would give her an opportunity to try and keep him on track.

 

But she hadn’t considered that maybe there were others who valued her intelligence and skill on their own.

 

At any rate, if the rumors Momoi had heard were true, then she could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.

 

“Tell me something,” she said, after leaving the captain to sweat for a few long moments. “Is it true Dai-chan joined your team?”

 

Imayoshi looked a little taken aback.

 

“Oh, the Gryffindor with the terrible hair and worse personality?” he asked. Momoi winced. Yeah, that was her Dai-chan all right. She nodded.

 

“Well, I let him on, we’ll see how his skills mesh with my recruits,” he said. “I value exceptional individual skill, but only so long as he can play nice enough to share the spotlight when he needs to.”

 

Momoi doubted that Aomine was capable of sharing _anything_ , but she also doubted that just being a general asshole would get Aomine kicked off Imayoshi’s team, seeing as how it was _Imayoshi’s team_ and the bespectacled Slytherin was practically the Grand King of Assholes.

 

Hah. Momoi mentally noted the nickname. It had a nice ring to it. Maybe she’d let it slip where some particularly brave younger students could hear if the other boy pissed her off. That was one she had over the other Slytherin to start.

 

“So what do you say?”

 

Momoi didn’t even need to think about it.

 

“Okay,” she said, taking the hand Imayoshi offered her, and standing up. “I will manage your team.”

 

“Wonderful,” Imayoshi smiled. “Let’s talk shop tomorrow at breakfast then! I’ll pass you my team list and we can talk dynamics and strategy. Have a good night!”

 

“Good night, Imayoshi,” Momoi said, sitting back down and pulling out her charts. She would need to revise them for tomorrow.

 

“Oh, Momoi?”

 

Momoi looked up at Imayoshi again.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Out of curiosity, would you have agreed even if I didn’t have the blue asshole on my team?”

 

Momoi laughed and flipped her pink hair delicately over one shoulder.

 

“Good night Imayoshi,” she said again, turning back to her charts. Let the older boy wonder; she wasn’t going to let him get secure in her support.

 

Imayoshi left her in silence. She didn’t know how much longer she stayed up working on her analysis, but about an hour later, she was interrupted again by someone taking the armchair across from the couch.

 

“Satsuki,” Akashi said smoothly. Momoi nodded to acknowledge his presence, not looking up. She was almost done with her work for the night and didn’t want to be disturbed.

 

“Could I have a moment of your attention, please?” Akashi asked politely, and Momoi huffed. She couldn’t deny Akashi when he was being so unfailingly polite, unlike some of the Miracles, but she also really did want to finish with her notes. Still, it couldn’t hurt to give him just a moment…

 

“Yes, Sei-chan?”

 

“I see Imayoshi didn’t waste any time trying to recruit you,” Akashi said. “Though I honestly thought he would try and approach you even before now.”

 

“Is that a problem?”

 

“No,” Akashi said lightly. “I have no problem with you joining Daiki on Imayoshi’s team. I knew when I told our team that we would be dividing our power that you would not leave your childhood friend. I knew that would be an exception I had to make. I just want you to remember that we’re fighting _against_ each other. I don’t care if you help Daiki, but you may only help _him_ , do you understand? No matter what your friendship with Ryouta or Tetsuya might be.”

 

Momoi didn’t know if she should be angry or just to to straight up insulted. She would never sabotage her own team. Despite the fact that she wanted Dai-chan to taste defeat so that he could remember how to be a normal human being again, she would never work against him like that.

 

No, if Tetsu-chan or Ryo-chan wanted to beat her and her champion, they would need to do so by strength, skill, and what brains they had. She _had_ considered following Tetsu-chan wherever he landed, but she couldn’t help but put her faith in the tall Gryffindor. Kuroko was creative, but Aomine was _strong,_ in a way her pale, unseen phantom couldn’t be, and his team was powerful. Momoi might be secretly hoping Dai-chan got some humility beat into him along the way, but she wanted to win just as much as he did.

 

“You know I don’t like being told what to do, Sei-chan,” she said instead. Just because she was already going to do what Akashi asked her to didn’t mean he had the right to try and order her around like she was one of his Miracles to captain. She wanted him to remember that she did whatever she wanted, no matter what Akashi wanted out of the situation. Akashi chuckled.

 

“I know,” he said. “I suppose the warning was unnecessary after all. Sometimes I forget that you enjoy victory as much as any of us, perhaps more.”

 

“Maybe I just like knowing where my competition is,” Momoi said stubbornly, folding her arms. Akashi laughed gently.

 

“I have wondered for a long time what would happen if you joined our contest on the field. I think many of us would be hard pressed to defeat you,” he said. Momoi smiled a little at the compliment, but her retort was cold as ice.

 

“You might have heard what I told Imayoshi,” she said. “When I fight with my wand in my hand, it won’t be for a game.”

 

"I understand," Akashi said bowing his head.

 

"It won't happen, you know," Momoi said softly. 

 

"What won't happen?" Akashi asked politely.

 

"That vision you have in your head? The one where you and Tetsu-kun have some kind of violent battle to the finish in the tournament, and he suddenly realizes his feelings for you in a rush of adrenaline, and cedes to your rulership? It won't happen."

 

"Now Satsuki," Akashi said, chiding without any real heat, "what on Earth do you know of what visions I have inside my head?"

 

"A woman's intuition is all," Momoi said, smirking as she gently tapped the redhead's forehead with her own finger. "I know many things, Sei-kun, and it takes no great leap of imagination to understand what it is you want. You want Tetsu-kun to recognize your power and bow to it, and you want it to happen in the arena.That tells me you're hoping to face him in the final round of the tournament, with both of you and your teams at the peak of their strength. I just want you to know that it's not going to happen. Tetsu-kun is wonderful, but even Ryo-kun has a better chance than he does. He's made the choice of where to place his loyalties, and he made the wrong one."  
  


Akashi smiled genially.

 

"You're right about that last part," Akashi said. "That, he will have to learn from experience. As to the rest... I suppose we'll see, won't we? There's plenty of time for the tables to turn against any one of us, isn't there?"

 

"Sei-kun..."

 

"I consider the matter closed,” Akashi said, holding up his hands in an absurd parody of surrender.  “I just wanted to make myself clear. Have a good night, Satsuki.”

 

Well, that was weird.

 

Momoi looked down at her charts, and suddenly decided she was done for the night. She’d tackle the rest of her notes in the morning and pass them along to Imayoshi at the breakfast table.

 

…

 

After a mostly amused dressing down about respect for professors and school administrators that Kagami mostly tuned out, the new Gryffindor was released by the Headmaster to follow the crowd of red and gold clad students up the grand staircase in the Entrance Hall, heading towards their common room.

 

Kagami felt alien and out of place in the grand castle. He’d never been inside a building like this, and it _reeked_ of magic. There was more magic collected here from the centuries of students practicing spells than any single place Kagami had ever been, and it was just as cool as it was intimidating. He’d turned off his ipod in Hogsmeade when he realized the concentration of magic in the area was interfering with its function, and committed himself to figuring out a way to get it to work again.

 

He found two of the Prefects leading the sea of first years, and joined the back of the group. As much as he hated to admit it, he needed the guide as much as these first years did.

 

And hey, he’d swallow his pride because following around a gaggle of first years was still a lot less embarrassing than getting lost on the way to his dorm on the first night.

 

After being told the password (which Kagami was sure he was going to forget) and getting another Gryffindor student to point him down the right hallway, he finally found the dorm for the sixth year Gryffindor boys.

 

While the room was set up for five students, only two others were visible. The curtains by the bed on one side of the room were drawn. The second bed was empty, but clearly occupied as there was a trunk at the end of it and a pair of robes laid out neatly on the chair sitting next to the desk beside it. On the bed next to that one, a teenager with a close shaved head was already in his pajamas, shuffling a deck of cards. There was another student, with long, dark hair sitting on the next bed. The last bed was empty. Kagami recognized his own beat up muggle suitcase in it and started walking towards it.

 

“Ah, our transfer student made it!”

 

The dark haired boy had looked up when Kagami came in and was watching him with sharp eyes, his gaze making Kagami severely uncomfortable. He made his way over to the bed on the far side of the room, trying to make conversation.

 

“Hi,” he said. “I’m-”

 

“Kagami, yeah I know, I heard the headmaster’s whole introduction and stuff. Did you really call him a pimp?”

 

“Have you seen how he dresses?” Kagami groused. “How has nobody noticed this? How is this not a constant topic of conversation? Why do I have to be the one to get in trouble for bringing it up?”

 

“He does kind of dress like a pimp,” Tsugawa laughed loudly. “This isn’t even his worst suit – you should see the one that’s white and lined with leopard print!”

 

Kagami made a face, trying to imagine it.

 

“He pairs it with these sick, red shades,” Tsugawa added, still laughing. “It’s pretty awesome. Though I wish his daughter was hotter…”

 

“Don’t be gross,” Takao said. “And don’t let her hear you say that because she’ll probably just curse you again.”

 

“Who?” Kagami asked.

 

“Kiyoshi and Hyuuga’s girlfriend,” Takao said. “Aida Riko; seventh year Ravenclaw, short hair? You probably saw her helping to lead the firsties up.”

 

“Oh, the small one?” Kagami asked.

 

Takao laughed.

 

“Don’t let her hear you say that either,” he advised. “She’s kind of a badass. She runs Kiyoshi and Hyuuga’s dueling team like a boot camp.”

 

“She’s a real charmer,” Tsugawa said, rubbing the side of his face like sense memory was kicking in. “She’s not very cute, but she’s pretty vicious.”

 

“You know, women would probably feel the need to hit you less if you didn’t shout about their boobs at the top of your lungs,” Takao smirked at the other boy who groaned and rolled over onto his bed.

 

“Whatever,” he said. “I live my life in the exceptional and honorable pursuit of hot girls!”

 

“So, Kagami Taiga, what do you do for fun?” Takao asked.

 

“Dueling,” Kagami said immediately. “How about you?”

 

“Dueling,” Takao shot back with a vicious smile. “I’m taking down the Generation of Miracles this year, whatever it takes.”

 

“Not if I do it first,” Kagami shot back. “Me and Kuroko are gonna sweep the field.”

 

Takao tilted his head to the side, critically considering the other boy.

 

“Huh,” he said. “I guess I do see it.”

 

“See what?”

 

“Nothing,” Takao grinned. “Have fun with your shadow.”

 

“Have you _seen how he duels?_ ” Kagami asked. “It’s incredible.”

 

Takao burst out laughing. Kagami had the distinct feeling he was missing something. Instead of pressing the other boy, he decided to change the subject.

 

“So, if there are five beds, where’s the other two Gryffindors in our year?”

 

“Oh, Aomine’s probably already asleep,” Takao shrugged, gesturing towards the bed on the far end with the curtains pulled shut. “His curtains have been closed since we got back so he’s probably out like a light already. And Kise’s going through his nightly beauty routine, so I doubt you’ll see him either.”

 

“You know I think both of their brains got traded for magical talent,” Tsugawa joked.

 

“That would make sense, but then how do you explain Akashi?”

 

“Oh, good point.”

 

“Who?”

 

“Oh man,” Takao said. “I don’t know how much you know about the Miracles, but there are five of them; Akashi is the head honcho. I’m pretty sure his hair is so red because it’s stained with the blood of his enemies.”

 

Kagami laughed, but Takao looked serious.

 

“No I’m serious, he’s pretty awful,” Takao said.

 

“What about the others?”

 

“Well, there’s Akashi, their leader, and we share a room with Kise Ryouta -”

 

Takao was cut off of this recitation by the sound of the bathroom door opening. Kagami looked up as the last member of their dorm came wandering into the room.

 

Kise was wearing a bright yellow robe trimmed with studded gemstones that glinted in the low light of the lamps. His face was covered in some bright blue mud or cream of some kind, and he already had his sleep mask on. The edge of blue striped pajama bottoms could be seen by his ankles, where the studded yellow robe ended.

 

“What…” Kagami muttered under his breath as Kise threw open the curtains to his four-poster, climbed onto his bed, and shut them behind him.

 

“That’s Kise,” Takao said. “He’s a model for Teen Witch Weekly, and the reason why girls keep trying to break into the dorm room at least once a semester or so. Sometimes I’m pretty sure he’s gotta be part siren, but then I remember how much work he puts into looking like that.”

 

“Like he’s got mud on his face?”

 

“Oh, ye sweet summer child,” Takao said. “He’s not a model for nothing, let’s just say that. Anyway, I think him and the other asshole who lives in our room have the right idea. Let’s get to bed before we end up all night.”

 

Kagami, who had been quite eager to hear more about his soon to be opponents, wanted to protest, but he followed Takao’s advise with only minor grumbling. He’d track down information about them eventually.

 

He’d been travelling almost non-stop for two days to get to Hogwarts, between the flight to London and the transfer to the magical train that had brought him the rest of the way here. As soon as his head hit the pillow, he was fast asleep, and didn’t dream.

 

…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, [my Tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) is here for you if you wanna come find me on another platform. (I uh, may have changed the theme to reflect how deep in KnB hell I am) Anyway, Happy Thursday my friends! The weekend is almost here!


	24. Mitobe Helps Kagami Steal Some Booze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 2L is kicking my ass. My internship in court is kicking my ass. My practicum working with kids is kicking my ass. I am getting through my semester one day at a time, but the going is slow and the night is long. I look forward to the time I spend working on this fic and the days I get to update. This chapters a meaty one - I think it clocks in at 12k or something, which if I'm not wrong, is going to put Wise Man's Fear into place as the third longest fan fiction in the KnB fandom in approximately thirty seconds :)
> 
>  
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!

…

 

Kuroko was beginning to think that most of the school was suffering the effects of a prolonged and persistent psychotic episode.

 

He was almost certain that there wasn’t a single student at Hogwarts who was not at least casually affiliated with one of this year’s dueling teams.

 

The Hogwarts dueling program was flourishing with the Miracles divided: everyone wanted a piece of them.

 

Kuroko wanted to laugh. Just two years ago none of the seventh years would have been quite so willing to pick a fight with his then fourteen-year-old teammates.

 

The rest of the school had seen the Miracle’s splitting up as a weakness to be capitalized upon: Surely they would be easier to fight one at a time rather than all at once, or so their logic went. Kuroko wasn’t so sure - plenty of these teams couldn’t bring down any one of the Miracles even working together. And that was without considering that all of the Miracles had strong teams standing beside them. Kuroko doubted they were any more willing to lose than the Miracles themselves.

 

Basically, having fought _with_ them, he knew none of them would be easily overcome, no matter how spread out their strength was. Anyone who thought otherwise was deluded.

 

Still, his heart felt lighter when he walked up to the eighth floor to meet Kiyoshi’s dueling team. It was far away from where the Miracles had practiced, more out of the way (Kuroko supposed that with the school determined to showcase the best, the Miracles always inevitably stood in their own spotlight).

 

The school board was still in charge of running the dueling program, with none of the professors willing to step up and run it themselves. The Headmaster’s announcement on the subject Monday morning at breakfast came with an expression that was almost a grimace. But unless he was going to volunteer to supervise the club himself, along with all of his other responsibilities, he had to accept the new structure imposed on him by the Board of Governors.

 

Akashi Masaomi had followed the Headmaster’s announcement with an explanation of the new structure of the program, taking a few minutes to outline the way in which the program would function. After convening over the summer, it seemed the Board had come up with more than the haphazard framework meant to stand in for the still-too-frail-to-teach Professor Shirogane.

 

The registered intramural teams were listed on an official chart outside the Great Hall that would track how many times they fought the other teams, and what the score was. Dueling outside of official, supervised matches was to be strictly prohibited. A core group of seventh years (most of whom were captains) had received safety training over the break, and no team could receive an official ranking in the school program without a registered team member who had participated in the training. This ensured that every team would have at least one seventh year student and avoided having too many groups of third and fourth years training alone without any help or supervision.

 

The other change was that the program was only available for third year students and older. This caused quite a few of the second years that had been looking forward to being able to compete this year, to grumble angrily.

 

The board would still be choosing teams to compete in duels against other schools, but it would do so only by choosing one of the top three teams the week before each tournament to compete. This was greeted with more interest among the student body – the immediate perception was that this would provide a more fair chance for any one of their teams to compete outside of the school, instead of having that opportunity monopolized by the Generation of Miracles.

 

The final change was that the school had acquired a small army of graduates to serve as coaches for the registered teams. Some teams had declined the offer of having a coach, others had requested specific professors or members of the board. Akashi Masaomi explained that teams could compete without a registered coach only with the explicit approval of the board, based on their general assessment of the team, the average age and skill of the duelists, and the perceived responsibility of the Captains.

 

This structure was meant to encourage more dynamic dueling with higher stakes. It also provided more supervision and protection for the students participating, while still allowing them to have some measure of creativity and freedom in the way they designed their tactics and meetings.

 

Grudgingly, Kuroko thought he could see the wisdom in this, even though he was bitter about the fact that this kind of change to the program never would have happened when the Generation of Miracles was competing together.

 

Before he left, Akashi Masaomi also encouraged teams to enter some kind of official team mark or mascot, for the purposes of team unity.

 

Monday classes flew by in a haze. Kuroko didn’t think he’d processed a single word any of his professors had said, too intent on what was waiting for him at the end of the day.

 

As soon as his last class of the day ended, Kuroko almost ran towards the practice room Kiyoshi had directed him to over lunch.

 

Kiyoshi had reserved a room on the fifth floor, close to the stairwell that somehow went up two floors at once even though it had the same number of steps as an ordinary set of stairs. it was out of the way a in a hidden corner where it was mostly used by Gryffindors making a beeline for their common room.

 

It had made sense for the Miracles to practice somewhere everyone could see them, especially when they were the team almost solely representing the school in outside duels. However, Kiyoshi’s team consisted of mostly untested and unproven older students with a losing record and had only made it three rounds before being eliminated in the intramural tournament last year.

 

Kuroko was more than content to practice out of the way and the public eye.

 

When he pulled open the door, Kuroko realized that the room was almost full, and that he was likely one of the last students to arrive.

 

Looking around the room, Kuroko noticed a few critical things about his new teammates. For starters, the team was full of almost exclusively sixth and seventh year students. He saw the Gryffindor and Ravenclaw seventh year Prefects, Hyuuga and Aida. Kiyoshi was there as well, of course.  Continuing his scan of the room, Kuroko spotted three of his fellow sixth-year Hufflepuffs gathered in a circle off to one side.

 

Furihata, Fukuda, and Kawahara had all apparently decided that they were going to compete side by side. Idly, Kuroko wondered where the fifth member of their dorm was – he knew Sakurai was dueling, but it seemed he had chosen his own path and his own team.

 

That was fine. He was kind of fired up to fight Sakurai on the other side of the dueling arena anyway. He could hardly blame the other boy for seeking out a team of his own and wanting to fight with them.

 

Kuroko had underestimated how much he had missed this. One on one or two on two duels were fine, but this was the kind of structure allowed him to best utilize his misdirection. Not to mention, it was more fun when he was dueling with more people.

 

Mitobe and Koganei were there too, Koganei shouting excitedly about something with the only other Ravenclaw in the room. Kuroko thought his name might have been Izuki, and knew that he’d competed with Hyuuga and Kiyoshi’s team the year before as well. Tsuchida, one of the quieter seventh year Hufflepuffs, was laughing along with whatever Koganei was saying.

 

Kuroko thought it was an interesting team. It was very Gryffindor and Hufflepuff heavy. It was also quite large, as far as his experience compared, but the Generation of Miracles had never been concerned about subbing duelists in or potential injuries. It was on average also a much older team than Kuroko had expected. It seemed like the core of the team would all be graduating at the end of the year, but Kuroko guessed they weren’t as concerned with the legacy of their team as others might be. They were here to have fun, and if their team didn’t carry on when they left, there would be dozens of other teams from which anyone could choose.

 

Of course, especially for Kuroko, the most interesting among the assembled wizards was Kagami Taiga.

 

He appeared even taller in these close quarters. Kuroko could feel magic pouring off him in waves. It wasn’t as strong as the Generation of Miracles, but the potential, that was beyond compare. He was practically bouncing up and down with the near physical need to duel.

 

Kuroko knew exactly how the other boy felt, given that his exile from dueling had been almost as long as Kagami’s, albeit for very different reasons.

 

Kuroko joined the group of his fellow Hufflepuffs, just in time to hear Furihata whisper to Kawahara.

 

“The manager is pretty cute,” he said.

 

“She’s a seventh year, right?” Kawahara asked. “Though honestly she’d be even cuter if she paid more attention to her looks.”

 

“Wrong, you idiots.”

 

Neither Kawahara or Furihata had seen Hyuuga Junpei looming behind them until he cursed them both with a stinging charm with a single slash of his wand. Both of them yelped – both at the pain of being hit with the spell and out of surprise.

 

“It’s time!” Riko shouted. “New members, line up to the side!”

 

Kuroko stood next to Kagami at the very end of the line while Riko faced the five of the new members, Hyuuga standing over her shoulder.

 

“This is Hyuuga Junpei, in case you haven’t met him yet,” Riko said. “He is your captain. I am Aida Riko, and I’m the coach. Nice to meet you all!”

 

“Seriously, how is she the coach?” Furihata whispered. Riko just smiled, and it was Hyuuga who glared over at the younger boy. Furihata gulped.

 

“Now… Take off your shirts!”

 

This was greeted by general confusion. Kuroko, who didn’t care one way or the other about the request removed his shirt, as did Kagami.

 

Kuroko sneaked a glance to his side, confirming that yes – the other boy’s muscles really were just as impressive as they were the last time he had seen them.

 

“Shirts off, you heard the coach!” Hyuuga barked. The three other Hufflepuffs flinched at the tone before slowly complying.

 

Riko paced over to Kawahara at the other end of the line, her clipboard suddenly in her hand as she thoughtfully took notes. She let out a thoughtful hum.

 

“You,” she said. “Your casting is stationary, and you don’t have a full range of motion when you’re in a duel. I’m betting you’ve had trouble because you can’t face multiple opponents quickly enough. We’ll start you on stretching and physical movement drills to improve your speed and dexterity. We’ll get you casting on the move soon enough.”

 

“Whoa, how’d she know that?” Kawahara whispered. Riko ignored him.

 

Another step put her in front of Fukuda.

 

“Strength drills,” she said out loud. “Koganei, you remember that training menu, I’ll have you drill him when we really get into it. He’s got to build up the power behind his spells.”

 

Her brow furrowed as she stared at the Hufflepuff for a little longer, before making another small, scratching note below her notes on Kawahara, and moved on.

 

It was only when she was considering Furihata, her head tilted to the side, that Kuroko was able to see the haze of green in her eyes. It didn’t take him long after that to realize what Riko was doing.

 

The Ravenclaw had rune sight; she was evaluating their magic.

 

That was a rare skill. Kuroko realized though that he shouldn’t have been surprised; after all, Aida Kagetora had the exact same talent. He had looked into Kuroko’s magic and found the key to fixing his misdirection. It was probably an inherited family magic. The only other wizard that Kuroko knew who had rune sight was Midorima, and it was almost certainly an inherited family magic along the green haired wizard's line as well. 

 

Kuroko could hear the captain explaining this to the other Hufflepuffs, who were in awe of Riko’s frighteningly accurate assessment of their strengths.

 

“Uh, Coach, you gonna keep staring or what?” Hyuuga asked, and Kuroko’s attention was directed to Riko, who was watching Kagami with something that had definitely surpassed clinical assessment and might have less generously been described as a leer.

 

Hyuuga looked more amused than angry as he drew Riko’s attention back to the task at hand.

 

“Merlin, Morgana, and Morgause,” Riko said with awestruck reverence. “I’ve never seen such raw natural talent.”

 

Her entire expression had lit up, and Kuroko could see she was back to planning how well the team would work together based on the strength of its new members.

 

Kagami stretched his arms over his head casually, grinning at the compliment.

 

“So why do you want to join the dueling team?” Riko finally asked.

 

Kagami let his arms fall to his side and shrugged.

 

“Dueling is dueling,” he said. “It’s pretty much the same everywhere, though it seems like this school has a lot more drama than most.”

 

Kiyoshi laughed outright from the other side of the room.

 

“I’m fired up to duel and the first person who asked me was part of this team, so here I am,” Kagami finished. “Can we start now?”

 

“Yeah, sure, everyone put your shirts back on,” Riko said. “We’ll start with-”

 

“Coach-” Kiyoshi called, loping forwards to join the other two. “You forgot someone. There’s another name on your list.”

 

Riko frowned and looked down.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya,” she said out. “Oh, right, our resident Miracle. Is he here?”

 

“Wait, he competed with the Generation of Miracles?” Hyuuga shouted. “Where is he, has anyone seen him? If he’s from such a powerhouse team I can’t believe we just missed him!”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

Kuroko, who had been standing not two feet away from Riko during this entire exchange, decided to make his presence known in order to prevent another drawn out search for him.

 

“Ah! Where did you come from?” Riko demanded. “It’s not good form to be late to a first practice!”

 

“Uh, I’ve been here this whole time,” Kuroko said.

 

“Ah, Coach, this is Kuroko Tetsuya, another Hufflepuff sixth year,” Kiyoshi said. “He used to duel with the Generation of Miracles.”

 

Kuroko wondered if Kiyoshi had deliberately chosen to introduce him that way to the older members of the team just to watch them react explosively, or if he truly had no idea what kind of excitement his statement would incite.

 

Kuroko was almost inclined to believe the latter.

 

“You used to compete with the Miracles?” Riko asked.

 

“But not as a starter right? You weren’t in any official matches,” the other Ravenclaw said, moving to stand next to the Coach. “I don’t remember ever seeing you on the field.”

 

“No, I competed with them in duels,” Kuroko said.

 

“What?”

 

Riko pushed the other Ravenclaw out of her way, an annoyed look on her face.

 

“Izuki, not the time,” she said. “Right, Kuroko Tetsuya, I remember you. Let’s see what you have then. Off with the shirt.”

 

For the second time that day Kuroko pulled off his shirt.

 

Too late, he remembered that there was a very good reason he shouldn’t just let someone with Rune Sight take a good look at his magic.

 

Last year, Kuroko’s own magic had been so tangled and messed up that it had likely hidden the effects of the spell Akashi had cast on him. There was no way the Headmaster could have pinpointed that curse among the mess.

 

But now, Kuroko’s own magic was settled, calm as a lake on a clear day without a single ripple or wave. Against that, the effects of the spell would stand out more clearly and give away his secret.

 

But it was too late to stop Riko; her eyes were glowing bright green, a pinched, frustrated expression on her face.

 

“Humph,” she said, her eyes returning to normal and fixing on Kuroko’s face.

 

“I don’t see anything at all,” Riko said. “That’s strange.”

 

That was a relief. It was also interesting: Kuroko felt the urge to go find the Headmaster and see if the other wizard could see into his magic now, with his misdirection functioning perfectly again.

 

That would have to wait. In the meantime, Riko’s arms were folded and she was trying to decide what to do with a wizard who didn’t have any magical signature at all.

 

Kuroko wondered if he should come clean about his misdirection now, but he kind of wanted to show it to his teammates in action.

 

He was pretty sure even his dorm mates didn’t know precisely what he did for the Miracles. And since he had been such a forgettable player, even Kiyoshi wouldn’t be able to say for certain how he contributed to their fights.

 

Kagami knew, of course, but when the other boy opened his mouth Kuroko made eye contact with him and ever so slightly shook his head.

 

They would show this team Kuroko’s misdirection - when it was time.

 

Riko split them up and had them practicing spell work, which naturally separated Kuroko and Kagami, who paired off with Hyuuga. Kuroko ended up exchanging spells with Furihata.

 

“Hey, Kuroko,” Furihata said the fourth time Kuroko’s spell missed entirely, “I don’t want to offend you or anything, but you’re like… really really bad at this. I know you competed with the Generation of Miracles, but…”

 

“I was mostly a defensive duelist,” Kuroko agreed blankly. Furihata’s hesitation didn’t offend him – after all, very few people understood the role he played on his former team, and Kuroko wanted to see how this team functioned as a unit before attempting to fill the same role here. He hadn’t exactly given them a reason to believe that he was anything other than a wizard of less than average strength with very powerful former teammates.

 

“Want to switch, so I cast and you shield?”

 

Kuroko agreed, casting a conventional shield. The exercise was meant to build up magical stamina, which using his misdirection alone would not achieve.

 

Furihata looked uncertain as he cast a spell at Kuroko, almost as though he didn’t really believe that the spell wouldn’t just go straight through and hit Kuroko.

 

As a result, the spell was weaker than it should have been. Kuroko felt the barely there puff of magic ineffectively breaking against his own weaker than average shield.

 

Emboldened, he cast another spell, shattering Kuroko’s shield completely.

 

“Oh, uh, sorry,” Furihata said. Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I don’t have a lot of stamina or conventional power,” he said. “Maybe we should change partners so you can get better practice in.”

 

“Furihata, switch with Izuki, I want you training with Hyuuga for a bit.”

 

Dutifully, Furihata jogged over as the other Ravenclaw on their team came striding down the line, looking for Furihata’s partner.

 

Kuroko managed to get his attention by waving his hand, and Izuki started.

 

“There you are!” he smiled. “Your talent must be really hard to find!”

 

Kuroko stared at the other boy as he chuckled at his own joke before taking up a fighting stance.

 

“Alright, show me what you have!”

 

All in all, their first practice was pretty good. Kuroko had a measure of his new teammates, and was convinced that this would work.

 

The effect of his misdirection might not be _quite_ as powerful as it had been when he competed with the Miracles, and it would require quite a bit of work to fall into the same grooves and patterns with an entirely new team, but Kuroko’s own talents could fill in the gaps of experience and put himself and his spells where they were needed.

 

For now, anyway. The longer they worked together, the better they would be.

 

Kuroko left practice feeling satisfied.

 

…

 

“UGH!” Kagami muttered. “GOD, I MISS GOOD MEXICAN FOOD!”

 

Kagami and Kuroko were heading towards the Great Hall for dinner after practice and Kagami was waxing poetic about the cuisine from his home city.

 

“Kagami?”

 

“I would freaking kill someone for a burrito, or maybe some nachos,” Kagami groaned, his head rolling back as he shoved his hands in the pockets of his dress slacks.

 

Kuroko saw Koganei and Mitobe coming down the hallway, and was surprised when they stopped once they reached him and Kagami.

 

“Oh, Kagami,” Koganei said. “Mitobe wants to show you something!”

 

“Eh?” Kagami asked. “Why?”

 

Mitobe just made a ‘follow me’ gesture with his hand. Kagami glanced over at Kuroko, who didn’t respond, before deciding to follow the other two boys.

 

“Okay, but where are we going?” Kagami asked. Mitobe didn’t say anything, but he glanced at Koganei and raised his eyebrows twice. Koganei laughed.

 

“You got that right,” he said, clapping the Hufflepuff on the back.

 

It didn’t take long before Kuroko realized they were being led towards the kitchens. Kagami continued to bluster cluelessly every step of the way, up until Mitobe reached up to the pear in the painting of a bowl of fruit and tickled it.

 

“Come on, if this is some weird initiation or hazing thing I don’t really – oh wow!”

 

Kagami laid eyes on the kitchen, and every trace of stubbornness immediately cleared off his face.

 

“Usually we come down here to smuggle Butterbeer to the Hufflepuff dorm for parties,” Koganei said. “The Gryffindor one too, sometimes, so now that you’re in the know, we’ll probably ask you to come down with us.”

 

“HA, illegally supplying contraband to students?” Kagami asked jokingly. “I’m just trying to be a good student, and I get dragged into this bootlegging den of sin-”

 

Mitobe elbowed him in the ribs and Kagami grinned back with his hands in the air, barely wincing at the playful blow.

 

“I’m just kidding around, I wouldn’t really tell on you or anything. This is incredible – oh, hello!”

 

Kagami bent down to get a closer look at the elf he’d nearly run into.

 

“You alright, buddy?” Kagami asked. The elf nodded excitably.

 

“Blinky, this is Kagami,” Koganei said. “He cooks!”

 

“Oi, how do you know that you cat-faced stalker?”

 

Koganei cowered from Kagami’s shouting, but Mitobe reached out, and grabbed Kagami’s wrist holding his palm upside down.

 

“You have a cook’s hands, he means,” Koganei said from several steps back.

 

“Guys, Rin wants to know if it’s okay if Kagami comes down here to cook sometimes,” Koganei said, addressing the small group of elves that had gathered around the students. “He’s from another culture, and he’s not as used to British food.”

 

“Student Kagami isn’t enjoying our food?” One of the elves gasped in horror and shame.

 

“Ah, no no! That’s not it at all! You guys are really great at cooking! I love your food!” Kagami said. “I could eat it for days, it’s just… I miss American food. Burgers, enchiladas, like that.”

 

“En-che-la-das?” one of the elves sounded out uncertainly.

 

“Yeah, like tortillas wrapped around meat and cheese and fried or baked, and covered in beans and rice? Spicy as hell and super delicious?”

 

“I don’t think I’ve ever made anything like that,” the elf said, before brightening up. “If you tell us what we need, you can teach us!”

 

“Uh, sure,” Kagami said. “Okay, I’m good with that.”

 

“But we do have plenty of stuff for burgers, if that’s what you want to make!” One of the elves chimed in helpfully.

 

“Sure,” Kagami agreed, rolling up his sleeves. “Lead me to the meat!”

 

The elves cheerfully admitted Kagami into their domain, helping him to the ground meat, knives, and boards, and stepping back to let him do his thing.

 

“See you later, Kagami!” Koganei said. “Rin and I need to go study or we’re gonna flunk a Herbology quiz tomorrow. Have a good night.”

 

“Night,” Kagami grunted, vaguely waving a hand in their direction.

 

Kagami cooked like a muggle with no magic at all. Kuroko was entranced as he watched Kagami mix the meat with spices, intermittently sniffing at it to check he had the right ingredients.

 

Apparently Kagami was planning on cooking enough burgers for half the school to get one. As he shaped more and more patties, Kuroko lost count.

 

“Ah, that should about do it,” Kagami said, starting up the large frying pan and laying out six at a time.

 

Kuroko went to find one of the elves and politely asked if he could have a vanilla milkshake.

 

Practice had been tiring, and he’d used up a lot of his magic even for the small feats he’d been able to accomplish, on top of a day heavy with magical practice.

 

The elf was more than happy to help him. A few minutes later, Kuroko was contentedly sipping his delicious, sugary, frozen treat.

 

Kagami continued cooking all of his burgers, building up a small mountain on the plate beside him. With brisk efficiency, he’d remove a cooked burger, place it on a bun, cover it in cheese, and then put a new burger on the pan.

 

Much later, with the giant plate in front of him, Kagami sat down at one of the miniature tables in the kitchen and started eating.

 

Kuroko watched as Kagami scarfed down a full burger in record time, already moving on to the next one.

 

As he started on his second burger, Kagami looked up, and found Kuroko by his side.

 

“Ah!” he shouted. “You’re still here!”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I’ve been here this whole time,” he agreed.

 

“Okay, so,” Kagami said. “Tell me more about these Miracles. All I heard from you before I came here and since I got here is that these guys are hot shit. I heard they all split up and joined super powerful teams, but you didn’t even know which team you wanted to compete with until the beginning of the year – why didn’t you do what they did and go to a more powerful team? I mean, these guys are okay, but the sixth years don’t have nearly as much potential as some of the other students I’ve seen and one of their strongest duelists is indefinitely benched…”

 

Kagami tapered off, waving his hand at Kuroko as he took a massive bite out of his burger. It was one part fascinating, one part disgusting.

 

The Gryffindor might be _very_ attractive (and even borderline cute at the times he was not devastatingly hot), but there was little to recommend his table manners.

 

“And what’s with this whole hiding your talent from your team? Shouldn’t they know what you’re up to?”

 

Kuroko shrugged, sipping his milkshake.

 

“It’s the kind of thing that works best when multiple people are fighting,” he said. “And I don’t want to draw attention to myself to do it until I know how I can fit our particular team dynamics.”

 

Kagami was staring at him like he had grown a second head.

 

“Okay fine, be all mysterious and shit, but what about your Miracles?”

 

When he looked back over at Kuroko, he realized the other boy was gone.

 

“OI, DAMN IT!” Kagami shouted, mouth full. He looked down at a tiny elf, who seemed shocked by the large student who was cursing at the air. Kagami swallowed.

 

“Uh, sorry,” he said. “So anyway… do you really help those guys give alcohol to students?”

 

…

 

Kuroko did not expect to be assaulted during his first Ancient Runes class of the year (or any Ancient Runes class, to be honest), but Takao Kazunari apparently had other ideas about classroom appropriate conduct.

 

“YOU!” Takao shouted, standing directly over the Hufflepuff. “I swear to god, if you knew, I will punch you so hard-”

 

“Knew what?” Kuroko asked, though he had a very good idea what the Gryffindor was upset about. He made no move to defend himself when Takao grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him closer to shout at him.

 

“MIDORIMA, you moron! Did you know _that the green haired horoscope obsessed know it all asshole_ had decided to compete on the same team I told you I would be on? Huh? What the hell man!”

 

Takao’s expression was wild and wide-eyed, and Kuroko decided that full disclosure was in order, if primarily in the interest of self-preservation. Takao was about three seconds away from cursing Kuroko, classroom or not, and none of their fellow students seemed interested in stepping in.

 

“I learned that he would be joining your team on the train,” Kuroko said. “I assumed you would find out before I had the chance to speak with you, given we share very few classes except for this one elective, and live in different dorms.”

 

Takao breathed heavily through his nose.

 

“It had to be Shin-chan,” he muttered under his breath. “Of all the-”

 

“Hey, you wanna stop manhandling my teammate or what?”

 

Kuroko looked up and backwards, making eye contact with Kagami, who was standing directly behind him.

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko greeted the other boy. “Good morning.”

 

“Hey,” Kagami said, ruffling Kuroko’s hair before turning a glare on his roommate. “Dude, not cool. Let go of my teammate or we’re gonna have a problem.”

 

Takao chuckled, his anger seemingly evaporated.

 

“Sorry, I should have known that you would have told me if you’d known,” Takao said, releasing the Hufflepuff. “Didn’t mean to go all postal on you or whatever.”

 

“Yeah well the next time you try and bully him remember that I know where you sleep,” Kagami growled. Takao smirked at this pronouncement, seemingly not intimidated at all by the angry Gryffindor.

 

“Sure, sure,” he said. “Anyway, I already have to share class with the asshole, I was just pissed I’d have to see him at practice all the time too.”

 

“It was not my intention to deceive you,” Kuroko said, and Takao shrugged.

 

“Fine, but you’re gonna be my buffer for when he does get here.”

 

Takao chose the back corner seat of the room. Dutifully, Kuroko took the seat next to him, and Kagami grabbed the seat in front of Kuroko, throwing his bag down after him.

 

Professor Harasawa arrived, but there was no sign of Midorima at all. Akashi was also missing, now that Kuroko took the time to look around.

 

Perhaps they were just both running late, as unusual as that might be. That sounded possible, if not particularly plausible.

 

The bell rang, and there was still no sign of the two Miracles. Kuroko and Takao kept exchanging curious, confused looks as the class started. The professor called roll, but he didn’t seem confused by the absence of Akashi or Midorima.

 

Maybe they had just told him they would be absent, and the professor had simply decided to not call their names on the roll.

 

But as the lecture began and class started going, Kuroko was forced to face the truth.

 

He was almost certain that Akashi and Midorima had dropped Ancient Runes as a class.

 

Professor Harasawa was explaining that in anticipation of their N.E.W.T.s, he would spend the first few weeks of the semester running review of the last three years of material from their class before moving on to the new curriculum. Kuroko tuned him out a little, musing about the newly discovered absence of his former teammates.

 

It wasn’t as though either of them _really_ needed the class. Midorima had been working his way through material well beyond the standard curriculum at fourteen, and had been capable of more practical, impressive applications of runes at fifteen than many adult Rune Masters were at fifty.

 

But Kuroko had never imagined he’d be the type to skive off a class.

 

The thought continued to bother and distract him well into the class period, and long after the bell had rung, and they broke for lunch.

 

Kuroko dully heard Kagami ask Takao which of their fellow students had been the Miracles Takao was talking about before class. He didn’t hear what Takao told him in response. Kuroko’s gut was twisting painfully, and his heart was sinking.

 

…

 

Kuroko found Riko at breakfast the next day with his club form. The Ravenclaw girl was working on some kind of chart spread across several rolls of parchment.

 

“I want to formally join your team,” he said when she finally noticed him. She screamed and flailed, sending her juice flying. Kuroko neatly sidestepped it, used to this kind of reaction.

 

“Sure,” she said, coughing. “But I will only accept that form on the south tower at eight am next Monday. Understand?”

 

Kuroko nodded, folding away the form.

 

As he left, he heard a loud bang and more yelling. He turned around to see Kagami, his face covered in juice from Riko’s newly filled cup, dripping down onto his robes, growling about wanting to join the dueling team.

 

“Like I told the other one, you give me that form at eight in the morning on Monday on the south tower. Find someone to show you if you don’t know how to get there.”

 

“Fine,” Kagami said, clenching the form in his fist and striding away, wiping juice away from his eyes.

 

“Nothing beats cultivating talent,” Riko sighed, going back to her notes, a dreamy smile on her face. Kuroko took that as his cue to leave for his first class of the day, excited for the evening when their second practice would take place.

 

Dinner came, and Riko’s plan suddenly became clear to the new members of her team.

 

“An exhibition match will take place Monday morning after breakfast during the free period,” the Headmaster announced, sounding bored. “I have been advised that the teams competing will be randomly picked. I am sure it will be something, so if you’re still considering trying out for a team head down to the grounds Monday morning.”

 

He sat back down, and talk turned to the two teams in question. A match between Haizaki Shougo’s team and Iwamura Tsutomu’s team should be interesting. By the end of the evening, the entire school was joking about how one of the most straight-laced teams in the school was going to duel one of the dirtiest.

 

Kuroko knew better than to assume the timing was an accident, but he didn’t know what that could possibly mean for what Riko was planning. Clearly, she wanted the entire team up on the tower while the rest of the school was outside and distracted.

 

Maybe she was going to have them pull a prank.

 

Kuroko decided he didn’t really care too much one way or the other, so he finished his food and headed over to the training room for tonight’s practice.

 

Within short order, the team was assembled and listening to Riko as she laid out their training menu for the day. She explained that she was developing individualized, specific plans for each of their members and would distribute them in the next week.

 

“First thing’s first,” Riko said. “I know we haven’t talked much about it, but Junpei and I were asked today if we have a symbol for the team, and we wondered if anyone had any ideas they wanted to put forward.”

 

For a few moments the room was quiet. Hyuuga scowled into the ground, clearly having found the idea ridiculous to start with. Mitobe shrugged and Koganei was looking at the ground, clearly having come up with an idea that had not panned out.

 

“I have something!” Izuki shouted, raising his hand. He jumped up and ran over to his bag, pulling out a scroll of fabric.

 

“I made it last night,” he said dramatically, returning to the group of assembled wizards. “Now, be ready to be amazed and amused…”

 

With an overly showy flourish, Izuki unrolled the banner, displaying it for the entire team.

 

It was a black heart with a white outline, on a red background.

 

“Uh, Izuki, it’s very nice,” Riko started. “But-”

 

“It’s an _Iron Heart!_ ” Izuki said, his face breaking out into a grin as he explained.

 

The team groaned at the pun. Kiyoshi, leaning against the wall, put a hand on his face and hid behind his wide palm. Kuroko could see him blushing red up to his ears and down his neck.

 

“Since our Ace can’t fight _with_ us, this way he can still be on the field when he can’t fight,” Izuki said, and suddenly it seemed a lot less like a pun and a lot more cute.

 

“I like it,” Riko said, suddenly changing her mind. “Captain?”

 

Hyuuga hadn’t said a word. His eyes were fixed on the heart, and his hands had clenched into the fists at the reminder that one of their most powerful duelists wouldn’t be able to fight with them.

 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I do too. Teppei, anything to add?”

 

Kiyoshi removed his hand from his face. The bit of his neck that was visible above his collar was still bright red, but he’d gotten a hold of the blush on his face.

 

“Okay, the heart it is,” Riko said. “Junpei, can you enter that with the board tomorrow?”

 

“Sure thing,” Hyuuga said. “So what’s the training menu for today?”

 

“Today we’re doing physical conditioning,” Riko said. “I want to get us started on building up physical fitness and assess where the stamina of our new members is. Training your body helps provide discipline and strength to the mind, so let’s go. Everyone down by the lake, we’re only doing one lap today.”

 

“ _Only one lap_ of the _lake_!” Fukuda whimpered.

 

“That’s the spirit,” Kiyoshi said, clapping him on the shoulder as he passed him.

 

In short order, the line of duelists were down by the lake and jogging. Riko was leading the pack with Kiyoshi and Hyuuga behind her, setting a light, but brutally consistent pace.

 

“Keep up, newbies!” Hyuuga yelled, turning around and jogging backwards to assess his team.

 

Kagami was right behind the three leaders of their group.

 

He didn’t seem to be having any trouble following the pace they were setting, but that didn’t seem to be true for the rest of their new members.

 

It was pretty obvious that none of the new members had any strong levels of physical conditioning, and none of them had built up their stamina yet. That was fine; Riko could work with potential, so long as they were willing to put in the work.

 

It seemed they were doing fine – the Hufflepuffs were struggling, yes but they were still moving forward, no matter how slowly.

 

“Junpei, Teppei, we’ll finish the set, and then I’ll have Junpei head back to keep an eye on the new members as they run.”

 

“Sure thing, Coach!” Kiyoshi shouted cheerfully.

 

“And you’re done when you get back to the start line,” Riko said, pointing a finger at him. “Conditioning is one thing, but I won’t have you overdoing it, understand?”

 

“Alright, alright,” Kiyoshi said agreeably enough, holding his hands up in surrender.

 

“Good.”

 

She glanced back again.

 

Izuki and Tsuchida were running with the Hufflepuffs, easily keeping their pace. For now, Mitobe and Koganei were taking up the rear, but she knew from experience that eventually Koganei would run ahead and end up moving in the lead.

 

Back in the group of Hufflepuffs, Izuki’s humor was in fine form.

 

“Now this is really what I call training on the run!” Izuki shouted.

 

“I’m going to hit him,” Kawahara gasped.

 

“Yeah, you have to catch up to him first,” Fukuda replied, heaving for breath. “Oh god, we’re not even halfway, this is terrible, everything is terrible. Kawahara, my man, we have made a mistake.”

 

“Just remember how much the girls are going to dig our bods when we’re fully fledged duelists.”

 

This seemed to cheer up Fukuda and give him the second wind he needed. He picked up the pace, head held high.

 

“That’s the spirit!” Kawahara yelled, speeding up to match him. “Let’s do this!”

 

Koganei sped up with them, but behind them, Mitobe was still keeping pace with Kuroko. The blue haired boy was seriously struggling.

 

Kuroko could feel the burn in his legs and his lungs.

 

About half way around he stumbled and fell to his knees. He puked, but pulled himself up before Mitobe caught up to him. The Hufflepuff put a hand on Kuroko’s back, helping him get moving again.

 

Kuroko remembered some of the marathon training sessions he’d had in fourth year, before the preliminary tournament, and then again at Akashi’s direction last year.

 

This was nothing compared to that.

 

He could feel the dull thud of the earth under his feet and the rush of wind in his ears.

 

At least it was a nice night out.

 

Mitobe ran with Kuroko all the way to the end, neither of them saying anything. The second they crossed the final finish line, Kuroko collapsed forward, laying face down on the ground.

 

 _This is my home now,_ he decided firmly. He wasn’t physically able to move from this spot. With a kind of bleak acceptance, he wondered if his new team’s training regimen would kill him.

 

Mentally, he compared this intense, hands on experience with the empty quiet of his last year on a team with the Generation of Miracles, and found that this was still much better.

 

Riko had been waiting by the edge of the lake until Kuroko all but tripped over the finish line.  With everyone finished, she assessed the state of her team, which was (with the exception of Hyuuga and Kagami) pretty worn out and haggard.

 

“That,” she said, “was not impressive at all. We’ll be running it once a week until you can cut this time in half.”

 

Fukuda whimpered again. Kuroko felt his own body wince in anticipation of future pain. He was honestly going to die.

 

“And on that note, you’re all done for the night. Walk back, cool down, and hit the shower.”

 

The team straggled back towards the castle.

 

“That was refreshing,” Kagami commented. “Nice warm up.”

 

“Oh god,” Furihata muttered. “These dueling headed idiots are gonna kill us. I knew I should have joined the wizard chess club.”

 

“Your own fault,” Kawahara replied. “Let’s go, we gotta keep up!”

 

Riko left Kiyoshi and Hyuuga to find their own ways back to their dorms while she headed up to her father’s office to update him on the progress of her team.

 

So far, she was mostly pleased. The Hufflepuff sixth years needed some toughening up, and she had no idea what to do about the well below average performing kid who seemed to be mostly invisible, but they were an interesting group and she had high hopes for what her team would be able to do in the arena this year.

 

“You’re out of practice late,” her father said the second she walked into his office.

 

“Well, I want to make sure we have the best,” she said.

 

“Don’t give up so much sleep, all these late nights are bad for your skin,” her father advised sternly.

 

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry,” Riko smiled brightly. “So long as they want to keep putting in the work to be the best, I will help them. There’s nothing better than cultivating talent, but then, you know that too, don’t you?”

 

Aida Kagetora let out a grumpy sound, folding his arms.

 

“I just don’t like that you’re hanging out with all these boys so late,” he said.

 

Riko rolled her eyes. The best-kept secret in Hogwarts was her relationship with Junpei and Teppei. If her father ever found out that their big gay love story was a more complicated queer triangle involving his daughter, he’d blow a fuse.

 

“How do you know they didn’t do it just to get you?” her father demanded. Riko smiled to herself, despite her best attempts to hide it.

 

“Maybe I want them to get me again,” she said softly.

 

Hyuuga and Kiyoshi had never taken her for granted, had sung their apologies and entreaties to her in public and in the most humiliating way possible, and she had relented.

 

And she had liked the tradition. She would have their freshman members declare their intent in front of the school, and she would give them everything they needed to win.

 

…

 

At breakfast two days later, Kuroko saw an unexpected face staring back at him from the cover of the Daily Prophet.

 

Nash Gold Jr. was smiling at the camera like a normal human being. As opposed to his usual cocky swagger, he looked respectful and serious, standing straight instead of leaning off to one side, like he was bolstered by confidence rather than arrogance. It was the portrait of respectable politicians son.

 

His blonde hair had grown long enough to cover the garish rose tattoo on his neck, and he was wearing a smartly tailored suit.

 

All in all, he looked like quite the young professional. It seemed like he was giving some speech to the press. Kuroko noted in the newspaper that Nash Gold Sr. was up for election in the magical government of the United States. Apparently the older Gold was due to address the press at a later date, but his son had held a conference of his own to sway voters to his father’s side.

 

Kuroko wasn’t the only one who had noticed that a student who had once dueled against Hogwarts was in the papers.

 

“‘Today the American magical community is as diverse as it is strong’,” Kawahara read out loud from the transcript of the teenager’s speech. “‘While we come from many backgrounds and traditions, it is crucial that we not allow ourselves to be divided. We are weakest when we are separated’.”

 

“‘We must stand together, now more than ever’,” Furihata said, picking up where Kawahara left off. “This kid really knows how to talk, huh? It sounds like the American papers are all eating this shit up. Does any of this crap actually mean anything?”

 

“I remember him from a few years ago, when he came to compete for the tournament,” Sakurai said, his face scrunched up. “I’m glad he’s more mature now – he was kind of awful back then.”

 

Privately, Kuroko agreed. He remembered helping Aomine face off against Nash Gold Jr.’s explosive and almost overwhelming power. It had been an incredible experience, one of the best Kuroko had ever had on a dueling court.

 

Nash Gold Jr. was a terrible human being. Kuroko had very much enjoyed putting the smug kid in his place, though he’d given nothing of his true feelings away during that particular duel.

 

Now it seemed that the blonde, tattooed teenager was growing up, finding some semblance of maturity, and joining the world as an adult. After all, how wayward could he be at this point, with his father running for political office?

 

Kuroko put the paper down and decided to focus on his breakfast, letting the blonde American slip from his mind.

 

He had dueling practice coming up today, and if their last meeting was any indication, he was going to be even more sore than he already was right now.

 

Kuroko wasn’t wrong: Riko was ready to run them ragged from the moment they stepped into the practice room.

 

“Today we’re doing five on five.” Riko said. “New members against the older ones, so get ready to learn a thing or two!”

 

As they stretched, Kagami leaned over to Kuroko.

 

“You gonna surprise me again today?” he asked.

 

“It’s not a surprise if you know what I’m doing,” Kuroko said blankly.

 

“Yeah yeah, just don’t make me look bad out there okay? I haven’t had a proper duel in ages and I’m ready to fight.”

 

“I know,” Kuroko said. He really wanted to fight too.

 

“ _Now_ rookies! Riko shouted. “Show me what you’ve got!”

 

“Why are all of you so nervous?” Kuroko demanded of the Hufflepuffs as they got up into the arena. “Strong opponents are better than weak ones. Our seniors are going to fight hard, so we should too!”

 

Riko blew a sharp whistle and Hyuuga and Kagami immediately sprung into action. Kagami dodged Hyuuga’s first curse and sent out a series of huge fireballs towards the other team.

 

Hyuuga was forced onto the defensive right away, his team pulling up shields to avoid the bright red fire.

 

“Ha!” Kagami shouted in victory, pressing his advantage.

 

“Wow,” Fukuda whispered.

 

“Holy shit,” Furihata said.

 

Kagami was still moving, pushing Hyuuga back with spell after spell, sending him bowling over.

 

“Amazing,” Kawahara said.

 

And then the three of them were under attack as Hyuuga’s team divided; Mitobe, Koganei, and Izuki going after the freshmen while Tsuchida went to rescue his captain.

 

“Oh boy,” Furihata said.

 

Cornered, Kawahara put up a shield, and Furihata nervously cast a stunning spell at Izuki, missing widely in his nervousness.

 

A huge fireball forced the senior members back.

 

“I can’t believe he’s taking on the entire field at once,” Riko murmured to herself. “This is unbelievable.”

 

Kagami, on the other hand, just looked pissed. With every spell he threw he looked around, getting angrier and angrier.

 

“You know what really pisses me off?” he growled out into the arena as he ducked a hail of fire from Hyuuga, who had finally found an opening to attack. Kagami responded with a swipe of his hand, wandlessly conjuring a wall of fire to close in on the captain and Tsuchida.

 

“What pisses me off is that for all his deep mumbo jumbo, he’s totally useless on the court!” Kagami shouted.

 

“What the-”

 

Hyuuga started his question, but then rolled his eyes. Tsuchida conjured a shield to protect them from Kagami’s fire, and he ran forward, wand already moving. The ground beneath Kagami’s feet exploded with vines that quickly wrapped around him and tried to drag him down to the floor.

 

“I think it’s time that we show our juniors how to respect their seniors,” Hyuuga said. “It’s time to put our new members in their place!”

 

With Hyuuga, Izuki, and Tsuchida now covering Kagami as he tried to break free, the Hufflepuffs didn’t like their chances against Mitobe and Koganei who were relentlessly cursing their way through the shield all three of them were maintaining.

 

“Three of them on one wizard?” Kawahara moaned. “He’s incredible!”

 

But with the seventh years ganging up on their powerhouse, the sixth years were losing ground fast.

 

“They’re really good,” Fukuda said. “Maybe we should quit before we get our asses kicked.”

 

“Don’t even think about it!” Kagami dodged under Izuki’s outstretched arm to grab the Hufflepuff by the collar.

 

“Please calm down.”

 

Kagami felt his knees buckle under him and realized that he’d been kneed in the back of his legs, forcing him to drop the Hufflepuff. He whirled around, noticing Kuroko on the court for the first time.

 

On the other side of the arena, the seventh years were staring as Kagami started to yell at Kuroko, swiping his arms at the other boy as he tried to make a point.

 

“This is ridiculous,” Hyuuga muttered, wiping sweat off his face with the front of his shirt.

 

“Has he really been in the duel this whole time?” Tsuchida asked, sounding amazed. “I didn’t even realize he was here until just now!”

 

“Yeah, it’s creepy,” Hyuuga agreed.

 

On the other side of the room, Kuroko finally managed to make himself heard over Kagami’s shouting.

 

“Please cast a spell at me when you see the opening,” Kuroko said politely to his teammates.

 

“Kuroko don’t be stupid, I’m not cursing you,” Furihata said immediately.

 

Kagami snorted.

 

“Since you’re finally gonna be useful, yeah,” he said. “You’ve been pissing me off all round, hiding in the background! Are you ready to do something or what?”

 

“I am sorry,” Kuroko said blankly. “Will you show them why I need them to cast their spells in my direction?”

 

Kagami stretched to his whole height, grinning.

 

“Yeah, let’s show the seniors on this team what we’ve got,” he said. “Just try and keep up.”

 

“A shadow is always right behind its light,” Kuroko replied calmly.

 

On the other side of the arena, the seniors were watching their juniors fighting with expressions that ranged from amusement to anger.

 

“So he really was a Miracle,” Hyuuga grinned to Kiyoshi. “The Phantom sixth man.”

 

“Their invisible specialist,” Kiyoshi agreed. “If all your attention is on the five monsters in front of you, you’ll never see the smaller monster creeping up from behind.”

 

“Man, I can’t believe we have one of the Miracles on our team,” Hyuuga said. “He’s going to be a handful though, isn’t he?”

 

“Have you seen the transfer kid?” Koganei panted, bent over his knees. “I’m more worried about the one that shoots fire than the one that’s invisible.”

 

“Okay, but I can _see_ the one spewing fire,” Hyuuga muttered.

 

“Yeah? Well maybe you could do something about it so that we don’t have to lose to the younger students on day one!” Tsuchida shot back, bent over and still out of breath.

 

“I’ll try. Now suck it up, it looks like the kids got themselves together.”

 

“Let’s go!”

 

But the second both sides were ready to take the field, the three Hufflepuffs fell back, raising a stone barrier between them and the seniors.

 

“Blast through it!” Hyuuga shouted.

 

He and Izuki aimed and fired three blasting curses each in quick succession.

 

The wall exploded in a puff of smoke and rubble, and Hyuuga led his team forward, wand at the ready.

 

“Watch out!”

 

Hyuuga was tackled to the ground as a giant fireball went flying over his head.

 

“Thanks, Koganei,” he said, crouching as he tried to locate the source of the fire, but he only had a moment before he saw the fireball ricocheting back at him, full force.

 

Hyuuga barely held his shield against the attack. Once he has successfully defended himself, he cast a spell to clear the dust in the air.

 

Immediately he saw Kagami, who grinned back unapologetically and set off a chain of curses, making the ground rumble underneath Hyuuga’s feet and forcing him to dive for safety as it turned into quicksand.

 

Kagami cast wildly, ducking behind their cover, and another spell ricocheted almost preternaturally into Izuki, sending him down for good.

 

The three younger Hufflepuffs cheered. In the meantime, Furihata was sending out spells that would hit the ground in front of their opponents and spark like flash bang grenade, preventing them from advancing any further.

 

“Now!” Kagami shouted, ducking back behind the cover as Mitobe and Koganei tried to hit him with another series of spells.

 

Furihata, Kawahara, and Fukuda stood as one, each casting a stunning spell.

 

The spells went wide, and none of the seniors even had to shield against them.

 

“Oh, come on,” Hyuuga shouted. “At least _try_ aiming-”

 

And then the seniors dropped, hit in the backs by stunning spells.

 

Hyuuga was the first one up. He took Kagami’s offered hand with grudging respect and pulled himself to his feet.

 

“Nice spellwork, transfer kid.”

 

“Don’t call me transfer kid and I won’t give you another up close and personal look at it right now,” Kagami replied aggressively.

 

“Alright guys, all of you did great work tonight!” Riko was shouting from the door, breaking up the fight before it could get started. “I have to go finish a paper, but pack up and head to bed, you’ve done enough for the day. See you all next practice – we’ll debrief this match then!”

 

The small Ravenclaw headed out, leaving her team still talking about the match.

 

Hyuuga broke out in a smile, shaking Kagami’s hand before releasing it.

 

“Fine, Kagami. Good work.”

 

“Hey, don’t compliment me, it was all Kuroko.”

 

Remembering the way in which spells seemed to change course and ricochet unnaturally in places and angles they shouldn’t have, Hyuuga whirled around and found himself face to face with his new phantom.

 

“That was a sucker punch,” he growled at Kuroko.

 

“Yes it was.”

 

Hyuuga grinned.

 

“You and Kagami over there make a good team,” he said, in a much calmer voice than Kuroko had been expecting. He’d suspected that Hyuuga’s gruff exterior mostly just hid the fact that he was all marshmallow filling underneath and this supported that assertion.

 

“That was SO COOL!” Furihata shouted, running up. “Can you show us again?”

 

Kuroko nodded. He was fired up. It had been so long since he had competed in an official match, he was twitching for a real fight.

 

Kuroko set himself up and let Kagami cast a spell at him. Without any effort he spun and sent it flying towards Mitobe, who wandlessly shielded himself.

 

“Now you, Captain,” Kuroko said. He was willing to give up another one of his secrets in the name of showing this new team what he could do.

 

Hyuuga sent a stunning spell at Kuroko, who returned it. Hyuuga cast a shield, but the spell passed straight through it. Hyuuga was knocked unconscious for the second time that evening and had to be revived by a sniggering Izuki.

 

“Sleeping on the job, Captain?” he asked, helping Hyuuga up.

 

Hyuuga stood. He rolled his shoulders, working out the pain from having hit the floor.

 

“I’m beginning to understand why they called your team the Generation of Miracles,” he said. “Give me another shot, I want to see if I can block this one!”

 

Kuroko could feel the exhaustion creeping up on him again. He was going to have to seriously work on building up his stamina again if he was going to be fighting with Kagami – he hadn’t had the opportunity to misdirect such powerful magic in a while, and he was all but drained.

 

“Yeah, show us again!”

 

Before they could run the play another time, however, Riko stormed back into the practice room, grabbing a lone textbook she had left by the door. As she looked up and realized what was going on, her expression narrowed in anger.

 

“YOU IDIOTS!” Riko shouted. “When I dismiss you for the day that means you’re _done!_ Rest is an important part of exercise too! You have dueling mania! Go HOME!”

 

Kiyoshi smiled, Kagami sniggered, and Hyuuga frowned.

 

“I mean it! I’m your coach and I’m telling you that you’re all done. For Morgana’s sake, look at Kuroko!”

 

Kuroko, who was bent over wheezing, just waved his hand in the air.

 

“I’m fine,” he gasped out.

 

“Right,” Riko said. “All of you dueling-headed idiots are going to bed. Now.”

 

With only contrite grumbling, the group started cleaning up to head out.

 

“I can’t believe I’m dating such big idiots,” she announced to the empty room.

 

“I guess they’re my idiots,” she said after a moment to herself and smiled.

 

Maybe she had a little dueling mania too. Just a little though.

 

She hummed to herself all the way back to the Ravenclaw dorm.

 

…

 

They sat on top of the Astronomy tower, looking out over the grounds. A warm wind gently blew across the turrets.

 

After practice Kagami had brought Kuroko with him downstairs, and made a giant plate of burgers that he charmed to stay warm as they headed up to the tower.

 

Now that they were properly seated, Kagami reached over and handed Kuroko one of them.

 

“What you showed everyone today is worth at least one of these,” he said, and Kuroko accepted it with a blank expression.

 

“Thank you,” he said.

 

“Hey, I don’t have time for people who screw around with dueling, but you’re pretty cool. You know, for an invisible dude.”

 

“I’m not like you,” Kuroko admitted quietly, staring down at his burger. “I’m not strong. I told you before that I am a shadow. I don’t have traditional dueling skills, but with my misdirection, I can do many things most duelists can’t. The core of my strength depends on everyone on the court watching my teammates: the better they are, the less anyone is looking at me.”

 

“You’re kind of a weird duelist,” Kagami admitted. “I thought you were weak, but you’re much stronger than you let on. Honestly, it pissed me off at first because I thought you had all this bluster and nothing to back it up, but it turns out you’re okay. I’m not pissed at you anymore.”

 

Kuroko didn’t react to any of Kagami’s heartfelt confession. The aside he’d tacked onto the end of it was pretty unnecessary, in Kuroko’s opinion – Kagami had shown him on the court that he respected him as a wizard and duelist, the other student didn’t need to say it.

 

“Your misdirection must be confusing my magical sensitivity too,” Kagami said. “I thought there was something weird about the way you dueled, but seeing it on a full scale is incredible.”

 

“Thank you.”

 

“No seriously, why on Earth did you stop dueling with the Miracles?”

 

Kuroko didn’t answer. He didn’t know if he could tell Kagami everything. In fact, he doubted that he was capable of opening his heart to that extent anymore.

 

Akashi had made sure of that. It was the first time Kuroko felt anything so close to resentment for it.

 

“You know, I wasn’t really even mad at you earlier today,” Kagami said, turning his face back to the sky. “I was just annoyed you took so long to do anything. I know you’re more than just talk. Actually, you’re pretty much everything _but_ talk, really.”

 

They lapsed into silence, looking out at the stars.

 

“So those Miracles, how strong are they really? Like how do you think I would do if we were gonna fight right now?”

 

“You would be crushed,” Kuroko said with absolute conviction. He thought of Akashi forcing Murasakibara to kneel before him with the pure might of his power, and shuddered a little. Afterall, Murasakibara himself had destroyed a Magical Measurer during the tournament in fourth year – with a wandless and wordless Wingardium Leviosa. All of the Miracles had already been frighteningly powerful then, and they had all bloomed and gotten stronger since.

 

Merlin, if Kagami fought any of them now one on one, Kuroko was certain of what the outcome would be.

 

Kagami looked offended, but Kuroko pressed on.

 

“They all joined different teams this year, and believe me, they all plan on being number one. None of them will go down without giving everything they have to come out on top, and they’ve got a lot more power to use than most wizards.”

 

“Nice,” Kagami said, stretching. “I’m all fired up now and I’m gonna kick their asses!”

 

“I don’t think you can,” Kuroko said softly. _But I can still hope that you do._

 

“I can’t speak for any hidden potential you have, but as you are now you can’t win. Not alone, that would be impossible. But together…”

 

Kuroko trailed off into silence.

 

His teammates had by and large left him alone since the beginning of the year. He thought maybe his bluff with Midorima had caused them to keep their distance to see what he would do, but Kuroko was just as fired up as his light to fight them.

 

Kagami watched Kuroko with fire in his eyes.

 

“We’re going to beat all of them, got me?”

 

Kuroko nodded, his eyes burning with the challenge. He felt it in his bones and his blood – perhaps an echo of what Kagami felt every time he went up against a stronger opponent. Kuroko could pretend that the only thing he wanted was his former teammates to stop acting like jerks, but the truth was more selfish.

 

He wanted to win.  

 

It was the same drive that burned in him, white hot to the touch, that had driven him to write his name down on the list of competitors two years ago. Perhaps his conception of victory had changed, but it was still there.

 

“I will be your shadow for as long as you want me to be.”

 

Kagami squacked and turned a bright red.

 

“Who _says_ shit like that?” he yelled. “Why do you have to be so embarrassing? Do whatever the hell you want just… don’t _say_ it like that!”

 

…

 

Monday morning came, and Kuroko joined his fellow students on the South Tower, looking down at the entire school.

 

“Listen up,” Riko said, hands on her hips as she stared down the new members of her team.

 

“You gonna accept our club forms now or what?” Kagami asked. Riko smiled.

 

“In a minute,” she said. “Don’t interrupt me, Bakagami!”

 

Kagami huffed, but fell silent.

 

“Like I was saying,” Riko continued, “state your name, house, and year, and your goal for the dueling club this year. If you don’t achieve the goal, you’ll be back here at the end of the year, and you’ll be confessing to the person you like. Naked.”

 

Kagami looked horrified at this, but it was Kawahara who beat him to vocally objecting to this plan.

 

“Are you serious?”

 

“Absolutely! Any more questions?”

 

“Isn’t this hazing?” Furihata asked, raising a hand.

 

“I’m a _prefect_ Furihata, I wouldn’t haze anyone,” Riko said sincerely. “The entire team did it last year.”

 

Kuroko had no memory of his older teammates standing on top of a tower and threatening to strip naked if they failed to meet their goals, but he had also had a lot of stuff going on in the beginning of the year between Haizaki’s bullying and his misdirection malfunctioning spectacularly.

 

The Hufflepuffs were still uncertain, and Kuroko was wholly unsurprised by the one who stepped forward first.

 

“Heh,” Kagami grinned, unfolding his arms and stepping past Riko as though he was entirely unbothered by the idea of having to come up here and confess himself naked. “This will be easy.”

 

He stepped up to the ramparts, jumping up onto the stone and balancing precariously and impossibly there. Kuroko was struck by how ironic it was that someone so muscled and bulky could be so graceful.

 

When Kagami opened his mouth, he shouted, his voice booming down across the grounds. It echoed all the way to the hills on the other side of the valley and over the tops of the trees of the Forbidden Forest. Kuroko was pretty sure he was just screaming too - no magical spell had enhanced the power of the Gryffindor’s vocal chords, he just had the capacity to shout that loud.

 

“Kagami Taiga, Sixth year Gryffindor!” Kagami shouted into the sky.  “We are going to defeat the Generation of Miracles! And we’re going to be the best duelists at Hogwarts!”

 

It was exactly as bold as Kuroko had thought it would be.

 

He wondered if any of the Miracles had bothered showing up at the match, and were listening to the declaration. Even if they weren’t, it would get back to them through the rumor mill pretty quickly.

 

Not that Kuroko expected any of them to take such a bold statement seriously without ever having competed against Kagami.

 

“Good!” Riko said. “Who’s next!”

 

The Hufflepuffs huddled together, terrified that she was going to pick one of them to get up there.

 

“Hurry up, or the professors will get here, and you’ll lose your chance for good!” Riko warned them with a smile.

 

Kuroko wondered if that was supposed to have encouraged them to move any faster.

 

“Can I say I want a girlfriend?” Furihata asked.

 

“No,” Riko said at the same time Kawahara and Fukuda shouted the same word at him.

 

“You spend way too much time staring at Akashi to want a girlfriend, come on man it’s not cool to lie to yourself,” Fukuda said.

 

“Okay okay, I’ve got one!” Kawahara said, stepping forward. “Kawahara Koichi, Sixth year, Hufflepuff! I was always a sick kid, so I’m looking forward to the chance to properly duel…”

 

Furihata and Fukuda just stared in shock, unable to react as Kawahara delivered the monologue he had given them at the dining hall table, in their dorm, in class, and on at least one trip through the halls. They knew it so well half the damn house could spout it back to them. Kuroko just watched the scene unfold with the same blank expression as usual.

 

“Things only started to change for me in fifth year, and that’s when I started realizing dueling was so cool…”

 

“Merlin he’s really doing this,” Furihata whimpered. Kagami just looked pissed.

 

Riko had less patience than the rest of them. Two sentences in she grabbed Kawahara around the waist and slammed him down to the floor.

 

“Next!” she snapped.

 

“I want a girlfriend?” Furihata asked, raising his hand.

 

“I told you, NO!” Riko shouted, hands in fists that were beginning to show the edges of green fire. She gestured to Fukuda, who reluctantly came forward.

 

“Fukuda Hiroshi, Sixth year Hufflepuff!” He shouted to the bewildered students below. “I came because the upperclassmen asked for my help and I immediately offered my assistance! I want to help my team!”

 

He bowed down and Riko glared at him before sighing and shrugging, pointing at Furihata.

 

“You. Go.”

 

Furihata went to stand by the ramparts, magically altering his voice to boom over the crowd like everyone else had.

 

“This girl I know in Canada said she would go out with me if I became the best at something!” Furihata said.

 

“Merlin’s goddamn pants,” Kawahara moaned from the floor. “And you think I’m bad.”

 

“What’s wrong with someone in Canada agreeing to go out with him?” Kagami asked.

 

“Oh, Kagami, you sweet summer child,” Kawahara muttered.

 

Furihata was still talking.

 

“I joined the dueling club to become the number one duelist!”

 

He stepped back, offering Riko a small smile.

 

“If that’s not good enough then I guess I can quit the team,” he said. “But that’s really all that I have and it’s very important to me.”

 

“I’m moved by your plight,” Riko said, waving her hand in acceptance of this. “I guess it works. Now who’s next?”

 

“Excuse me.”

 

Riko jumped and stared at Kuroko, who had somehow gotten a hold of what looked like an ordinary muggle cone that could be used to amplify his voice.

 

“I’m not good at speaking loudly or the voice spell, so can I use this?” Kuroko asked.

 

“WHERE THE HELL did you even get that?” Riko shouted it. “Where were you keeping it this whole time?”

 

Kuroko ignored the question and stepped up to the ramparts like the rest of his teammates, steadying himself to announce his goals.

 

Kuroko opened his mouth, ready to declare his intent to make his former teammates finally lose a match.

 

“AIDA RIKO, YOU PROMISED ME I WOULDN’T HAVE TO PUT YOU IN DETENTION!”

 

Aida Kagetora slammed through the door to the outside of the tower, looking like wrath incarnate.

 

“I knew those boys were bad influences, I thought we were through with these shenanigans!” the Headmaster said, turning to the group as a whole. “You should all know better than to try and disrupt school activities, god I knew this whole dueling club was just going to rain trouble down on us in every way it could!”

 

Furihata and Fukuda were frantically apologizing while Kawahara had turned bright red, and Kagami looked angry (though Kuroko was beginning to understand that Kagami pretty much had three moods – intense excitement, intense anger, and intense hunger, so he wasn’t all that surprised).

 

“And you-” he rounded on his daughter once again, obviously displeased, “-You’re supposed to be more responsible than this…”

 

The admonishment went on for an almost impressively long time. Kuroko kind of tuned it out after a bit. The only thing he really cared about was that he was the only one of the new members of the team who had not been able to participate in the initiation ceremony, such that it was.

 

His mind was already turning towards what he could do to fix that.

 

…

 

It had been a long time since Kuroko had snuck around the castle at night. He drifted through the halls, eyes peeled for the first sight of prefects, professors, or real phantoms. One arm was carrying his backpack, spelled by Furihata so that none of the bottles inside would clink together and give away Kuroko on his path through the castle.

 

It would certainly be hard to explain to a professor what he was doing with a bag full a highly unstable and very flammable potion mixture. As a sixth year, Kuroko was technically allowed to be roaming around the castle much later than the younger studets for the purposes of tending to experiments in the greenhouse, Astronomy research, or for extended hours to do research in the library. However, with no permission from a professor to be out, any lie Kuroko had would fall apart quickly, and he wasn’t exactly the best liar to begin with.

 

Luckily, he encountered no such patrols as he made his way out of the castle. Kuroko exited the front doors without any fanfare.

 

Out on the front grounds, Kuroko drew a rough approximation of the heart that was his team’s symbol. He was sweating before he was even half done, but he had to be as precise as possible, these would be the marks he would fill with his explosive potions.

 

Kuroko’s original plan had been to fill in the heart completely and then create a second outline around it, denoting the border, but it was taking far too long. He was acutely aware of the fact that the more time Kuroko spent on this, the more likely it was that he was going to get caught. Even so, he wanted the image. The image was important, because it told everyone who was making the bold statement underneath.

 

He wanted the entire school to know their real intentions.

 

Finally, Kuroko gave up and allowed himself to just do two outlines of the hearts, because that would communicate his intention, and would still make the symbol unmistakably that of his team.

 

After the hour he’d spent on their team symbol, drawing the lines for the words were easy enough. Kuroko was ready to drop, but he still had to pour out the jars evenly into each line.

 

When he was done, Kuroko gathered up the empty jars and shoved them back into his bag. He needed to get rid of them and return to the castle before he used the spell that would make the fire spring to life.

 

He hid the jars in a broom closet under a tarp, and went down to the Hufflepuff dorm.

 

Snuggled safe into his dorm, Kuroko waved his wand.

 

“ _Flagrante Procol_.”

 

Kuroko could feel the magic working, and he turned over in his bed, smiling a little.

 

The next morning in class, the entire room rushed to the windows to see the massive lettering out on the front lawn. The blackened edges where Kuroko’s fire had worked made it very clear what the intentions of the writer were.

 

WE WILL BE THE BEST.

 

The room was alive with chatter about which member of Kiyoshi’s team had burned the giant message for everyone to see.

 

Opinions ranged from a team effort, to someone else entirely trying to frame them and get them in trouble. But Kagami looked back at Kuroko, and there was realization on his face.

 

He grinned at the phantom, his eyes fixed on the line of dirt on Kuroko’s cheek.

 

The redhead thought he should probably warn Kuroko about that before any professors started asking questions, but the other boy had absently worn it away while pretending to read his textbook.

 

“OI, BAKAGAMI!” Riko shouted into the doorway. “It’s like the first week of classes, why are you getting us in trouble already!”

 

“Who said it was me?” Kagami demanded loudly. “I’m not an idiot!”

 

Riko snorted, but her eyes followed Kagami’s to their target and her smile softened.

 

“Alright, Kagami, I believe you,” she said, ducking back out of the room. “See you in practice!”

 

Kagami snagged the seat next to Kuroko.

 

“Your S is crooked.”

 

“ _Your_ S is crooked,” Kuroko shot back, still looking into his book. It was upside down. 

 

“Uh huh, right,” Kagami said. “And I’m the Queen.”

 

“It’s an honor to be in your presence, your majesty,” Kuroko nonchalantly turned a page.

 

Kagami snorted.

 

“You’re ridiculous and I hope you get in trouble for that dirt on your face.”

 

Kagami, engrossed in this back and forth, had not noticed the professor come into the room, and so was wholly unprepared for Professor Harasawa’s barrage.

 

“Kagami Taiga! Since you have time to chat, you must have had plenty of time to study up on this week’s runic configuration and would be more than able to demonstrate it to the class…”

 

Kagami groaned.

 

…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next week we'll get to see what our Miracles think about all of this, so stay tuned! In the meantime you can always come find me [on Tumblr!](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	25. A Transfer Student’s Guide To The Rainbow Of Shitty Personalities

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Drink deep of the well of jealous!GoM and KnightInShiningArmor!Kagami, and join me in hell

…

 

Kagami had spent an entire week trying to get Aomine Daiki’s attention and he was starting to get really annoyed.

 

While he had managed to provoke at least passing greetings from Kise, Kagami had not even managed to meet his fourth roommate face to face.

 

“Aominecchi ditches class sometimes,” Kise had told Kagami, shrugging. “He doesn’t care much about school work, and he can’t be bothered to talk to most people. I think he mostly hangs out with Momoicchi or his dueling team.”

 

“Sounds like a dick.”

 

“Sure sure, anyway, hello ladies!”

 

Kagami watched Kise flit away towards a gaggle of girls holding copies of Witch Weekly and rolled his eyes.

 

_I’m surrounded by crazy people. Literal crazy people. This entire country is just batshit fucking crazy._

 

“Oi, Kagami,” Takao said from next to Kagami, elbowing the redhead.

 

“What?” Kagami demanded.

 

“You looking for our asshole roommate? He’s right there.”

 

Kagami followed where Takao pointed. His eyes landed on a tan student in a loose Gryffindor tie, slumped over a desk already asleep. Untidy dark blue hair poked out over his arms where his head rested on them.

 

Kagami felt a spike of excitement and jumped out of his chair, halfway across the room before anyone noticed the transfer student running around the classroom.

 

“Hey!” Kagami shouted, slamming his hands down on the desk on either side of Aomine’s head.

 

Aomine twitched, and opened one eye. His gaze took a moment to focus on Kagami, and when it did, he blinked in surprise.

 

“Eh?” he asked.

 

“You’re a weird asshole!” Kagami shouted.

 

“Dude, I don’t come to where you sleep and shout at you,” Aomine said, glaring back at the redhead and sitting up, immediately on the defensive.  “Who are you, anyway?”

 

“I’m your roommate, damn it!” Kagami said. “You’re never in the dorm and I wanted to introduce myself.”

 

“Then why are you yelling at me, you idiot?”

 

“Because you’re an asshole!”

 

“O-kayyyy that’s enough being crazy for today,” Takao said, grabbing Kagami’s arm. The redhead glared at the other kid and sent him soaring across the room.

 

“Fine, you’ve said hi,” Aomine said. “You wanna medal or something?”

 

“I can tell you’re powerful. I want to duel you.”

 

Aomine sighed, cracking his neck.

 

“Okay, Transfer, here’s the deal,” he said. “Nobody can beat me, but me. I can’t be bothered to kick your ass today, so go sit down at your desk like a good little boy and leave me alone.”

 

He put his head back down on the table.

 

Kagami shouted in rage and raised a fist that was covered in fire. It was just his luck that the Transfiguration professor chose that second to enter the classroom. Thankfully, Kagami lost points, but he didn’t get detention.

 

He’d take almost anything over having to tell Aida Riko that he couldn’t come to practice because he was in detention.

 

“This isn’t over, you jerk,” Kagami hissed to Aomine as he slunk back to his desk. Aomine lifted one of his shoulders almost imperceptibly while still laying almost entirely parallel to the ground.

 

Kagami thought that was the end of it,until they were set to complete a series of wordless transfigurations and Aomine Daiki unfolded himself from his desk and dragged it over facing Kagami.

 

“Okay, Transfer, you got one shot to impress me,” Aomine said, leaning in and resting his chin on his hands. “Make it good.”

 

Kagami grinned.

 

Without so much as a gesture on Kagami's part, a fist rose out of the desk right under Aomine’s smug chin, and punched him right out of the seat.

 

Aomine fell sideways, but landed on his feet.

 

“Students!” the professor cried angrily.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” Aomine said. “We’re working on complex animated transfigurations and I got bored with basic conjuring.”

 

“The assignment is-”

 

Aomine waved his hand and a flock of birds appeared.

 

“Nice birds,” Kagami sneered, snapping a hawk into existence on his shoulder. The hawk cried plaintively and dove for the smaller birds Aomine had summoned. They vanished in a puff of dark blue smoke and the hawk flew back around the class to sit on Kagami’s shoulder.

 

“Can we go have fun now?” Aomine asked. “This class isn’t worth my time.”

 

“Ten points for each of you to Gryffindor for completing the conjuring,” the professor sighed. “But no dueling in my classroom, or I’m sending you _both_ to the Headmaster.”

 

Aomine grinned.

 

“Then I guess we’re done for today,” he said casually. “For now I like you fine, Transfer. See you later.”

 

“It’s KAGAMI TAIGA, YOU ASS!” Kagami shouted at Aomine as the blue haired fiend sauntered past Kagami and straight out the door.

 

“Whatever,” Aomine said as he disappeared. Kagami huffed at being so casually dismissed, but stopped short of chasing the other boy out of the room.

 

…

 

During lunch, Riko was skipping down the hallways, which was Kuroko’s first clue that something was extremely wrong. At least, something wrong aside from the fact that his new light was clearly insane and had just tried to start a duel with Aomine in the middle of class. 

 

She was still humming happily to herself during their next practice, smiling benevolently.

 

“We’re going to die,” Kiyoshi said cheerfully from the back of the room.

 

“Idiot!” Hyuuga muttered. “You’re not dueling! _We’re_ the ones who are doing to die!”

 

“It’s going to be fun!” Kiyoshi just kept smiling.

 

“I’ll show you _fun_ ,” Hyuuga muttered under his breath.

 

“You always do, Captain,” Kiyoshi said, much more loudly.

 

Hyuuga’s face turned a very interesting shade of red that bordered on purple.

 

“S-shut up,” he muttered, obviously flustered.

 

Kiyoshi battled his eyelashes at him as they walked down the hall together.

 

…

 

It did not take long for Hyuuga’s predicted doom to fall upon his team. At practice that very night, Riko skipped into the room, that same serene smile still on her face.

 

“Gather round!” she called to the team. “I have news to share!”

 

“Okay spill, what’s got you skipping around like you just found out someone asked you to coach the Olympics?” Hyuuga asked.

 

“I have found us our first practice match. It’s not an official scrimmage so it won’t affect our record, but I think we’ll learn a great deal from the experience.”

 

“Okay, so who are we fighting?” Koganei asked.

 

“I have gotten us a match with one of the Generation of Miracles!” Riko announced, looking like she was about to burst with pride in herself for having done something so tremendous so early in the school year.

 

“What?” Half the team was yelling excitedly, and it took half a minute before Hyuuga could shut them up for long enough to hear which of the Miracles they would be fighting against.

 

“Our first practice match is going to be against Kasamatsu’s team.”

 

A moment of silence followed this declaration before a burst of talking arose from the group of sixth year Hufflepuffs in particular.

 

“Isn’t that the team Kise Ryouta is on?”

 

“Kise Ryouta, he’s the illusionist of the Generation of Miracles!”

 

Koganei joined the group of sixth years gossiping about their next opponent.

 

“Yeah, I heard they even did a whole spread on him for Dauntless Duelist!”

 

“Idiot, he’s in your own house, why are you hero worshiping him Koganei?”

 

“THIS IS GREAT! I’m so pumped!”

 

Kagami’s voice rose above the din, and sure enough Kuroko could see the fire in his eyes. The Gryffindor was going to bring everything he had to this fight.

 

“Don’t you live in the same room as him?” Koganei asked, giving Kagami a weird look.

 

“Well, they do say to keep your friends close and your enemies closer!” Izuki quipped cheerfully.

 

“All of you, shush!” Hyuuga snapped at the group that had been gossiping together.

 

“Yes sir!” they shouted.

 

“Kasamatsu is no slouch, and his team is one of the toughest on the circuit, even without Kise Ryouta, so we should be focusing on strengthening our fundamentals and practicing basic tactics…”

 

After practice, Koganei produced the issue of Dauntless Duelist he had brought up when Riko had announced their next matchup. Kagami had darted out of the room, muttering something about detention, but the rest of the team gathered around the seventh year as Koganei pulled out the magazine.

 

“See look!” he said, flipping to a page. The right side of the magazine was covered in a flattering picture that captured Kise mid-duel. As they watched, Kise winked at the camera, and then turned to exchange a hail of spell fire with an out of frame opponent.

 

“‘Kise Ryouta is the illusionist of the Generation of Miracles, and specializes in light based tricks and manipulations,’” Koganei read. “‘He also possesses an incredible talent for learning spells just by watching them be performed in the arena. This kinesthetic memory has allowed him to overtake many opponents by surprise and force with their own special techniques. His style of fast-paced dueling is visually dynamic and exciting to watch. Keep an eye on this well rounded player, who despite not having the experience of his fellow Miracles, is closing that gap as quickly as he can get signed up to compete in duels.’”

 

“Scary,” Furihata said, looking down at the fiercely competitive face on the glossy page.

 

“Isn’t he also like a model or something?” Kawahara asked.

 

“Yeah, he does photo spreads for Teen Witch Weekly during the summer. They voted him this year’s most eligible teen wizard,” Koganei piped up.

 

“How do you know that?!”

 

“Cuz I read it, duh?” Koganei said. “Anyway he’s good looking _and_ a dueling prodigy, which really isn’t even fair.”

 

“Plus it’s not like you can’t hear the trail of fangirls giggling about every article that features him halfway across the castle,” Kiyoshi said diplomatically. Kawahara shrugged, clearly able to see the truth of that statement, but not willing to admit it.

 

“Do they have spreads on any of the others?” Izuki asked, wandering over. Hyuuga and Riko were watching the group, slowly gravitating towards the discussion.

 

“Teen Witch Weekly?” Furihata asked, confused.

 

“No, I meant the dueling magazine, don’t be stupid on purpose!” Izuki replied cheerfully.

 

“Yeah look! They featured Aomine, Midorima, Murasakibara, and Akashi!” Koganei said excitedly, flipping through the pages to show off the full page spreads featuring pictures of their classmates. “I think they did all the interviews at the end of the year, after they swept the whole competitive circuit.”

 

Mitobe gestured with his eyebrows and Koganei nodded.

 

“Yeah, I agree,” he said. “Anyway, you guys can take a look if you want! I don’t know what it can tell you that sixth years at the same school wouldn’t though. You’re in different houses, but the school isn’t exactly small.”

 

“Hufflepuff doesn’t really spend that much time with Gryffindor,” Furihata said. “We’re always paired up with Ravenclaw for classes. Plus Kise’s pretty much run with the popular crowd since day one, even though he’s a muggleborn, and we’re not exactly… well. You know.”

 

Mitobe patted the Hufflepuff on the head sympathetically.

 

“I mean, most older wizard families know each other pretty well even before they get here,” Koganei frowned. “I wasn’t exactly bosom friends with the Akashis, but we get most of the invitations to those stuffy parties anyway.”

 

“Yeah well he’s muggleborn anyway, isn’t he, so he wouldn’t be there anyway, would he?” Fukuda said. “I mean, we get the same invitations too, not that my grandparents ever accept them. It’s very important to my grandparents that we celebrate the holidays the _right_ wizard way, not with all those balls. I never knew any of the purebloods my age until I got here, except the ones who came to our sort of function.”

 

“Plus he’s nice enough, but we live on the other side of the castle and everything,” Kawahara said. “I mean, how well do you even know him, and you share a house!”

 

Koganei laughed, rubbing the back of his head.

 

“Okay, okay,” he capitulated. “I get it. Most of us know _of_ Kise, but I guess none of you have gotten the chance to get to know him. Well, we’ll know enough to beat him, anyway.”

 

This brought on a pretty cheerful mood as the younger students looked over Furihata’s shoulder at the articles he was paging through.

 

Furihata excitedly flipped through the pages, but his face immediately fell.

 

“Kuroko’s not in here,” he said, looking up with a distressed expression on his face.

 

“Yeah, I would have remembered reading about him when I saw the article the first time,” Hyuuga said, looking confused.

 

The attention of the entire team fell to Kuroko, who was a little baffled by why this seemed so upsetting to his team.

 

“They didn’t interview you even though you were the phantom sixth man?” Hyuuga asked Kuroko.

 

“I think I remember them coming around and interviewing us, but they must have forgotten me,” he said casually. “That or the interviews happened after I had already quit, but the competitive season was pretty much over at that point. I’m pretty sure this is from one of the interviews they did while I was still there.”

 

Kuroko could feel the eyes of his entire team boring into him, as though he couldn’t possibly be telling the truth about being okay about having been left out. He wasn’t lying - regaining his misdirection after the publicity in fourth year had all but torn it to shreds had been difficult and painful and he had no desire to do that again.

 

“That’s so sad!” Hyuuga, Izuki, and Koganei chorused at the same time.

 

“I was never like any of the others anyway,” Kuroko said. “The five of them… they’re prodigies. But our old team functioned on only one basic principle: win at any cost. I didn’t want that. I’m not strong like they are, so we grew apart.”

 

After that, he left his teammates to look through the magazine (Kagami thankfully had walked out before the magazine had been pulled out. Kuroko was pretty sure that the redhead’s mania about beating the Generation of Miracles was approaching the level of Kuroko’s own personal drive and that was saying a lot). Their match would come soon enough. Kuroko wanted to make sure that when the time came he was ready to face his old teammate on the field.

 

That meant he needed to spend more time practicing.

 

…

 

“Oi, transfer kid!”

 

Kagami was coming back from his shower and he really didn’t want to deal with this right now. He wanted to get to bed and sleep for a decade; between running ragged with Riko’s training menu and trying to show up Aomine in class (not that the bastard ever noticed the effort he put in) he was kind of done with today.

 

“Don’t call me that,” Kagami snapped, turning around and coming face to face with Aomine.

 

A very shirtless Aomine, who was standing less than half a foot away from Kagami.

 

The blue haired Gryffindor was face to face with Kagami, and somehow managing to look down on him even though they were nearly exactly the same height.

 

“You cast wandless magic,” Aomine said, smirking. “Obviously not as good as me, but you’re good enough I guess. In a couple of years you might end up as good as I am.”

 

“Say that to my face, asshole!” Kagami shouted.

 

“I just did, moron,” Aomine replied, shouldering past Kagami. “If you’ve got the balls for it, we should duel some time, and you can show me what you’ve got.”

 

Aomine’s eyes scanned down Kagami’s body and back up to his eyes with a challenge in them, before sauntering backwards into the communal bathroom.

 

Kagami stood in the hallway, feeling violently shell shocked.

 

He had never wanted to murder and befriend someone so violently at the same time. And he was friends with Kuroko, so that should say something.

 

Who the hell did that guy think he was, anyway? Some sort of gods’ gift to wizards everywhere?

 

 _I’m gonna wipe that smug ass smirk off his smug ass face,_ Kagami thought viciously. _Right after I get done with Kise._

 

…

 

Their next practice was pretty much a disaster. Riko had just started them on exchanging spells and strengthening their magical cores when there was a series of distinctly female screaming outside the door. From the noise level, there were several female students outside loudly shouting at something.

 

“Why,” Riko demanded, pinching the center of her forehead, “is there a mob outside my practice? Teppei, please do something, I can’t hear myself think. Just… get rid of them, or make them shut up, or something!”

 

“Sure thing,” Kiyoshi grinned, opening the door.

 

Kise Ryouta was standing at the entrance to their practice space, looking sheepish. Behind him was the mob of girls that Riko had heard, all shoving magazines towards the blonde.

 

“Eh, sorry,” he said. “I heard a rumor about your team, and I wanted to see if it was true, but Witch Weekly just released a new issue and I didn’t realize I’d be cornered on the way. Could I come back and steal your attention in a few minutes?”

 

“If you must,” Riko growled. Kise lit up, and turned to his fans.

 

“We go to school together, I have all year to sign these,” he implored them, closing the door behind him.

 

True to Kise’s word, it did get much quieter.

 

“Merlin,” Riko muttered. “ _He’s_ supposed to be a brilliant duelist?”

 

Nobody answered her.

 

“Okay okay, Kagami, Captain, Izuki, I want you practicing the strategy we worked on last night, let’s go!”

 

Dutifully, the three wizards took their place in the arena, Hyuuga and Izuki teaming up on Kagami.

 

Hyuuga was the one who cast the first curse, but Kagami moved almost too fast to be believed. He circled around Hyuuga and Kuroko could feel that Kagami was making the floor move with him to speed himself up.

 

Laughing as he went, Kagami lit a trail of fire that he used to wall off the two other duelists.

 

With a shout of triumph he dove fearlessly through the flames, landing on his feet and casting two stunning spells before either of his opponents could react.

 

Kagami grinned and wiped the sweat off his face as he let the flames fall.

 

“Good!” Riko said. “On Kagami’s part anyway. I was hoping my idiots could counter you that time, but it looks like they still have work to do…”

 

Hyuuga and Izuki were revived and they ran the drill again.

 

“He’s amazing,” Kiyoshi said, watching from the sidelines. “His form and power are incredible.”

 

“I think he might be as strong as the Miracles are!” Koganei said brightly. “It’s good we have him on our side.”

 

Kuroko thought back to what he had told Kagami on the Astronomy Tower – that he’d be crushed if he ever went against the Generation of Miracles.

 

But what he was seeing now… maybe he _could._ Maybe that statement had grown out of too much cynicism and too little faith in his teammate, because what he was seeing was a natural skill that rivaled even that of his former teammates.

 

“Now, sixth years, all of you are playing in this practice match, so be ready!” Riko said. “We’re using official rules that allow for limited substitution, so I want you to make the most of this practice time to really show me what you’ve got!”

 

The door reopened after about ten minutes, revealing the blonde Gryffindor again.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” he apologized with a winning grin. Riko blew her whistle to put an end to the bit of practice that had been able to start up again in his absence, and went over to great the sixth year, followed by her entire team.

 

“You said you came here chasing a rumor?” Riko asked.

 

“Yes!” Kise said brightly.

 

“What rumor?” Riko asked, hands on her hips. Kuroko privately thought that the other girl looked almost as dangerous as Akashi. “Why are you here? This better not be an excuse to try and sabotage our practice time!”

 

But the blonde wasn’t even listening to her. His eyes scanned the crowd of students.

 

“I heard Kurokocchi was competing with you this year and I wanted to come say hello!”

 

“Hey, are you serious?” Hyuuga demanded. “You’re seriously bothering another team’s practice time to come say hi to a friend? Get lost man.”

 

Kuroko, who had been hiding behind Furihata, stepped into Kise’s line of sight.

 

“Hello, Kise.”

 

The blonde’s golden eyes locked onto their target. A wide, beaming smile came over his face.

 

“Kurokocchi!” he waved enthusiastically. “You didn’t even come to say hi to me when we got back to school!”

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything. Was Kise serious right now? It had been almost a _year_ since the other boy had so much looked in his direction outside of practice. They hadn’t even been within ten feet of each other since January. That one sentence was more than everything Kise had spoken to Kuroko since last _November_ , all put together.

 

“You’re friends with him?” Riko asked, folding her arms. She knew they’d been former teammates, but nothing about the way Kuroko had talked about them gave her any insight into their relationship. The way Kuroko talked, it was hard to believe anyone would consider them friends.

 

“Of course,” Kise grinned. “Kurokocchi and I are best friends!”

 

“I wouldn’t say that,” Kuroko equivocated without expression. What the hell was Kise even doing? “We weren’t closer than any other members of our team were.”

 

Kise frowned.

 

“You’re being so mean!” he whined. “Even meaner than you were to Midorimacchi!”

 

“What are you talking about?” Kuroko asked, genuinely confused.

 

“He’s panicking and running over to the Kirisaki Daiichi practice to see if you’re there. Something you said on the train gave him the idea that you were going to compete with _them._ He’s been freaking out about it trying to catch them mid practice ever since, but we could never find you.”

 

Kuroko’s blank face almost broke then and there. He just wished he could be there to watch Midorima blunder through trying to ask Hanamiya if Kuroko had decided to compete with them or not.

 

“I don’t know how he got that idea,” Kuroko said neutrally. A calculating expression descended over the blonde’s face, eyes narrowing as he considered the former phantom of the Generation of Miracles.

 

“I don’t like this version of Kurokocchi,” he said. “You say such mean things.”

 

Kuroko didn’t respond to that either.

 

“Well, anyway, since I’m here-”

 

Kise was interrupted by a burst of spellfire from the other side of the room. He ducked, shielding himself from the blaze and sending back a blinding light that made Kagami pause and take up a defensive position.

 

Wand raised, Kagami was grinning widely back at the other Gryffindor.

 

“Sorry to bust up your reunion, but I wanted to make sure I gave you a proper greeting,” he grinned. Kuroko felt the serious urge to slam his palm against his face at Kagami’s aggressive tactics.

 

“Come on, why don’t you play with me instead of all this talking?” Kagami said. “I’ve been waiting weeks for this. All I’ve heard since before I came to this country is how great you supposed Miracles are so let’s go! Fight me!”

 

Kise looked uncertain at this, tilting his head from one side to the other.

 

“I don’t know,” Kise hummed to himself. “This is a little too sudden. I don’t want to be running around starting fights with my roommates now, that would be rude.”

 

“Come on, what are you? Scared to fight someone who might actually beat you?”

 

Kagami had found the one bait Kise would never fail to answer to and the blonde’s expression narrowed again.

 

 _Finally_ , Kagami thought, feeling very satisfied with himself.

 

Kagami had spent two weeks trying to provoke a response out of either of the assholes who lived in his room. It was just his luck that one of them was a Miracle and standing right in front of him ready to fight.

 

“All right,” Kise said, shrugging off his outer robes. “Fine, let’s duel. I’ll warn you before we start though, I am the weakest of the Miracles here, so it’s your own fault if you’re disappointed.”

 

With brisk efficiency, Kise rolled up the sleeves of his crisp white dress shirt, shrugging his shoulders to loosen up the muscles there.

 

“Kagami, is this really necessary? We’re in the middle of practice!” Riko shouted.

 

“Sorry, Coach,” Kagami said, looking like he was second-guessing the decision that had led the tiny Ravenclaw to chastise him.

 

“Well I guess it is technically practice,” Hyuuga said to Riko as she glared at the room, folding her arms. Despite her scowl, even she was hard pressed to disagree with the idea of getting their opponent’s measure before they actually dueled him.

 

Kuroko knew she would be watching to see Kise’s potential carefully. She wasn’t the only one wondering how Kagami would stack up against the blond Miracle.

 

“Okay, transfer student, let’s do this,” Kise grinned, bringing up his own wand to face the redhead.

 

With a vicious grin, Kagami surged forwards, but in the blink of an eye, Kise ducked around Kagami.

 

Kuroko stared as Kise used the same exact trick Kagami had just used a moment ago, rotating the floor underneath him to lend himself more speed. Kagami spun, disoriented, and Kise pressed the advantage.

 

The blonde struck so quickly that it took Kuroko a moment to realize what he was seeing.

 

Kise ducked and turned in the same smooth motion he’d seen Kagami flawlessly execute earlier. He unleashed the same storm of fire Kagami had, allowing it to wrap around the other boy.

 

Kagami managed to react before Kise cursed him through the fire, dispelling it outwards and forcing Kise to duck.

 

Kuroko saw the air shimmer, but wasn’t able to provide his light a warning about  Kise’s illusion. Just as Kagami was surging forwards to attack the copy in front of him, the real wizard materialized behind him and struck him right in the back.

 

Kise’s spell slammed into Kagami, sending him sprawling and rolling across the stone floor.

 

“So this is what it means to be in the Generation of Miracles,” Kawahara said, his voice hushed in awe.

 

“You have some wild friends, Kuroko,” Hyuuga murmured.

 

“No,” Kuroko said, “this isn’t the guy I know.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“I’ve been so naïve this whole time,” Kuroko whispered as he felt the last vestiges of his hope draining away from him. “In the few months since we last saw each other he’s become even faster and stronger. He’s quick beyond belief. The Miracles have grown their talents even stronger.”

 

He should have known. Kuroko had been an utter moron for not taking into account the fact that as extraordinary as they were, all of the Miracles were _still growing more powerful._ They hadn’t reached the peak of their magical growth yet – they were still only children, after all. Kuroko had been comparing Kagami to the Miracles as he had known them last year, but even in the intervening months, Kise had improved extensively. His kinesthetic memory had become a bladed weapon, and he hadn’t even pulled out any of his illusions.

 

Kise was walking away from Kagami rubbing the back of his head.

 

“That was such a let down,” he said, almost physically drooping with disappointment. “Can’t even call that a proper greeting…”

 

He stopped at the edge of the arena, right in front of Kuroko. His toes were up against the line of runes that formed the wall of the now deactivated shield.

 

“I can’t let this trip go entirely to waste,” he said, extending a hand towards the Hufflepuff. “Give us Kurokocchi.”

 

“What?!?” Multiple people yelped in indignation. Kuroko felt warmed by their offense on his behalf.

 

“I have a lot of respect for you and your talents are going to waste here,” Kise said to Kuroko, meeting his eyes. “This team is nowhere near good enough to make use of you the right way. Come duel with me, Kurrokocchi. Let’s fight together again! I miss standing in the arena side by side with you. I miss being teammates.”

 

Shock rebounded through Kuroko, though he didn’t show it.

 

Not a single one of them had stopped him from leaving. Not a single one had given a single word of protest that they really did need him or even that they wanted him around. And now, six months later, was this how they’d decided to extend the hand of friendship to him?

 

Did they think he’d forgotten all of the crap they had done to other students last year? Did Kise think he would just forget the events of the last twelve months and jump to his side just because he finally deigned to take notice of him?

 

This entire situation was completely surreal.

 

At least he finally understood what Kise had been hoping to accomplish by coming here.

 

Kuroko bowed politely. Indignation and rage burned silently, invisible underneath a façade of stone. Perhaps the only good thing Akashi had left Kuroko with was an iron-fisted control over his emotions. He could rage and storm inside, but his face would remain as calm as ever.

 

“Well, what do you say?” Kise asked, smiling widely at Kuroko. Kuroko had missed that smile, the friendly one Kise never used any more except as a mask. He wondered even now if this was another ruse or game that Kise was playing.

 

“Thank you for your kind offer,” Kuroko said. “I’m flattered that you think so highly of me. Please allow me to apologize, but I cannot accept.”

 

“EH?” Kise yelped and Kuroko heard exclamations of shock from all around him. Kuroko tried to not be offended by the thought that his teammates had at least for a moment seriously expected him to take that offer. Surely at least his roommates knew him better than to think that by now.

 

“That’s not like you at all!” Kise yelped. “Winning was everything, remember? Why wouldn’t you go to a better team when the whole time we were together it was always about wanting to win and be the best, huh? Why aren’t you on a stronger team?”

 

Kuroko could see steam practically coming out of his Coach’s ears. Even his teammates were starting to get offended and pissed off by this blatant disrespect.

 

“My thinking has changed,” Kuroko said calmly.

 

“What are you talking about?” Kise demanded.

 

“ _I_ changed, Kise. More importantly, I have made a promise to Kagami,” Kuroko said. His face remained as deadpan as ever even as righteous fury burned red hot in his veins. There was satisfaction in every syllable that was passing his lips.

 

“I promised that together we would bring down the Generation of Miracles.”

 

It was as good as a declaration of war. Kuroko had no doubts that within ten minutes of Kise leaving this room, Akashi would hear about it, as would the rest of his former teammates. They would be upset and angry about it, that was for sure. Somehow, that didn’t bother Kuroko as much as it should have.

 

Kise took a step back in surprise. His eyes widened in hurt and surprise.

 

“Now that’s really not like you, making jokes like that,” he said, and for the first time Kuroko could hear anger hiding under the other boy’s voice.

 

And then Kagami started laughing.

 

“Kuroko, I know you love to smack talk but you gotta stop stealing my lines,” he said, getting to his feet and facing Kise. “You know, blond asshole, I want you to know that I said that first, and I definitely wasn’t joking. I meant every word.”

 

“I’m serious too,” Kuroko said to Kise, before looking at Kagami. “When did you have a patent on saying you wanted to win?”

 

“Since you started ripping off my smack talk to look cool in front of this guy,” Kagami sniped back, jerking his head at Kise.

 

“Seriously?” Kise asked again, interrupting the two of them. “Kurokocchi, what the hell?”

 

“I am sorry, Kise, but we need to practice now. You seem to think this a team that is weak, but we’re strong enough to fight you, and I don’t want to leave you disappointed.”

 

Kuroko didn’t see Kise’s expression harden as Kuroko turned around. He didn’t see the momentary rage in the blond wizard’s eyes. But Hyuuga and Kiyoshi did. They both had their wands out and pointed at Kise immediately.

 

“Don’t even think about it,” Hyuuga advised. “I’ll have you in detention so fast your head will spin.”

 

Kise rolled his eyes, flashing a brilliant Witch Weekly worthy smile at the two of them.

 

“You know I’m a prefect too, right?” he asked agreeably, all charm. “And anyway, I was just leaving. Kurokocchi, I guess I’ll see you in our match then. I hope you don’t disappoint me.”

 

The venom and anger had disappeared from his voice, but not his eyes. Kuroko could see that Kise was planning on bringing his all to their practice match.

 

 _Me too,_ Kuroko thought, staring after the Gryffindor.

 

He could only hope that his team could pull themselves together and fight hard enough to bring Kise down.

 

He didn’t want to lose before he even had the chance to get started.

 

…

 

Kagami was having a weird kind of week.

 

The entire school, including the kid Kagami had once seriously thought was one of the most sensible people he knew, was obsessed with these five “Miracles.” After facing off against one of them (the self-proclaimed “weakest” of the five), Kagami understood the hype.

 

Kise Ryouta was amazing.

 

Kagami couldn’t wait to duel him in a real match. He wanted to match wits and magic against this kid and see which of them came out the winner. There had been an excited, nervous energy running through his veins ever since Riko had announced who their first practice match would be against.

 

It didn’t help that Kagami lived with the guy.

 

Kise, who hadn’t even given him the time of day for the two weeks they’d shared a dorm, was now watching him speculatively. It was at the point where Kagami was starting to wonder if he should take another foray into warding to protect his bed at night.

 

The blonde asshole didn’t approach Kagami or try and start anything, but after his display of incredible kinesthetic memory, Kagami was all too aware of the danger that Kise could do just by watching someone.

 

Not to mention, he’d been trying to push his _other_ absentee roommate into a confrontation since the beginning of the school year. All he wanted was was to have the opportunity to duel against the dark skinned boy with the fluid, wandless magic, but Aomine just wasn’t taking the bait.

 

 _It’s like he doesn’t want to fight anyone because he knows he’ll win,_ Kagami thought angrily. The asshole didn’t even want to try to have fun on the dueling court.

 

What a jerk.

 

Then on Friday, the day before their practice duel, Kise waylaid Kagami as he was heading to the kitchens to give the elves the full list of ingredients he needed to make proper Mexican food. He'd been waiting on his dad to send him some of the family recipes, and now that he had a good idea of what he wanted to make, he could finally ask for the help he needed to make it happen. 

 

Kise, it seemed, had other plans.

 

“Hey, Kagami, come here for a second,” Kise said.

 

“Sure, where are we going?” Kagami asked, immediately changing course to fall into step with the blond.

 

“Oh, it’s a surprise,” Kise said airily. “So are you excited for our duel tomorrow?”

 

“We’re all fired up,” Kagami grinned at the blonde. “We’re ready to beat you, so you better come prepared to fight!”

 

“That’s what I like to hear,” Kise said encouragingly, flitting ahead of Kagami to open a door to one of the first floor classrooms.

 

Kagami followed him into the dark room without thinking.  He didn’t suspect it was a trap until he was almost all the way into the dark room and the door literally slammed shut behind him.

 

The lights came on at once. Kagami turned and found himself facing five wizards, all of whom were standing between him and the door.

 

As he blinked away the spots in his vision, Kagami had the fleeting understanding that these were the Miracles everyone in this damn school was so crazy about. Between the rainbow of ridiculously colored hair and the spread of shitty personalities, Kuroko couldn’t have meant anyone else. His entire vision was a blur of unnaturally bright hair color.

 

Kagami registered a giant of a student with long purple hair, some kid with a statue of a goblin under his arm, the pissed off Kise, and the diminutive redhead standing directly between Kagami and the door before his eyes fell on someone he hadn’t expected to see here.

 

“Aomine?” Kagami demanded. “You’re one of these Miracle assholes?”

 

“Eh?” Aomine asked. “I thought you knew! I figured that’s why you kept trying to fight me.”

 

“Mine-chin, your new friend is kind of stupid,” the purple haired giant whined.

 

“He’s not my friend,” Aomine said, glaring at Kagami. Kagami glared back.

 

“You’re right about that, I’d never be friends with an asshole like you,” Kagami snarled, getting over his confusion quickly and going straight to anger.

 

“Right, that’s why you kept on tracking me down for your stupid confrontations, sure thing you-”

 

“Daiki, that’s enough,” the small redhead said. Kagami’s eyes flitted to the much more diminutive redhead. He got the feeling that the small Slytherin was the most dangerous threat in the room, despite his size.

 

“Obviously, this is him Akashicchi,” Kise said, his features set in a glare when Kagami glanced at the blonde, who had drifted to the far left beyond Aomine to lean casually against the wall. “The American wizard that has our Kurokocchi saying such hurtful and crazy things.”

 

“It’s Kagami Taiga, isn’t it?” Akashi spoke as though he were addressing a particularly and singularly unpleasant species of slug.

 

“Yeah, it is,” Kagami replied warily. “What’s it to you?”

 

“I suppose I can afford you the one warning, seeing as how you just transferred here,” Akashi said loftily, twirling his wand in one hand in a very deliberate but casually unspoken threat. “Stay away from Tetsuya.”

 

“Last I checked, the kid can make his own friends,” Kagami snapped. Normally he’d be ready to pick a fight with any or all of these stuck up fuckers, but five extremely strong wizards on one didn’t bode well for him, no matter how strong he might be in comparison. And these dudes _reeked_ of power. “I have no idea who the hell you are, but back the fuck off dude.”

 

Akashi smirked at the outburst. Aomine wasn’t nearly so patient. He stepped forward and physically slammed Kagami against the nearest wall.

 

“We said leave him alone, dipshit,” he growled.

 

Kagami grinned at the Gryffindor with dark blue hair, ready for a fight he was certain to lose. Aomine was fired up and pissed off. Kagami had no idea what had changed between this and the last time they had spoken except –

 

Except they hadn’t told him to stop trying to defeat _them._ They’d said that he was supposed to stay away from _Kuroko._ Aomine was pissed off because Kuroko had told Kise to go to hell, that he was siding with Kagami over them. They were jealous of Kuroko being on his team. That was pretty much as far as Kagami got before he was running off at the mouth again, desperate to take them down for being so awful to his only real friend in this new country.

 

“Wow, I’m surprised you managed to string that many words into a sentence-”

 

“Aomine.”

 

It was probably lucky for both of them (but mostly Kagami) that Kuroko appeared by Aomine’s elbow at that exact moment. Aomine jumped back, startled, dropping Kagami. Kuroko stepped over to help the larger student get to his feet, fixing a disapproving stare on his former teammates.

 

Kagami hadn’t registered when the smaller student had walked into the room. He hadn’t even seen door open and it had been right in his field of vision – though he guessed he’d been too busy staring at the five very real threats in front of him to register any movement behind them. It seemed the Miracles were equally surprised to see Kuroko there - he must have walked right between two of them without either noticing.

 

Aomine at least seemed to try and pretend to be contrite for Kuroko’s sake.

 

“Tetsu, I-”

 

“I told you to not call me that,” Kuroko interrupted shortly.

 

Holy crap, was Kuroko – angry? There was ice in his eyes and voice, and Kagami could swear he saw tension in his shoulders. Aomine actually took a step back towards the rest of the Miracles.

 

Kuroko was just as ready for a fight as Kagami himself and he was laying down the law with the Rainbow of Terrible Personalities.

 

“We’re not friends. We’re not even teammates. If you could manage it, I’d rather none of you ever say my name at all.”

 

The temperature in the room seemed to drop several degrees as Kuroko spoke.

 

“You’re angry, but you are the one who has come back to school with a vow to destroy all of us,” Akashi said reprovingly. “You declared war against us and expected us to not be offended?”

 

“Seriously, what the hell, Tetsu?” Aomine demanded.

 

A half second later, Kuroko’s own wand was in his hand.

 

“Please do not call me that,” he said.

 

 _Holy shit, I think I’m about to watch my classmate try and murder someone,_ Kagami thought. He could see the anger in Kuroko’s eyes from this angle. The tiny boy looked ridiculous challenging this collection of powerful wizards; maybe he had a death wish or something. There was no way Kuroko thought he was going to actually beat them.

 

“Such frostiness,” Akashi smiled gently, taking a step forward. “We didn’t mean any harm.”

 

“You just threatened my friend,” Kuroko shot back, stepping in front of Kagami, which was hilariously ineffective, given that Kagami towered over him from behind. And yet the expression in Kuroko’s eyes spelled death for any one of the Miracles that tried to take advantage of it. “I merely wanted to avoid yet another Hogwarts student being seriously injured. I’m not a prefect, so I’m still subject to curfew, as is Kagami, so I’d appreciate you letting us leave now.”

 

For a second, Kagami was sure that the red haired little psychopath wasn’t going to move, but after a long pause he moved aside. As soon as the path was cleared Kuroko pulled Kagami by the arm directly passed him.

 

“Tetsuya?”

 

Kuroko paused, halfway to the door. He didn’t respond to Akashi calling his name, other than stopping, and he didn’t turn around.

 

“Whatever it is you feel any of us have done to incur your wrath, allow me to make one thing very clear. You will not go far with your current team, and you will not meet the bold goals your new friend has declared for both of you. I am absolute, and as I have told you before, nobody stands in my way. I don’t allow anyone to oppose me. Not even you, Tetsuya.”

 

Kagami shivered at the cold anger in Akashi’s voice, and he was certain that the temperature in the room had dropped even more. The ground under Akashi’s feet was beginning to ice over. Kagami realized that despite the fact that he had noted the anger in Kuroko first, the change in temperature had been due to Akashi. As Kuroko had expressed his displeasure with them, Akashi’s own emotions had manifested themselves in the change in climate, though his tone had remained almost more mild than Kuroko’s.

 

“Is that all?” Kuroko asked, almost as frostily as the temperature.

 

Akashi chuckled.

 

“Yes Tetsuya, that was all,” he said magnanimously. “I just wanted to remind you that fighting against me is a useless endeavor and a waste of your time. You can leave my exalted presence now.”

 

Kuroko certainly didn’t waste any time getting moving again, jerking Kagami’s arm as he made a beeline for the door.

 

Kagami glanced over his shoulder again as they reached the door, and caught sight of five murderous glares before he was jerked away and around the corner by Kuroko’s hand on his arm.

 

The small Hufflepuff was definitely stronger than he looked.

 

“Dude, what the hell?” Kagami shouted as soon as the shock faded somewhat. “I could have taken those assholes-”

 

“I am sorry,” Kuroko cut in. “You would have been demolished if I had not stepped in to stop it.”

 

Kagami made a contemptuous sound that was halfway between anger and disbelief.

 

“I told you, the Generation of Miracles are stronger than you are,” Kuroko said. “They would crush you in an instant. Right now, you could barely reach their feet.”

 

“Okay, well, what am I supposed to do when Aomine and Kise gang up on me in our own dorm, huh? I have to live with those guys! And I don’t want those crazy ass Slytherins or the weirdo Ravenclaw coming after me either!”

 

“I am sorry.”

 

“What the _hell_ just happened, Kuroko? Why are they so angry about you choosing another team? Didn’t they all go compete on other teams too? What gives with all the aggression?”

 

Kuroko looked like he wasn’t going to answer for a long minute.

 

“I believe their pride is injured,” he said at last. “When I competed with them, they were the light that deepened my shadow. The stronger they were, the less visible I became. They are insulted that I have chosen you to be my light, because they don’t believe you are as strong as they are. They are angry at me for choosing you over them, in part because they believe my choice is not just about picking a new team, but about my personal preference. They are right, but they forfeited the right to call themselves my teammates last year. I apologize, but it seems they have decided to transfer that anger to you.”

 

Pushing his luck, Kagami decided to see if he could get any more answers out of Kuroko while the phantom was still in a talkative mood.

 

“What was that crap about a student getting injured?”

 

The shorter boy didn’t answer that.

 

Kuroko blinked and on the back of his eyes like a brand he could see Ogiwara’s still form in the instant that Kuroko thought his best friend was dead. He’d gotten used to the memory by now, so much so that he didn’t falter and his pulse didn’t race.

 

He viewed it with the same clinical curiosity he viewed the rest of the world.

 

“Hey, I asked you a question!” Kagami said, waving his hand in front of Kuroko. “Earth to Phantom, we have a problem. Anyone in there?”

 

Kuroko swatted at Kagami’s hand, not really paying attention.

 

Yeah Kagami deserved to know, if only because it was a serious weakness in his partner that could be easily exploited, but Haizaki posed no danger to Kagami. With the watchful eye of the administration fixed firmly on Haizaki after the stunt he pulled with Kise last year, Kagami was in no danger at Hogwarts.

 

Kuroko remembered Akashi’s face when he’d stepped in front of Kagami ready to defend him even though if it came down to a fight Kuroko was going to go down like a sack of useless potatoes.

 

“Just be careful,” Kuroko said instead. “I’ll see you at practice.”

 

“Yeah,” Kagami said. “See you at practice.”

 

When Kise and Aomine returned to the dorm some time later, both of them ignored Kagami. Kise went about his nightly beauty routine without so much as a hello. Aomine efficiently and silently changed into his night clothes and threw himself into bed, drawing the curtains.

 

“What did you do?” Takao demanded.

 

“I don’t know!” Kagami insisted. “They were shouting at me about Kuroko and-”

 

“ _Oh._ Is that all?”

 

“What do you mean is that all? Are these guys always this crazy?”

 

Takao snorted.

 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t be laughing,” Takao said. “It just didn’t occur to me that you’d never realized that the blue asshole Miracle is our roommate too.”  
  


“Listen, it’s not like there’s a guidebook!” Kagami protested weakly.

 

Takao rolled his eyes, and reached under his bed, throwing a glossy covered magazine at Kagami. It hit the redhead’s face and fell neatly into his lap.

 

“Dauntless Duelist,” he said. “It’s an issue from the end of last year. Know thy enemy and all that. If you wanna try and beat them, go ahead. I have to compete with one of them, but I am all for anyone who wants to take a swing at any of them. Although I’ll still kick your ass when you come after mine.”

 

“You’re competing with a Miracle?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Unfortunately,” Takao said with an ironic smile. “Anyway, stop reminding me or I’ll cut you.”

 

“Come and try,” Kagami challenged, getting to his feet, magazine still in hand.

 

“Dude, what the hell are you talking about?” Tsugawa shouted from his bed. “It’s too goddamn late for your stupid puns and riddles, so just go the fuck to bed! If you start a fight in the dorm room I'm punching both of you!"

 

Kagami growled in frustration and crawled into his own bed.

 

He couldn’t wait to work out his frustrations on Kise during their practice match.

  
…

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Come talk to me on Tumblr I'm so lonely]()  
> 


	26. The Yellow Asshole Gets Rejected

…

 

Kagami couldn’t sleep.

 

When the Miracles had cornered him, they hadn’t been shy about showing off how magically powerful they were. Kagami could see how everyone (including themselves) viewed the group as being miracles.

 

Kagami was fired up. He wanted to fight them. He wanted to test his mettle against the strongest wizards this school had to offer, and either become stronger when he lost, or beat them in an epic fight – the more hard-won, the better.

 

The morning after the confrontation had been awkward.

 

Kise and Aomine strode past Kagami without so much as a hello, without even looking in his direction.

 

“Don’t ignore me, you assholes!” Kagami had shouted after them, but neither of them were provoked into the confrontation Kagami wanted.

 

“That’s rough, buddy,” Takao said, hanging out of the drapes around his bed. “Tough luck last night, them finding out you’re competing with their boyfriend.”

 

“What?!”

 

“Sorry, I should say ex-boyfriend,” Takao clarified, stretching and leaving his bed. “Or didn’t I tell you yesterday when you got back? They weren’t just Kuroko’s old teammates. There was a time when Aomine was Kuroko’s light.”

 

“Aomine? There’s no way Kuroko could stand that asshole long enough to be partners with him!”

 

Kuroko had, after all, implied that all of the Miracles, not any one in particular, served the purpose of being his light in the dueling arena, hence Kagami’s somewhat understandable confusion.

 

Takao snorted.

 

“Besides, that doesn’t matter any more,” Kagami said. “Kuroko’s my shadow now and we’re gonna kick that dude’s ass one way or another.”

 

“You really are as thick as a brick aren’t you?” Takao asked, tilting his head to the side. “It’s a good thing you’re hot, I guess.”

 

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about, but shut up,” Kagami growled.

 

“I’m just saying-”

 

Kagami blasted a fireball at Takao, who dodged, in time to watch his bed get set on fire.

 

“Dick,” he said without any heat whatsoever and fixed it with a wave of his wand. “Real smooth move dude.”

 

“WOULD THE TWO OF YOU SHUT UP AND LET ME SLEEP! How many times in twenty-four hours can you have a conversation about our asshole roommates? Just let it be! For Merlin’s sake, this is the only day this week I get to sleep in!”

 

“Sorry, Tsugawa,” Takao said. “We’ll let you get your beauty sleep. Later, Kagami, let me know if you want a charm to hide the bloodshot eyes from your coach or something.”

 

Takao vanished after Kise and Aomine into their shared restroom and Kagami sighed.

 

It was going to be a long day.

 

…

 

Kagami met Kuroko in the Entrance Hall after breakfast.

 

“You are glaring more than usual,” Kuroko said in his usual unruffled tone. “Did you sleep at all?”

 

“Nah,” Kagami said, bouncing on the balls of his feet. “I was too excited.”

 

“Like a first year on a field trip,” Kuroko said. Halfheartedly, Kagami tried to swipe at Kuroko, but the phantom stepped out of his reach. Kagami decided it wasn’t worth it.

 

Besides, despite the fact that he didn’t want to admit it, he was probably going to need Kuroko’s help today if they were going to win their duel.

 

And he really wanted to win this duel - maybe almost as much as Kuroko did.

 

Soon enough, their entire team was assembled. Riko had worked very hard to make sure that the duel wasn’t public news – she was sure that a member of the Generation of Miracles would attract a lot of attention. This wasn’t even supposed to be an official school duel. It was more of a very intense joint practice session, and she didn’t want half the school turning up to watch to create additional pressures. She didn’t want a loss or a victory here hanging over their heads for the rest of the semester.

 

Not that she didn’t want to win anyway, but she recognized that there were battles and wars. This battle was going to make them stronger for the war to come.

 

So she assembled her team in the Great Hall and they headed up the grand staircase towards the practice space Kasamatsu had told her to meet them at.

 

“Hi, everyone!”

 

Kise Ryouta appeared at the top of the stairs, looking like he was getting ready to pose for a magazine photo shoot. He shot a dazzling white smile at the assembled team.

 

“I wanted to make sure you didn’t get lost on the way there so I came down to show you where to go,” he explained. “Kasamatsucchi picked somewhere out of the way to make sure we had a large practice space and lots of privacy to work on tactics.”

 

“Plus I wanted to spend some more time with Kurokocchi!” Kise chirped. Riko put her face in her palm as Kise sauntered towards their phantom.

 

“Kurokocchi,” Kise said dramatically, “How could you reject me like that, and so easily too? My pillow is soaked with the tears I have cried into it every night since you left me!”

 

Kuroko wondered if Coach would get him in trouble for punching the blonde. Kise was by nature a drama queen, but even for the blonde, that was a bit much.

 

“Could you stop being so unlikable for just a minute?” Kuroko asked.

 

The answer was apparently no. Kise chose that exact moment to dramatically and over enthusiastically drape an arm over Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

“I can’t help but be interested in the team that has Kurokocchi making declarations,” Kise added, looking around at Kuroko’s teammates. “You must be something special to have him saying such things, but it clearly it’s hidden very deep.”

 

“I’ll show him deep,” Hyuuga muttered under his breath, a hand clenching into a fist.

 

“We talked about this, Junpei. I’m not helping Teppei get you out of prison if you commit murder,” Riko said back primly. “Not even if it’s this guy.”

 

“You know, as a rule I couldn’t care less about the whole ‘Generation of Miracles’ title,” Kise was continued, acting as if no one had said anything. “Unless of course someone so obviously tries to pick a fight the way you guys are. And in this case, I guess I’ll have fun reminding all of you why people call me that.”

 

Kise punctuated this by flicking Kagami on the nose.

 

“You-”

 

“You can think whatever you want of me,” Kise said to Kagami, eyes blazing. “But I am sorry for how badly I’m about to crush you.”

 

“Sure,” Kagami said, finding his footing and letting his confidence shine through his anger. Let Kise primp and preen all he wanted – Kuroko was his teammate and they were going to beat this guy together. “Sorry in advance if they don’t manage to get all the pieces of you off the court after we’re done with you.”

 

“We’ll see,” Kise hummed, leading them around another corner and stopping with a flourish of his arms.

 

“Anyway, this is us,” Kise said. They had reached a room on the third floor, near the Charms corridor.

 

“It’s big,” Hyuuga commented in approval, stepping into the practice space.

 

The room had indeed been enlarged. It was the size of four classrooms and then some. In the middle was a wide, round space for the shield with deep runes engraved in the floor for easy activation. It was a little bigger than what Hyuuga and Riko had managed to secure for their team, but the setup was extremely similar to what they had back in their own practice room.

 

“But what’s this?” Riko asked. She’d noticed first, but the rest of the team felt the slight as soon as they walked through the door.

 

The shield had been divided in half. On one side, backup members of the team were running target drills. The other side of the shield was clearly meant for their practice match.

 

“We’re competing on half a field?” Riko demanded. “And you’re training on the other side?”

 

“Eh? I had no idea!”

 

“Oh, you’re here.”

 

Kasamatsu Yukio approached the group, having noticed the return of his ace and with him their opponents for the morning.

 

“Our coach thinks we only need half the court today. He wants to make sure that the entire team gets the full benefit of today’s practice,” Kasamatsu said. It was hard to tell, but he seemed a little angry himself about the decision. “Either way, there won’t be much they can learn from just watching, so I put the team members not dueling to doing accuracy drills. I hope you don’t mind. At any rate, just try not to let us triple your score on the field.”

 

“Triple-”

 

“And you,” Kasamatsu turned to Kise, effectively cutting off what was sure to be a fully fuelled Riko Rage Fest. Kuroko was sure there were actual heat fumes coming off his coach.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Kasamatsu asked angrily.

 

“Uh, getting ready to duel?” Kise said, his eyes wide in confusion.

 

“This is a one-sided fight as it is,” Kasamatsu growled. “Sit down. You’re already in a completely different league than everyone else on this team. Putting you in would be a pointless waste of time. You’re not playing today.”

 

Kise pouted.

 

“No, but this is a match I wanted to fight in!” he tried to explain. “Please, Captain!”

 

“I said, this match isn’t worth wasting your time,” Kasamatsu snapped. “Sit.”

 

Kise’s face fell.

 

“They’re treating us like we’re not even worth their practice time!” Kagami said. He sounded outraged, but he looked ecstatic. He was probably imagining what their opponents would look like when he had the opportunity to teach them some humility.

 

Kise blushed as his captain turned away, and ran up to the team.

 

“I’m really sorry!” Kise said. “I had no idea this was going to happen! But I bet if you really put them on the rocks they’ll put me in though!”

 

He looked very hopeful at the prospect, but Riko just glared back at him, already slighted and not in the mood to listen to his apologies.

 

“Besides,” Kise said, turning to Kagami. The innocent hope in his eyes was gone, replaced by pure challenge.

 

“If you can’t force him to put me in, then you’re not nearly as good as you think you are,” Kise said. The smirk on his face was practically predatory.

 

Kagami growled back.

 

“I’ll show you how good I am,” he said. “We’ll wipe the floor with your team with or without you on the court.”

 

“We’ll warm up fast, so get ready,” Kuroko warned Kise, walking past him.

 

“Get ready to have that smirk wiped off your face,” Kagami and Riko said at the same time.

 

As his opponents walked by, setting their stuff against the wall so they could start warming up, Kise let a full blown smirk cross his features.

 

None of his teammates really understood when he’d tried to tell them not to underestimate Kurokocchi. Now, he was going to enjoy watching them pay for underestimating the blue haired Hufflepuff, at least a little bit.

 

And then Kasamatsu would have no choice but to allow Kise to join them in the arena, and Kise would show Kuroko why his quest to defeat the Generation of Miracles was pointless.

 

…

 

In short order, the teams were lined up and ready to duel.

 

“Get your sixth duelist out here, come on,” the student who was acting as referee said, sounding annoyed.

 

“Excuse me, but there are six of us here,” Kuroko said, walking up to the other boy. He knew they were being miscounted because of his own weak presence. He figured calling attention to himself was just faster.

 

“You’d think after running their mouths like that they’d at least put up some decent players,” one of Kise’s teammates griped.

 

Kise grinned.

 

“Well in fairness, he’s not exactly what I’d call decent…” he trailed off. Loyalty to his team made him want to share Kurokocchi’s secrets with them so that they could win. Loyalty to the boy who had been his teammate first, the object of his affections, and one of the best duelists he knew, dictated that he give Kurokocchi his chance surprise Kise’s teammates.

 

Of course there was the personal entertainment value as well.

 

At least it would be entertaining to watch. It always had been when any one of the Miracles stood on the court - let alone when they were all on it together.

 

On the sidelines, Riko was watching the opposing players with narrowed eyes. A close look showed a green glint indicating that she was using her Rune Sight to evaluate the players on the court.

 

What she saw gave her grave cause to worry.

 

“My, my,” she said out loud. “I expected this, from Kasamatsu’s reputation, but it’s another thing to see it for myself.”

 

“What’s up coach?” Furihata asked tentatively.

 

“They’re all strong players,” Riko said. “Even without Kise this would be an uphill fight for us. I think we’re going to have a tough match if we want to come out on top. We’re physically and magically at a disadvantage, but we do have Kuroko and Kagami…”

 

She was obviously thinking out loud, seeing how the magical power she saw in their opponents would stand up to the double team of her Phantom and his ferocious light.

 

It riled her that they would be relying on underclassmen – and a transfer student! – to win this fight, but she knew, especially for the seventh years, this would be an important tournament. Mitobe and Hyuuga both wanted to pursue careers in warding. Izuki was hoping to become a curse breaker, which meant focusing on runes. His use of them in dueling would be a demonstration of his skill and creativity – something curse breakers were valued for.

 

Even for Koganei, who had not yet decided on his career path, this would be an important year.

 

All of them had a lot riding on being able to prove themselves.

 

This was just step one.

 

The student ref blew his whistle and the fight started again. Mitobe and Izuki teamed up, erecting a heavy shield, but Riko could see right away that their defense was at a disadvantage.

 

They’d miscalculated.

 

Mitobe wasn’t behind the line of the shield, having been halfway through executing the second prong of their primary defense plan - flanking their opponents. He’d left the protection of his own shield too early, and was caught in the open. He’d have to release the shield protecting his teammates to erect a second one, but failing to do so would put them down a duelist in the first ten seconds of the duel.

 

“Let’s take down the first one!” Kasamatsu said with easy confidence. He was already wordlessly casting a stunner Mitobe would have been hard put to quickly deflect.

 

Long before the spell reached the Hufflepuff’s hastily erected protection, the spell bounced back. Kasamatsu yell and drop to the floor, Not prepared for the spell to pass directly through his own shield. He hit the ground hard, narrowly avoiding the bolt of fire.

 

Kuroko had directed the spell back towards its caster and used the opportunity to plant himself on the other side of their opponents. It was just his luck that Kasamatsu put together the truth and turned around, staring in shock at the Phantom.

 

“Where the hell did you come from?” One of his teammates asked.

 

“I’ve been standing on the court this whole time,” Kuroko said, his own team sniggering at Kuroko’s misdirection having such a powerful effect on their opponents.

 

The teammate growled and cast a stunning spell at Kuroko. Kuroko’s shield broke under its power and he had to jump to the side to avoid being hit.

 

“Hey, he’s not powerful at all!”

 

Before the other team could capitalize on this advantage, Kagami interrupted them.

 

“Maybe not, but I am!”

 

Kagami growled and cast a powerful fire curse, making the team turn back around to deal with the greater threat.

 

“Ha! You missed!” Kasamatsu shouted. “I knew you were all bark!”

 

“Shows what you know,” Kagami grinned back widely, before attacking in earnest.

 

Kagami’s first spell had gone wide, just as he’d intended it to. It hit dead on the mark of it’s true target: Kuroko.

 

Kuroko intercepted the spell with a tap from his own elastic magic. Just as Kagami started attacking Kasamatsu’s shield head on, Kuroko sent his partner’s first spell spiraling towards the unguarded backs of Kise’s new team.

 

All but one of them managed to dodge the fire, the last one managing to put up a shield that protected him from the blast, sending fire spiraling out in both directions.

 

Pure power slammed into the walls of the shield covering the dueling arena. It flickered once before shattering completely.

 

The practice on the other side of the court drew to a halt as they watched the fire scorch the ceiling and walls.

 

Both teams stared in shock.

 

“That’s really not normal!”

 

“One of the runes on the midsection border wasn’t fully powered because of the division of the court, it just overwhelmed the weakest point and collapsed the whole array…”

 

“Still, it’s incredible!”

 

The whispers filled the room as both teams stared at Kagami, who had yet to move from the position in which he had cast his spell.

 

“What do we do?” Kagami whispered to Kuroko.

 

“First we apologize,” Kuroko said reprovingly.

 

“Ah, right,” Kagami said awkwardly. “Uh, sorry about the walls. And the ceiling. Can we please use the whole arena now?”

 

“That does sound like a good idea,” Riko interjected pointedly, raising her eyebrows in the direction of Kasamatsu. “Seeing as how the whole shield is much more stable and powerful when it isn’t divided into quadrants.”

 

“Yeah,” Kasamatsu agreed, bringing his team off to the side while their manager (a cute third year Ravenclaw), oversaw the process of setting up the shield again.

 

“I guess they’re finally bringing him out,” Kagami said, following Kise with his eyes as the blonde got off the bench to join his fellow duelists. “I got his attention after all.”

 

Kise was wearing his game face, sporting the same competitive, narrowed expression he’d worn when he had asked Kuroko to join his team. The yellow of his magic was making his eyes glow and creating a ripple of energy as he failed to control his own power in his excitement.

 

“You’re the one who has to go to bed in the same room as him tonight,” Kuroko said.

 

“OI! Stop spoiling my fun!”

 

“Seriously though, don’t underestimate him,” Kuroko advised his new light. “He’s a lot more than a pretty face. When he steps into the arena he becomes a monster.”

 

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” Kagami said.

 

But he’d already seen the intensity of Kise’s expression the night before when the blonde had cornered him with the other Miracles. And he could smell the boys power coming a mile away.

 

He believed Kuroko.

 

A distinctly female chorus of cheers rose up from the sidelines, cheering on the blonde model.

 

“Does this happen often?” Hyuuga asked Kasamatsu, staring at the crowd in confusion and annoyance.

 

“Only every time we let Kise out to play,” Kasamatsu groused. “I can’t believe I signed up for this. It’s not like he can control the fangirls, but…”

 

Kasamatsu brought his wand arm down, drenching Kise in buckets of water.

 

“You don’t have to wave back at them you idiot!”

 

“Ouch! Sorry, Captain!”

 

Kasamatsu marched over, pushing Kise’s head down so that they could see eye to eye.

 

“Kise,” Kasamatsu said, all too patiently. “Don’t you get what’s at stake here? Look at how these guys came into our house and greeted us by tearing down our shield. Go ahead and return the favor, show them you can do anything their Ace can. After all, it would be rude to not return the courtesy.”

 

Kise grinned.

 

The match started again.

 

This time, Kise took point on offense, charging forward.

 

“Allow me to welcome you to our training grounds,” Kise smirked.

 

With a yell eerily similar to Kagami’s he returned fire in the form of a blazing ball of fire that challenged the shields of all of Kuroko’s teammates.

 

The fire blazed outwards in a terrific, visually dynamic explosion that exactly mirrored what Kagami had done a second ago. It made contact with the outer shield, which sparked upon contact with the magical fire, but held.

 

“You MORON! I told you to tear it down!” Kasamatsu shouted. “The shields are still working!”

 

He was chasing Kise, throwing spells left and right that left scorch marks in the wake of brightly colored sparks as they hit the walls.

 

“He put even more power into my spell?” Kagami groused, sounding put out.

 

“I might not always remember with girls, but I never forget to return a favor on the court,” Kise said with a smile.

 

“Okay, that just makes you an asshole with women or a virgin,” Kagami replied unthinkingly, turning bright red once he had realized what he had said.

 

“Oooh, the Tiger has claws,” Kise mocked back. “Better watch out, Kurokocchi.”

 

“I don’t know what either of you are talking about,” Kuroko said, both boys jumping to find that Kuroko was standing right between them.

 

“All I’m saying is I never forget my manners when it comes to dueling,” Kise said angelically.

 

“Fine by me,” Kagami shouted. “But it seems like you could use a refresher course. Kuroko, let’s go!”

 

Kuroko dodged left and Kagami started fighting with Kise.

 

Mitobe and Koganei were immediately cornered by Kasamatsu and one of the other duelists. They were holding their own with Mitobe defending them while Koganei did his best to wage an offense.

 

Izuki was facing off against the three others with Hyuuga by his side.

 

“Over here!” Kagami yelled, and fired.

 

Kuroko saw what he meant and slammed the spell into the floor, making the ground under Kise shake and tremble. Kise leapt to safer ground, throwing curses under his arm as he did.

 

Kuroko whirled and redirected a wild shot from Kasamatsu, sending it back towards its caster. Kasamatsu went flying, hitting the shield and the floor hard.

 

“I keep losing track of that guy!” He shouted, getting to his feet.

 

One of the teammates fighting Koganei and Mitobe disengaged to go help heal Kasamatsu, and then the two were back in the game.

 

They had only been going a few minutes, but the pace was already intense. The haze of spellfire was thick as both teams moved quickly, continuing to divide each other so that the arena could not be clearly broken into sides.

 

There was a pretense of defense, but the emphasis in this duel was on speed and strength of spellcasting. Kuroko watched as Hyuuga broke free of a body bind and turned around to try and blind his opponent with a light spell.

 

Kagami’s curses against Kise just couldn’t stick. Kagami was yelling and Kise was laughing as the blonde refused to go on the offense.

 

“What the hell?” Kagami demanded. “Why can’t I hit you?”

 

He rolled under a spell from one of Kise’s teammates clearly intended to get at him while he was distracted. When he came up the blonde was nowhere to be seen.

 

Kuroko was working as hard as he could, and he could feel himself tiring quickly. The pace of this duel was insane. Neither side was managing to get the advantage by depriving the other of a player, keeping it going strong. This duel was even more fast paced than some of the ones Kuroko had fought alongside the Generation of Miracles - even the early duels they had won before their overwhelming strength made any kind of contest of magical power moot.

 

Kagami transfigured the ground under Kise’s feet to water once he found him again, making him stumble, and froze it over with a stomp of his foot. A flock of birds appeared out of nowhere on his command, attacking Kise, who held up his arms to defend himself.

 

With Kise pinned down and distracted, Kagami threw another fireball at him, but when it hit Kise, the blonde vanished.

 

“Sorry to break it to you, but I’m over here.”

 

Kagami whirled around, just in time for his own legs to be plunged into ice water up to the knee. Before he could even try to escape he was defending himself against his own fireball attack.

 

“Stop copying me!” Kagami shouted. With a yell the ice cracked and he managed to dodge his certain fiery doom.

 

Meanwhile, Kuroko was tracking down the captain.

 

“We need a time out,” he said, breathless, barely keeping himself from bending over his knees. “My misdirection can’t keep up with the pace of this duel and we really need Kagami to calm down.”

 

“What?” Hyuuga shouted. He erected a barrier between himself and the two wizards flinging spells at him, glaring at Kuroko.

 

“Kagami is riled up. The harder he pushes Kise, the harder Kise pushes back,” Kuroko tried to explain. “We may be keeping up for now, but I don’t know how much longer that will last.”

 

Hyuuga looked around at his team, pinned down and scattered, desperately trying to fend off the attacks of a team with more power and stamina than they did. He agreed wholeheartedly with Kuroko’s very astute assessment, even though he thought that the Hufflepuff was a bit of a wimp if he was already tapped out.

 

Riko seemed to have figured out the same thing and a pause was called a few seconds later. Hyuuga collapsed against the stone shield.

 

“Fuck,” he muttered to himself before pulling himself to his feet. This was intense and they hadn’t managed to take down any of the other team.

 

On the other side of the court, Kise had decided that he’d had his fun and was finally explaining Kuroko’s skills to his teammates.

 

“He’s a relay passing specialist,” Kise proudly beamed. “He can move a spell in any direction, just by touching it with his magic, without even getting hurt. Because of his misdirection, he can move and act without being seen. This makes him a perfect weapon for sneaking up on people and keeping spells people thought they dodged still in play.”

 

“What the hell are you smiling about?” Kasamatsu demanded.

 

“The balance is about to tip in our favor,” Kise said. “He has a weakness.”

 

“What the hell do you mean? Why didn’t you lead with that?” Kasamatsu asked.

 

“Well his misdirection is based in muggle theories, in that he uses your focus on spells and other players to avoid being noticed, but it’s partly magical too,” Kise said. “That’s the forgetting part. I think it’s like a really weak obliviation spell mixed with a Notice-Me-Not charm. But now that you know, your mind will start noticing him more. The more times you remember interacting with him, the less effective the misdirection will be. He’s done whole duels with us before, but usually only by stepping back and hiding on the sidelines when we couldn’t sub him out. It’s a trick with a time limit and when he’s gone taking out Kagami will be much easier.”

 

On the other side of the court, Kuroko was explaining his own limitations to his team.

 

“We might be able to win by taking advantage of Kise’s weakness, but there’s a bigger problem,” he’d said.

 

Riko was not pleased, to say the least.

 

“Why didn’t you mention this before!”

 

“Sorry, but you never asked,” Kuroko said blankly, like that was a perfectly legitimate reason to let his coach build a play around him without making sure she knew of the most critical weakness in that plan.

 

“Do you only ever share things when explicitly asked?” she demanded.

 

Kuroko shrugged, and Riko slammed her hand into her face.

 

“I should have known better,” she muttered under her breath. Okay, here’s how we’ll handle them for now. Kuroko, stay in and try and do a little less, just don’t let them take out too many of us…”

 

In short order, both teams returned to the court.

 

As soon as the duel started again, Kagami, Hyuuga, and Izuki were surrounding Kise, trying to cut him off and take him out first.

 

They weren’t prepared for the blast of stone that came flying towards them. Mitobe and Koganei managed to protect the three duelists with a shield, but it flickered out of existence almost at once.

 

“How dare you underestimate the rest of us?” Kasamatsu demanded, hurling another transfigured hunk of rock at his opponents, sending the team scattering around the arena. “That was pretty stupid of all of you!”

 

“Now that stings a little,” Hyuuga admitted.

 

Meanwhile, Kagami had used the opportunity to engage Kise again. He threw a ball of fire at the blond, which Kise sent flying harmlessly into the ceiling. With a yell of rage, Kagami kept attacking, but Kise had him beat at every turn.

 

Kuroko wanted to go help Kagami take on Kuroko’s former teammate, but he was stopped by a spell that landed right in front of his feet.

 

“Kise was right, I am getting used to that trick of yours,” one of Kise’s teammates bragged. He cast a stunning spell at Kuroko, who slammed it right back towards the other boy. It went wide, but suddenly Kagami was right behind their opponent and knocked him out.

 

“You gotta follow through!” he shouted, hyped on the duel and the success of their first downed opponent. “Fight or get out of my way!”

 

Kagami shielded himself and Kuroko from Kise. As the rest of their teams warred, Kagami and Kise faced off. Kise wasn’t giving an inch to Kagami either – he sent an illusion of dancing lights to surround and distract the redhead, forcing Kagami to break through the magic by brute power. Both of them were sweating, but it was obvious Kagami was doing everything he possibly could to keep them in the duel.

 

“Why don’t you just give up?” Kise asked, as Kagami continued to heave for breath. “Admit that it’s way too early for you to challenge the Generation of Miracles, and surrender!”

 

“What the hell did you just say to me?” Kagami shouted.

 

“Look at the court,” Kise said simply. His own teammate had been revived, but Koganei and Mitobe were both down, having been taken out when Mitobe’s shield broke. Izuki and Hyuuga were sheltering from a hail of spellfire behind a reinforced slab of stone (probably leftover from Kasamatsu’s angry fit earlier), and they weren’t going to last much longer. Their entire team was exhausted and ready to drop.

 

“You can’t come back from this,” Kise said reasonably. “Beyond team formations and strategies and good training menus, dueling is sport that can be narrowed down to one thing: individual power. The difference in talent and magical strength between the six on my side and the six on yours is just too wide. You were the only one that had even a chance of measuring up to me, but now I’ve had the chance to really measure your skills. I admit you have potential, but you can’t measure up to me yet.”

 

Kuroko couldn’t believe what he was hearing out of the mouth of the wizard who had clawed his way to recognition as a Miracle by beating Haizaki, who fought Aomine day in and day out, improving and learning and growing every day. Even when he’d quit, Kuroko knew Kise still went to the practice room to train, because he recognized the value of the work he was putting in.

 

To dismiss it all like this, the same way Aomine had dismissed Kise’s own efforts towards the end…

 

Kuroko thought it was a little heartbreaking.

 

“No matter what magic you’ve got up your sleeve, I’ll throw back whatever you can do twice as hard. Struggle all you want, but you can’t beat me. Reality is hard, but there it is.”

 

Kagami was staring at Kise, his eyes wide and angry, teeth set in a grimace. For a second Kuroko thought the redhead was going to unleash a violent attack on the blonde.

 

And then Kagami started to laugh.

 

Even Kise’s teammates paused in their relentless assault to see what had caused Kagami to practically double over in mirth.

 

The sound echoed around the room for several long moments before Kagami straightened up, tears in his eyes, to look at the bewildered Kise.

 

“Sorry,” he said, wiping at his eyes. “I couldn’t help it – it’s just been awhile since I had anyone say that to me!”

 

Kagami straightened up to his full height, his expression narrowing.

 

“I thought you guys were all hype, but you might just be as good as people say,” Kagami continued, his hands bursting into flames as he grinned at his fellow Gryffindor. “Go ahead, make my day. I mean, life’s all about challenges. Without strong opponents, what’s the point of living? It’s almost better when I can’t win!”

 

Kise took a step back from the obviously confident Kagami, who was nowhere near as close to surrender as Kise had estimated.

 

“And we’re not done yet, so it’s a little early for your cocky victory speech,” Kagami said, letting loose a rain of fire on Kise.

 

With the fire surrounding Kise and his teammates, Izuki and Hyuuga took their cue. They ran from behind their hiding place and revived Mitobe and Koganei. Soon the group were running towards their younger teammates so that their entire team stood together facing Kise and the rest of his team just as Kise broke through the fire.

 

“Besides,” Kagami shouted. “I’ve figured you out! You’ve shown me your weakness. You can only mimic what you can see, right? So if a technique is invisible to start, that would make it impossible for you. No matter how strong or fast you are, you can’t reduce your presence at all during a duel; it’s the only style you can’t pull off. In other words, he’s your weakness!”

 

Kagami punctuated this by slamming his hand down on Kuroko’s head, and shaking vigorously.

 

“Kuroko’s the weakest guy in the duel. He can only move spells around, how’s he Kise’s weakness?” Kasamatsu muttered, glancing at Kise as though he was sure Kise would deny it.

 

Kise did not.

 

Kuroko removed Kagami’s hand from his hair and stared impassively at Kise. The blonde smirked.

 

“So what?” Kise asked. “So Kurokocchi is the only person I can’t copy on the court. What difference does that make?”

 

“Heh, maybe nothing, but we’ll see,” Kagami bragged back.

 

The fight started up again, at a more even pace, with spells being parried and exchanged across the court. Kagami advanced forward, clearly getting ready to fight one on one with Kise again.

 

“So what’s changed?” Kise asked, genuinely sounding curious. “You’re still doing zone defense, you still want to lose to me-”

 

Kagami growled and sent a spell over Kise’s shoulder. Kuroko caught it and split Kagami’s stunning spell six ways with precision, letting them seek out his opponents.

 

Kise shielded himself in time, having realized what would happen as soon as Kagami’s spell so obviously missed him. However, Kuroko’s trickery managed to take out one of Kise’s teammates, who hadn’t realized the need for a shield until it was too late.

 

“Kurokocchi?” Kise asked, whirling around. He looked acutely distressed at how well Kuroko was working with his new teammate, like the realization was causing him physical pain.

 

“You’re really strong,” Kuroko told Kise bluntly. “Not even Kagami can measure up to you. But when we combine our strengths – the two of us have a chance.”

 

“You really have changed, Kurokochi,” Kise said, scowling. “You never dueled like this before, when it was just us. But I’m still gonna win this duel! I might not be able to do anything about you moving spells, but I know you can’t last much longer. Things will fall apart for you pretty quickly as soon as you drop.”

 

A lance of fire shot towards Kise, tearing down the shield he was holding around himself.

 

Kise turned to respond. Kagami grinned, but before Kise could advance, he found himself almost tripping over Kuroko.

 

There was some measure of excited yelling coming from outside the arena, but Kuroko was standing, wand at the ready.

 

“I never dreamed I’d see the day when I’d have to face off against you, Kurokocchi,” Kise said. He was smiling, but Kuroko could hear the regret in his voice as the blond raised his wand as well.

 

“Likewise,” Kuroko said, giving nothing away in his own expression.

 

It felt almost wrong for his wand to be pointed at Kise, but he’d made his choices. They’d led him to a path where it was inevitable that he would end up here, with his teammate at the other end of his wand.

 

“I’m not sure what you’re planning, Kurokocchi, but you should have known better than to try to stop me,” Kise said lightly. “You’ll never manage to fight me on even ground!”

 

Kise moved Kuroko to the side with a light spell, leaving the way clear for him to charge towards Kagami again.

 

“You’re wrong!” Kagami grinned. “Kuroko’s not here to stop you.”

 

“What?”

 

And then the floor blew up.

 

The explosive fire rune Kagami had inscribed on the floor while Kise was trying to psychologically manipulate Kuroko went off as the intended target of its destructive power stepped on top of it.

 

The rubble settled, but there was still smoke drifting through the air when Kise emerged, a few feet away.

 

His feet were held in place by living stone that was crawling up Kise’s legs and body. The illusion he’d sent into the fire had exploded, leaving only the real thing behind.

 

“We were trying to trap you, idiot!” Kagami crowed.

 

“You think I need to get out of your trap to win this?” Kise demanded, scowling. “I’ll take all of you down from here!”

 

Kise sent a spell at Izuki, who was holding his own against one of Kise’s teammates. But Kagami moved faster than Kise had, shielding the spell long before it got to the Ravenclaw.

 

Pinned down by the tag team of Kuroko and Kagami, Kise was all but neutralized.

 

“Kagami come on, finish Kise and let’s press the attack!” Hyuuga shouted. Kise glared in annoyance as Kagami turned back to him.

 

With a growl, the stone covering his legs turned to ice and Kise shattered it. The fragments levitated into the air, and he set them whirling around in a violent tornado of color and light. Kagami was entranced by the dance of color and refraction of rainbows, pinned by the figures that they seemed to create as they danced through the air.

 

With a savage swipe of his wand, Kise sent a cutting hex at Kagami, who pulled it together in time to only be lightly grazed by the spell.

 

Kuroko was not so lucky.

 

He staggered back under the blast of the spell, which had hit him across one side of his forehead.

 

Vaguely, he could hear his coach shouting for a substitution to pull him out.

 

“Kuroko, you okay?” Hyuuga asked, rushing over. Kise was still staring with wide, horrified eyes.

 

“Just a little wobbly-”

 

“Come on, we’re subbing you out,” Riko said from the other side of the shield.

 

“You gonna be okay?” Kagami asked.

 

Kuroko, one eye shut with blood dripping down the side of his face looked up, gave his light a small smile.

 

“Yes. I’m fine. This match isn’t over.”

 

He stumbled across the barrier, tapping in Tsuchida before toppling over entirely.

 

“Well that’s that then,” Kasamatsu said, sounding almost disappointed. “Without the duo of the invisible kid and the transfer, they’re going to have trouble just keeping us from taking them out in the next few minutes.”

 

Kise wasn’t listening to his captain. His eyes were brighter than usual, his expression screwed up in despair.

 

“Kurokocchi,” he whispered.

 

Riko was quickly taking charge of her team.

 

“Kuroko’s done for the day, so you seventh years, focus on attack,” she said decisively. “Junpei-”

 

She met eyes with Hyuuga who stared back at her seriously.

 

“It might be early, but it’s clutch time.”

 

Hyuuga nodded. Kagami just stared in confusion, having no idea what this interaction meant. Before he could think on it too hard, Riko spun and pointed at him.

 

“Kagami, focus on defense and neutralize Kise. He’s got a lot of power and we need to keep him at bay if we’re going to have any hope of taking out the rest of them and winning this duel, do you understand?”

 

Kagami nodded, stretching.

 

“Shouldn’t I fight him one on one and take him out permanently though?” he asked. Hyuuga rolled his eyes and faced off against the transfer student, fire in his eyes.

 

“Defend,” Hyuuga ordered. “Stop giving Kise his ammo and focus on defense. Give everything you’ve got to keep him from taking down the rest of us so we can try and get at his team first, okay?”

 

“But how the hell… do you really believe that will work?” Kagami asked, looking alarmed.

“We’ll be fine, trust us.”

 

“But…”

 

“I said it’s fine, moron! Try listening to your upperclassmen for once, you worm!”

 

Hyuuga ran back to the start position.

 

“Show some damn respect,” Hyuuga muttered to himself as he threw a curse at Kasamatsu.

 

“Wow, Captain, when that switch flips, your filter really comes down!”

 

“Don’t mind him,” Koganei told Kagami brightly. “This is just how he gets in clutch time. And when he starts speaking his mind, his spells always hit their mark. Leave the offense to us, and stick to defense like your life depends on it.”

 

Kagami grinned.

 

“I’ve got your backs,” he said.

 

He hadn’t had the opportunity to really do any warding since he’d blown off his own legs, but Kagami was more than competent enough for a simple shield like this.

 

The fight started again, and this time the seventh years controlled the pace. Two of Kise’s teammates used a mirage to avoid an attack from Izuki, but Hyuuga was in fine form, blasting both of them away with a jet of water.

 

Izuki followed up, freezing the water into place and pinning their opponents’ arms down. He stunned them both, turning to face their next attack from Kasamatsu, who had seen the opening as a chance to go after Izuki.

 

Izuki didn’t manage to defend himself in time, but Mitobe was there holding up a secondary shield to block the spell Kasamatsu sent towards Izuki.

 

“Thanks man,” Izuki said, slapping Mitobe on the shoulder. “Thought I was done for a second.”

 

In that span, the two teammates Izuki had taken out had been revived.

 

“Damn, their healer is fast,” Hyuuga muttered under his breath.

 

“We can be fast too,” Koganei said. He and Tsuchida were casting as fast as they could. Kagami’s shield was holding strong and they could fire with impunity.

 

Hyuuga appeared to be everywhere at once, casting explosive spells that forced the other team to stay moving and on guard where the rest of the team could take advantage of their distraction.

 

Izuki tried his trick with the ice again, but Kasamatsu had wised up and melted it with a sweep of his wand.

 

“You’re not getting us that way twice!” he shouted.

 

The battle continued at a stalemate, with Kasamatsu and his team forcing their opponents back, but neither managing to take out any of their opponents. Both teams were focusing on offensive power, leaving defense to a select few.

 

Koganei and Mitobe had ventured out of the protection of Kagami’s shield to try and flank the other team. With Mitobe holding a smaller shield and Koganei cursing, they managed to take down one of their opponents, but then Kise was on them like a hurricane.

 

A bright spell blinded Mitobe temporarily and Kise shattered his shield with a strong spell. Koganei ducked for cover as Mitobe was thrown the other way. By the time the haze of magic had cleared, Kise had moved on, and Mitobe was out.

 

“Tsuchida!” Koganei yelled, but he couldn’t even see his teammates any more.

 

From the side, Riko was biting her nails.

 

“There has to be something we can do,” she muttered to herself. “We’re really in a bind without Kuroko. We’ve used up all our tricks and stamina, but they’re all still almost fresh. If we don’t put an end to this soon they’ll be fighting magical exhaustion. I just wish we still had Kuroko…”

 

“Understood.”

 

From behind her, Kuroko stood up. His left eye was still closed from the pressure of the wound above it and he looked horribly vulnerable.

 

“Good morning,” he said. “Okay… here I go.”

 

“No, hold on, where the hell do you think you’re going?” Riko demanded, stepping in front of Kuroko. “Sit back down! You’re still injured, and there’s no way I’m putting you back in the duel. However it turns out, nothing is worth letting you get hurt!”

 

There was no way she was allowing someone so injured to get back into the fight.

 

“You just told me to get out there, Coach,” Kuroko said. He sounded almost confused and Riko was concerned that was more than just his usual tendency to take things literally. She didn’t know how much force the cutting spell had applied when it split his head. It was possible that he was concussed.

 

“That was just wishful thinking!” Riko said. “Just – sit back down!”

 

“Right, I’m going,” Kuroko said, steadying himself on the wall. “I can change the tide if I go back in and besides… I made a promise to be Kagami’s shadow.”

 

Riko hated herself for the next decision she made.

 

“Fine, but if it looks like you’re struggling, even for a second, I’m taking you out.”

 

“Understood,” Kuroko said.

 

Riko bit her lips as she used their last official substitution to put Kuroko in for Tsuchida. The healer fell back onto the bench, letting his head fall back against the wall.

 

“That was rough,” he said. “These guys are no joke. I wish we had you back in there, Coach. We’ve got Kagami instead of Kiyoshi, but you’re a much better healer than me.”

 

Riko patted the Hufflepuff on the head.

 

“You’re doing just fine,” she said encouragingly. “We’ll work on it. There are things we can all work on.”

 

Her eyes were fixed on the small figure of her Phantom, praying she wasn’t about to send yet another one of her duelists to the hospital.

 

She didn’t think she could do that again.

 

Kuroko steadied himself as he passed through the shield surrounding the dueling court.

 

Then the fighting restarted and she lost track of him completely.

 

The last minutes of the duel were turning into a brutal, run and gun spell battle that discarded defense almost entirely. It was certain that they were barreling through the last few minutes, because Riko knew that either her boys would pull together and overwhelm their opponents, or fall flat from magical exhaustion.

 

Her team scattered, forcing the other team to do the same.

 

Hyuuga blew up a huge segment of floor, causing dust to spiral into the air.

 

“Smart,” Kiyoshi murmured into Riko’s ear. “Gives our phantom the advantage, don’t you think?”

 

By the time Kise and Kasamatsu had cleared away the dust, two of their teammates were down and the four remaining were in no position to help their allies on the other side of the court.

 

Mitobe was still down, but Hyuuga and the others were fighting as hard as they could to stay on their feet.

 

Kagami and Kuroko had Kise trapped between them again. Kagami went to curse Kise, but the blond shielded the spell and sent it flying away before Kuroko could use it to his advantage.

 

“I won’t lose,” he said, his expression savage with the need to win. “Not even to you, Kurokocchi.”

 

Kise pushed Kuroko back with a shield that surrounded him and Kagami.

 

“Come on then, show me what you really have!” Kise shouted at the redhead.

 

Kagami wiped his hands on his face, grinning back.

 

“This late in the duel, you’ve still got power on your side?” he asked. “Well so do I. Let’s do this blondie! I’ll take you down any time, any day of the week!”

 

Kagami and Kise cursed each other at the same time. Their spells exploded mid-air and Kagami ducked Kise’s next volley of spells. He summoned two large cats made of fire to harass Kise, but the boy laughed and doused them with a wave of water.

 

Both wizards were soaking wet, throwing spells back and forth so quickly that inside the shield Kise had created, the air smelled pungently of ozone and smoke.

 

Outside their one on one face off, both of their teams were fighting as hard as they could. Both had discarded defense almost entirely, desperate to take down their opponents as quickly as possible.

 

Kagami and Kise had broken apart. Kise had been drawn into a fight with Hyuuga, who had been trying to give Kagami a break from the non-stop spell casting.

 

Kuroko found Kagami in the fray. The redheaded Gryffindor was laughing loudly as he held his own, not even bothering to put up a shield. He dodged and jumped at full speed, firing off curses at anyone who came close enough to try and attack him.

 

Kuroko pulled on his sleeve and ducked as Kagami tried to curse him on reflex.

 

Thankfully, the spell went flying into the wall of the shield around the arena without any incident.

 

“I have a plan Kise can’t copy,” Kuroko said. “But you need to make sure you get Kise to cast his most powerful spell, and you must make sure that he misses, because as soon as I do this, I will not be able to continue.”

 

Kagami nodded, and grinned.

 

“Alright Kuroko, let’s go win this duel,” he said.

 

Kagami turned to face Kise again, his shadow on his heels. Kuroko pushed back the spells aimed for them, throwing more chaos among their opponents.

 

Kise was more than happy to go back to matching Kagami spell for spell and for once Kuroko was grateful for his Light’s ability to so easily piss people off.

 

“Just lay down and surrender already!” Kise shouted.

 

“You thought you’d won this a long time ago!” Kagami grinned back. “But I guess Kuroko and I make a better pair than any of your Miracles ever did. Must be because I’m more powerful than you already! Or maybe we’re just more compatible to begin with!”

 

Kise snapped.

 

“I won’t let you win!” he screamed.

 

Laughing, Kagami ducked.

 

Kise looked confused for a fraction of a second before his eyes widened in panic.

 

But Kuroko was already there and the bright spell Kise had sent at him was indeed powerful.

 

Kise didn’t have a chance to shield himself from his own magic as Kuroko split the spell four ways.

 

Kise went flying into the wall, and crashed down hard.

 

He didn’t get up.

 

Kasamatsu and his two teammates were sent barreling into the shield. They were unconscious before they hit the ground.

 

It was done.

 

Kuroko nearly collapsed, having handled the extra powerful spell, but Kagami helped him back to his feet.

 

Dully, as though from extremely far away, Kuroko could hear their teammates on the side cheering at the top of their lungs.

 

Kagami shouted with victory, his voice louder than anything else on the court, standing right next to Kuroko.

 

Kuroko smiled just a little.

 

They had done it. They had taken down Kise.

 

Meanwhile, the shield was being deactivated. Kuroko watched as healers from the other team revived Kise and the others.

 

The blond sat up, looking around. He seemed confused, but it didn’t take long before his confusion bled into horrified realization.

 

“We lost?” he asked. His voice was wavering and his eyes were shining with tears. “I… lost?”

 

Kuroko almost felt bad for him as the other boys’ eyes watered and his lips trembled.

 

“I’ve never lost an official match before,” Kise said softly.

 

And then he started to cry.

 

“Jeez it’s just a practice match,” Kagami said. “You’d think it was the end of the world or something.”

 

Kuroko supposed that for any of the Miracles, losing was a horrifyingly rude wake up call, a reminder that they were nowhere near as invincible as they pretended to be. And for Kise, who had always felt only ever on the cusp of what his Miraculous teammates could do and be, always the weakest, most dispensable of the five...

 

Kuroko understood why Kise was so upset. Others did not share his sympathy.

 

“Stop whimpering you absolute moron!” Kasamatsu yelled, kicking Kise in the back. “I’ll kill you if you keep going on about never having lost before!

 

“Besides,” Kasamatsu said, kneeling down next to Kise. He looked angry, fury in every line of his expression. Kuroko supposed only some of that was directed to Kise – after all, nobody liked losing, no matter how often it happened, even if they weren’t a Miracle.

 

“You better add another word to that empty dictionary of yours,” Kasamatsu growled. “Revenge. Understand me?”

 

Kise nodded, but he still looked absolutely distraught. As soon as the teams shook hands, he was out of the room faster than a bat out of hell, running for the front doors of the school.

 

He needed the fresh air and the privacy and he found it along the shores of the Great Lake.

 

The Gryffindor also found Midorima looking out over the sparkling water. Kise noticed right away that the boy had bandages wrapped up his arms and was holding a toy frog in his hands as he watched the play of light on the gently moving water.

 

Kise approached the other Miracle, waiting until he was within earshot to speak.

 

“You’ve been avoiding me, Midorimacchi.”

 

“Fate simply has put us on different paths,” Midorima dismissed the accusation. He glanced to the side as Kise walked up beside him. Without warning the Gryffindor knelt by the lake and stuck his whole head into the water.

 

“Feel better yet?” Midorima asked, sounding annoyed, watching as the blond removed his wet head from the lake and shook it.

 

“Yeah, a little bit,” Kise grinned. His face was pink from the contact with the cold water and his eyes still looked bloodshot. His hair hung limp and wet around his face and the spark in his golden eyes had been dulled by the sobering defeat he had experienced.

 

“Tch, none of you has an ounce of finesse,” Midorima said contemptuously, turning away. “It was a highly unpleasant game to watch.”

 

“You were watching?”

 

“I was walking in the area,” Midorima said, red coloring his cheeks as he lied. “I had to return an independent Charms project to the professor for grading.”

 

“Sure, sure, Midorimacchi, whatever you say.”

 

There was a long silent pause while Kise conjured a towel and started cleaning off his face, making himself look presentable again. His eyes were still red and his face was a little blotchy from the cold water and tears, but he was starting to look much more like his composed self.

 

“Were you going to try to talk some sense into him?” Kise asked after about a minute, toweling off his hair. Midorima shook his head.

 

“We don’t really get along,” he said loftily. “It’s a lost cause between Cancer and Aquarius and we’re incompatible down to our blood types. It is our destiny to be unable to get along, especially since he’s been making such stupid decisions lately. That team of his…”

 

“They’re not weak,” Kise argued. “They beat us.”

 

He didn’t think he could bear to hear Midorima call a team that had just brought Kise down weak, that would just be the last straw. Kise was already an inch away from wanting to punch the rest of the Miracles as it was.

 

“You’re right, but they’re nowhere near strong enough to bring out the full extent of his abilities,” Midorima hedged, grudgingly. “He’s stupid for fighting with them when he could have picked any stronger team. Even if Akashi had needed to recommend him, he’s the invisible sixth man of the Generation of Miracles. Any powerful team would see him for the valuable asset that he is. There’s a difference between not being weak and being strong enough to deserve him. Since he refuses to see the truth of how this will turn out, I will leave him to learn the hard way.”

 

Kise could read between the lines. Midorima did after all have a source of information nobody else in the world could quite compare to.

 

“So he’s going to lose.”

 

Midorima didn’t say anything to that, which with him could mean almost anything. Midorima was maddening about his insights to the future – at least the ones not based in astrology and his daily lucky items. Kise tilted his head back in thought. Droplets of water ran down his neck, sparkling in the light.

 

“Better he’s with them than Hanamiya.”

 

Midorima huffed contemptuously, but Kise could see the agreement written all over Midorima’s face. The Ravenclaw was glad Kuroko had not chosen to oppose them by joining forces with the least pleasant person any of them knew.

 

“I believe Kuroko impervious to Hanamiya’s particular brand of poison,” Midorima said. “The weakness his current… associates… display is much more insidious. He once had as much will to win as the rest of us, even if Akashi had to awaken it in him. That hunger has been dulled now and his ambition has been clipped at the wing.”

 

“He was always a Hufflepuff at his core though,” Kise grinned back. “That’s our Kurokocchi, with a face like ice and a heart like a marshmallow.”

 

Neither of them spoke for a while.

 

“Kagami is like Aominecchi, don’t you think?”

 

Midorima looked up at Kise, glaring at him.

 

“In what way?”

 

“The way he duels, the way he talks, the way he acts, all of it,” Kise said lightly. “It’s just interesting that Kurokocchi’s new light is so much like his old one.”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Midorima said. “I have better things to do than stand here and waste my time.”

 

Midorima was about to turn away when he paused.

 

“I am sorry,” he said.

 

“What for?” Kise asked.

 

“You will have to give up on your hope for a rematch with that team,” Midorima said. “The board of governors posted the official schedule for the intramural season this morning. They’ll fight my team before they would be dueling you. I apologize, but they will not make it past us. Your rivalry dies here.”

 

“They might beat you,” Kise said.

 

“Don’t make me laugh,” Midorima said contemptuously. “You’re the only one of us who will lose to Kuroko.”

 

“So mean, Midorimacchi,” Kise muttered. This time, when Midorima turned to leave, he didn’t stop.

 

Kise decided he was going to go have a chat with Kuroko after all.

 

Maybe he could talk some sense into his old teammate.

 

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have made it to Thursday once again, which means, dearest loves, you have another chapter. My daily law school routine is pretty much just me shouting I LIVE I DIE I LIVE AGAIN over and over in my head while I find the energy somewhere to keep moving.
> 
> Y'alls support has been really amazing <3 The response to this fic is beyond what I could have imagined, and I'm always thrilled to see y'all in the comments. 
> 
> Also s/o to the people who have been popping by [on my tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) so come say hi there too if you want! No promises but I got asked question about wands and I have a whole google doc dedicated to my WMF wand thoughts, so I'll parse it for spoilers and post it sometime in the next few days if I have a chance <3 Have a good end of the week guys, and enjoy the weekend! (only like 34 hours left to go....)


	27. Look At These Guns

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My sweet blueberry muffin is back with some tooth rotting fluff with some plot thrown into the cracks. And if I'm not mistaken, this chapter marks our ascent into place as the second longest fic in the fandom. From here on in, it's a straight shoot to 600k.

…

 

Riko had dragged Kuroko to the hospital wing as soon as the duel was over. Kuroko had received a healing spell to seal the cut on his forehead and a clean bill of health from the mediwizard, who had shaken his head at the injury.

 

“You’re very lucky it wasn’t worse,” he admonished Kuroko, who listened with the same unflappable expression with which he did everything else. It wasn’t like he had _tried_ to get hurt. Dueling just happened to be a dangerous activity.

 

Relieved of the burden of worrying that Kuroko was about to keel over at any moment, his team was finally able to properly celebrate their victory.

 

Starved after the use of so much magical energy, the team migrated down to the kitchen to satisfy their appetites (though Kuroko had his doubts about whether or not there was anything that could satisfy Kagami’s appetite, large as it was).

 

Watching Kagami shove food into his mouth post-duel was an amazing and slightly horrifying experience. If Kuroko thought that watching Kagami eat mounds of burgers on a regular basis was astounding, the number of steaks he was consuming in the kitchen was a little scary.

 

“I can’t believe you,” Hyuuga said, staring at the redhead in shock.

 

“Dueling works up an appetite,” Kagami replied, slightly defensive.

 

While the rest of his team was working on eating their way through half the kitchen stores, Kuroko left. He needed some air and wanted to enjoy his victory a little bit.He loved his team but he needed some space from their overwhelming noise and energy right at this moment.

 

Down the hall and up the stairs, Kuroko found himself in the Entrance Hall. Given that it was mid afternoon on a weekend, he hadn’t expected to find anyone, but he was mistaken.

 

Kise was casually leaning against the opposite wall, right next to the giant hourglasses that held the shimmering gems representing house points.

 

“Kurokocchi!” Kise said, a smile spreading across his face. “I was hoping I would run into you. I wanted to talk.”

 

Kuroko was struck by the realization that Kise must have been standing there for at least twenty minutes, watching the hallway intently for any sign of his invisible former teammate while Kuroko and his friends had been downstairs. 

 

Interested despite his better judgment and feeling a little bad that Kise had waited so long for Kuroko to come by, Kuroko agreed to accompany the other boy out the doors.

 

“It’s been awhile since we’ve really had the chance to talk,” Kise said softly as they walked across the grounds. The late afternoon sun cast low, long shadows in the grass and shimmered off the surface of the Great Lake in the distance.

 

“Right,” Kuroko agreed.

 

“You weren’t too badly hurt, I hope?” Kise added, his eyes moving up to the clear skin above Kuroko’s left eye where the cut had been.

 

“I’m fine,” Kuroko replied.

 

They continued for some time, along the edge of the trees towards the lake. Kise turned into the forest, taking one of the paths older students were permitted to use with special permission for gathering certain plants and herbs. They walked until they reached a round clearing, where Kise sat down on a large rock and considered the phantom standing in front of him.

 

“I ran into Midorimacchi today,” Kise said quietly. Kuroko blinked.

 

“To be honest, I don’t like him very much,” he said bluntly.

 

“I didn’t think so,” Kise smiled a little. “I don’t really either, but those runes of his are nothing to sneeze at, especially on lucky days for Cancer.”

 

“Right,” Kuroko said. He could all too well remember the destructive power of Midorima’s runic abilities – from the circle that had electrocuted their opponents in the last round of the interschool tournament their fourth year, to the combination that had hailed down destruction on their opponents that nearly injured Kise seriously in the process. Midorima, much like Akashi, possessed not just a formidable degree of power, but the will and ambition to use it, and it was no joke.

 

“He came to watch us today,” Kise added. “He had some silly excuse about having to go return some homework or whatever, but I think he really just wanted to scope out the competition and see if he had any real rival in either of our teams.”

 

Kuroko wouldn’t have been surprised if Kise was correct. Honestly, he was kind of shocked to not have seen any of the other Miracles there today, but it seemed like they all had better things to be doing. Except, apparently, Midorima.

 

Kise huffed out a long breath.

 

“Well, anyway, you rejected my offer yesterday, and I lost our game today, Kurokocchi.”

 

Kise looked up at the clear sky, heaving a sigh.

 

“These days it never seems to rain without pouring,” he said philosophically.

 

Kuroko was sure Kise was working himself up to making a point, but he was beginning to lose patience with the blond. He decided to give Kise a little while longer to get to what he wanted to say before he left.

 

“I never thought you would really accept my offer, but I was serious, Kurokocchi,” Kise continued, looking back at Kuroko. “I always liked fighting side by side with you and you never made me feel bad for being weaker than the rest of them. Our powers are so similar too - on a fundamental level, I show people what isn't there, and you hide what is. We're like two sides of a coin."

 

"So you wish we could duel together because we are well matched as duelists?"

 

Kise laughed bitterly.

 

"Well, yes, isn't that enough of a reason? But it's more than that, you know. You have a good heart Kurokocchi.”

 

Kise jumped lightly, balancing on the edge of the boulder with his arms outstretched.

 

“Don’t fall,” Kuroko advised. After a moment he added, “I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t worry, I won’t fall,” Kise said with a cocky grin, jumping off the rock and facing Kuroko. “What I really wanted to talk to you about… well, I want to know why did you disappear from the dueling team at the end of last year?”

 

Kuroko didn’t respond. He stared at Kise with his blank eyes. Kise’s smile faded, replaced by anger.

 

“You left some stupid one line note and just stopped showing up to practice, to meetings, to _duels,_ Kuroko! Akashi had to ask _Haizaki_ to come duel with us!”

 

Kuroko could picture how well that had gone over, but he wasn’t sorry.

 

“I’m not the first person who started skipping practice,” he said.

 

“No but I expected better of you, Kurokocchi. I know you _are_ better than just not showing up to put in the work, so what gives, huh? Why did you just vanish? How could you do that to us? To me? I thought we were the only one’s left working together, actually caring about winning! I thought we were going to stick together!"

 

Kuroko thought about how they had started toying with other duelists, how dueling had stopped being fun for him.

 

Kuroko thought about the final nail in the coffin of his dueling career, waking up in the middle of a bloody corridor to discover someone had hurt his best friend. After that dueling left a sour taste in his mouth.

 

Kuroko thought about how he’d become scared of his own friends and the looks in their eyes when they dueled.

 

He didn’t know how to describe any of that to Kise.

 

“Something was wrong,” he said instead.

 

“What do you mean?” Kise asked. “That's not an answer! Dueling is all about winning, isn’t it? What could be more important?”

 

“I believed that too,” Kuroko said. “When Akashi asked me to join the team, I wanted to win so badly. I wanted it so much I was afraid of even trying because I was so used to losing. Then I was competing with you and it was… it was the best thing I had ever done. But then at the end of last year, something happened… Especially after that duel where Midorima almost hurt you, I realized that I really didn’t enjoy dueling any more.”

 

Kise stared at Kuroko in abject shock.

 

“I started dueling because I loved everything about it,” Kuroko said. “The creativity, the ingenuity, being able to move all of your spells around and confuse our opponents with my misdirection…but I started hating it instead. I guess that’s why I was so impressed when I met Kagami… He just loves to duel from the bottom of his heart. He can be scary sometimes too, but I think it’s because he takes dueling so seriously and always gives it everything he has.”

 

Kise stared at Kuroko as the Hufflepuff looked off into the distance.

 

“I really just don’t get it,” Kise said after several long moments, chuckling a little. “All of what you’re saying, I don’t understand. But I should tell you something, Kurokocchi – if what you admire so much about Kagami is his attitude towards dueling, then you and he will have to part ways eventually.”

 

Kuroko tried to ignore the pang in his heart at this pronouncement. Kagami’s attitude morphing into that of the Miracles was a bitter thought to swallow.

 

“The difference between us five and the rest of the world isn’t the sheer level of magical power we have,” Kise continued. He was smiling, but there was a mean glint in his eyes that told Kuroko he was relishing in unleashing this fear onto him.

 

“The difference is that we have a sense for magic that nobody else can imitate, a closer, stronger bond with our power than any other witch or wizard out there. And I saw that in our game today. Kagami is still growing into his power, still developing his senses, but just like all of us, he has a unique hidden potential.”

 

Kuroko wondered if Kagami’s recovery from his accident had caused him to be delayed in showing the true extent of his gifts. It was true that Kagami did not need a wand, no matter how intense the magical battle between him and Kise had become. Honestly, Kuroko wasn’t even positive the other boy _had_ one. He knew Aomine did, if only because he kept leaving it places and having Momoi run after him with it.

 

“You should know better than to think that he could go up against the rest of them as he is,” Kise chided Kuroko. “He’s growing, but he’s still dueling recklessly, excited by the prospect of talented duelists to fight. But sooner or later, he‘ll be ready. The stronger he gets, the more he’s going to start drifting away from your team, and when that time comes, do you really think he isn’t going to change?”

 

Kuroko felt his heart dropping through his stomach with every word. For a moment, the image of Kagami, his eyes as dull and lifeless as Aomine’s, floated in front of his eyes and that was all he could see.

 

And then he felt Kagami’s hand on his head and heard the redhead’s loud, annoyed voice behind him.

 

“Stop. Wandering. Off!” Kagami shouted from right behind him. “You’ve got the entire team searching the castle for you and it turns out you’re taking a stroll through the woods! This fucking castle is bigger than fucking LA and not one of our idiot teammates has the sense to try a "point me" spell!"

 

Kuroko was tempted to smile at this display, but Kagami stepped in front of him, glaring at Kise.

 

“Hi.”

 

“How much did you hear?” Kise asked.

 

“The fuck does it matter?” Kagami demanded. “Where do you get off kidnapping Kuroko?”

 

“Eh? We were just having a chat, right, Kurokocchi?” Kise looked around frantically for the support of his former teammate.

 

Probably fortunately for Kise, all three of them were forced to pause when they heard a loud scream.

 

“What the hell was that?” Kagami demanded.

 

“It sounded like it was coming from the lake,” Kise said uncertainly. “Kurokocchi?”

 

Of course, Kuroko was already gone.

 

“That kid has more heart than sense,” Kagami muttered. “Well, come on, you gonna show me the way or what? Let’s go get him already!”

 

Kise nodded, and the two of them went jogging down a lightly worn footpath towards the edge of the lake. It was very close to where Kise had been cornered by Midorima earlier in the afternoon.

 

Kagami spotted Kuroko first, watching three students holding a free-for-all duel. The shriek they had heard had apparently been in amusement as one of the boys – a second year with garishly bright orange hair wearing a Gryffindor tie, sent a curse at a female second year, also in red and gold. She’d shouted while dodging the spell,her short blonde hair flying besides the small side ponytail at the top of her head. The band had large flowers sewn into them that were covered in a thin coat of dust from the ground. Given that and the pattern of dirt on the back of her white shirt, she must have rolled away from the spell, only barely escaping it.

 

The third second year was blonde and extremely tall, wearing a blue and bronze tie that identified him as a Ravenclaw. Unlike the other two, he was holding his wand with a great deal more competence, a sneer worthy of Slytherin on his face.

 

“So it was nothing after all,” Kise murmured. “Kurokocchi, let’s-”

 

“You guys are taking forever!”

 

A group of five Gryffindors (Kuroko thought they might have been fourth years) were standing at the edge of the field. Kuroko could see rough markings that demarked a shield – this must be a fairly well trafficked, if out of the way, site for unofficial dueling matches if there were such permanent rune markers set into the circle of stones around it.

 

“But we only just got here!” The little blonde girl insisted, storming up to the edge of the barrier. “Wait your turn!”

 

The older boys chuckled. Kise readied his wand, preparing to step in should there prove to be even the slightest bit of trouble. He’d see this interaction cleared peaceably, dissolve the runes, and report the site to his Head of House – there was a reason dueling had been relegated to strictly supervised situations this year and this was nothing of the sort.

 

“What do you say we settle this with a duel?” one of the older Gryffindor boys suggested. “Winner gets the arena?”

 

The girl considered this.

 

“We could take them,” the Ravenclaw boy said. “Come on, we can try out some of the new spells we were working on!”

 

“Fine,” the girl said. It was clear that of the three second years, she was the one in charge. “We’ll duel. And when we beat you, you’ll leave!”

 

“Sure, sure, the loser fucks off, let’s go already,” the Gryffindor boy said, strutting forwards like he owned the whole damn forest and knew it.

 

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this?” Kagami muttered. They had not yet drawn attention to themselves, and the two groups of younger students were too engrossed with each other to notice the older students watching from the trees.

 

“Because you think you couldn’t defend yourself from some fourth years?” Kise asked, smirking. “After all, you only barely beat me. I bet you don’t have any magic left to duel a first year, let alone those kids.”

 

“OI, you wanna fight, pretty boy? I beat you once today and I’m not afraid to go again! Right here, right now!”

 

While they argued, the younger students broke the shield to allow three of the boys into the shield and started the duel. The second years were holding their own. They had managed to stun one of the fourth years, when the Ravenclaw boy was targeted by a stunner at his back from one of the boys outside the ring.

 

The shield prevented magic leaving, but was nowhere near sophisticated enough to prevent outside interference. The boy went down.

 

“That was a dirty trick!” The Gryffindor girl shouted. “What gives? This is three on three!”

 

“I just said _a_ duel,” the leader of the older boys said smugly, leaning down over her. “I never promised you a three on three, moron.”

 

“What the heck?” the girl shouted, stomping her foot. “You dirty, cowardly _cheater!_ ”

 

The fourth year boy cursed the second year right in the face, and stepped on her when she went down.

 

“Sorry, what was that?” he asked, cupping his ear mockingly. “I couldn’t hear you from down there!”

 

“Go on, say it again,” one of the other boys cut in with a grin.

 

The second year Gryffindor boy was backed up against the edge of the shield, clearly too terrified to intervene as the older boys bullied his classmate.

 

Kise and Kagami paused mid argument.

 

“Where did Kurokocchi go?” Kise asked.

 

Both of them turned around and saw Kuroko standing in front of the little second year. The fourth year’s spell was light blue, circling lazily above his hand as Kuroko held onto it, staring down the other boy.

 

“You really are a cheater, huh,” he said blandly.

 

The fourth year shouted in surprise, stumbling backwards into one of his friends.

 

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded. “And where the hell did you come from?”

 

“You’re not duelling properly,” Kuroko said calmly, looking up into the fourth year’s eyes. Even though he was two years older than the boy he was facing down, Kuroko was still much shorter – and at a disadvantage in that he was one wizard against five. He was further handicapped by the fact that his primary skill in a fight relied on being able to direct his opponent’s attention onto other, more visibly dangerous duelists. Alone, he had their full and entire attention.

 

Kuroko assessed the situation and realized that as things were, he was going to get pretty horribly beaten. Well, that didn't matter, he'd spent most of his life before the Miracles losing anyway.

 

That wasn’t going to stop him from trying to teach these bullies a lesson. What they were doing was wrong, and he was going to give them an opportunity to realize that. 

 

“There shouldn’t be any direct contact or malicious harm involved in a real duel,” Kuroko continued.

 

“What the hell is he doing?” Kagami demanded, just as Kise shouted “Kurokocchi!” at the top of his lungs. They shared an angry scowl at having such similar reactions to Kuroko’s stubborn hero complex.

 

“Who the hell do you think you are?” the fourth year asked, clearly having realized he had four cronies at his back. “You’re just some stupid Hufflepuff!”

 

“I’ll bet he’s a firstie,” one of the other Gryffindors chuckled. “This is perfect, come on we can let him duel us and teach him a lesson about disrespecting his seniors!”

 

“So, since you’re planning on dueling Kurokocchi with all five of you, mind if we join in?” Kise asked, stepping forward.

 

All five boys took a step at the sight of their sixth year prefect, clearly having well enough tuned survival instincts to know that the blond wasn’t going to go easy on them no matter what house he was in. He was their prefect and a Miracle - they weren’t as interested in picking a fight with someone who could so easily beat them.

 

“We – we were just gonna have some fun!” the leader said in a loud, high voice.

 

“That’s fine,” Kise grinned pleasantly. “But see, you should remember from the introduction the first night that I’m a prefect boys, and that means I have to tell you that this kind of dueling is against school rules. So if you want to duel Kurokocchi, you have to duel me and my friend too.”

 

He nodded to Kagami who had put a hand on Kuroko’s head again.

 

“Why the hell do you keep running off and getting into trouble?” he demanded of the blue haired Hufflepuff. Kuroko just shrugged.

 

The Gryffindors were wary of the blond, but when they looked between each other, they were obviously still ready to go forward with this. They were clearly convinced that the other two duelists would be taken down quickly and Kise himself, Miracle or not, could be overcome with five opponents. After all, didn't the rumors say that this particular Miracle wasn't only the weakest of the five?

 

“Sure, we’ll take you on too,” the leader of the gang of fourth years said. “Well?”

 

Kuroko nodded and turned to the little blonde Gryffindor.

 

“Could you please help your friends leave the circle?” he asked politely. The girl nodded, running for the edge of the shield. She grabbed the redheaded second year on her way, leaving Kagami to revive the Ravenclaw boy. The blond, huffed but followed his friends out of the ring.

 

“Now, let’s duel,” Kise said. “Five on three, let’s go!”

 

Within seconds, the three of them established their unquestionable dominance of the arena.

 

Kise and Kagami were much faster than the other boys and with Kuroko to make quick work of causing chaos among their opponents with his misdirection, it lasted far shorter than many of the duels the Generation of Miracles had fought the year before.

 

With all five Gryffindors down, Kise cracked his neck to each side.

 

“WHOA, YOU GUYS ARE SO GOOD!” The redheaded Gryffindor shouted, jumping up and down on the other side of the dueling circle. “Can you show us how to duel like that?”

 

Kagami was the one who turned around, giving all three second years a very stern look.

 

“Magic isn’t a toy,” he said. “You could really hurt yourselves if you try stuff before you’re ready. You should wait until you can join a team.”

 

“But how are we supposed to get good without any practice?” The Ravenclaw boy snapped.

 

“Do your homework and shit and learn as many spells as you can,” Kagami replied seriously. “When you’re ready to try them, let your teachers help you not blow yourself up. Got it?”

 

All three nodded very reluctantly.

 

“Good. Now scram. The yellow guy over there is a prefect and you don’t wanna be around when he finally remembers that you’re supposed to get in trouble for duelling against school rules.”

 

That got the three of them moving fast.

 

Kise chuckled.

 

“With how good you are with the little ones, you would have made a good prefect yourself,” he said. “Though not as good as me. Hold on a moment.”

 

With a delicate swish of his wand, the rocks melted and the magic stored in them dissolved. It would take another fairly clever feat of magic to build it again, but hopefully with the intelligence that it was already there, Kise would be able to prevent that from happening.

 

“I’ll have to let the prefects and professors know that there are younger kids coming out here to practice,” Kise sighed. “I don’t want to have to patrol on the grounds, but someone could have really gotten hurt today.”

 

Thinking of his legs, which were blessedly whole again, Kagami nodded fervently. Which reminded him…

 

“What the hell were you thinking back there?” Kagami demanded, turning to Kuroko. “You  damn idiot, do you think that you could have beaten those guys five on one in a fight or something, tough guy?”

 

“No. I would have gotten my ass kicked. Look at these guns.”

 

Kuroko held up his arms, showing off his unimpressive biceps.

 

“You-”

 

Kagami seemed beyond words to describe what exactly he thought Kuroko was, but Kise picked up the slack. He was considerably more complimentary than Kagami had intended to be, going by the look on Kagami’s face.

 

“You amaze me sometimes Kurokocchi, you know that?”

 

“I just can’t stand people like them,” Kuroko said honestly. “That’s why I had to say something."

 

“Maybe just think ahead next time,” Kagami sighed.

 

“Oh yeah,” Kuroko agreed. “I forgot to do that.”

 

Kagami growled in frustration, shoving his face into his palm.

 

Kise laughed.

 

“Let’s head back to the castle,” Kagami muttered. “Before the coach decides to murder us both.”

 

They started back down the path that led towards the castle. As they made their way across the grounds, twilight was beginning to fall.

 

“It was amazing to team up with you again, Kurokocchi,” Kise said as they neared the castle door. “And you, Kagamicchi, I will get my revenge on you! So don’t lose until you face us again in a real match, okay?”

 

Kise darted up the stairs, presumably to fulfill his prefect duties in alerting the teachers to the illicit dueling ring he had uncovered.

 

“Kagamicchi?” Kagami demanded angrily.

 

“How nice,” Kuroko said. “Kise adds “-cchi” to the names of wizards and witches he respects as strong duelists.”

 

“I hate it!” Kagami shouted. “It’s stupid!”

 

They proceeded up the steps together.

 

“Kagami, may I ask you something?” Kuroko asked. Kagami paused halfway up the steps.

 

“Sure,” he said.

 

“How much did you really overhear from earlier?”

 

“About us parting ways or whatever bullshit he was on about?” Kagami asked. Kuroko nodded.

 

“Well, aren’t you the one who’s always saying I can’t do it alone?” Kagami demanded. “So don’t go worrying about stupid stuff. Plus, you’ll always be a shadow to the light. That’s just your magic, isn’t it?”

 

Kuroko looked back at Kagami, framed in a halo of light from the dying sun, and smiled.

 

“Well said, Kagami,” he said.

 

Kagami nodded, and the two of them walked back into the castle together. The serene moment was broken by the echoing voice of their furious coach. She had just finished sending her team to tear apart the entire school to look for her new team’s new Ace and invisible Phantom and was less than pleased.

 

“THERE YOU TWO ARE!”

 

“Uh oh,” Kagami muttered. “That’s Coach. We’re in trouble.”

 

…

 

Breakfast was fairly boisterous at the Hufflepuff table.

 

Kuroko was drooping and exhausted, but his Hufflepuff teammates couldn’t help but excitedly relive every second of the duel over and over, debating their favorite moments.

 

“I wish I could have seen it,” Sakurai said wistfully. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there to cheer you on, but Imayoshi has been running us ragged.”

 

“Wait, you joined Imayoshi’s team?” Furihata demanded. “Are you serious?”

 

“He’s a good duelist!” Sakurai shot back. “And the reason I didn’t say anything is because I knew you would be angry about it!”

 

“Because he’s a creepy shit that’s taking advantage of you!”

 

“I’m sorry you feel that way,” Sakurai snapped, picking up his plate and stomping over to where the first years were eating.

 

“Ah, shit,” Furihata muttered, standing awkwardly. “I’m… I’m gonna go apologize.”

 

“Good idea,” Kawahara said. “But god, _Imayoshi?_ ”

 

“He likes the guy and he’s a good judge of character,” Fukuda said hesitantly as Furihata made his way down to the other side of the table, following Sakurai. “Maybe we should all try harder not to give him as much shit about it.”

 

“Besides,” Kawahara said, suddenly sitting up. “Does that mean he’s got _Aomine on his team?_ ”

 

“Holy shit it does!” Fukuda said. “Oi, SAKURAI! WE HAVE QUESTIONS!”

 

Sakurai was already walking back towards them. It was unclear whether he or Furihata had managed to apologize more times between the two of them, but they were both furiously blushing and apologizing at top speed when they sat back down.

 

“So, Aomine Daiki! What’s he like?”

 

Sakurai looked up at Fukuda. Kuroko stared at his fellow Hufflepuff as well. He clutched his spoon harder than he intended to, exhaustion entirely forgotten in his thirst for news about his old teammate. Maybe a new team had changed Aomine’s attitude about dueling. Not that Kuroko was holding his breath, but he’d missed the fire in his former light’s eyes, and he wanted that back for Aomine, more than anything.

 

“Uh, he doesn’t show up a lot,” he admitted. Kuroko’s heart fell.

 

“But the rest of them are okay,” Sakurai said. “The only one who’s a real dick to me is Aomine and he’s barely there. When he is, the others all defend me. They’re good people, guys. Just because most of them are Slytherins doesn’t mean they’re bad.”

 

“Okay but,” Fukuda cut in, “angry blue haired Gryffindors aside, tell us about your manager. Is she single?”

 

“Like you’d have a shot,” Sakurai grinned, before immediately blushing bright red. “Sorry!”

 

Fukuda laughed.

 

“Nah man, she’s a fox, you’re right I don’t have a shot. So anyway, who are you all facing first?”

 

The tension from earlier almost entirely dissolved and breakfast continued smoothly until the arrival of the morning papers.

 

“The magical president of the U.S is going to be elected in a few weeks,” Furihata muttered, turning to the middle of the paper. “They’re expecting Nash Gold’s dad to win. Apparently he’s got some big ideas for trade agreements with other magical countries. There’s this whole editorial about it.”

 

“Isn’t it weird we met someone whose dad is going to be a president?” Fukuda said. “That’s kind of cool, right?”

 

“Yeah, I’ll bet he even gets secret service hit wizards to follow him around to class and everything,” Kawahara said. “That’s so cool!”

 

“Couldn’t have happened to a nicer person though,” Furihata joked sarcastically, making their entire group laugh at the comment.

 

They spent a few more minutes discussing the picture of Nash Gold Jr. standing next to his father, posing for the cameras. Fukuda and Furihata got into a debate over how much his suit probably cost and it lasted until well after they had left for their first class of the day. For Kuroko that was Runes, where he sat behind Kagami.

 

He still wasn’t over the absence of Akashi and Midorima from the class. Nobody had taken their seats in the second row either, which left the room feeling strangely empty, even though with the addition of Kagami the room only had one fewer student.

 

“Your N.E.W.T exams are just around the corner,” Professor Harasawa chided them, as he had at the beginning of every class this year. Kuroko couldn’t help but feel that this was distinctly unfair – they had almost two years to worry about their government exams.

 

Today in particular he wouldn’t have minded not getting the reminder, seeing as how he was still practically dead on his feet from their battle yesterday.

 

Kagami wasn’t faring much better  - Professor Harasawa was still reviewing material from their last three years of class and Kagami’s head had drooped down into his fist. Kuroko was almost certain that the boy was fast asleep.

 

“Now, as we approach our next subject, I want you all to remember that runes are a difficult and dangerous topic,” the professor droned on. “When working with summoning circles, one must maintain a perfectly correct composite of runes in the exact proscribed placement. We will be working on summoning some sprites and benevolent creatures later this year when you have satisfied me that we will not with any… mishaps. Failure to fully read and prepare for class…”

 

Kuroko was out like a light.

 

Several minutes later Professor Harasawa paused, seemingly having noticed that Kagami was asleep. He stalked through his students towards the second to last row and tapped on the boy’s desk, to no avail.

 

“Kagami Taiga!” he snapped.

 

Kagami woke, spewing fire.

 

The professor neatly deflected the fire, directing it harmlessly towards the ceiling.

 

“Uh, sorry?” Kagami asked, more than said, now wide awake enough to appreciate that he had just nearly set his professor on fire.

 

“Detention,” Professor Harasawa said smoothly. “And twenty points from Gryffindor as a reminder that in the real world, there is no situation in which you would be free to expand all of your magical resources in a single duel. You would be easily picked off by any accomplices your opponent has after the fact. I expect, no matter your extracurriculars, that you remain _awake and attentive_ while preparing to practice dangerous magic in my class!”

 

“Seriously?” Kagami asked.

 

The professor sighed.

 

“I will relieve you of detention and be satisfied with the points I have taken away if you can accurately portray a simple circle to summon fire – of course I mean on the board and in chalk, without the intent to actually summon the flames _.”_

 

Grumbling, Kagami pulled himself out of the chair and headed towards the board. He had perhaps an unfair advantage in this, as he’d had some training under a Master Warder, but he finished the circle quickly enough.

 

“Impressive,” Professor Harasawa said. “Stay up there, if you please. What are the three most common errors a wizard might make when creating this circle?”

 

Kagami did groan loudly then, especially upon seeing Kuroko bent over his desk, fast asleep, at the back of the classroom.

 

 _Double standard much?_ He thought grumpily, dutifully reciting the answer to the professor’s questions.

 

“Very well, have a seat and do try to stay with us for the rest of class,” the Professor said at last, allowing Kagami to slink back to his chair. Harasawa continued for another thirty minutes of warning in regards to summoning magical beings, before reminding them that they had a great deal of work ahead of them before he let them near any practical experience.

 

“Most runic summonings are simply not worth the effort,” Professor Harasawa said. “We have already covered many of their most practical uses – to secure permanent charms and transfigurations. They are frequently used in wards and shields – we have looked at simple versions of these in the past years and will revisit many more complex ones in seventh year.

 

“Summonings are a more complex and dangerous form of runic magic and often not worth the trouble. In the case of fire, for example, a simple Incendio is easier, quicker, and takes less energy than the circle we saw today. So why would I use a circle of this nature? Anyone?”

 

Takao raised his hand.

 

“If I didn’t have my wand, but I had a rock I could draw the runes and power them in blood,” he suggested.

 

“That’s true, though it’s the rare wizard who finds himself stranded and in need of fire without his wand. Anything else?”

 

Another student suggested some rituals that might require it. A third jokingly said that wizards learned it because it was on the exam, which brought a sternly unamused glare from the professor.

 

“A spell like this could be powered to go off in the presence of another wizard, creating automatic light, much like the torches here at Hogwarts, though that requires a more complex circle. The fire from a circle of this nature is more precise and easy to control. Unspeakables use circles adapted from this pattern to summon a limited flare of Fiendfyre to destroy dangerous dark artifacts on occasion. Its uses are, as I said, esoteric, but not limited by any means either.”

 

The Professor paused to let this information sink in before pacing a few steps over to the board, where their next assignment was written.

 

“Our next reading covers a spread of some minor circles of a similar nature, so I’ll have a foot and a half from each of you on the practical and magical uses and limitations of one of those summonings. That will be all.”

 

A few seconds later, the bell rang, and the students hurried to collect their things and evacuate the classroom.

 

“How come you never get in trouble for sleeping in class, huh?” Kagami demanded as Kuroko sleepily rubbed his eyes after the bell.

 

“I am a shadow,” Kuroko intoned dutifully, still looking half asleep.

 

“You’re a pain in the ass is what you are,” Kagami shot back without too much heat.

 

Whatever rejoinder Kuroko had was cut off by the arrival of Takao, who inserted himself into the conversation with his usual finesse.

 

“Trouble in paradise?”

 

“Oi, why don’t you just buzz off, Takao!” Kagami turned to glare at the dark haired boy.

 

“Just saying,” Takao said, taking off down the hall.

 

“You should work on your temper,” Kuroko advised.

 

“Why don’t you buzz off too?”

 

“Because I am your shadow.”

 

Kuroko looked up at Kagami with such an earnest, wide-eyed look that Kagami felt bad at snapping at the kid.

 

“Fine, fine, let’s head downstairs, I’m going to be late to Transfiguration anyway at this point. Come on.”

 

…

 

“Well done, everyone!” Riko said when they met for practice the next day. “Really well done. Of course I have new training menus written up for all of you based on what happened in that match, so don’t go thinking you can slack off!”

 

Hyuuga snorted, as though the very thought was hilarious.

 

“We have a long way to go before we face Kasamatsu in the interschool schedule,” Riko continued. “I’d like them to know that us beating them this weekend wasn’t a fluke. You can bet they’ll be working hard towards that revenge match, but so will we!”

 

“Otherwise you’ll be –BARE-ing yourself to the entire school!” Izuki put in.

 

“Shun, I swear to Merlin-”

 

“I guess  that pun was… un-BARE-able?”

 

Hyuuga shot a curse across the room which Izuki cheerfully ducked, laughing as he went.

 

“Junpei, you’re supposed to be setting a mature example,” Riko said sternly.

 

"I'm just helping him train!" Hyuuga replied, examining his wand as though he hadn't just been using it to attack a fellow student.

  
"Junpei."

 

“Right,” Hyuuga said, straightening up. “So Coach has us on endurance training for the next few weeks before the official duels start. The first duel on the schedule is two weeks after Halloween. We need to get busy and work hard on improving our stamina so that we can survive if we have another duel that lasts as long and is as intense as our practice match. So – off to the lake!”

 

The sixth years (with the exception of Kagami) all groaned, but allowed themselves to be ushered out of the practice room and through the doors of the school.

 

An hour later, having finished an entire circuit of the lake, Kuroko was once again laying horizontally on the grass, having exhausted every bit of his stamina.

 

“Man, Coach, you’re running us hard,” Izuki complained, bent over his knees.

 

“You wanna win or you wanna complain?” Riko demanded cheerfully.

 

“Win,” Izuki said quickly. "I want to win."

 

“Good choice,” Riko sweetly replied. “Now move your ass, let’s go!”

 

“I welcome the sweet embrace of death,” Furihata contributed, flopping onto the ground next to his blue haired roommate.  

 

“I concur,” Kuroko replied.

 

It was going to be a long semester.

 

…

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh, I didn't get to putting up my wands head cannons, but this week has been utter hell, and uh... my buffer... is not what it should be any more, so my priority has been building it up. I'll try and do that in the coming week though!
> 
> [come talk to me I'm so lonely](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	28. My Penance Is Served

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I watched Supergirl without my beta and to make me apologize she extorted this chapter. The original working title was "Shit Always Has To Go Down On Halloween" which was a little uninspired, tbh. Anyway, here's the chapter.

…

 

The first Hogsmeade weekend of the year turned out to be a bright, crisp morning during the second week of October.

 

The sky was a clear blue, without a single cloud in sight. The weather was due to be perfect and all of the older students were buzzing with excitement at the opportunity to leave the grounds.

 

As always, the younger years pouted and complained about being left out of everything (dueling, weekends away from school, basically anything remotely  cool). Riko had passed a message around to the entire team that they should meet in the town square at ten in the morning.

 

Kuroko set off with Kagami, both of them bundled in warm coats against the chill of Autumn.

 

“I wonder what Coach wants from us,” Kagami mused, stretching.

 

Kuroko pondered this.

 

“Maybe she wants us to yell off another roof,” he suggested. Kagami laughed.

 

“I hope it’s not anything too bad, I’m still tired from that duel with Kise and his team. Those guys are no joke.”

 

“I told you,” Kuroko said seriously. “Kise has gotten significantly stronger since the last time I dueled with him. If the others have too, dueling them isn’t going to be easy.”

 

“Well, we can manage,” Kagami grinned. “One Miracle at a time. I wonder which one we’ll fight next.”

 

“The worst opponents we could draw early in the schedule would be Akashi or Murasakibara.”

 

“Right, the psychotic redhead or the giant.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“So who do you hope we face?”

 

Kuroko considered that for a moment.

 

“I hope we go against Midorima and his team,” he said. “Midorima has never had the same kind of explosive dueling style our team has. If we can keep them running we can stop Midorima from putting up his best rune configurations. He needs time and concentration for those, which is hard to do in a duel, especially against a set of opponents with such an explosive attack style.”

 

“Man, I hope we face Aomine, I wanna take that bastard down a peg.”

 

Kuroko fell quiet at this pronouncement.

 

He wanted to face Aomine too. He didn’t like the idea of standing opposite him in the dueling arena, but he did want to make Aomine fight, make the Gryffindor love dueling as much as he used to.

 

A broken plate, Akashi had said. The redhead had so callously disregarded the other boy and Kuroko’s fear for him. Aomine had been disregarded as a monster, an anomaly, for his entire life. Kuroko was going to show him that power wasn’t the only measure of a wizard’s worth.

 

“Yes,” he agreed.

 

After that, Kuroko and Kagami made their way slowly down to the gates of Hogwarts and towards the village, following the long stream of students. They found the other sixth year Hufflepuffs waiting in the town square. The group was talking animatedly by the fountain when Riko and the rest of the seventh years on the team joined them.

 

“All right, newbies!” Riko shouted.

 

“I wish she wouldn’t call us that,” Kagami muttered.

 

“I wish my juniors wouldn’t interrupt me!” Riko chirped with a deceptively friendly smile.

 

Kagami winced as Kiyoshi and Hyuuga laughed.

 

“Anyway, we thought the bunch of you could use some exercise, so we devised a scavenger hunt to test your strength!”

 

“Oh come _on,_ it’s a free weekend!” Kawahara moaned. “You can’t be serious about making us do practice _here?_ ”

 

“Yep!” Riko said loudly. “You’ll have seven clues, some of which will be harder than others to find. Good luck!”

 

With that, she and the other seventh years disappeared, leaving Kagami with a small roll of parchment in his hand.

 

“We could just go drink Butterbeer until they give up on waiting for us,” Fukuda suggested hopefully.

 

“I heard the Hogs Head will serve liquor to students if they’re of age,” Kawahara added.

 

“Where’s your sense of adventure?” Kagami demanded. “Come on guys, let’s see where they want us to go! I’ve never been in a wizard village before, this is going to be really cool!”

 

Swayed by Kagami’s enthusiasm – at least to the point that they were willing to participate in the activity - the group gathered around Kagami as he unrolled the parchment.

 

“Go to where you’ll find some dessert, don’t take too long or I’ll Tera-miss-you?” Furihata read out loud, twisting his head so that he could see the whole passage.

 

“God damn it, Izuki Shun,” Kawahara muttered.

 

“So we gotta go follow a pun?” Furihata asked skeptically.

 

“Yeah, yeah, it’s super lame, we all heard you the first time, but I don’t care. Let’s go already!” Kagami said, holding the paper up. “Where do we go for tiramisu?”

 

“Uhhhh, that’s probably gonna be Honeydukes,” Furihata said.

 

“Okay, off to Honeydukes!” Kagami yelled, marching off down one of the main roads.

 

He paused about three paces down, stopping in the street.

 

“Maybe… one of you guys… should lead the way,” he suggested.

 

Furihata took point, leading the group of sixth years down the street towards Honeydukes.

 

They entered the crowded store intent on their mission. Kagami was immediately arrested by the sight of all the unusual wizarding sweets, standing stock still.

 

“Holy shit, guys, you’ve got crap like this and you’re not sharing? Rude. I can’t believe we don’t have anything like this in America!”

 

He took about two steps before his interest in a box of levitating sugar quills made him stop again. He was pulled away from that display by the group of bounding chocolate frogs off to the right.

 

“Okay, we’ve lost Kagami,” Kawahara said. “How do we find the next clue?”

 

“It’s in the pun!” Furihata suggested. “Tera-miss-you! We gotta find something flavored like Tiramisu.”

 

“Let’s spread out, so we can cover more ground,” Furihata added.

 

Kuroko was perfectly content with this. He took the last aisle down, skid around a group of students who were crowding a display of Fizzing Whizzbees, and kept moving. So intent was he on his mission that he nearly missed the giant Slytherin student coming his way.

 

Kuroko looked up.

 

Up close, he could tell that Murasakibara had grown even more over the summer. The Miracle was _huge._ His purple hair was hanging down in front of his eyes, shoulders slouching over the box of Cauldron Cakes he was carrying. He walked directly past Kuroko, not even sensing the smaller Hufflepuff’s presence at all.

 

Kuroko exhaled deeply when Murasakibara walked by him.

 

He hoped that Kagami wasn’t about to try and pick a fight in the middle of a store.

 

Murasakibara walked straight through the crowd of students around the display that Kuroko had just passed, sending them scattering in every direction.

 

Kuroko turned around, focusing again on his mission.

 

He made it to the end of the aisle in time to hear Fukuda exclaim loudly a few rows away, calling Kuroko and the rest of them over.

 

Fukuda had found the scroll attached to the bottom of a display featuring a number of tiramisu-flavored lollipops in fantastic shapes.

 

“Where are we going?” Furihata asked.

 

“LOVE is in the AIR!” Fukuda replied. “Take your cu-tea here.”

 

“Oh god no, I’m not going in there,” Kawahara said. “Absolutely not. I lose my entire man card if I do that. That is not going to happen.”

 

“What, because there are hearts there?” Furihata demanded. “Come on, man, that’s some misogynistic shit right there. Your masculinity can’t possibly be that fragile.”

 

“I’m just saying that place is a walking horror show. I have trouble even seeing our coach go in there.”

 

“I vote we send Kagami.”

 

“He is the one who wanted to see all the different places in a wizarding village,” Kuroko suggested, making his teammates jump in surprise to see that he had joined them.

 

“Okay yeah, let’s find him, drag him out, and tell him the good news.”

 

It took several minutes to bodily drag Kagami up to the front of the store, where he purchased a pile of sweets that would have done Murasakibara proud.

 

He was biting into his third Licorice Quill when Furihata told him about their next task.

 

“So what, I just gotta find it on the ceiling or something?” Kagami asked, unimpressed.

 

“What?”

 

“‘In the air.’ What am I gonna do, jump or something?”

 

“Uh, sure. Actually, that makes a lot of sense.”

 

It took almost twenty minutes to find the obscenely pink out of the way teahouse. Kagami put on a brave face and strode right through the doors, eyes glued to the ceiling for any sign of parchment.

 

“Ah, I miss him already,” Fukuda said. “He was loved.”

 

Kawahara punched him in the shoulder.

 

Kuroko, however, was thinking about what Kagami had said. He was looking up when his eyes caught something on the roof of the building.

 

“Excuse me,” he said.

 

“Yeah, what’s up, man?” Furihata asked.

 

Kuroko pointed to the scroll nestled between two garishly pink shingles, right next to the chimney that was spitting pale pink bubbles and purple smoke.

 

“Okay, I’m not climbing up there,” Furihata said, backing away. “Let’s just grab Kagami and get him to do it.”

 

“Are you a wizard or not?” Kawahara demanded. “Come on.”

 

Kawahara waved his wand in the air.

 

“ _Accio clue!”_

 

It didn’t even budge.

 

“Idiot, they warded it against summoning,” Fukuda said. “We gotta physically get it. Who wants to-”

 

“I’ve got it.”

 

Fukuda screamed as Kuroko made himself visible right next to his elbow. Kuroko was clutching the scroll in his hand.

 

“What the heck?” Fruihata asked.

 

“I’m probably the only one of us that wouldn’t get arrested for trespassing, so I went and got the clue,” Kuroko explained.

 

“What does it say?”

 

Kuroko unraveled the parchment.

 

“Strike a pose – but don’t THINK too hard about it.”

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Kawahara moaned. “What the heck does that mean.”

 

“Well, let’s go get Kagami and give him the good news,” Furihata said, eyeing the door distastefully.

 

“Thanks for volunteering,” Fukuda said, pushing Furihata towards it with a gentle shove.

 

“I know where all of you sleep,” Furihata muttered, opening the door and disappearing in a puff of pink smoke.

 

“Working there must be the worst,” Kawahara said. “God, I can’t even imagine any girls I know liking something this over the top.”

 

“Seriously.”

 

A few seconds later, Kagami came marching out, dragging Furihata behind him.

 

“He told me the clue and I’ve got it!” Kagami announced. “Statues! We need to find a statue of someone thinking!”

 

The group stood there, stunned.

 

“You know, that’s pretty brilliant,” Kawahara said.

 

“That’s what I said,” Furihata added.

 

“That was very insightful,” Kuroko praised his light. Kagami beamed.

 

“So where do we go?” he asked, looking around.

 

“Well it’s not exactly like we know all of the statues in the city,” Furihata said slowly. “Plus that could probably include fountains, right? So we’re going to have to look around.”

 

Their tour of the city began with purpose. Obviously the main fountain wasn’t the statute they were looking for, so they started exploring each alley and street to trying to find anything that might fit the description in the clue.

 

The sun was high in the now cloudy sky by the time they managed to locate a statue of a fairy, her face resting in a tiny delicate hand while jets of water sprouted out of her back, creating a pair of wings that shimmered in the light.

 

The group walked around the statute a few times, peering at her over the water. They argued about where the clue might be for a solid five minutes before Fukuda thought to look into the water.

 

“Look!”

 

In a small bubble, down by the fairy’s feet, there was a scroll, identical to the ones they had found so far.

 

“Who’s up for a swim?” Furihata joked.

 

They all looked around praying someone else would answer. It was October and starting to get chilly, which meant nobody wanted to volunteer to dive into a fountain.

 

“You’re all ridiculous,” Kagami said, stripping off his outer coat. “Someone better dry me off when I get out.”

 

He jumped over the side of the fountain and landed hip deep in the water.

 

“Shit, that’s cold!”

 

Kagami waded towards the fairy, looking up at her.

 

“Couldn’t have spelled your water warm or anything, could they?” he asked. “That’s gonna suck for me.”

 

The fairy winked at him and waggled stone fingers before assuming her original pose.

 

“Sick,” Kagami grinned. He took a deep breath and dived for the parchment.

 

The bubble charm broke when it hit the surface and Kagami levitated it over the water as he walked back to his team.

 

Shivering, he crawled out of the fountain. His teeth were chattering as he let Kawahara take the clue. Furihata cast several warming and drying spells at the Gryffindor, successfully getting all the water out of his clothing.

 

Kagami summoned a small fire in one hand, doing the rest of the job of getting his body back to a normal temperature.

 

“What’s it say, anyway?”

 

“Don’t lose your head – You can still go get a pint.”

 

“What the hell?”

 

“Obviously they mean the Three Broomsticks,” Kawahara said.

 

“Seriously? There’s a place called the Hog’s Head and you go for the Three Broomsticks?” Furihata demanded. “Are you an idiot? Come on. Let’s just go already.”

 

Furihata dragged Kawahara by the arm down the street.

 

“Damn, it’s getting cold, I can’t wait to get inside,” Kagami muttered. “What the fuck is this?”

 

“Weather,” Kuroko supplied helpfully from beside him.

 

“Don’t tell us America doesn’t have any of that either?” Fukuda asked playfully.

 

“Shut the fuck up and go the fuck right to hell,” Kagami snarled, dodging the jab from Kuroko. “And you! You’re not my mom, don’t police my language!”

 

“Kagami has a potty mouth,” Kuroko stuck out his tongue at the other boy.

 

“You’re the worst,” Kagami muttered, rubbing his arms as a chilly wind blew down the street. “All of you. Fine, let’s get this over with. I miss my stupid sunny desert and my stupid pollution and my stupid crowded beaches…”

 

Kagami pulled open the door with more force than necessary, causing it slam against the outside wall.

 

The bar was pretty much empty, aside from a few sketchy looking stragglers. Kagami boldly sauntered up to the bar and ordered a plate of food and a pint of Butterbeer.

 

“What, who knows how long this will take. I’m hungry and we’ve been walking around all day!” Kagami defended himself as he turned back to his teammates.

 

Quickly, they decided that he’d made the best choice and followed his lead, ordering some food to tide them over in case this hunt took longer than they were willing to go without lunch.

 

They settled around a table, enjoying their lunches. The bar was warm, even if it was empty and dingy, and with full stomachs they were more than ready to start looking around for their next clue.

 

When Kagami started tapping on the bar for hollow pockets, the bartender put a dirty glass down right in front of his face.

 

“You looking for something from the angry, short witch who came in here?”

 

“Angry and short? Sounds like Coach!” Furihata shouted from where he was looking under tables.

 

“Yes,” Kagami said. “Do you know if she left us a piece of parchment or something?”

 

“I don’t know about any parchment, but she told me to tell you lot that came looking that she wants you to go buy Iberian Pork sandwiches. Rude, sending you here to make us tell you that, but you ate here, so whatever. Anyway, that’s what she said.”

 

“Okay,” Kagami said, straightening up. “Well, that should be a big help. Thanks!”

 

He waved cheerily and headed back to his team.

 

“You hear that?” he asked.

 

“Sure did,” Kawahara said.

 

“Go buy Iberian pork sandwiches. That’s not a pun at all!”

 

“Yeah, that’s just an order,” Furihata muttered. “That must have just been straight from Coach’s mouth instead of a clue dressed up as a pun. So uh, Three Broomsticks I guess.”

 

“Okay, how the hell do you know what that clue was?” Kagami demanded.

 

“The pub does this special sandwich,” Furihata explained. “It’s supposed to give you good luck in academic and club activities so it’s super popular. They almost always run out, so it’s gonna be a fight to get some.”

 

The inside of the Three Broomsticks was a crowded mass of people that made all five of them pause as soon as they walked in the pub.

 

The bar counter was swamped with people, clerks running in every direction to fill orders and take money as quickly as possible.

 

“This is insane,” Kawahara said.

 

Kagami just grinned and with commendable dedication shoved his way forward into the crowd.

Not seconds later, the burly Gryffindor was thrown back out of the wall of people, stumbling into an empty table.

 

“For the team!” Furihata, Kawahara, and Fukuda shouted, bravely following Kagami’s example.

 

They too were rebuffed by the mob of people trying to get their sandwiches and came flying out of the mess of people.

 

Kagami was surveying the crowd, tempted to try something he’d seen on a concert video once, when he felt someone tugging at his sleeve.

 

Kagami jumped and screamed at the sight of Kuroko, before noticing that the Hufflepuff was holding in his hand one of the coveted Iberian Pork sandwiches.

 

“How did you get that?” Kagami demanded.

 

“I just walked up to the front,” Kuroko explained. “Nobody noticed me so I slipped through the crowd. I couldn’t get the woman’s attention, so I just left enough money for the sandwich and took one.”

 

“Kuroko, do you think you could get the rest of them?” Furihata asked. “We’ll grab a table so you can find us when you’re done.”

 

Kuroko shrugged. A moment later, he vanished into the crowd.

 

“That kid comes in handy,” Kawahara said. “No wonder he managed to get into so much trouble.”

 

“Kuroko in trouble?” Kagami asked skeptically. “He’s as straight laced as they come.”

 

The Hufflepuffs exchanged mutually amused glances and burst out laughing. They were still laughing when Kuroko reappeared beside the table, holding up a paper bag with the sandwiches they had been told to get.

 

“Okay, so now we need to find our next clue. Maybe it’s back with the sandwiches?”

 

“Maybe they left it with one of the staff, like Riko did over at the Hog’s Head!”

 

“I’ll go see if I can find anyone,” Kawahara said, standing.

 

The Hufflepuff bravely made his way around the bar a few times, before stopping one of the waitresses.

 

“Hey, this is a super weird question, but did some angry girl with short hair come in and give you a clue for us? Our team left us running around town on a scavenger hunt and we need to find them again.”

 

The woman shrugged.

 

“Well, this tall guy told me some friends of his would be doing a scavenger hunt and would need to know that they’re supposed to go have a hoot at his favorite store. Whatever that means. He told me to pass it on to everyone else who worked here in case you came by, so I hope it helps!”

 

Kawahara profusely thanked her and headed back to the table.

 

“I got it,” he said.

 

“Don’t keep us in suspense, come on!”

 

“Go have a hoot at his favorite store!”

 

“He’s such an idiot,” Furihata said affectionately, wrapping his scarf more securely around his face. “He’s gotta mean the joke shop. That or the post office.”

 

They all got up, pulling their coats and winter gear back on as they prepared to brave the outside world once again. They left the pub still arguing about where they needed to go next.

 

“No way his favorite store is the post office. I’ll bet you’re right, it’s probably Zonkos.”

 

“Wait, there are wizard joke shops?” Kagami demanded. “I have to see this! Let’s go!”

 

“Oi, we’re already going!” Furihata shouted, laughing as Kagami sprinted ahead. He stopped again at the end of the street to let them catch up, probably realizing that he had no idea what direction to go in again.

 

The group as a whole walked down the twisting labyrinth of cobblestone streets out to the other side of town. Their snack at the Hogs Head had tided them over, but it was hardly enough to keep them satisfied while running around town all day.

 

The wind had picked up and a thick cover of cloud had covered the sun. It was definitely cooling down and the group was ready to get somewhere indoors and warm.

 

“It’s so damn cold.”

 

“Yeah, so shut up and keep moving, would you?”

 

The group shuffled towards their second to last destination.

 

“Have a hoot…” Furihata said. “Some kind of bird?”

 

“Look for a prank that references owls,” Kawahara said. “Let’s do what we did in Honeydukes, split up and see what we find.”

 

Kagami agreed with this, setting down one aisle with an interested eye on all of the merchandise.

 

“Thinking about the old days?”

 

Kuroko looked over at Fukuda, who was still tarrying at the back of the group with him.

 

“A little bit.”

 

He and Ogiwara had been so excited to come here in third year. A lot of their pranks had been inspired while wandering around the store. They’d had a lot of fun here together.

 

Kuroko ran ahead to go catch up with Kagami.

 

It took about ten minutes, but Kagami located the seventh scroll taped to the wall at the back of a display of fake owl pellets.

 

“Score!” He shouted. “Guys, let’s go find out where the last place we need to go is!”

 

The group ran to the front of the store to heading back out into the cold, bolstered by the knowledge that they had almost finished their quest.

 

Kagami handed the scroll to Furihata who unrolled it, letting the others all huddle in close so that they could see too.

 

“All of you need to SHACK up.”

 

“WHAT?”

 

Kagami’s shout could probably have been heard all the way back in the town center.

 

“Chill out, he means the Shrieking Shack,” Fukuda rolled his eyes. “I hope, right?”

 

“You’re definitely right, so let’s go and get this over with. It’s on the other damn side of the village again.”

 

Kuroko was beginning to run out of the stamina to keep up with his friends, which he supposed was the point. Walking and sprinting around the village was light, but meaningful exercise. Riko was making sure they didn’t waste the day without having put work into their training regimen.

 

It was devilishly clever, but Kuroko’s legs were in a lot of pain.

 

They made the trek towards the Shrieking Shack in near silence, all of them feeling a little worn out and ready to call it quits for the day.

 

The group climbed the hill up to the old house, staring at it from one side of the wrought metal gate that surrounded it.

 

Nobody else was in sight. The surrounding trees still had the majority of their leaves, though most had turned a brilliant red or brown by now.

 

“So what, that’s it?” Kagami asked. “Where’s the next clue? Or the seniors? I thought this was supposed to be the end of this hunt?”

 

“I think we need to go inside.”

 

“That does not look structurally sound,” Kuroko supplied. He took a resolute step back. “I think I’ll wait out here.”

 

“No way, if I’m trespassing on private property I’m taking you with me,” Kagami said, grabbing the scruff of Kuroko’s robes and pulling him forward again before releasing him. “Come on, last one there is a rotten egg!”

 

With an impressively powerful single bound, Kagami vaulted over the fence.

 

“Well shit,” Furihata said as Kagami straightened up, powdered snow falling all around him, having been kicked up by his forceful landing.

 

“Hurry up, would you?” Kagami said, looking up.

 

“Sure sure, on our way.”

 

Furihata lifted first Kuroko and then Kawahara high enough to make their way over the fence. Kuroko hit the ground hard as Furihata climbed the fence and jumped down on the other side.

 

Fukuda sighed and followed Furihata’s lead.

 

“Let’s go take a closer look then,” Kagami said.

 

The redhead led them on a worn path around the back of the house to where a broken window signified an easy entrance.

 

“Come on, watch your step,” Kagami said. “Any of you ever been in here before?”

 

“No way,” Furihata said.

 

“Nope,” Kawahara agreed.

 

“Never been stupid enough,” Fukuda replied.

 

“I have not,” Kuroko said when Kagami looked pointedly at him.

 

“Cool, so we need to be prepared for anything.”

 

The inside of the house was just as derelict as the outside. The wood was weak and rotting and everything looked one breath away from falling apart.

 

“Hello?” Kagami shouted.

 

They could hear creaking upstairs. Kagami gestured towards them.

 

“Must be safe if someone else is up there,” he reasoned.

 

“Unless they’re an axe murderer,” Furihata muttered. “Maybe Coach wants us to fight a serial killer?”

 

“Or, more likely, it could be our teammates,” Kagami rolled his eyes.

 

They took the stairs single file with Kagami in front and Kuroko taking the rear. All of them walked slowly and cautiously, half expecting the stairs to fall in on them at any moment.

 

But when they reached the upstairs, they didn’t see anyone at all. The landing led out into a few wide, empty rooms that were obviously free of any human inhabitants. In fact, it looked like nobody had been in any of them for a long time.

 

“Look at the dust,” Kawahara said, walking to the middle of the room and staring down at the floor. “There are footprints, but the path ends here.”

 

“We should go before the axe murderer jumps out,” Furihata said. “Or, you know, like a ghost axe murderer. That would be way worse to have to fight.”

 

“I’d rather fight a ghost axe murder than a ghost werewolf,” Kawahara replied in a whisper.

  
“Yeah but that would be a cool way to die!” Fukuda said brightly. “Mummies, on the other hand-”

 

“Don’t be such scaredy cats. Look, there’s a trap door up here!” Kagami said brightly, cutting through their discourse on what the coolest monster to murder them woild be. He jumped, his hand grabbing the high knob on the ceiling. With a solid yank, the powerful Gryffindor pulled it free.

 

He came crashing back to the floor, sending up a massive cloud of dust. Once it cleared and the group of Hufflepuffs stopped coughing they could see a ladder unfurled in front of them and the light of day streaming down.

 

“That woman and her roofs,” Kagami said with a grin. “I’m not afraid of heights.”

 

Kuroko, deciding there was nothing to fear with Kagami in front of him, took the next spot climbing up the ladder.

 

As he cleared the trapdoor, he looked out over the edge of the roof.

 

The village was laid out on gentle downward slope in front of them. They could see the little cottages and stores and the distant winding streets. Far away, the grounds of Hogwarts rose up, verdant and green, with the magnificent castle dominating the skyline. The lake was clearly visible from here, the same steel grey color of the sky. Even with the soft snowfall, they could see for _miles_.

 

“Wow,” Kagami said. “It’s beautiful.”

 

“This is so cool!” Kawahara shouted from behind Kuroko.

 

“Welcome, guys!” Hyuuga shouted. Kuroko turned to the side, seeing their seniors all sitting around on blankets, an upturned wooden crate serving as a table in front of them.

 

“You like the spell work?” Riko asked. “Hyuuga and Mitobe turned the attic see through so we could look out and still stay warm. Come on over!”

 

Kuroko was struck by the sudden warmth on his skin. He no longer felt the urge to shiver with the cold. The seniors must have done some powerful spell work on the roof to make it a comfortable place to hang out.

 

They must have come up here before, which meant they were sharing a secret with the sixth years that not a lot of people probably knew.

 

The group of new team members settled across from the seniors, still looking around the see through walls and roof of the attic in awe.

 

“This is amazing,” Kagami said.

 

“We _are_ your esteemed seniors,” Hyuuga preened.

 

“Alright alright, anyway, we got you something.”

 

Riko pulled out a covered metal plate from behind her and pushed it towards them. With a wave of her wand, she banished the dome covering it so that they could see a mass of steaming mugs. The warm smell of chocolate filled their noses.

 

“You’re the best coach ever!” Kawahara said. “We have the sandwiches! Ma’am!”

 

“Those are for you guys,” Riko said with a smile.

 

“You definitely earned them,” Hyuuga added.

 

“You did a great job!” Kiyoshi smiled, giving them all a thumbs up. “Good work, everyone! You worked together just like a real team should!”

 

They passed around the steaming mugs of hot chocolate, the younger students gratefully sipping from the hot drinks. Between the beverages and the warming charms they unwrapped the sandwiches.

 

“I think Kuroko should get to start first, he’s the one who managed to actually buy them without getting trampled,” Fukuda said.

 

“Yeah!” Furihata and Kawahara agreed.

 

“Go for it,” Kagami said, grinning.

 

Kuroko took a massive bite of his sandwich.

 

Oh man, that was amazing.

 

Kuroko wasn’t aware of his entire team staring at the blissful expression on his face, but he did hear Kagami whispering right next to him.

 

“Man, I’ve never seen him look that happy before!”

 

“It’s amazing,” Kuroko said when he finished his bite. “You should all eat yours!”

 

The rest of the team bit into their sandwiches, experiencing the delicious balance of flavors for themselves. Kagami polished his off in a horrifyingly fast amount of time, drawing a giant sub sandwich out from the bag.

 

“When did you even get that?” Fukuda demanded.

 

“Eh, when we were at the Head pub place,” Kagami shrugged. “I don’t care much about what type of sandwich I get, I just like them big.”

 

Indeed, the meal he was enjoying was almost comically huge, nearing two feet in length, and almost definitely assembled and held together by magical means.

 

“This has been a really good day,” Furihata said.

 

“Yeah, I’m glad we went along with this crazy – I mean, uh, super fun and totally not crazy – plan!”

 

Kawahara had immediately quailed under Riko’s gaze and amended his statement at her expression.

 

They stayed up there for quite a while, trading stories as the sky outside started to grow dim. They had conjured witch lights to keep them company up in the rickety attic, enjoying the whistling sound of the wind outside.

 

Hours later, cleaning up was a simple matter of banishing their trash, slipping out the back window, and climbing the fence to go back the way they had came.

 

It was almost evening by the time their team had made it back to the main part of Hogsmeade. All of the Hogwarts students were starting to head towards the edge of town, heading back down the path towards the castle. The prospect of a warm dinner back at Hogwarts sounded extremely appealing for all, as the novelty of wandering around town had worn thin and the cold began to seep through their winter gear. Clouds had gathered over the sky and it looked like snow might begin to fall soon. Winter was creeping up on them early this year, it seemed.

 

Kuroko was following at the back of his team when he noticed something out of the corner of his eye. Very few people were outside at the moment since it had gotten colder and colder as the day progressed. But there were two figures seated outside a teahouse at the end of the street causing Kuroko to pause.

 

The two figures meeting off the side of the street were unmistakable. Midorima and Akashi were sitting together, easily identifiable by the bright colors of their distinctive hair. Both of them had porcelain cups in front of them.

 

Kuroko was curious. He hadn’t seen much of either student since school started. Midorima showed up to a handful of classes that he shared with Hufflepuffs, but tended to sit silently in the back of the room diligently working on independent projects.

 

Aside from the confrontation after his duel with Kise, Kuroko hadn’t seen Akashi at all. Hufflepuff shared no classes with Slytherin and but Akashi and Midorima had been absent from since that first day of the one elective they shared (Ancient Runes).

 

Kuroko wanted to know what was going on.

 

He broke away from his teammates and started down the side street. A handful of people were running about, though none were lingering. Akashi was facing away from Kuroko, however, and Midorima’s entire attention was fixed onto Akashi. Kuroko thought perhaps his misdirection might still work here.

 

Akashi looked tired. He was slightly slumped into his seat and was moving more deliberately than usual. Kuroko noted that Midorima’s arms were both wrapped in bandages. The wraps went from his fingers all the way up to where his skin disappeared inside the sleeve of his shirt at the elbow. Midorima was also handling the little cup in front of him delicately, as though he was injured.

 

Kuroko wondered what had happened to the Ravenclaw.

 

Akashi took another sip of his tea before reaching into his bag, which was leaning casually against the side of his chair. Kuroko crept closer, wondering what the two wizards were talking about. He crept just within hearing distance, not trusting his misdirection to allow him any closer before Akashi noticed him.

 

“Shintarou,” Akashi said. “I found the item you requested from me. May I ask why you needed this?”

 

The book remained on his side of the table with Akashi’s hand balanced on it. It was clear, at least to Kuroko, that Akashi had no intention of handing over the book until Midorima explained exactly why he wanted it.

 

Midorima pursed his lips together.

 

“I believe it would be best to seek further information before I ring any alarms or cause a needless panic,” he said finally. “I don’t mean to be deliberately vague, but I don’t feel it would be productive to share any of my suspicions at the moment. Hence the need for this.”

 

Midorima reached over and tapped the book with a single, bandaged finger.

 

“Very well,” Akashi smiled genially, lifting his hand away from the book in an overly showy, magnanimous gesture. “I do expect that you will come and find me when you do have a better idea about what is going on. I pass on this heirloom of mine only on that condition.”

 

“Should my theories prove to be correct, I will share them with you. If I am wrong, then there will be nothing to say.”

 

Akashi chuckled as Midorima pulled the book across the table and gently placed it in his satchel.

 

“Well then, good luck. I suppose we shall talk more after Samhain? Or was there another ritual you hoped to use from this text?”

 

Midorima gave Akashi a sharp nod as the redhead stood, leaving a few galleons by his cup and picking up his bag.

 

“Well then, I will see you soon. Good luck, Shintarou.”

 

Kuroko watched as Midorima gathered up his belongings and left in a hurry of his own, only seconds after Akashi did. The book disappeared into his bag with gentle care, but he walked swiftly away from the table, as though eager to be gone.

 

How odd.

 

As he hastened back towards his team, Kuroko wondered what Midorima could have possibly seen that had left him bending his pride enough to go to Akashi for help.

 

…

 

Kuroko left the incident in the back of his mind, but it was hard to look too deeply into it when he had so many other things going on.

 

He saw only glimpses of the Ravenclaw over the next few weeks and nothing at all of Akashi. After the Hogsmeade weekend, he vanished just as he had at the beginning of the year. The Slytherin with the overbearing presence appeared to be lying low – perhaps waiting for Midorima to return with information on what they had to do next. Kuroko wondered what he was waiting for exactly, but he had precious little spare time to ponder.

 

In the meantime, Kuroko trained.

 

Perhaps it was because complicated and extraordinary magic came so easy to the Miracles, but they had never worked quite as hard as Kuroko saw his teammates working now.

 

Riko ran them through drill after drill. She trained them on strength, accuracy, and stamina. Once a week, they ran the lake. Riko was beginning to threaten that they would be doing two laps after Halloween. Kuroko’s stamina had improved in iotas; it was a far cry from the leaps and bounds his teammates were making. The speed and strength of his casting did not change at all.

 

All of that was fine: Kuroko had his weapon, and in every spare second he had he strained his misdirection to its limits to build it up.

 

As Halloween came, he let himself forget what he had seen in Hogsmeade. After all, it had nothing to do with him. He probably shouldn’t even have tried to overhear a conversation so obviously meant only for private ears.

 

He had better things to worry about, anyway.

 

…

 

On Halloween, Midorima dutifully attended the Feast, keeping an eye on the younger students. It was his duty as one of the oldest and most senior Ravenclaw Prefects to make sure that there were no students missing or lost anywhere, or that if they weren’t there that their whereabouts were accounted for. He catalogued each face down the table, satisfied that his underclassmen were all present, before heaving a small pile of vegetables onto his plate.

 

Midorima was on edge and impatient, his temper snapping even more quickly than usual. He wanted it to be nightfall, but the sun was still in the sky. He needed the moon to be at its peak before he could do anything. He had plenty of time, which was just causing him more frustration.

 

He ate lightly, picking at his food and snapping at anyone who dared ask him a question.

 

 _Fools,_ he thought to himself. They had no idea what was coming. Only Midorima had a shot at saving all of them and yet they were too preoccupied with this tawdry celebration of a bastardized and sanitized wizarding holiday of great moment. Wizards elsewhere across the world were preparing for Samhain, but the Ministry of Magic in all its wisdom thought that such holidays would alienate muggleborn and halfblood wizards stepping foot into the wizarding world for the first time.

 

It was a pathetic shadow. The gaudy pumpkins and flickering bats overhead were more annoying than almost anything other than the slow movement of the clock. It was a child’s amusement, nothing more.

 

Night came painfully slow, but it did come. Midorima was aware he was fidgeting and irritable throughout the entire feast, but he couldn’t help it.

 

There was nothing for it – he could hardly hide that he was eager for the moon to rise. It wasn’t like under ordinary circumstances he was particularly social anyway. He wanted to know what disaster and war they would be fighting. While he was exceptionally well suited towards waiting, he was ready to act now.

 

Finally it was time. Midorima grabbed his bag, full of the necessary ingredients and items, and set off for one of the less crowded towers.

 

There were spaces for rituals, the kind of magic that Hogwart’s hadn’t taught in decades.

Midorima had been using them since the beginning of the year, enhancing his own skills and talents.

 

He pulled open the door and magically sealed it behind him. He needed no interruptions tonight.

 

Taking a deep breath, he felt the latent magic still sizzling in the room.

 

The time was right. It was the one night a year when this magic would be freely his for the taking. The moon was in the correct phase. Midorima had studied the correct runes and order in which the ritual must be performed, and knew them from memory. He had his lucky item with him in his pocket.

 

Midorima had done all that he could to secure his success. Everything else would be left to Fate to decide whether or not she wanted to share her secrets with the Ravenclaw student. He would find out soon if Fate found him worthy of her cause.

 

Without further consideration, Midorima got to work. He left his robe hanging by the door and rolled up his sleeves. His arms were still bandaged, though the old cuts there had healed entirely this morning. He unwrapped the bandages running down to his fingers and banished them.

 

He would be in need of fresh ones soon enough anyway.

 

Midorima set out his tools with obsessive care and turned to the empty space of the room.

 

First, he picked up the chalk.

 

He worked slowly, carefully. Time wasn’t an issue anymore, not when he had already started with the moon overhead, and one wrong stroke, one messy rune could end everything. So he crafted with exact precision, feeling the magic begin to buzz around him, crackling like electricity on the air.

 

Paint and salt and blessed runes and the ashes of a Phoenix and the blood of a dragon. Each one played a specific role in the ritual, powering it, controlling it, shaping Midorima’s will in magic.

 

Had he been any other member of society, the ingredients would have been almost impossible to procure. As a Midorima, the heir to a mogul controlling the apothecary industry in multiple countries across the world, getting what he wanted was merely a matter of asking in a way that didn’t place his request under suspicion.

 

And after all, nobody second-guessed the firstborn son of an old, powerful, pureblood house, no matter how odd his requests might me. Midorima’s own eccentricity with regards to his lucky items had pretty much absolved him of all suspicion no matter what kind of item he sought, because any strange requests were seen as just another of his “quirks”.

 

The circle was huge and complex – probably the most intricate, complicated, intense runic compilation Midorima had ever used, as difficult as any he’d ever seen. It was far above student level, certainly.

 

He’d done his groundwork precisely, limiting the field of the spell, making sure it had the fuel to work, reciting the correct invocations… he took to it with the dedicated fervor of a man possessed.

 

He drew the runes in chalk and then again in Phoenix ash. He poured out a generous portion of dragon’s blood into the bowl in front of him before picking up the knife he’d set on the ground inside the circle.

 

Midorima cut his hands, letting his blood run freely into the bowl to mix with the dark purple blood of the dragon already settled inside. When he judged he had enough of his own blood to begin, the boy tapped his hand to seal the wound. He watched the skin knit back together and proceeded to outline the chalked runes in the mixture.

 

With each completed figure, Midorima could hear a high-pitched whining at the back of his mind. The building pressure of magic around him was strong enough that it felt like an almost physical sensation on his skin.

 

Midorima could feel the magic beating on the outside of his circle, screaming to be used, only barely under his control. There was wind howling around the corners of the tower, and the outer sigils of the circle were beginning to smoke.

 

Midorima smiled bitterly.

 

He could feel the power burning, just inside his grasp now. He was going to be successful, that much he already knew. For the first time in weeks (months really, given how long he had felt this danger hanging over his head) he felt at peace. The answers to all his questions were hovering before him, ready to take if he dared to accept them.

 

He placed a new bowl in front of him, prepared already with the mix of herbs, spices, and incense required by the ritual.

 

Well, there was no going back now.

 

Midorima’s damned curiosity was going to be the death of him.

 

He set fire to the mix with the wisp of a thought. The sudden resulting explosion of light nearly blinded him as the runes in his circle glowed a painfully bright green. He shut his eyes against the light, barely daring to breathe, before he spoke.

 

“Show me the truth.”

 

Midorima spoke with the command of someone who knew beyond all doubt that they would be obeyed. The magic he had harnessed tonight to supplement his own power of prescience would provide him the information he requested. There was no other potential result.

 

Midorima opened his eyes and watched the smoke rise slowly out of the bowl. The light around him had dimmed leaving only the burned out remains of the circle steadily smoking just like the bowl in front of him.

 

For a moment he was worried that he had done something wrong. He had followed each procedure exactly; he knew that each rune and cut was exactly what was called for, but perhaps Fate had chosen to deny him this insight. Perhaps this was a ritual meant only for those of the Akashi bloodline, even though the book had said nothing specific to that effect about this ritual. After all, some family magic-

 

Midorima was thrown into the coming vision so violently he felt as though he had just flown headfirst into one of the walls of Hogwarts full speed on a broomstick. He inhaled deeply and the world fell away from him.

 

…

 

It was well past midnight when Midorima woke on the floor of the ritual room.

 

The torches in the room had burned themselves out, but that was of no consequence. Midorima called a circle of witch lights to his side, considering the burnt out circle and the bowl in front of him.

 

He didn’t have any idea how much time had passed, but his heart was racing with urgency now. He had to act. He had to do something. There was a restless panic settling in under his collarbone and he had no idea what to do about it.

 

Midorima’s first rule regarding his insights was that he never shared what he had seen, no matter how great or terrible, with any other person. No matter how desperate the need to change what he had seen, he never told anyone explicitly what had happened.

 

The farthest he had ever gone to prevent the events in one of his visions was to manipulate Aomine into goading the Gryffindor Quidditch team. With Hyuuga Junpei stepping down, the older of the Ootsubo brothers had been uncertain in his own new authority, and a few barbed remarks from the smug Aomine had caused him to round up the team in a fit of anger.

 

The Ravenclaw had needed them out to somehow be on the pitch at eleven at night in the hope that they could stop an innocent and senseless death, and somehow his intervention had worked. It had been a last ditch effort at a semester spent trying with every part of his being to dissuade the other boy from pursuing him. He had hoped that by severing their association he could end whatever chain of events resulted in the Gryffindor’s deliberate fall from the Astronomy Tower.

 

In fact, Midorima had tried so hard to discourage Takao’s affections in the knowledge of what was to come that he had almost played the pivotal role in the other boy’s death.

 

As with so many prophecies through history, Midorima’s horrific visions had almost been brought about by his desperate attempt to stop them.

 

The results of reading the stars, those he felt no compunction sharing. After all, those general insights were available to anyone with an eye to the sky and a curiosity strong enough to look in a book. They hardly yielded specific information anyway.

 

Nor did he hesitate in carrying his lucky item for the day proudly, warding off the vagaries of destiny by deferring to what he saw in his cards or telescope.

 

Everything else, however, was another story. Midorima never outright shared the object of his Sight.

 

When he awoke from his magically induced visions, sweating, eyes wide, heaving for breath as his stomach rolled violently, he knew.

 

He was going to have to break that rule.

 

With what he had seen tonight, with what he knew was coming…

 

He had to tell someone.

 

He required the aid of someone with the foresight to prevent his visions from coming through, someone who could navigate the coming doom without accidentally causing it, someone with the power to command the future, and Midorima only knew one person who could do that.

 

He had to tell Akashi.

 

Midorima pushed himself to his feet. With a tap of his wand he wrapped his arms with bandages to prevent the scabbing wounds from becoming infected. He would fully treat them later, Right now Midorima was loathe to attempt any kind of healing spell with his skin still sizzling with magic from the ritual and the smell of sulfur still thick in the air.

 

Moving with jerky, shaking motions, Midorima rolled his sleeves back down his arms and buttoned the cuffs. He smoothed out the wrinkles in his clothes and donned his robe, which had been left hung neatly by the door.

 

Midorima set out for the Slytherin dorms, checking that his lucky item (a rubber duck wearing a tophat and monocle) was snugly tucked into the front pocket of his robes. His mind was still almost blank with terror, but with a set goal in front of him and his legs moving him forward he felt better.

 

He stopped outside the stretch of wall in the dungeon where he knew the Slytherin common rooms would be found and rapped gently. The face of a snake appeared before him, and Midorima inclined his head.

 

“What bringsssss the Eaglesssss prefect to the dungeonssss?” The snake spoke in a hissing, sibilant voice.

 

“It is quite urgent that I speak to Akashi Seijuro, your Sixth Year prefect,” he said in an even tone. “I apologize for the late hour, but it is important.”

 

“Very well. Pleasssse wait.”

 

Midorima waited, bouncing on the balls of his feet with anxiety, as the snake slithered back into the stone from whence it came.

 

Not much later, the wall opened and Akashi stepped out, still dressed as though he had not yet gone to bed. Midorima’s scowl deepened. It was well past three in the morning – he had expected to rouse the Slytherin student from his slumber, but Akashi was still wearing his pressed student shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. His robes were discarded, but his tie was still snug and neat around his neck.

 

“Shintarou,” Akashi said in a pleasant voice as though he was not at all surprised to see his old teammate at the door of his common room at an ungodly hour of the day. “Good morning.”

 

“We have to talk,” Midorima replied curtly.

 

A small smile curled it’s way around Akashi’s lips.

 

“Very well.”

 

…

 

Several days passed. The first week after Halloween was calm, and Kuroko settled into November without any problems. The Daily Prophet was running a segment on the sixth page about the elections in the American Magical Government and from what they were saying it looked as if Nash Gold was going to win the Presidency.

 

They published some of the portions of his speeches. It was all pretty generic crap about unity and standing together and strength in numbers and all that. Kuroko personally thought the entire thing was painfully boring. Nash Gold’s election was a mere curiosity to a student body that had met (and profoundly disliked) the man’s son.

 

One of the columns was analyzing the man’s likely economic policies, but Kuroko’s eyes skimmed over the article.

 

It was certainly worthy of note, and Kagami’s half hearted commentary on the election was interesting enough whenever the redhead was pressed into answering questions about his home country, but there were more important things to worry about than the distant political machinations of a foreign government.

 

For one thing, the only subject Kuroko was doing any good work in was Runes and that was mostly because he did his work for that class with Kagami.

 

“I can’t believe it’s already November,” Kagami mused as they were walking down the hall. “When are we going to get to duel again anyway?”

 

“Most of the official competitions are supposed to happen in the spring,” Kuroko supplied. “The schedule said we had two or three competitions before Christmas break and then would recommence when we all return.”

 

“God I can’t wait to get back in the arena!” Kagami said. “I can’t help but keep thinking about that duel with Kise – I hope all this talk everyone’s doing about the Miracles is for real, because otherwise I’m just going to be pissed off.”

 

“Trust me,” Kuroko said in a low voice. “They won’t disappoint you.”

 

Of that, at least, he was sure.

 

…

 

Kuroko was the last one packing up after potions. They’d spent most of the period doing hellishly complex potions that required precise timing and care. Kuroko had only just gotten to a point where he could put the cauldron in stasis to continue brewing their next class as the bell rang. Having been a step behind the rest of the class, he was still cleaning up several minutes after the room had entirely emptied.

 

Thus it was just Kuroko’s luck to turn a corner and find himself facing Akashi and Midorima, heads bent together in a serious conversation. Kuroko froze, instinct taking over.

 

_I am a shadow, you don’t see me, I’m not even really here._

 

Neither Akashi nor Midorima looked up, so intent on each other that an earthquake might have been hard pressed to distract them.

 

“You said you needed time to think. This is as much time as we have, Akashi. Do you have a plan or not?”

 

Midorima’s voice came out in a hissing, furious whisper that echoed down the hall.

 

“Sei-kun, what the hell?”

 

Kuroko looked up at the sound of the familiar (and angry) voice. Momoi was striding down the other end of the corridor, eyes blazing.

 

“I gave you the opportunity to include me on your own, and now I want to know what’s going on,” Momoi snapped when she was facing Akashi and Midorima, arms folded stubbornly. “Whatever it is the two of you are planning, I want in. You need me.”

 

Akashi sighed, looking more uncertain than Kuroko had ever seen him.

 

“This is why I wanted to meet with you at a later time,” he said to Midorima. “Satsuki, hello.”

 

Momoi didn’t respond to the greeting.

 

“Shintarou has had some _insight_ which has given both of us cause for concern. He did not want to alarm anyone by calling attention to the issue so early, without knowing everything, and I did not believe it would be productive to have everyone involved in making decisions about what we are going to do just yet now that he does have the bigger picture.”

  
“Fine, but now that he does have all the information and you’ve made your plans, what’s going on and how can I help?”

 

Kuroko knew a lost cause when he saw it, and apparently so did Akashi, because the redhead didn’t even try to convince the other Slytherin to back out of the conversation. He turned to Midorima instead.

 

“You are positive in what you have seen?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Akashi paused. His hand clenched into a white knuckled fist.

 

“Very well,” he said. “We need to stay on top of this. Whatever happens, we must not fail.”

 

Of course. How very typical of the Slytherin to reduce this situation to making a bold proclamation about who would come out on top.

 

“What if we do fail?”

 

Midorima sounded uncertain, cautious. It was so unlike him that Akashi was startled into silence for a moment. Momoi was watching both of them with narrowed eyes.

 

Akashi placed a hand on Midorima’s shoulder.

 

“It will not,” he said softly. “You already know what is coming and have sounded an acceptable warning. And I am, after all, _absolute._ ”

 

Momoi snorted.

 

“So, it would seem, is our future,” Midorima shot back. “Akashi, there is a very real possibility that no matter what we do, we will lose. I have never managed to change what I’ve seen in any of my visions. This has been in the works for _years -_ we don’t have enough of a head start on them to really change anything. We must be prepared for the worst.”

 

Akashi’s face was framed in the dull light from the window. He considered Midorima for several long seconds before taking Midorima’s bandaged hand in both of his own. The gesture was gentle and kind in a way Kuroko had not thought to associate with his former captain for quite some time.

 

“Satsuki, Shintarou has foreseen a terrible disaster,” Akashi said. “It has been brewing for quite some time without notice or attention. I believe that even so, that I have identified the turning point, and that it is within our power to stop it.”

 

“Sei-kun,” Momoi said. Her eyes were wide with surprise and her expression was completely unguarded. “What are you going to do?”

 

“Right now, I need your help to convince Shintarou that this future will not happen. I need him to calm down so that we may work with even heads and clear minds. Will you consent to bond me to that oath by my life or death?”

 

Momoi’s mouth fell open. Midorima’s eyes widened in abject shock. Even Kuroko was surprised.

 

The future was anomalous and uncertain. Even for one with Midorima’s gift of foresight, there was no promise of one path or another being taken. Akashi wanted to make an unbreakable vow about the future?

 

“Akashi,” Midorima whispered. “What are you doing? If you’re wrong, if we fail, you’ll _die_ -”

 

“I’m aware of the implications of making such a vow, and am certain that it will not be a concern. Satsuki, if you would?”

 

Momoi fumbled as she pulled out her wand, looking between the two other students uncertainly.

 

“Sei-kun, are you-”

 

“I’m quite certain,” Akashi said. “Your wand, please.”

 

Momoi placed her wand over Akashi and Midorima’s joined hands, her lips pressed into a frown.

 

“Shintarou,” Akashi said slowly and deliberately. “You have trusted me and confided in me and placed your faith in my mind and in my power. You were not wrong to do so. _I, Akashi Seijuro, swear to you on my magic that the future you have seen will not come to pass._ ”

 

The space between Akashi and Midorima’s hands glowed red. Spirals of light ran from Momoi’s wand up Akashi’s arms, binding him to his word until his oath was seen through to the end or his death released him.

 

“I told you,” Akashi said. “This is not petty bravado: I am absolute, and I will stop what you have seen from coming to pass whatever the cost to me. Even were I not to swear this to you on my magic, I would be dead in short order anyway.”

 

Midorima released Akashi’s hands, looking away. His face was impassive, but Momoi wore every inch of worry on her face. She looked like she was about to cry.

 

Then Midorima spoke, and his voice broke with emotion - chiefly relief and gratitude.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “Thank you.”

 

Kuroko fled before any of the Miracles could look away and suddenly realize that they had a phantom in their midst.

 

It occurred to Kuroko, when he’d finally made it to the safety of the Hufflepuff dorm, that perhaps there was something of greater concern than his coming duels with the Generation of Miracles.

 

 _That_ was worrisome.

 

…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, [feel free to come say hi on Tumblr!](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)


	29. This Chapter Is So Sweet I Literally Had To Get A Cavity Filled While Writing It

…

 

The second week of November came faster than Kuroko had been expecting. The first round of the intra-school tournament was going to be in a matter of days and he legitimately didn’t know if they were ready. His team was strong, but was it enough to follow through on the bold promises of the sixth years?

 

He was considering the cloudy grey sky the Wednesday morning before their first duel when Kawahara provided a welcome distraction in the form of interesting news.

 

“Wow, it looks like Nash Gold is President,” Kawahara observed, reading through the continued editorial on the fifth page of the Daily Prophet. “They had the election yesterday and he won.”

 

“Listen why do you follow this American political bullshit?” Fukuda asked. “Why do you even care?”

 

“Someone’s got to be politically active around here,” Furihata defended Kawahara. “We’re sixth years now – we’re almost in the real world, we should know what’s going on in it.”

 

“Listen, I don’t even know what’s going on in Potions,” Fukuda groused. “Let alone the world! Why do any of us need to care about who’s President anyway?”

 

“It’s called being cultured,” Kawahara replied testily, snapping the pages of his Daily Prophet as he turned to the next article. “Besides, his foreign policy is a mess.”

 

“What do you know about foreign policy?”

 

“I know it affects the _world_ and as one of the idiots living in _the world_ I would like to think that I have a reason to care about what other countries say about us!” Kawahara defended himself, his ears bright pink.

 

“I think Kawahara is right,” Sakurai said.

 

“See, Furihata and Sakurai agree!” Kawahara said.

 

“Psh, whatever,” Fukuda said. “It’s boring.”

 

The Hufflepuffs continued to bicker with each other all through breakfast prompting Kuroko to go back to his thoughts.

 

He could tell that their Captain and Coach were worried about their chances of winning. They had been driving the team harder with every practice, developing new strategies and tactics.

 

Kuroko wondered if it would be enough. Coach and Captain had shared the schedule of the tournament with the sixth years during the Hogsmeade weekend. They had confirmed that the first of the Miracles they would face would be Midorima, just as he had hoped.

 

Midorima’s own skills might prove to not be as useful against Kagami’s explosive style of duelling. and Kuroko was trying to work out a way around Takao’s ability to keep track of him during a duel.

 

Of course, even before they faced their first Miracle in an official duel the team was going to have to get through several other teams first.

 

…

 

Their first duel came all too soon. Kuroko was finally standing back in the arena for his first official match in a very long time.

 

“I thought they said first years weren’t allowed to compete,” someone complained loudly from behind Kuroko.

 

A seventh year Slytherin was standing there, looking down at Kuroko with a disapproving expression.

 

“Children should stay away from the dueling arena.”

 

Kuroko internally sighed. He was used to being viewed as a child, but from someone he had been at school with for six years it was a little tiresome.

 

Papa Mbaye Siki was not as tall as Murasakibara, but he was almost as obnoxious. His family had come to Britain from Senegal and the strength of his talent had spurred him into competing for a spot in the senior division of the interschool tournament. He’d drawn the bad luck of facing four of the Uncrowned Kings – Nebuya, Hayama, Mibuchi, and finally Hanamiya. He’d lost all four duels resoundingly, but apparently he was back and aiming to help his team conquer a new field of duelists.

 

Kuroko wasn’t a big fan of his attitude, not that he would let that stop him from being unfailingly polite to the guy. Thankfully, his teammates were more than willing to make up the slack in his willingness to tell the seventh year off.

 

“Hey, what are you doing bothering my team!” Hyuuga shouted, running over. “Harass people on your own time not mine.” Kuroko was grateful for the intervention.

 

“He’s _competing?_ ” the seventh year asked, before bursting into laughter. “Wow, I heard you beat the Generation of Miracles, but you’re just a bunch of little kids! They must rely on fighting with each other so much that they’re weak alone. This year is going to be a cakewalk to win!”

 

Kuroko felt his blood pressure skyrocket.

 

The other boy walked away, still laughing. Kuroko watched him go, his blank face giving away nothing of what was going on inside his head – at least until he opened his mouth.

 

“To be honest, that guy pissed me off.”

 

Kagami put a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder, chuckling behind him.

 

“Good to hear that the part of you that hates to lose is still with us,” he said. “Are you ready to go kick their asses and show them what us _kids_ can do?”

 

Kuroko nodded very seriously.

 

He had originally intended to sit out until he was needed – it would give him the opportunity to observe the movements of their opponents without taking up the spot of someone who could help fight back. Against a new team his first few minutes in would invariably hobble his own team while they fought one player short while he faded into the background.

 

Still, he was ready to pound the loud seventh year into the ground.

 

Riko was hesitant to put him in at first, but recognized the fire in the sixth year’s eyes.

 

“Let him go defend his honor,” Kiyoshi had told her with a smile. “He’ll be fine.”

 

Kuroko nodded his agreement, turning back to their coach with wide, hopeful eyes.

 

“Ugh, go kick their asses,” she agreed, waving a hand at him signalling that he was to make his way into the arena. “But I’m subbing you out at the first sign of trouble!”

 

Kuroko wasn’t going to give this duel a chance to _be_ trouble in the first place. He maneuvered himself so that he was standing right in front of the seventh year that had offended him, ready to take down the older boy. Let him see firsthand what the power of the Generation of Miracles looked like - it took something more than brash bravado and the thoughtless application of power to win against the strongest wizards in the world.Kuroko knew that there was every possibility his own team would not be able to face his former friends without losing, but he already  _knew_ that Papa couldn't. 

 

“This is ridiculous, they even have a child on the bench,” Papa was saying to his teammates loudly.

 

“I’m not a child,” Kuroko said, standing in front of the seventh year. 

 

“What? You’re starting?”

 

“Maybe we should make flyers,” Hyuuga muttered to Izuki. “Then nobody would have to explain this every time we start a round.”

 

“Doesn’t that defeat the point?” Izuki whispered back. “Let them underestimate us.”

 

Hyuuga smiled. It wasn't a particularly nice one.

 

Their duel started and immediately turned into a contest of strength. Kagami and Papa were facing off at the center of the court, neither willing to move an inch. For every spell Kagami cast, his opponent countered, but Papa still couldn’t move the Gryffindor from where he was standing.

 

“Us kids can cause plenty of trouble,” Kagami grinned. “I’ll bet we finish this duel in the next minute and a half. Wanna take that?”

 

Papa frowned.

 

“Sure,” he said. “We’re not going down to a bunch of children like you!”

 

Kagami laughed outright. With a giant leap, he bounced off the shield and landed behind Papa. The Senegalese student reacted quickly enough, but his first two curses went wide. Kagami ducked, rolling out of the way of Kuroko as the Hufflepuff returned the spells right back to their caster, knocking him unconscious.

 

“I wish everyone would stop calling me a child,” Kuroko said from behind Kagami. Kagami clapped him on the shoulder.

 

They both scattered out of the way of the other team as they laid down a line of fire to go revive their ace. Hyuuga and Izuki had taken down another duelist while Kagami had faced off with Papa, but the overall duel was still going strong. Papa was now revived and attacked Kagami with the aid of one of his teammates. The Gryffindor was having a hard time getting close enough to take them down, but then again he didn’t need to.

 

Suddenly and without warning, it seemed that Papa could not land a single spell on his target.

 

It became clear to Kagami almost immediately what his Phantom was doing. Kuroko was specifically targeting Papa, moving his spells around without anyone the wiser. The seventh year was losing his temper, which made his magic and his spellcasting even less accurate.

 

“You’ve cast your last spell,” Kagami taunted the older student.

 

“I’m going to beat you!” Papa shouted back. Kagami didn’t even bother dodging the spells that were sent towards him, trusting Kuroko to be his shield.

 

“I think that minute and a half is almost up, so I’m ready to end this,” Kagami said. “Kuroko!”

 

Kagami didn’t need to do much to call up the storm of fire that surrounded him with only a thought. He sent the magic directly towards his shadow, standing faithfully by his side.

 

Six pillars of fire exploded outwards, targeting the other team. Kuroko and Kagami’s teammates hit the deck as they saw the fire tinged with blue rocketing through the arena.

 

And then, just like that, it was over.

 

Kagami whooped with excitement, high fiving Kuroko.

 

“All _right!”_ he shouted.

 

Kuroko felt warmth spreading down his chest as he and Kagami celebrated their first official victory together.

 

This was going to be the start of many amazing things they were going to do together.

 

Kuroko was sure of that, at least.

 

As they left, Kagami passed Pap growling about how his team should have been the one to advance through the tournament to face the Generation of Miracles. Kuroko hoped that Kagami would keep his opinions to himself, but of course there was no basis for believing that he would do so in the slightest.

 

“You think you can fight against the Generation of Miracles? You’re so full of yourself. Those guys are way too strong for you.”

 

The truth was that even Kise could have taken on this team alone and shut down their chances of winning almost immediately. They would have lasted barely a moment against Murasakibara or Akashi.

 

Still, Kuroko thought that night, staring up at the canopy of his bed, still feeling the warmth of Kagami’s magic tingling on the palm of his hand, it was a good duel.

 

…

 

Kagami had explained the idea of Thanksgiving to his British teammates about three or four times, but it just wasn’t clicking.

 

“There’s no way the British muggles got on that well with the natives,” Kawahara said skeptically. “Didn’t they bring like Cholera over there and kill and enslave everyone?”

 

“Oi, it’s not like I was there!” Kagami argued back. “The reason for the holiday is shitty, but it’s a reason to get time off work to spend with your family and eat until you can’t move anymore! You’re missing the point of the whole thing!”

 

“Americans are weird,” Furihata said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully.

 

“We should have Thanksgiving here!” Fukuda said. “We could use the practice room and all make food and stuff!”

 

“YES! I’ll make pumpkin pie and turkey and everything!” Kagami said.

 

“What else do Americans eat? We can help!” Furihata said.

 

“We eat the same things you do!”

 

“You’re all going to be eating dust if you don’t keep moving!”

 

The charming voice of their Captain, who had fallen behind to berate the group of sixth years for failing to keep up on their second round around the lake, cut through the conversation like a knife.

 

“If you have the energy to chit chat, you can defend yourselves,” Hyuuga continued cheerfully, holding his wand steady even while maintaining his pace. “ _Stupefy_!”

 

Kagami cursed and ducked, rolling forwards to maintain his momentum. The sixth years scattered.

 

“That’s more like it!” Hyuuga yelled. “And where’s Kuroko?”

 

“Right here, Captain,” Kuroko appeared by Hyuuga’s elbow. “I… don’t know… how much more of this run I can do.”

 

“Keep breathing,” Hyuuga advised, patting him on the back. “We’re almost there. If you need to sit out you can, but it’ll mean double training tomorrow on shields.”

 

Kuroko nodded at this pronouncement – unlike Akashi, who, especially in the last year of the Generation of Miracles, sat Kuroko out and deferred to his weak stamina on a regular basis, Riko and Hyuuga expected much more from him.

 

He just hoped he would be able to keep up.

 

Hyuuga ran ahead, throwing curses at the sixth years and forcing them to fight on the run. In the dark, his spells burned particularly bright. Kuroko let himself focus on the light in front of him to try and maintain his pace and keep running.

 

It wasn’t until the next day that the Hufflepuffs had the opportunity to raise the idea of Thanksgiving with their Coach after practice.

 

“Why do I get the feeling that this is just an excuse to get out of training?” Riko asked, raising an eyebrow after they had finished explaining what they wanted to do.

 

“We’ll finish training first!” Furihata assured their Coach quickly. “Team bonding is good for dueling anyway, right?”

 

Riko heaved an extremely put upon sigh.

 

“Fine fine, I’ll get permission for us to use the practice room then.”

 

The Hufflepuffs cheered.

 

Thus, that Friday the team spent the morning getting ready to make a huge Thanksgiving dinner. Technically, as Kagami had explained at length, Thanksgiving was supposed to be on a Thursday, but in order to be able to take the time to cook, they needed at least a full free afternoon, which meant delaying their celebration by a day. Furihata, Kawahara, and Fukuda were preparing giant pots of Macaroni and Cheese. Izuki was making a plate of potatoes, and Mitobe was working with Hyuuga on their (third) batch of stuffing. Riko had ruined the first two and had been summarily dismissed with thanks from the kitchen while the boys worked after Kiyoshi healed the self inflicted wounds she had caused herself while cooking.

 

Kuroko was supporting Kagami as he basted the giant bird that was going to be eaten that night, the elves watched the students work with wide eyes at the sheer volume of food.

 

“Anyone think maybe we should make some vegetables or something?” Koganei asked as he worked on his own task – mixing cider and spices to seep during the day to be heated that evening with dinner.

 

Kagami looked over the proceedings, shrugging.

 

“Nah, we have potatoes, cheese, meat, bread… I’ve got dough chilling for pie… I think we’re good!”

 

Hyuuga covered a laugh with one hand.

 

“…Or I guess I can make vegetables when this goes into the oven,” Kagami muttered under his breath.

 

“If only so that Riko doesn’t come after you,” Izuki added cheerfully. “You wouldn’t want to be on the cutting edge of her anger!”

 

“That one was a little forced,” Hyuuga muttered.

 

“Really? I thought so, but I wasn’t sure.”

 

“Definitely a reach,” Hyuuga confirmed. Izuki shrugged.

 

“Not every line's a winner,” he admitted. “Anyway, think we should let this stew?”

 

They left Thanksgiving dinner cooking in the kitchen to attend their afternoon classes. As soon as afternoon hit and they were done for the day, the team returned to the kitchen to pick up the now ready dinner.

 

The sight of the group of teenagers levitating a line of heavy pots and pans behind them as they made their way down the corridor was amusing. Kagami proudly led the charge with his fully baked and stuffed turkey floating in it’s pan of gravy right beside him.

 

It was a good night.

 

…

 

Their last round of duels before the end of the year went quickly. They had drawn a series of mostly younger teams that posed no serious challenge to the combination of Kagami’s power, Hyuuga’s tactical skills, Izuki’s playmaking, and the explosive teamwork they organized.

 

Unfortunately, Kuroko found that he did not participate in many of these duels. He spent a lot of time on the sidelines, all but vibrating in frustration as he desperately cheered on his team.

 

“Listen, we have a lot of duels ahead of us,” Riko told him sympathetically during one of the competitions. “I don’t want you to overexert yourself when our team needs you in the later rounds. Let your seniors and Kagami destroy these guys on their own. When we need you, I want you in your best form.”

 

Kuroko had nodded. It was weird – being benched because the team wanted to avoid wasting his strength, as opposed to being benched for not being strong enough. He appreciated the difference, and bit down his own frustration.

 

Riko did let him out on the court during their last duel, however. As they had lined up facing the other team, Kuroko and Kagami almost immediately recognized their opponents as the set of fourth year reprobates they had caught bullying a group of younger students after their duel with Kise.

 

It was also immediately apparent that their opponents recognized the dual force that had crushed them into the ground, because they avoided Kagami and his shadow like the plague.

 

They weren’t very successful and Kuroko helped his team win with a fantastic lead.

 

It was not a long duel, but it was still a very satisfying one.

 

As Kuroko and Kagami celebrated, the duel next to them had ended as well.

 

Kuroko watched as Midorima, Takao, and their team bowed to their opponents before breaking off to celebrate together.

 

Only Midorima stood alone. Kuroko watched and was interested to see that it wasn’t long before Takao left the group of cheering students to go join the Miracle.

 

Suddenly both of them were looking directly towards Kuroko and Kagami. The normally unobservant Kagami  noticed the extra attention and stopped mid word.

 

He had that glint in his eye which told Kuroko he was planning something really stupid.

 

Kagami strode forwards before Kuroko could stop him. He marched right up to Midorima.

 

“You.”

 

“Hello,” Midorima said, adjusting his glasses and fixing Kagami with a contemptuous glare. Kuroko wasn’t _sure_ that at this point that wasn’t the Ravenclaw’ default expression. He was willing to give the other boy the benefit of the doubt in assuming that he just chose to glare at everyone in the world.

 

“You’re the transfer student,” Midorima said.

 

“Yep!” Kagami said with false brightness, holding out his hand.

 

When Midorima did the same (exposing an arm wrapped in bandages down to the wrist) Kagami grabbed the other boys hand and conjured a large black marker in the same instant.

 

“It’s KAGAMI TAIGA,” Kagami snapped, grasping the Ravenclaw’s hand tight as he drew it towards him to write his name on Midorima’s arm. “I swear to God, the next Miracle that calls me ‘transfer kid’ is going to get a fist right in the jaw!”

 

Midorima started, snatching his hand back from the Gryffindor as though he had been burned.

 

Kuroko wondered if he really had been. With the fire rising in Kagami’s eyes, Kuroko wouldn't have been surprised to find that he was letting his accidental magic slip away from his control a little.

 

Takao laughed, putting an arm around Kagami’s shoulders.

 

“Aha, you have such a way with words,” he said. “Be nice to my roommate, Shin-chan. He’s trying to impress you almost as much as you’re trying to impress him.”

 

Midorima glared, unimpressed, at the other boy.

 

“You are obnoxious and incorrigible.”

 

Takao blew Midorima a kiss.

 

“Aw, thanks, Babe! You know, you’re practically making me jealous with how much you talk about Kuroko this and Kuroko that, and wanting to beat Kagami all the time. Did you want to invite them to have a foursome or…”

 

Midorima turned and stormed away. Kagami shoved Takao’s arm off him, sputtering as the other Gryffindor burst out laughing again.

 

“You are playing with fire,” Kuroko told Takao.

 

“Nah, we’re fine,” Takao said, still smiling widely. “I’m serious though, with how much Midorima has hyped up this duel, I’m just about ready to hope that we have a real fight for the ages. Shin-chan and I are going to be here all break with our team training. I’m only going home for five days – Christmas through New Years - and coming back on the first. So don’t think we’ll be easy to beat!"

 

“I never did,” Kuroko said honestly. “It’s good to see that you two are getting along again.”

 

Suddenly, there was a crack in Takao’s smile and he looked down.

 

“He tolerates me, I’m pretty sure that’s about it,” he said. “I don’t know if we’re really on _good_ terms, exactly.”

 

“If you were not he would refuse to spend any time around you at all,” Kuroko assured the Gryffindor. Takao’s smile returned, slightly less pained than before.

 

“If you say so,” he said. “Remember what I said! None of your usual tricks will work on me, so you better show up ready to fight with something new and interesting!”

 

Kuroko nodded politely to the other boy, and pulled Kagami out of the arena with him so that Takao could race after Midorima and probably get punched for his foursome comment. Though honestly, Kuroko was just happy Takao hadn’t run his mouth off about Kuroko’s own feelings.

 

“That asshole,” Kagami muttered under his breath.

 

“I see you have gotten to know Takao,” Kuroko replied. “Come on, let’s go find our captain. I’m sure they want to talk about the match and the training menu for break.”

 

Kagami acquiesced to this and the two of them made their way back up to the practice room.

 

…

 

A few days before exams were due to start, Kuroko received a letter from his mother. The missive was fairly long and informative in comparison to what Kuroko was used to getting from his mother. 

 

_I am concerned about the current state of affairs abroad. The International Confederation of Wizards has asked me to return to America to negotiate a new diplomatic agreement with the magical government regarding the placement of ambassadors. They are worried that the new President plans on closing the borders of his country._

 

_My hope is that I can avoid an international incident, but things do not look good. Last night, the President declared the ambassador of Magical Britain, and those of five other countries, to be Persona Non-Grata. He deported both the ambassadors and their entire consular staffs._

 

_As a general ambassador from the ICW, I may have better luck, but I am uncertain as to how these negotiations will proceed. I do not want your studies to be distracted by the machinations of international affairs – continue doing your best. I promise that I will be home in time for your return from Hogwarts this summer._

 

It was more detail than his mother had ever given him in a letter. Kuroko frowned.

 

Nash Gold had deported the British ambassador and his staff? Why would he do that?

 

Kuroko kept up with foreign affairs probably more than the average teenager, but not nearly enough to understand the moves and countermoves at play here. Certainly, he’d been absorbed in dueling and his upcoming fight with Midorima, as that was far more important than the remote actions of a foreign government.

 

Kuroko’s mother was going to fix this. Kuroko believed that, at least. She could talk sense into anyone. Infrequently, he would see her in photographs from speeches in front of the ICW. She was a respected diplomat and a brilliant witch. Of course she would find a way to negotiate a solution.

 

But what if she _couldn’t_ do anything about Nash Gold?

 

Kuroko didn’t want to think about that.

 

At any rate, he left his name down on the list of students who would be staying. It was longer than usual – after all the next round of competition coming up within days of their return. Many teams had demanded that their competitors only return home for a few days of the break, if at all, as Takao was doing.

 

Kuroko didn’t even bother holding out hope that his mother might return to Britain before Christmas. Instead he focused on the preparation for his winter examinations as best he could.

 

“Ah, it’s nice to be free,” Takao said, stretching as they left the test room for Ancient Runes.

 

“Wrong, we still have Transfiguration tomorrow,” Kagami groused, looking physically ill at the thought. “That was hell.”

 

“Man, you’re lucky you use Runes and Transfiguration so much in dueling. I don’t think I’ve seen you pick up a single book in either class,” Takao said.

 

“You’re the worst,” Kagami muttered.

 

“This is why I did not take that class,” Kuroko chimed in helpfully. “I know all of the transfiguration theory, but lack the power for conjuring and banishment.”

 

Takao cackled.

 

“Wow, you two are just polar opposites, huh?” he asked.

 

“Hey, shut up,” Kagami muttered. “I don’t need the fucking theory to transform your ass into a frog for the rest of break.”

 

“God you sound like our roommates,” Takao snorted.

 

“Maybe you should go study before the exam?” Kuroko suggested, trying to avoid watching Takao incite Kagami into attacking him.

 

Kagami sighed. He waved good bye to his classmates and took off towards the library, hoisting his bag higher up on his shoulder as he left.

 

“I see you’re still in the process of making an honest man out of your light,” Takao said with a tired grin.

 

“What about you and _your_ light?” Kuroko asked.

 

Takao sputtered.

 

“What the hell are you talking about?”

 

“You called him ‘Shin-chan’,” Kuroko said with a blank face. “I did not pursue it while we were in the arena after our last rounds, but you have clearly grown closer to him. He consents to having you as a partner. He did not curse you for suggesting that you engage him in a threesome with another student and he tolerated your ribbing him up until that point.”

 

“What, you gonna tell me you’re jealous?” Takao grinned. “Or maybe you really wanted a foursome after all? I could be down for that.”

 

“In fourth year you attempted to warn me off of trying to win over Midorima,” Kuroko reminded the Gryffindor blandly. “I told you then that I had no intentions towards him short of being his teammate and that is still true. But your feelings haven’t changed, have they?”

 

Takao scowled.

 

“Shut up,” he muttered, looking down. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

 

After Kuroko remained silent for a minute Takao sighed.

 

“It’s not exactly like I’m hiding anything.”

 

“Then I suppose Kagami and I will have no trouble taking advantage of your distraction to crush your team.”

 

Takao stared at Kuroko in shock for about a second before his eyes narrowed.

 

“Suck my dick, Phantom. Shin-chan is the best and we’re going to destroy you, just watch!”

 

Takao powered off down the corridor and Kuroko smiled to himself.

 

If Midorima opened his heart to the fiery Gryffindor the two of them might end up being very good for each other. At the very least Takao was back on his feet. If he was angry and determined he wasn’t sad and that was what really mattered. Kuroko would fight him tooth and nail and he had no doubt that their coming clash would be just as spectacular as both of them hoped.

 

In fact, Kuroko found himself more than a little excited at the prospect. Compared to his usual subdued demeanor, he was downright giddy, actually.

 

…

 

Christmas day was quiet. Almost all the teams that had stayed for break had gone home for the holiday, with only a handful of students remaining.

 

Kuroko was one. He hadn’t heard yet from his mother about how her negotiations were going, but he thought that probably was a good thing – it meant they were still talking. If they were talking a lot it meant that she would be able to find some common ground on which to resolve the situation.

 

Kagami, it seemed, was another.

 

Kuroko sat with Kagami at the single table in the Great Hall present for their quiet Christmas dinner. They chatted as the redhead consumed a heroic and herculean amount of turkey and sweets. Kagami was fascinated by the concept of wizard crackers – having never even heard of the muggle version of the Christmas staple – and had quite a lot of fun pulling them with anyone who would do so. He ended up with a set of wizards chess he promptly traded to a first year for a tin of treacle, a set of miniature pies (he tucked those away for later in the holiday), a tiara that he promptly and proudly donned with a large grin, and a disturbingly large number of white mice.

 

Hyuuga and Kiyoshi were sporting flower crowns, each with an arm around Riko’s shoulders. She had immediately claimed a realistic Viking hat as her own. She was laughing with her boyfriends as they watched Izuki spelling bits of stuffing so that they would levitate and pelt Koganei and Mitobe whenever they got too close.

 

Kuroko watched the mice skitter across the floor and wondered if the school deliberately ordered crackers with so many of them to give the castle cats a Christmas feast of their own.

 

But mostly, he sipped vanilla flavored hot chocolate and enjoyed being able to spend time with his friends and teammates.

 

All of the students stayed in the Great Hall well past the point when they and the professors were full and yawning. The fully demolished table of food in front of them was a testament to their dedication in remaining there well into the night, but eventually they started to trickle out of the dining hall towards their bed and sleep.

 

Kuroko, on the other hand, couldn’t sleep. Several minutes after Kagami bade him goodnight and headed out (presumably towards Gryffindor tower) he suddenly felt restless. Shortly afterwards he found his feet taking him not towards the warm Hufflepuff common room, but up and out into the corridors of the school. He thought perhaps that a long stroll would help calm his mind and help him sleep.

 

The building was quiet. Kuroko had almost forgotten the semi-otherworldly feeling of walking down the hallways at night. The torches had extinguished themselves and the moonlight shone through the windows, creating streams of dim blue light. When Kuroko paused by one of the windows, he could see a light covering of clouds beginning to roll in. It looked like it was going to start snowing soon.

 

Kuroko’s footsteps made no noise,  nor did he rouse any of the sleeping paintings as he walked without any destination in mind.

 

It was late. As Kuroko wandered down a long hallway lined with suits of armor, he heard the distant chiming of the clock. It was two in the morning, but he didn’t feel like returning to the Hufflepuff dorms just yet.

 

Without really thinking about it, Kuroko found his way up to the Astronomy Tower.

 

As Kuroko pulled open the door, he noticed that someone was already there.

 

A feeling of chilling déjà vu came over him just then as he watched the shadowed figure lean out over the ramparts. The night was cold, and a light dusting of snow had started to fall.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how long he stood there, frozen, watching the snow fall around the other student. He didn’t dare bring attention to himself or speak, hardly dared to breathe as his mind’s eye replayed the events of a dark night not so different than this one.

 

Then the figure turned around, smiling as he caught sight of Kuroko.

 

“You’re up late,” Kagami said. “I thought you would have gone straight to bed after dinner.”

 

“You’re up late too,” Kuroko replied, feeling a sense of unreasonable relief as Kagami stepped away from the ramparts. He knew that the redhead wasn’t going to jump, that he had excellent balance and could stop himself even if he did fall, but Kuroko couldn’t help feeling just a little nervous as he had watched the boy lean so far out into the night.

 

“Wanna get some more food?” Kagami asked. “I was gonna try and raid some marshmallows and make s’mores, but that’s always more fun with more people.”

 

Kuroko was thoroughly a fan of this idea, nodding as he followed Kagami back out of the cold.

 

Down several long sets of staircases and hallways, Kagami confidently pulled back a painting of a sleeping knight to reveal the opening of a slide behind it and gestured for Kuroko to go first.

 

“Shortcut to breakfast,” he explained with a grin. “One of the seventh years showed me the first day when I was running late.”

 

Kuroko blinked up at the taller boy.

 

“Kagami is a rebel,” he said.

 

Kagami turned the same color as his hair. It was pretty cute.

 

“It’s not like I get in trouble that often,” he muttered.

 

Kuroko was smiling as he climbed into the passageway. He pushed himself away from the wall, and quickly felt the world drop away as he fell.

 

The ride was actually pretty gentle. Kuroko could hear Kagami whooping with excitement somewhere above him.

 

In almost no time at all, Kuroko found himself deposited in one of the corridors just off of the Great Hall. He straightened up and moved out of the way so that Kagami would have room to come through as well.

 

Kagami landed on his feet, hands in the air.

 

“Dude that thing is so awesome!” he shouted. “Almost worth having to get up in the morning!”

 

Kagami led the way down to the basements, where he greeted the sleepy elf that came to see what they needed. With the assurance that it was just Kagami and his shadow, they went back to sleep, leaving the Gryffindor to hunt down what he needed.

 

Kagami stoked the fire into a blaze and laid out his supplies. Kuroko watched as the boy’s large hands deftly skewered marshmallows and set them over the flames.

 

His skin lit by the orange light of the fire, eyes intent on his domestic task, Kagami looked particularly gentle. Kuroko didn’t realize he was staring until he looked down and found a s’more shoved towards him.

 

“What do you think?”

 

Kagami was grinning as he handed the s’more to the Hufflepuff and Kuroko found his heart melting.

 

Kuroko marveled that so much strength and gentleness existed in the same person as he took the snack from Kagami’s waiting hands.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said.

 

“It’s more fun to cook for other people too,” Kagami blushed again, setting up several melting marshmallows on beds of chocolate and crackers before leaning back and consuming the first one in a single bite.

 

Settled around the fire with the large s’more in his hand, Kuroko finally spoke.

 

“Why did you decide to stay?” Kuroko asked.

 

Kagami shrugged.

 

“Eh, I’m not much wanted around my mom’s family and my dad said that he’d be working all the way through the break so it would be better for me to stay here. It sucks.”

 

“My mother said that the president deported a bunch of diplomats,” Kuroko said. “She thinks he’s trying to close the border. The International Confederation of Wizards sent her to negotiate with the President to let the ambassadors return.”

 

Kagami gaped at Kuroko.

 

“What?” he asked.

 

“My mother is an unattached diplomat working for the International Confederation of Wizards,” Kuroko said softly. “She told me to stay at Hogwarts over the break because she would be negotiating with the president to return the diplomats to their posts.”

 

“Damn,” Kagami said. “Man, I knew all that talk about stopping immigration and not letting foreign influences change American policy wasn’t just talk. You really think my dad is just trying to keep me out of the country?”

 

“It is possible,” Kuroko said.

 

Kagami looked down, scowling.

 

“I wasn’t paying much attention,” he muttered. “I don’t know what exactly Gold’s policies are or anything, but I know a lot of people were really angry about him running. His whole thing was about making America the bes, and stopping other people from just coming in whenever they wanted.”

 

The two of them sat in silence for a long time.

 

“I hope things calm down by summer,” Kagami said. “I’m sure that everyone will chill out and he’s gonna realize he can’t just do whatever he wants. The rest of the world will stop him.”

 

“I hope so.”

 

Kuroko had never worried for his mother’s safety in her job before, but now he was seriously considering being concerned.

 

Kagami chuckled.

 

“Well this is dark,” he said. “This isn’t quite how I pictured Christmas. God, the shit that’s going on in the world is terrifying.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

He was prevented by answering as the doors to the kitchen swung open, admitting Mitobe and Koganei.

 

“Okay, so you grab the butterbeer and I…”

 

Koganei was whispering, but he straightened up as soon as he saw Kagami with Kuroko next to him.

 

“Oh hey, Rin, look! Our teammates are already down here!”

 

“Want a s’more?” Kagami asked, gesturing to the spread of food in front of him and Kuroko.

 

“Hey, that’s a great idea! Rin, I’m gonna go grab everyone else and some blankets, be back in a second!”

 

Koganei sprinted out the door and Kagami shifted over to make room for Mitobe by the giant fireplace.

 

True to his word, Koganei came running back.

 

“Our captain is on it,” Koganei said. “Now, someone said something about s’mores?”

 

Kagami dutifully shoved a plate of newly made and melting s’mores.

 

“Cool, I’m gonna put some hot chocolate on.”

 

Koganei found chocolate, milk, and a cauldron for cooking to hang over the fire. Mitobe added a handful of spices and powder to it and Koganei high fived him.

 

Hyuuga and Kiyoshi rolled out a barrel of Butterbeer when they arrived, joining the group with their arms filled with blankets. Tsuchida trailed behind Kiyoshi carrying a teddy bear, and

Furihata waved at everyone as he came in carrying a handful of pillows. He was the only other Hufflepuff on the team who was home, as Fukuda and Kawahara had gone home for the holiday (Fukuda for the pagan Yule, Kawahara so that his parents could verify that he hadn’t come down with any deadly diseases between the beginning of the school year and now).

 

“I brought some extras for everyone,” Furihata said, nodding to the pile of pillows in his arms. “Ohh, do I smell hot chocolate?”

 

“Almost ready,” Furihata said. “And Kagami’s on s’mores!”

 

“Yo,” Kagami said, intent on his task of producing a mountain of tasty treats.

 

Coach and Izuki were the last ones to arrive, having come all the way from Ravenclaw tower, the farthest common room from the basement. They were carrying a sheet between them, which was filled with blankets and pillows.

 

“Eh, whats with all the blankets?” Kagami squacked. “It’s becoming a fire hazard!”

 

“Are you a wizard or not?” Kiyoshi tossed a pillow at the redhead. “Come on, it’s not like we can _actually_ start a fire or anything.”

 

Kagami rolled his eyes. With a jerk of his head, the pillow Kiyoshi had tossed at him walloped the older boy right in the face.

 

“Oi, respect your seniors!” Hyuuga snapped.

 

Furihata hesitated for approximately one second before tossing a pillow as hard as he could into the back of the captain’s head.

 

Hyuuga turned around with murder in his eyes.

 

“Worth it,” Furihata whispered, freezing in place in fear as the Gryffindor towered over him.

 

“Junpei, shut up and help me build the fort.”

 

“There’s a fort now?”

 

“Obviously, we’re heading towards a sleepover in the kitchens so this requires a blanket fort,” Riko explained ever so patiently. “Pillow fights can wait until we’re done building, so come on and help!”

 

Hyuuga shrugged.

 

They supported the blankets on poles that were magically stuck to the ground to create a roomy roof. Furihata and Koganei immediately got to work creating little colored spheres of light floating inside the fort. The large opening let out right in front of the fireplace, where Kagami remained as the appointed chef (though the majority of the food being consumed was by the chef himself).

 

With the aid of magic, the blanket fort rose quickly. The floor was a mess of pillows and soft blankets so thick that you couldn’t even feel the floor underneath. Shoes and slippers were left in a line outside, and seams between blankets were held together with quick sticking charms, which also held down the bottom of the walls.

 

In minutes, their fort was ready and Furihata got back to the real work: the pillow fight.

 

It was the sixth year’s eternal bad luck that the first pillow he decided to throw hit Kagami squarely in the back of the head.

 

“Who did that?” Kagami demanded, leaping into the air and turning, his hand still clenched around the skewer he was using to heat up the marshmallow. He held it dangerously in front of him like a sword, a dashing image that was altogether ruined by the large marshmallow skewered on the tip. It continued to burn merrily on the end of the stick until it suddenly dropped, right onto Kuroko.

 

“Ow.”

 

Kagami swatted away the marshmallow quickly, panicking as he gripped Kuroko’s head.

 

“Hey hey, can we all just calm down?” Hyuuga asked.

 

“Everything is fine, Captain,” Kuroko said calmly. “Kagami, I am fine, could you please stop petting my head?”

 

Kagami raised his hands in surrender, stepping back from his teammate with an apologetic smile.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” he said.

 

“It’s alright,” Kuroko replied evenly. “After all, I believe it was Furihata who made you drop the marshmallow in the first place?”

 

“What? Oh yeah – prepare to die!”

 

“WRONG,” Riko said, punching the pillow Kagami was about to launch at Kuroko’s roommate. “If we’re having a pillow fight, all food and dangerous weapons are staying outside the fort, got that?”

 

Kagami grumbled, but acceded. As soon as the skewer was sent down, he threw a pillow at Furihata, beaning him in the face.

 

“This means war!” Tsuchida shouted. “For the honor of Hufflepuff!”

 

A full on brawl ensued while Kiyoshi laughed loudly from the sidelines.

 

After a few minutes, Riko joined the seventh year by the wall of the fort, just in time to see Kuroko slam a fist into a pillow, catching Izuki in the back by surprise.

 

“That’s a bitter pill-ow to swallow!” Izuki shouted, chuckling as he dived for his notebook so that he could write down his latest insight.

 

“That kid,” Riko muttered.

 

“I think it’s an interesting team,” Kiyoshi replied pleasantly.

 

“Me too,” Riko sighed. “I think this is good for all of us.”

 

Finally, the rest of the team called it quits and they all settled down, talking about the topic that bonded them most strongly together: dueling.

 

“What was up with that last round though?” Riko asked. “Our opponents were getting really weird about it. They looked like they wanted to be running away from the moment we stepped into the arena with them.”

 

“Oh, uh, Kuroko and I busted them trying to bully a couple of younger kids,” Kagami said excitedly. “We kind of kicked their asses.”

 

Hyuuga grinned.

 

“Well whatever you did, it sent them running for the hills. Good work!”

 

Kagami practically beamed.

 

“So what, after break we’re facing Midorima and his lot?”

 

“Yeah, we’ll need to stay as sharp as possible to be able to beat them,” Riko said. “So those of you who are staying better show up to practice on time! We have four days after everyone gets back to be ready to fight.”

 

“Wouldn’t dream of doing anything else,” Kagami said.

 

Kuroko nodded his agreement. He was still trying to figure out a way to protect himself from the hawk-eyed view of the Gryffindor. Whatever talent allowed Takao to be immune to Kuroko’s misdirection, Kuroko needed to find a way around it.

 

If his duel with Kise had taught him anything, it was that he needed to be prepared to fight with everything he had against Midorima.

 

He would be.

 

Kuroko fell asleep surrounded by his team, nested in a pile of blankets on the floor by the fire.

 

It was one of the best Christmases he’d ever had.

 

…

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So a long time ago I promised I would publish my info on the GOM and their wands, [and I finally did it, so check it out if that interests you.](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com/post/151772670498/im-finally-getting-to-this-i-have-a-list-for-the)
> 
> Also, someone else drew cute fanart! Say hi to usagigirlff, who linked their art in the comments. I also made a master post, since I wanted to have a link to be able to keep track of all the amazing art, and I posted it on my Tumblr. [You can find that here.](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com/post/152068864523/wise-mans-fear-fanart-masterpost)


	30. The Green Asshole Gets Rejected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Thursday, basket nerds

**** …

 

The New Year came and went and suddenly the school was full of students again. The quiet that had fallen over the castle was broken.

 

Hyuuga and Riko ran their team into the ground with repeated drills and extra practices.  The team spent almost as much time researching in the library as they did practicing spells.

 

“Now I understand why you do so well in class,” Furihata groaned, flopping over the table and looking balefully at Kuroko. “All you do is practice magic, all day every day.”

 

Kuroko acknowledged this with a weak twitch of his hand.

 

“Alright you two, lets up and go! You still have two more sets of spell volleys to do!”

 

Furihata groaned and pulled himself to his feet.

 

The entire team was growing stronger. They were fighting and improving their stamina, because they knew that, especially with Midorima, their fight would come to who could outlast the other. And Midorima had plenty more power to spare than they did (as did his entire team, really).

 

The night before the start of classes, Riko had gathered them around to list the starting line up.

 

“Junpei, you’ll head up our attack,” she said. “Koganei, Izuki, left and right points. We won’t overcome Midorima and his team in the first blow, but if we’re fast we can scatter them and stop any traps that they can lay right out the gate for us.”

 

The team nodded at this. It was a solid front line. Hyuuga, who had an explosive attacking style, Izuki, whose greatest talent was in disrupting their opponents with quick in and out attacks, and Koganei, with solid defense and attacking abilities, was a good choice to back them up.

 

“Defense,” Riko continued. “Kagami, Mitobe, Kuroko.”

 

Kagami scowled.

 

“Why do I have to be on defense?” he demanded.

 

“You need a reason other than because I told you to?” Riko asked, with a dangerous glint in her eyes. Kuroko would not have picked a fight with Riko when she looked like that, because he had seen the same look on Momoi’s face when she was arguing with the Miracles, and he already knew how this would end. 

 

Kagami, who did not share Kuroko’s semi-fined tuned sense of self preservation, didn’t back down.

 

“Yeah, maybe,” he snapped.

 

“For starters, we need to to protect our team from Midorima,” Riko said. “He can use those runes of his to take down any of us and I need you to shut. Him. Down. Understand?”

 

Kagami subsided.

 

“Okay, defense: Kagami’s on our resident Miracle, Mitobe on the shield,” Riko continued. “Kuroko, you’ll start in the round, but I’m switching you out for Tsuchida if we need our healer.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Good. Get some sleep, we only have one more practice before our next duel, so let’s make it count.”

 

…

 

It seemed like time was slipping by very quickly. Kuroko felt like he blinked, and suddenly it was their first weekend back from winter break and the morning of the competition. The Great Hall would be cleared and the arena set up in the expanded space for the duel. The match would take place about an hour after breakfast ended.

 

The morning of their duel against Midorima was appropriately dark and stormy. Lightning flashed in the ceiling overhead, accompanied by the distant boom of thunder outside the walls of the castle. Snow and sleet were falling hard, as though the weather couldn’t quite decide what sort of awful it wanted to be.

 

It was a miserable kind of day, which set the stage perfectly for the battle that was about to commence under the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall. 

 

From what Kuroko was hearing as he slowly ate his piece of toast, nobody really expected the duel to last very long.

 

Kawahara glared out at the entire room from where he was sitting.

 

“The fuck do any of these people know?” he asked, his mouth set in a thin line. “You’re gonna kick their asses straight into next week. You're going to show show all of them, and the rest of us are gonna be cheering like hell from the bench, trust us.”

 

“I’m sure you guys are going to all be amazing!” Sakurai chimed in. “Beat Midorima so you can come face us and get your asses kicked!”

  
For a second, the entire table held it’s breath in confusion at Sakurai’s sudden bout of aggressiveness. Then Sakurai turned beet red and covered his face with his hands.

 

“Sorry, sorry!” He shouted. “I just meant do well, I’m sorry!”

 

“That’s what hanging out with all those Gryffindors and Slytherins does,” Kawahara said wisely. “Anyway, I’m excited. Part of me hopes we end it quick and show them who’s boss, but the other part of me is hoping I can get a piece of the action too. It’s going to be a great fight!”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

He wasn’t nervous – he was actually excited.

 

Perhaps he enjoyed an uphill battle just as much as his light did.

 

Riko rounded all of them up as they were finishing breakfast, pulling the team off to the side.

 

“Remember everyone, we can do this. We have a plan and a strategy,” she said in an even, encouraging voice. “We aren’t going down, no matter what. We’ll stand our ground against whatever they have to throw at us.”

 

“We won’t let you down, Coach,” Koganei said with a smile. “We’re ready.”

 

“Good,” Riko said. “Merlin knows I’ve prepared you well enough for this. If we lose, it won’t be because we didn’t work hard, that’s for sure.”

 

“Nothing comes from nothing, and we have way more than nothing,” Izuki said.

 

“Was that a joke or a quote?” Furihata asked, furrowing his brow.

 

“Either way, he’s right,” Kiyoshi said with a smile. “Remember – have fun. The rest will come. You know what to do, just pretend you like dueling.”

 

Kagami laughed. Kuroko noticed that his eyes were bloodshot again – like he’d stayed up all night before their duel for the second time.

 

“Don’t say anything,” he snapped at Kuroko when it looked like the Hufflepuff was going to comment on his eyes.

 

“I wasn’t going to,” Kuroko said, his eyes wide and innocent as he looked back at his light.

 

“Sure you weren’t,” Kagami said. “Come on, let’s warm up a little bit and get ready for the duel.”

 

The two of them had exchanged a few simple volleys of spells when they were interrupted by a voice shouting over the din of the crowd still milling around as they waited for the duel to begin.

 

“Yo, Kagami, what’s up?”

 

“For fucks sake no,” Kagami muttered before he turned to face his roommate.

 

“You obviously didn’t get any sleep. I hope you’re still prepared to face us!” Takao said, coming up to the two of them. Midorima was striding up quickly behind him, clearly bent on damage control.

 

“Hey, bug off,” Kagami said. “We share a dorm, that doesn’t make us friends or anything.”

 

“No, but you compete with my rival, which makes your life of interest to mine,” Takao shot back.

 

“Plus, you know Shin-chan over here won’t ever stop talking about you,” Takao continued with a slow grin, sending a sly glance over at Kagami to see how he reacted to this statement. “All the time it’s ‘don’t underestimate Kuroko’ this and ‘we must overcome his misdirection’ that.”

 

“I am glad to hear that Midorima is taking this duel seriously,” Kuroko said calmly. “Don’t worry, we are all more than prepared for a fight.”

 

“Obviously,” Midorima snapped, having finally reached them. “Takao, we need to prepare for the duel, what are you doing?”

 

“Just having some friendly conversation,” Takao said. “You know what that is, right? When you socially engage with someone just to engage rather than wanting something from them.”

 

Midorima’s frown deepened.

 

“Plus you’re late,” Takao added with a small smile.

 

“Takao,” Midorima snapped. “I did not miss a day practicing my runes. I did not slack off at practice. I have my lucky item. Cancer is ranked first today.  I have done everything I can. There is no way we can lose. However, I require your aid in preparing for our duel, so let’s go.”

 

Takao laughed, slapping Kuroko on the back.

 

“Don’t you have anything to say to our other opponent?” Takao asked, looking highly amused by this monologue. Midorima pushed his glasses back into place and turned away.

 

“No,” he said simply. “I have nothing to say to someone who made such a pathetic showing in their last duel. If he has anything to say, he can show it to me in the arena.”

 

Takao crowed with laughter as Kagami bristled and Kuroko glared at his former teammate.

 

“Well then, one shadow to another, let’s have some fun!” he said, and returned to his team with Midorima, who nodded politely to Kuroko.

 

“I fucking hate that guy,” Kagami said.

 

“Which one?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Both of them,” Kagami said immediately. “At least I only have to live with one of them though.”

 

“But you have Takao _and_ two Miracles,” Kuroko said bluntly.  

 

“I’d take any two of them over Midorima.”

 

Kuroko tilted his head to the side.

 

“You should spend more time around Akashi before you say that,” he said. Kagami laughed.

 

“The sociopathic midget can bite my entire ass, because I've got his number too. You ready for this duel?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“So, you have a way around that asshole being able to see you yet?” Kagami asked.

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

Kagami frowned, looking down at his shadow.

 

“Listen, do you have my back in there?” Kagami asked. “I don’t have any time for you to be fucking around. Don’t talk up a game if you’re not going to follow through. If you can’t do it-”

 

“I can do it,” Kuroko said firmly.

 

He remembered what it had been like when his misdirection wasn’t working before. He’d been visible for the entire arena to see, he had failed his team. He’d let them down again and again and again. In the process of them picking up the slack they had learned to never count on anyone else and to shun any hand extended in friendship.

 

If anything, his own weaknesses were responsible for this.

 

He looked back up at Kagami.

 

“I can do it,” he repeated, firmly.

 

Kagami nodded.

 

“I trust you,” he said. “I’ve seen how strong you are, so don’t let me down.”

 

“I will not.”

 

Kagami nodded and the two of them rejoined their team in time for stretch exercises in preparation for the coming duel.

 

“I don’t need to tell any of you that we need to win this to continue,” Riko said. “We’re ready. It’s definitely going to be be a tough fight, but we can win this if we try, so let’s go out there and fight!”

 

“Give everything we can until there is nothing left!” Hyuuga added, his voice echoing through the Great Hall.

 

The team cheered, letting their coach and captain pump them up with their energy.

 

As they went to line up, Midorima accosted Kuroko.

 

“I didn’t think you would actually make it this far,” Midorima said. “But it ends here. No matter how weak or small or unknown, a team can win so long as it fights together; That’s what you seem to believe, but it is an illusion, no more substantial than anything Kise can produce in the arena.”

 

Kuroko stared back at the Ravenclaw, not allowing himself to react to anything the other boy was saying.

 

“Come,” Midorima continued. “Let me show you how foolish your choice was.”

 

Kuroko wondered if he and Midorima would ever see eye to eye in their lifetimes. He was getting tired of having to explain himself repeatedly to his old teammate. Frankly, he'd moved straight passed pissed off and come back around to just being plain annoyed. 

 

“No one knows the right decision to make in life, but that is not why I made this choice,” Kuroko replied. “Aso if I may disagree with one thing?"

 

The tightening around Midorima's lips was the only sign that he had processed what Kuroko said at all, but nonetheless Kuroko surged ahead.

 

"We are not weak. And we will not lose.”

 

Midorima’s eyes narrowed, glaring down at Kuroko as though he had said something particularly rude and offensive to the other boy.

 

Without a word, he turned and joined his team as Kuroko did the same. As far as both students were concerned, nothing more could be gained by speaking to each other. It was time to see their respective philosophies proven right or wrong in the heat of a duel. In the end, there need be no argument over which one of them was superior, when such an easy way to settle the dispute stood imminently in front of them. 

 

The two teams lined up facing each other to acknowledge one another before the beginning of the duel. Somehow, Kagami ended up directly across from Midorima and Takao across from Kuroko.

 

“Now this is poetic,” Takao said, shaking Kuroko’s hand with a grin. “I’ve got my eyes on you, Phantom, so don’t think you can just slip away from me.”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I hadn’t planned on it,” he said neutrally.

 

“So you’ve got some other plan to beat me?” Takao asked. “What are you hiding up your sleeve?”

 

“I don’t have anything in my sleeves,” Kuroko intoned seriously and honestly. 

 

Takao eyed Kuroko suspiciously as they stepped back, getting ready to fight.

 

Kuroko just stared steadily back.

 

The sound of a cannon echoed through the room and their audience started cheering as the two teams rushed forward to engage each other.

 

Izuki took point, immediately engaging Ootsubo in a battle of spellfire so fast that the air around them seemed to shimmer. With one down, Hyuuga took on Miyaji and Kagami was immediately facing off with Midorima.

 

_ “When you take on a stronger opponent, if you let them control the pace of the duel, you have already lost it,”  _ Riko had told them in practice.  _ “Greet our friends by taking this duel by storm right out of the gate!” _

 

To that end, Kagami and Kuroko were already prepared. Kuroko was in place, unguarded and safe from attack. Kagami sent a huge ball of fire towards him and Kuroko dispersed it across the entire arena in a miniature explosion.

 

The ground rocked with the force of it. But when the smoke cleared, their opponents stood on even feet, surrounded by the glowing circle of runes Midorima had formed at the last second. The shield around them flickered and died as Midorima grinned. Takao cheered from where he was standing.

 

“How disappointing,” Midorima taunted Kagami. “You think you can beat us like that?”

 

The battle raged one on one, with neither side managing to land a hit. The pace was furious, but both sides were holding their own.

 

Everything was moving so fast that Kuroko was hard pressed to even try and catch his opponents out with their own spells.

 

And then he felt the power of Midorima’s runes activating on the other side of the room.

 

Kagami hadn’t managed to keep the other boy on the rocks long enough to stop him from pulling out his own tricks.

 

The explosion of air and rock threw him backwards, cutting his cheek as he landed. Kagami scrambled to avoid the follow up curses from Midorima as he fought to stay in the duel.

 

Kuroko wasn’t having a much better time of it on his side of the arena.

 

No matter how hard he tried to evade Takao, the Gryffindor was stuck to him like glue. It was a real pain.

 

Wherever Kuroko turned he was cut off with a spell aimed just for him. Whenever he sought to redirect a spell he was occupied with having to defend himself. He’d been backed into a corner with Takao repeatedly throwing spells at him.

 

Kuroko couldn’t help but feel a sense of profound déjà vu. He had been in this exact spot a year ago, when Midorima had needed to save Kuroko from Takao as his misdirection stuttered and failed.

 

He’d been in this spot a year even before that and managed just fine too.

 

Kuroko pulled out every trick he knew. Fog was immediately dispelled. Distractions did not cause Takao to take the bait. The boy was singularly focused on disarming Kuroko and he was doing an excellent job.

 

All Kuroko could do was try to keep moving the spells away from him.

 

“I wonder which one of us is going to get tired more quickly,” Takao said. “I have the advantage of power, but I wonder how much energy that trick of yours really takes.”

 

How had Kuroko gotten out of this last time? He’d disarmed Takao wandlessly, but that wasn’t an option here. Takao was in fine form and he wasn’t going to be distracted.

 

Kuroko summoned a piece of debris from the other side of the room.

 

“Takao!” Ootsobu shouted.

 

Takao ducked just in time, but Kuroko used the cover of dust from one of Kagami’s explosive spells to finally get away.

 

Free to move for the time being, he blasted a curse back at one of Takao’s teammates, sending them down for the count. It felt pretty good.

 

He was back in it and he was going to help his team take their victory.

 

With deadly precision, Kuroko prepared to misdirect another spell, but found himself stopped as the spell slammed into a shield.

 

Frustration rose in his throat as he glared behind him at Takao.

 

“You already knew you would have to fight me, didn’t you put any thought into what you were going to do at all?”

 

Takao looked almost as pissed off as Kuroko felt.

 

“Man, I thought you would have some new challenge for me,” he said, sounding disappointed. “Well, either way I’m on you until you’re either subbed out or I knock you out,” Takao said. “You know that’s just how it is.”

 

Kuroko fought to control the rising tide of anger, frustration, and disappointment in himself.

 

He’d honestly believed that shoring up his misdirection would work. He’d thought that all of the work he had put into making himself vanish would help him today, but that was obviously not the case.

 

He’d been a stupid idiot.

 

“We’ll see,” Kuroko said instead.

 

Takao lunged forward, casting a spell at him. Kagami stepped in, shielding Kuroko and engaging Takao briefly enough to get Kuroko on the move.

 

He’d made it to the other side of the arena and deflected a single spell back at the other team’s captain when he narrowly avoided a bright red stunning spell.

 

“You can’t run from my Hawk Eye, you know that!”

 

Kuroko stared down Takao.

 

The whistle signifying a substitution blew. Kuroko flinched at the sound, already knowing that Coach was calling for him to leave the field. 

 

Takao sighed.

 

“Well, I guess that’s it then,” he said, throwing up a peace sign at his rival. “Figure out a strategy and get back in here so I can beat you fairly!”

 

Kuroko nodded, moving towards the edge of the field. Before he got there, Takao caught his sleeve.

 

“Sorry, Kuroko,” Takao said. “You know I was rooting for you, but I guess now we know which one of us is better.”

 

Kuroko thought he felt his heart break. For a second, he considered refusing to leave the field, but that was silly and juvenile.

 

He fist-bumped Tsuchida as he passed through the shield, wishing the other boy well in the duel.

 

After all, Riko was right to pull him from the duel. If he was just going to be another body for the other side to take down without being able to contribute to their strategy, he belonged on the sidelines. 

 

“I’m sorry, Kuroko,” Riko said as Kuroko sat down next to her on the bench. “I can’t let you stay in there to get targeted, you’re not doing us any good out there right now.”

 

_ You’re not strong enough. _

 

She didn’t have to say the words for Kuroko to know exactly what she meant.

 

As he fell heavily onto the bench by his fellow sixth year Hufflepuffs, Kuroko felt like he couldn’t breathe.

 

_ It was happening again. _

 

No. No, this wasn’t the same and Kuroko had to remember that. This was one duel – even if he didn’t go back in this match, he’d still be able to fight anyone else.

 

He just needed a way to face this one opponent. His rival.

 

He would cheer from the bench as loudly as he could for as long as he needed to and he would watch Takao until he knew enough about his dueling style and capabilities to resume his place in the arena.

 

Kuroko had spent so much time trying to get back to the arena that he refused to let things end. Not for him, not for his team.

 

He would rejoin his team in battle and they would win.

 

Kuroko just needed to solve his problem first.

 

He watched Kagami clash with Midorima again. The Ravenclaw had set up another trap and this time Kagami was ready. He ran to catch up with Midorima as green magic coiled inside the ring.

 

Midorima was ready to set lose another magical attack and Kagami was ready to try to stop it again.

 

Kuroko could feel Midorima’s power, almost ready to be set loose by the circle, but Kagami got there first.

 

“Not so fast!” he shouted. With a wild, reckless laugh his own magic poured out of him, cracking the rune circle and making it go dark.

 

“You-”

 

Midorima snapped his wand towards Kagami, releasing the magic he’d been infusing into the circle directly at his opponent.

 

Kagami shielded himself just in time, ducking away from the Ravenclaw’s power.

 

Not a minute later, Midorima was gearing up to ground another runic circle and again, Kagami broke it with his own infusion of magic.

 

Midorima glared dangerously at the redhead.

 

Kagami saluted the Ravenclaw.

 

“You’re done,” he said.

 

With that, Kagami threw out two more spells. Midorima wasn’t fast enough to shield himself, but Takao was.

 

“Hey now, don’t sucker punch my miracle!” Takao said, throwing a line of curses at Kagami. The redhead blew up the floor in front of him, using the chaos to escape the hawk-eyed vision of Midorima’s teammate.

 

“Damn it,” Kagami said when he met up with Hyuuga. “So long as they’re covering each other, we’re going to have a hard time taking either of them out.”

 

“Focus on Midorima,” Hyuuga replied. “Keep breaking up his circles, keep him busy. We’ll handle the rest of these guys and then come help you, okay?”

 

Kagami nodded shortly.

 

“Understood, Captain.”

 

“Good.”

 

On the sidelines, Kuroko had finally seen what he needed. He knew what to do to effectively use his misdirection against Takao. It was late in the game, but he could help turn it around.

 

If Takao wanted to keep an eye on Kuroko, the Hufflepuff was more than willing to let him continue doing so. He might not be able to fight Takao on even ground, but he could keep the Gryffindor far enough away from Midorima to let Kagami beat the Miracle and then come back him up.

 

That was a workable game plan.

 

“Coach,” Kuroko said quietly, tugging on Riko’s sleeve.

 

“Yes, Kuroko?” Riko asked.

 

“Put me back in,” Kuroko asked. “Please, I know how to handle Takao. Or at least I have an idea.”

 

Riko stared Kuroko down for a few seconds, getting the measure of his confidence that he would be able to carry on the duel.

 

“Okay,” she said. “I believe you. Get in there and turn this around for us.”

 

“I will do my best,” Kuroko said.

 

He had his plan. He’d seen how Takao had immediately run to Midorima the second the Ravenclaw had needed an extra wand at his side.

 

That meant Takao’s attention was functionally divided. If it was divided, Kuroko could use that to his advantage.

 

“Good to have you back with us,” Kagami said, slapping Kuroko on the shoulder. “Do you have your solution?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said.

 

“Good.”

 

Kuroko nodded sharply, taking the place where Tsuchida had been standing.

 

The duel started again, but this time one thing had changed.

 

This time when Takao came for Kuroko, Kuroko let him.

 

With an evasive wave, Kuroko lured Takao further away from where Kagami was dueling with Midorima. Without Takao’s Hawk Eye to swoop in and prevent Kagami from taking advantage of the moment when he brought down Midorima’s runes, Kagami was able to truly fight.

 

And fight he did.

 

The second Midorima’s next rune circle fell Takao turned, distracted by Midorima’s need for him.

 

Kuroko cast a stunning curse at him.

 

It was light enough to push Takao away from him, but not strong enough to knock him out. After Kuroko had been fielding his spells non stop for several minutes his spells were significantly weaker than before. Kuroko cursed him again, forcing Takao to turn and face him.

 

“So this is your game, making me pay attention to you instead,” Takao said. “Well, it won’t work. Later!”

 

Kuroko grinned. A wayward spell passed by him and he directed it right into Takao’s path, blowing up just as Kagami managed to land a jinx on Midorima.

 

Midorima dispelled the jinx with a wave of his wand.

 

“You can keep shutting me down, but you and I both know that I have more power than you.” The Ravenclaw sneered. “It takes me far less energy to set up a runic circle than it takes you to destroy it and that’s if you manage to catch me before I finish. You can keep running after me but I am faster and stronger than you. You’re just going to fall further and further behind.”

 

Kagami let his head fall back, laughing.

 

“What  _ is  _ it with you Miracles and trying to tell me I’ve lost before we’ve even really gotten started?” He asked. “We haven’t lost yet!”

 

Midorima’s eyes widened.

 

For a moment, Kuroko wondered if he was about to see his light get murdered in the arena and decided to intervene. Defaulting to one of his earliest tricks, Kuroko cast a spell to fill the entire room with a thick fog, allowing Kagami to get away.

 

The fog provided mere seconds of cover. Midorima’s captain burned it all away with a single spell, allowing the entire arena to become visible again.

 

Kagami, however, had plenty of time to do what he needed to. On the other side of the arena, he was smiling widely, pressing his bloody hands to the floor.

 

Kuroko felt the wave of magic coming from the Gryffindor. The wave of power moved across the entire floor of the arena.

 

“I’ve got a few tricks too, you know,” Kagami shouted. “And I have no intention of losing this duel!”

 

The wave of magic stopped, and Kuroko could see that the floor had transformed into a light pink metal.

 

Copper instead of stone. It would sap the energy out of any wizard who tried to make a binding out of it. The only circle of stone left inside the arena was the one in which Kagami’s binding was set. With one move, Kagami had just taken away Midorima's most dangerous weapon in a duel.

 

“Wanna tell me again about how much power you have to waste on me?” Kagami taunted. “Because I’m pretty sure if you try that shit again you’re going to burn out all of that magic in half a second.”

 

Midorima scowled at Kagami.

 

“You want to face me one on one on the field? Fine. I am more than happy to oblige your masochistic desire to be beaten into the ground."

 

Midorima ran forward, wand already in hand. He cast a spell that emitted a noxious gas, forcing a coughing Kagami to stagger away from the runic circle.

 

“It was a mistake to create something I could so easily break,” Midorima said, as he poured his magic into the runes.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Midorima snapped his wand sideways, blasting the circle again and again. Burning, cutting, cracking, but to no success.

 

“You won’t be able to destroy it so easily,” Kagami crowed. He looked extremely pleased with himself. 

 

“How-”

 

“The blood of the caster and the blood of my enemy-” Kagami grinned. “I slipped on that last rune circle you drew in blood. I’d be more careful about that if I were you. Someone could use your blood to do just about anything.”

 

The Gryffindor held up his left hand, visibly uninjured and still covered in blood – Midorima’s blood.

 

Midorima looked furious.

 

“What is your sign?” Midorima demanded angrily, taking a step forward. Kagami shrugged.

 

“I’m a Leo, not that it changes my ability to kick your ass.”

 

The Ravenclaw straightened up to his full height, fury morphing into contempt. He had to visibly calm himself down before he spoke again.

 

“I see that I underestimated you. It does not matter – no matter how many clever little battles you have won, I will take the war. I will destroy you.”

 

“Then come and get me,” Kagami grinned.

 

The battle resumed, picking up a desperate pace. Kagami had shut down Midorima’s runes, but that was not even remotely his only weapon. The Miracle and the transfer student exchanged magical blows, colored sparks and flashes of light blinding anyone who came too close or looked too hard at the warring students.

 

Takao tried to take advantage of the moment to go after Kagami, but Kuroko moved to intervene, taking the other boy off course.

 

This time, with Takao distracted by Kuroko, Kagami finished him off. His spell blasted right through Takao’s shield and sent the other boy to the ground.

 

“Man he was irritating,” Kagami said, and was immediately distracted by a blasting curse Midorima threw his way. Laughing, Kagami rolled out of the way and threw up a wall of fire to shield him from Midorima for the moment.

 

Unfortunately, Ootsobu managed to use the chaos to revive Takao almost immediately after Kagami put him out, but it was worth at least some measure of satisfaction.

 

The duel raged on, but neither side could win any sustained victories. It seemed like it really was going to be a race to see who could hold out longer. In that moment Kuroko and his teammates were grateful for every step of every run around the lake that Riko had forced them through. They were matching one of the best teams in the school blow for blow, spell for spell, and it seemed that the two sides of the field were exactly evenly matched. It was exhilarating. It was exciting.

 

Kuroko didn't think he'd ever been so frustrated and elated during a duel in his entire life, except maybe the final round of the tournament against Nash Gold Jr. and his team. This was a fight for the ages, and no matter how came out on top, it was going to be a bloody, hard won victory to claim. 

 

Every labored breath from then might be one more breath’s worth of time they stayed in the fight now.

 

Kuroko was breathing hard and covered in sweat, but he was nowhere near ready to let this end here.

 

Back to back with Kagami, he sought out his former teammate among the din of noise and dueling. He'd learned from experience that failing to keep one's eye on Midorima during a duel was a near fatal mistake. 

 

There he was, but…

 

Midorima… wasn’t looking at them. He looked like he was watching something intently on the other side of the arena.

 

It fact, it looked like he was just trying to curse empty air.

 

Kuroko glanced behind him at Kagami and then over to Izuki. They were probably the only two with the talent to confuse Midorima with an illusion, but neither of them appeared to have cast it.

 

What was going on?

 

Well, while the other boy was distracted, they could seize their moment.

 

“Let’s do this!” Hyuuga shouted. He took out Ootsubo and turned to engage with Takao, fiercely exchanging spells.

 

Kuroko nodded to Kagami. They were on the same page.

 

The next curse Miyaji threw at Hyuuga, their captain stepped aside, allowing Kuroko to intervene. At the same time, Kagami sent a fireball towards Kuroko.

 

Kuroko held both spells, balancing their magic for a moment before he punched them both, together, through their enemies shield.

 

The resulting explosion brought it crashing down.

 

In an instant, Kuroko and Kagami were among their opponents, fighting as hard as they could to end this.

 

But none of them would go down easily. Takao was already back on his feet, throwing spells at Kuroko almost as quickly as Kuroko could redirect them.

 

“You’ve gotten better,” Takao grinned. “But you're not good enough to beat me."

 

Before Kuroko could register it, Takao sent a spell spiraling off to the side, hitting Izuki in the back and sending him down.

 

“You’re running out of time and we’re going to win,” Takao said proudly. “You surprised me once, but that won’t happen this time!”

 

“We’ll see,” Kuroko replied, and dropped.

 

Kagami hit Takao head on with a stunning spell.

 

“Good job,” Kagami grinned at Kuroko.

 

“Thank you.”

 

The battle was dwindling down as the field thinned. Only Kagami, Kuroko, and Hyuuga remained of their team. Midorima and Ootsubo were the only two opposing them, and the opposing captain was bleeding sluggishly through the leg as both sides faced off.

 

Whatever had been affecting Midorima before, his eyes were clear now. There was real rage in them and his power was burning like a furnace around him.

 

Too late, Kuroko realized the ground underneath Midorima was glowing. While they had fought off the rest of their opponents, the Ravenclaw and his captain had been setting this trap to spring on them. There was a ring of runes floating in the air. They gleamed a sickening red in the light and Kuroko realized that Midorima was levitating his own blood, grounding the runes in the very air around them. The boy’s arms were bleeding freely, but his expression spoke of proud victory.

 

It was entirely possible Midorima had been pretending to be confused and distracted to goad them into attacking, creating a big enough distraction for him to finish the job.

 

It was a clever, brilliant tactic.

 

And it was about to be the reason they lost this match.

 

“Kuroko,” Midorima said, surrounded by a blaze of green light, “you should have known better than to think you could face me in a duel.”

 

They could feel his power radiating through the floor. Blood was dripping freely down the Ravenclaw’s arms, and his expression was manic. 

 

“I’m stronger than both of you!” Midorima snapped. “And I will not lose!”

 

The metal underneath was tearing with a screeching, groaning sound that made Kuroko wince internally. The Ravenclaw was going to rip the entire school apart if he wasn’t careful.

 

“Come and get me!” Kagami shouted, stepping forward, bracing himself for the onslaught of power.

 

The hovering runes began to smoke and magic exploded across the arena.

 

A tornado of magic stood in front of Midorima, bound in the floating runes. It was a bright green column of air rushing angrily, howling for destruction.

 

It was too late. The configuration was complete, and Midorima had summoned immense magical power to do his bidding here. As they watched, the column of air began to move, reaching Hyuuga, who had run forward to attack it. Kuroko and Kagami, separated and far on the opposite side of the dueling ring, could only watch as their Captain was picked up like a rag doll, still spouting spell after spell, and thrown against the opposite wall of the shield surrounding the arena.

 

Their captain hit the ground hard, and did not get up.

 

Kagami, to his everlasting credit, did not falter in the face of this goliath. He ran forward, his hands blazing with fire. He threw spell after spell at it, but the green vortex of power swallowed up whatever he had to offer. It towered towards the ceiling, screeching to be satisfied.

 

Kagami was thrown far to the side. He slammed into the shield and fell. He rolled over onto his side, pushing himself onto his feet to face whatever it was that was attacking them.

 

Kuroko just stared in awe. He could feel Midorima’s magic coursing through him and this magical storm of air. This was more power than he’d ever redirected at once, but if they wanted to win he was going to have to help Kagami.

 

Kagami had the power to end this, but he would need help.

 

As Kuroko watched, Kagami bit his hand hard enough to bleed and started writing on his own skin. He was taking a page out of Midorima’s book, avoiding the trap he had set for himself.

 

“Fire eats air, Midorima!” Kagami shouted. “Basic high school physics, man! I have the advantage here!"

 

Even Kuroko was not prepared for the pillar of fire that surrounded the tornado, cutting it off from the arena. He shielded his eyes from the intense light and heat, barely able to withstand the force of his light's attempt to overwhelm Midorima with power.

 

For a moment, Midorima's storm stopped in its tracks. Red fire blazed in a burning column all the way up to the ceiling. Kagami stood strong and tall, arms extended as he controlled the powerful magic.

 

Midorima chuckled.

 

“An adequate effort,” he said. “But power is power and you will learn to accept that.”

 

He jerked his wand in a sharp movement through the air and the tornado broke free of its cage of fire. Kagami was forced back by the repudiation of his own magic, as the tornado continued to head straight for him.

 

Kuroko took off running.

 

He didn’t have a plan, he only had the vague outline of an idea, but it was better than letting Kagami get hurt. Better than losing this contest in the very last moment when they were so close to victory.

 

He could hear Kiyoshi’s advice from the beginning of the year echoing in his head as he moved, desperate to beat Midorima’s magic to Kagami.

 

_ You can do whatever you want, you just have to know what that is. _

 

Kuroko stepped in front of Kagami.

 

There was no reason this wouldn’t work, after all. He’d turned spells against their casters, he’d redirected them to cause chaos, and he’d rebuilt his own cloak of misdirection on the sheer force of his will. He was a shadow, and Midorima's spell could not pass through a shadow and maintain it's power.

 

_ I am a shadow. I am a void. I am where the light will not shine, where the wind will not blow. _

 

Midorima’s magic felt like Kuroko was trying to hold on to broken glass. It was sharp and jagged, too fast and fluid for him to control. It was dusty and so, so  _ cold.  _ Kuroko had touched the Ravenclaw's magic before, but it had never felt like this - so angry, wild, unstoppable. It was almost painful to try to hold on to.

 

It served another master and would not bow to a lesser one.

 

_ Silly magic, I’m no wizard. I am a shadow. I’m not really here and since you’re touching me, neither are you. The shadow is still and silent and you are here, which means so are you. _

 

Kuroko felt the moment when Midorima’s howling, screeching, whirling magic stilled to nothing.

 

_ In the void even the storm cannot rage. _

 

The noise in the back of Kuroko’s mind whittled down to pure silence.

 

Kuroko could feel himself swaying through the air, felt the burn of magic passing overhead, heard Kagami shouting.

 

And then, true silence fell.

 

Kuroko opened his eyes.

 

He was on the ground and the field was clear. He didn’t know when he’d collapsed, but whatever happened, Midorima’s magic had been overcome. He turned to look up at his partner and saw Kagami surrounded by brilliant light so bright Kuroko had to shield his eyes.

 

And then the shouting started as their team converged upon them.

 

Kuroko pulled himself to his feet, smiling just a little.

 

They had _ won. _

 

“Holy crap, Kagami! That was amazing! What did you do?”

 

“I- I’m not-”

 

Kagami stepped back in confusion, before looking down.

 

Kuroko was pushing himself to his feet, but Kagami could see the blood on his face.

 

Kagami realized in an instant two very important things – first, that Kuroko had somehow managed to stop Midorima’s spell in it’s tracks and second, that he was injured.

 

The blue haired Hufflepuff shook his head silently and Kagami looked helplessly back at his celebrating team.

 

“I guess I broke the rune circle before the spell was fully realized,” he said. His team cheered, raising his fist in the air as they celebrated. From the other side of the arena, Kuroko could see Midorima being helped to his feet by Takao.

 

Both of them were staring directly at Kuroko.

 

Midorima’s eyes were wide, but Takao just looked confused – almost as confused as Kagami felt. Midorima was talking in a low, angry voice, even as his eyes refused to leave Kuroko, and Takao’s eyebrows were knitting further and further together the longer the Ravenclaw spent talking. 

 

“Ah, we need a healer, I think Kuroko took some hits before the end,” Kagami said evasively, breaking free of their celebrating teammates to go help support Kuroko. This close, he could see that Kuroko’s arms were bleeding too. Had he really tried some kind of runic binding? Kagami was dying to know how Kuroko had beaten Midorima.

 

“Dude,” he said, kneeling down to get his arm around the Hufflepuff. “What the hell?”

 

“I don’t know,” Kuroko said. “But not here.”

 

Kagami nodded shortly, but before he could get his teammate moving, Takao and Midorima had reached them. Midorima was standing on his own now, his hands inside his pockets as he scowled down at Kuroko.

 

“I underestimated you, but that will not happen again,” Midorima said. “I thought your luck would stand against you, but I was wrong today. It will not happen in the future. You will not take me by surprise ever again. We will win next time. Takao, let’s go.”

 

Lightning flashed overhead in the ceiling of the Great Hall, a mimic of the thunder outside.

 

Takao waved apologetically at the two of them and ran after the Ravenclaw.

 

Midorima stroke furiously through the doors, much faster than Takao could keep up with him.

 

There was a heavy storm battering the walls of the castle – sleet and rain were thundering against the ground as lightning flashed overhead. The ground was slippery under his feet as Midorima ran, trying to leave his embarrassing and incomprehensible defeat behind him.

 

He found himself standing at the edge of the trees by the lake, watching the storm pound into the surface of the water.

 

It was cold and he was soaked.

 

Midorima wasn’t shivering and he barely felt the winter storm crashing down around him.

 

He’d lost.

 

And more importantly, he’d lost to _Kuroko_.

 

He had thought the other boy was weak, but that wasn’t true. It wasn't true at all, and Midorima had made a serious error. It had been a long time since he'd miscalculated anything this severely, and the consequences laid so heavily on his soul he could hardly breathe past them. 

 

He had thought Takao was weak too, but then the other boy had proven him so very wrong. No matter how hard Midorima had tried to push the Gryffindor away, he kept coming back.

 

Was this fate? Was this destiny then? Takao had claimed him for a friend since their first day of school. He had made it clear what he wanted and hoped for out of their relationship.

 

Midorima had been so afraid.

 

He’d woken up crying and panting for breath and praying to God that he could save Takao from committing suicide. He’d done everything he could to show the other boy how dangerous his association with a member of the Generation of Miracles would be.

 

Takao had seen him exposed for what he truly was – had seen his poisoned, jagged edges and felt their sting and still stayed.

 

And lived.

 

Midorima was dangerous. He was a monster. He’d heard the word whispered by his classmates while he stood there: even in defeat, they had recognized the power he’d only just been able to control.

 

Midorima’s hands twitched a little, moving with the memory of the power he had called upon.

 

It was stronger than anything he’d felt before. Stronger than the magic that had flooded his body when he had stood before the Veil on Samhain and asked for a light into the darkness of the future.

 

His power wasn’t done growing, which made Midorima an ill match for any normal student, and yet Takao had stayed. His personality itself made him an ill friend, and still, Takao had stayed. When even Kuroko could not bear the sharpness of his tongue, Takao had remained.

 

Midorima didn’t know if he was crying or not, but he was suddenly aware of how soaking wet he was and he didn’t know what to do about it. He was standing in the middle of a snow bank, it’s icy edges reaching up to his knees. The snow was rough on top where the sleet had fallen and frozen as ice.

 

Shit.

 

Midorima had lost, even with every indication that fate was on his side.

 

Despite the loss, there was an upside to this morning's duel. He’d been given another weapon in the middle of this duel. If he were able to harness it, he would never lose again, not to Kuroko or anyone else, not even Akashi. Midorima had lost this battle, but it would be the last time he ever failed. 

 

Midorima’s hand clenched into a fist.

 

The next time he faced Kuroko, he would not lose.

 

_ This will be my last failure,  _ he promised himself.  _ I will become strong enough to save the world, and I will never face this kind of loss ever again. _

 

“Well this is dramatic and pathetic.”

 

The voice floating towards Midorima over the thunder and rain belonged to probably one of the last people Midorima wanted to see at the moment – Aomine.

 

“What are you doing here?” Midorima demanded sharply, finally opening his eyes. Aomine was a few feet away from him, looking out over the lake with a bored expression.

 

“I came out to watch the storm,” Aomine said with a shrug. He was soaking wet, his clothes and hair plastered to his skin. “I like the lightning.”

 

Midorima laughed humorlessly.

 

“Of course you do,” he said, thinking of the Gryffindor's signature lightning.

 

There was a moment of silence in which the two Miracles considered each other before Midorima looked down, unable to bear the scrutiny of his former teammate any longer.

 

“So you lost, huh.”

 

Midorima leaned his head back up against the trunk of the tree, closing his eyes. Hearing it laid out like that so bluntly pissed him off all over again, ripping the wound open anew.

 

“I knew that your duel wouldn’t be worth watching after all,” Aomine said dully, ruthlessly.

 

“Don’t underestimate him,” Midorima cautioned his former teammate.

 

“Who?” Aomine asked. “Tetsu, or the transfer kid? Because either way it doesn’t matter. No matter how well they did against you and Kise, they won’t beat me.”

 

“That is what I told Kise,” Midorima said. “You cannot underestimate their power.”

 

_ What I saw today was not magic I have ever seen from Kuroko before. If he harnesses the power he showed me today, he would be even more dangerous than me, or you, or even Akashi. He would be unstoppable. _

 

Midorima did not give his teammate the benefit of his experience in that regard. A ruthless, angry part of him was quite content to see his fellow student forced into humility by the same hubris that Midorima himself had held.

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“Have you already forgotten?” he asked. “The only one who can beat me is me.”

 

He turned to leave and Midorima watched him head back up the hill. For a moment, as he stood at the peak, the Ravenclaw could see his former teammate silhouetted by lightning. He appeared to flow with power, coiled strength yearning to be set loose.

 

Midorima’s head fell back against the tree.

 

“Fuck,” he whispered.

 

He hadn’t thought he would lose. He hadn’t even considered the possibility. It felt like lately, there was no fight he could win. He had no idea what to do about the impending disaster coming for them, he had no idea how to bring Kuroko back into the fold of their friend group, and he’d had no way of fighting against that final attack that Kuroko and his new light had used.

 

He sank to the ground, sitting in the deep bed of snow as he considered the full extent and magnitude of his failings as a wizard and a duelist. He didn’t know how long he was sitting there before he heard another wizard approaching.

 

“Shin-chan! What the hell are you doing? You’re going to freeze to death out here!”

 

Suddenly, Midorima could no longer feel the water on his face. He opened his eyes to see Takao holding up his wand, creating a shield of quickly moving air that directed the rain away from them both.

 

“Come on, we should get some food.”

 

Midorima paused before nodding his assent.

 

Takao extended his hand to the Ravenclaw. After a moment of hesitation, Midorima took it. He didn’t let go.

 

“Good job today,” Takao said. “We’ll win next time, we’ll be ready for them.”

 

Midorima nodded shortly.

 

“Good… job…” he said. The words were covered by another peal of lightning. He didn’t know if Takao had heard him or not as he passed the other boy.

 

Walking slightly ahead of Takao, he didn’t see the wide smile split across the Gryffindor’s face.

 

“Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask you, what happened at the end of the duel there?” Takao asked as they walked through the rain, Takao still grasping Midorima's hand as he raced to keep up with Midorima's long strides through the deep banks of snow.

 

Midorima did not answer.

 

He’d seen the future. To be precise, he had seen what Kagami and Kuroko were planning to do before they had done it. He just hadn’t been able to react in time.

 

This was an interesting development in his skill. Under the pressure of a spectacular duel, his magic had shown him what his opponents were going to do.

 

Midorima glanced at his partner.

 

“We have some strategies I want to work on.”

 

“Whatever you say, Shin-chan. Whatever you say.”

 

The storm raged around them.

 

“That was a good duel,” Takao said.

 

“Yes,” Midorima concurred after a moment. “It was.”

 

They silently walked hand in hand the rest of the way up to the castle. 

 

. . .

 

 


	31. Aomine Daiki Is A First Rate Asshole But He Does Have A Zapdos

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just have a couple of housekeeping matters, so please indulge me. First off, we just hit 300k! We have officially crossed the halfway point and are starting to get to the real meet of the plot. 
> 
> Second, at the request of several people, I've updated the ship tags on this fic. For relationships that will be present but entirely irrelevant to the plot, I have a master list of all the ships I could think of as appearing [ here on my Tumblr.](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com/post/152523832578/so-i-wanted-to-clear-the-air-on-the-shipping-in) I don't think that's the ***final*** final list, but in terms of steering away from NoTPs and stuff I wanted to give ya'll a heads up now that we're almost at the point where ships will be relevant. 
> 
> Anyway, it's Thursday so kindly kick back, relax, and enjoy another installment of The Wise Man's Fear!

…

 

It took Kuroko three days to recover from the stunt that he pulled during their duel with Midorima. His arms had had deep cuts in them as a result of the magic he used, but Kagami had managed to bandage them pretty well. As far as Kuroko could tell when he had taken over Midorima’s spell and… misdirected it into oblivion, the runes Midorima had cut into his own arm to form the spell had appeared on Kuroko as well.

 

It took his team far longer to come down off of the elation of having beaten yet another one of the Miracles. 

 

Kuroko spent most of his recovery time coercing Kagami into bringing him books on runes to try and make sense of what had happened. Kagami grumpily obeyed, but he brought Kuroko’s homework with him too, which wasn’t as fun.

 

“You ready to tell me what happened yet?” Kagami said at the beginning of the Hufflepuff’s first practice back.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I believe… that I somehow banished Midorima’s spell.”

 

“But… Kuroko, no offense, I know exactly how strong you are and aren’t and banishing is a completely different breed of magic. It’s on another level than anything I’ve ever seen you do power wise.”

 

“I know,” Kuroko nodded. “I do not have the magical power to banish the creation of Midorima’s runic circle. It is possible that this had something to do with my misdirection...”

 

Kagami stared at Kuroko for a minute, as though he hoped that the other boy would continue. When Kuroko didn’t, Kagami pushed gently at his shoulder.

 

“We need to practice this,” he said. Kuroko agreed.

 

“Not today you won’t!” Riko said, standing over them. “Don’t think I don’t know you’re both still injured. We’re debriefing the duel and then you two are both sitting out today.”

 

Kagami gaped.           

 

“Coach!”

 

Kuroko winced at how broken and angry his friend sounded. He supposed Kagami had spent so much time barred from his kingdom of dueling that he didn’t want to be denied being able to stay there now that he had returned.

 

“I want you to be in a fit enough state to fight when we face Aomine,” Riko snapped. “You tried to literally overwhelm Midorima Shintarou with your own magic and had it blow up in your face _because you thought his magic would act like physics_. You don’t go out into the arena until I know you aren’t going to seriously damage your magical core again.”

 

“Okay yeah it was a dumb idea, but-”

 

“Don’t sass me, I can see the damage you did to yourself, don’t forget that.”

 

Kagami closed his mouth angrily.

 

“Fine,” he snapped, roughly getting to his feet. “If you don’t need me practicing then I’ll see you around. Let me know when you want me back in the arena.”

 

Kuroko stared at his light’s back as Kagami roughly slammed the door open.

 

“You going after him?” Riko asked.

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“Didn’t think so. Stretch and start running laps. You’re on pure physical training until next week.”

 

…

 

Kuroko saw neither hide nor hair of Kagami during breakfast. By the time he’d sat through all of Ancient Runes on Tuesday without hearing a word from his light, Kuroko had lost track of his patience and his temper.

 

He’d sat through five separate meltdowns in the dueling arena; he was probably the most qualified person on earth to ground his light at the moment.

 

Kagami might think it was acceptable to follow Aomine’s example, but Kuroko would not let him. Perhaps if he had been sterner with Aomine, he could have avoided where they were now.

 

There was only one place the redhead was bound to turn up eventually and so Kuroko went down to the kitchens and laid in wait.

 

Kuroko knew his light well. He wasn’t waiting more than an hour before Kagami came sauntering through the doors of the kitchen.

 

“Hello.”

 

Kagami jumped and shrieked. Kuroko waited until Kagami had acclimated to his presence before saying what he’d been waiting to say.

 

He didn’t pull any punches from the start.

 

“Kagami is an ass.”

 

Kagami glared back.

 

“The fuck do you want me to do when I can’t _practice?_ I’m not just going to sit around and do nothing while everyone else gets to cast spells and do real work.”

 

“Learn the team strategies and keep me company while I pretend I can do push ups.”

 

“You can’t do a push up?”

 

Kuroko just stared at Kagami until the redhead shook his head.

 

“No, shut up. I’m angry, stop making me not be angry.”

 

“Why are you angry?”

 

Kagami glared at Kuroko as though the very question was insulting.

 

“I want to be out there, dueling!” he burst out. “You of all people should know why I hate having to spend time sitting on the sidelines!”

 

Kuroko let Kagami get out his righteous indignation before flicking his sweatband directly into the other boy’s face.

 

It hit dead on.

 

“What the-”

 

“You are being childish,” Kuroko said in an even, level voice. “Coach does not want to leave you off the team for an extended period of time so she has asked you to take _one week_ off of practice so that your magical core doesn’t destabilize.”

 

Kagami stared at Kuroko as though he had never quite seen him before.

 

“Fine,” he growled. “I’ll check my attitude, I get it. But I’m not gonna waste my time sitting around in practice when I can’t do anything. I’ll go… run laps around the lake or something. Don’t worry, I’ll come back soon.”

 

Kagami strode straight past Kuroko who was struck by a feeling of such powerful déjà vu that he was rooted to the spot.

 

But of course this wasn’t anything like what Aomine had done.

 

For one thing, Aomine had never promised to come back.

 

Kuroko had to believe in his light. He had to trust that Kagami would come back and in the meantime he would find a way to get his head back on straight.

 

_Like you believed in Aomine?_

 

Kuroko felt that thought like the physical cut of a knife.

 

Maybe Kuroko couldn’t have done anything by following Aomine, but maybe he could have. He wasn’t going to wait to find out that he’d made the same mistake with Kagami.

 

Kuroko turned around and steeled himself.

 

“No,” Kuroko said sharply.

 

Kagami, who had been busy oiling up a set of pans, looked up in alarm.

 

“You’re still here?” he demanded. "Why didn't you say anything damn it?"

 

“I’ve been here this whole time,” Kuroko said dully.

 

The last time that his light had started pulling away, Kuroko had given him the space he thought he needed and Aomine had ended up jumping off the deep end.

 

This time, Kuroko followed Kagami.

 

“Coach said you couldn’t duel for a bit, but she didn’t say you could leave,” Kuroko said sharply. “Come help me practice.”

 

“Kuroko-”

 

“Kagami.”

 

Kagami sighed and turned around, a rueful smile on his lips.

 

“You’re a pretty persuasive guy for a Hufflepuff.”

 

“We are known to be stubborn now and then.”

 

Kagami chuckled. In that moment, the anger seemed to seep out of him a little, and he set down the pan he was holding with a fond look on his face. He stepped out and around the counter, staring down at his shadow.

 

“Well, you are that,” he allowed, ruffling Kuroko’s hair. “You know for such an even keeled guy with that neutral expression you wear everywhere you have a pretty short fuse. Has anyone ever told you that?”

 

Kuroko continued to stare down Kagami until his light gave in, raising his arms in surrender.

 

“Okay, fine, if it will make you stop being angry with me. What do you need?”

 

“I need you to curse me.”

 

“What the hell?”

 

…

 

Kuroko didn’t know exactly how to describe what had happened during his duel with Midorima. He just knew that if he wanted to continue to fight the Miracles on their terms he would need to replicate it.

 

To that end, he convinced Kagami to set up on one side of a practice classroom and throw spells at him until he figured it out.

 

Kagami was, perhaps understandably, not thrilled with this approach.

 

“Are you sure about this?” he asked Kuroko, eyeing his shadow speculatively.

 

Kuroko nodded tersely.

 

Kagami exhaled deeply.

 

“Okay then. You ready?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said.

 

“Okay, we’ll start with something small, work our way up?”

 

Kuroko agreed. He had no desire to injure himself until he knew what had happened during the duel with Midorima.

 

Kagami cast a jelly-legs jinx at Kuroko.

 

Kuroko went down.

 

“Ah shit,” Kagami said, dispelling the curse with a wave of his hand. “Try again?”

 

Kuroko nodded, pulling himself to his feet.

 

“Again,” he agreed. There was a spark of stubborn determination in his eyes. “Until I can get it right.”

 

They kept at it for a solid hour without much luck.

 

“We’ll keep trying,” Kagami encouraged Kuroko, who was laid out flat on the floor. Kuroko’s head twitched in an approximation of a nod.

 

“I thought you almost got it that last time,” Kagami offered.

 

“You are lying,” Kuroko said flatly. “Don’t lie to make me feel better. It was awful.”

 

Kagami exhaled loudly.

 

“Yeah, you suck at this,” he said, patting Kuroko’s head. “We’ll try again tomorrow.”

 

Tomorrow came, as did the next day, and the next. Kuroko forced himself to carve out time to try what he had used to defeat Midorima’s spell, but no matter how many times Kagami cursed him, he just couldn’t do it.

 

They had appropriated an empty study hall to work in. Kuroko continued to show up to practice dutifully in addition to his extra training, even as Kagami did not. The light spellwork Kagami was doing with Kuroko wasn’t ideal, but Kuroko was fairly certain it would not do any more damage.

 

With their match against Aomine now only days away, Kuroko was beginning to worry that they had been chasing down a dead end. This had been the one hope upon which he believed they could turn the tide against his former light and it was proving to be futile.

 

Without this as a weapon Kuroko was sure that they would lose.

 

It was with an extremely heavy heart on Saturday afternoon, three days before their duel, that Kuroko finally admitted defeat.

 

“I do not think that this will work.”

 

Kagami sighed, throwing himself into a chair in the empty classroom they had been practicing in.

 

“You’re a mysterious guy,” he said finally. “I just don’t get it – you destroyed Midorima’s attack, but you can’t even break apart the simplest of spells?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“It could merely have been a fluke,” he agreed.

 

“I mean, if it was that’s one hell of a fluke,” Kagami said, guarded and unwilling to accept this interpretation. “Maybe you just need to practice it under pressure until you get the hang of it?”

 

Kuroko shrugged again.

 

“I have no desire to get my ass kicked repeatedly for the sake of pure magical curiosity,” he said. “We will have to make do with the other strategies we are developing to fight Aomine.”

 

Kagami sighed in frustration.

 

“Okay,” he said finally. “We can revisit this later then. After we beat the blue asshole, you and I will work on this until we get it right. We’ll get Captain and Coach to help us too. And if we’re really lucky, maybe you’ll pull off something similar against Aomine.”

 

Kuroko couldn’t help but feel that Kagami’s optimism was misplaced, but he nodded again, purely out of politeness.

 

He was pretty sure they were about to get their assess handed to them.

 

…

 

The days passed, and very soon it was easter. The next round of the school dueling tournament was upon them, and the schedule finally had placed Kuroko and Kagami opposite Aomine - a confrontation that had been waiting to blow up since the very first day of the school year. Kuroko privately believed that the only reason neither wizard had managed t burn down the school yet was that they were holding back in their usual arguments, waiting to lay out everything they had during one final, public showdown. 

 

Kuroko was ready for a show down of his own, of course. He owed Aomine a beat down and Kagami was going to help him do it.

 

One day before their duel with Aomine and his team, Riko declared Kagami’s core sufficiently healed enough to join the starting line.

 

The pinched lines at the edges of her mouth and the worry in her eyes belied the faith she said she had in the Gryffindor. She knew just as well as the rest of them that Kagami was their best bet to win. He was the only one with a snowball’s chance in hell of standing up to Aomine Daiki, the powerhouse Ace that had leveled entire teams on his own.

 

Kuroko worried that Kagami would be too tempted to push himself to the limit, but in the relatively contained environment of a school based dueling match with medical personnel on hand, he was sure that things would go smoothly.

 

Kuroko watched the other team carefully as they strode out into the arena. Sakurai waved awkwardly at the rest of the Hufflepuffs as he joined his team on the court, walking side by side with Imayoshi. The Seventh year looked pissed. He was talking in a low voice with Momoi, who was striding confidently on his other side, head nodding quickly. It didn’t take a brilliant mind to guess what could be angering the seventh year captain. One look around the arena told Kuroko exactly what was missing from their imminent duel – or rather, who.

 

“Where’s Aomine?”

 

Kagami’s voice was loud enough to carry across the room.

 

Kuroko looked over at the line of competitors, just to make sure that he hadn’t somehow missed his former light and teammate, and fought the urge to frown.

 

Kuroko should have known better than to think for even a second that his task of making Aomine care about dueling again would be so easy. Aomine didn’t even want to show up. He believed that his superiority was so profoundly presumptive that it went without saying or demonstrating.

 

Of course Aomine wasn’t there. He’d think this match was beneath him.

 

After all, nobody could beat Aomine, but Aomine himself.

 

What an _asshole_.

 

That thought lay bitterly in Kuroko’s heart, giving way to a gaping yawning vengeance that Kuroko hadn’t believe he was capable of.

 

They would not lose here.

 

“Hey, Captain, where’s your Ace?” Hyuuga yelled over at Imayoshi. The Slytherin heaved a very deliberate, put upon sigh before responding.

 

“He’s not here,” Imayoshi said. “He might be on his way or whatever, but in the meantime, don’t take it too hard on us. He _is_ the best duelist on the team after all. I guess you could call us the opening act.”

 

He finished this with a distinctly unpleasant smile.

 

“Whatever you say, Imayoshi,” Hyuuga said.

 

“I’m sorry, but he’s really not wrong though,” Sakurai offered from beside him, causing Imayoshi to actually ruffle the goddamn Hufflepuff’s hair. “Aomine is the best and strongest duelist on the team.”

 

Hyuuga circled his team up before the duel, his expression pinched but determined.

 

“I hate to say this, but without Aomine here... we might actually have a shot.”

 

“Oh come on, what, is that guy afraid to be proven wrong about being the best or something?” Kagami demanded. “He was all high and mighty about facing me on the court and here he is backing out of our duel like a coward. I was looking forward to fighting him!”

 

“You know, sometimes people do things that have nothing to do with you, right?” Hyuuga asked frankly. Kagami shouted in indignation at the insult.

 

“Dude, chill,” Koganei said, leaning away from the shouting Gryffindor. “Your petty seventeen year old drama is super important and we respect you.”

 

“Oi!”

 

“Boys boys boys,” Riko said, leaning into the huddle. “Stop fighting or I’ll murder all of you right here. We can’t lose this duel. If we do it’s all over. So… let’s win!”

 

The team shouted in agreement.

 

“If these guys are the opening act, I’ll pull us so far ahead that we’ll end it before that self centered bastard even shows up!”

 

“I agree,” Kuroko said, his eyes burning with intensity. “There’s no use being angry at someone who isn’t even going to show up. The opponent in front of us is everything.”

 

“All right, you all have this right,” Hyuuga said. “Let’s go all out!”

 

Almost immediately, Hyuuga found himself facing the diminutive and apologetic Sakurai.

 

“Sorry!” Sakurai shouted, closing his eyes as he waved his wand wildly at the other wizard.

 

Hyuuga glanced around, as though uncertain that everyone else in the room was seeing the same thing he was.

 

This second of distraction was enough that he never saw Sakurai’s spell coming, and the explosion rocked him several feet back, landing on his ass.

 

“Sorry, sorry!” Sakurai yelled again.

 

“Don’t say sorry if you did it on purpose!” Hyuuga roared angrily. Imayoshi giggled.

 

“Nine out of ten for form, you could open your eyes next time and actually aim,” he told the Hufflepuff, clapping him on the shoulder. “Good work!”

 

“Now who’s talking about being the warm up act!”

 

Hyuuga was scrambling to his feet, still visibly angry at having nearly been laid out by the shrinking Hufflepuff in front of him. Despite knowing better, he hadn’t taken Imayoshi and his team as seriously as he should have. He could have just paid for that by losing the match. Pissed off and ready to fight, Hyuuga wouldn’t make that mistake again.

 

“Oh sorry!” Imayoshi said with a false smile. “Did you think it would be easy to get through us just because the selfish Ace of my team decided to sleep in? Come on, you deserved the sucker punch for thinking we would crumple that easily. None of us are going down without a fight.”

 

Hyuuga snarled, clearly pissed off at Imayoshi for trying to pull one over on them, and for being an obnoxious, condescending asshole.

 

“That guy has a terrible personality,” Izuki muttered to Koganei, who nodded wholeheartedly.

 

The duel resumed. Hyuuga crossed wands with Sakurai, swearing loudly as the Hufflepuff continued to apologize at the top of his lungs every time he managed to land a hit.

 

Kagami was taking on Imayoshi and two of his teammates at once. The Gryffindor was surrounded by a tornado of fire as he forced them to keep their distance so that he could handle them one at a time.

 

As Kuroko watched, Kagami sent the tornado exploding out away from him, making his opponents stagger back. Imayoshi managed to recover quickly, having shielded himself in time to avoid being burned. He and Kagami began exchanging spells, forcing Kagami to continually dodge and jump away from the sheer number of wizards he was fighting.

 

Kagami leapt over a cutting curse and turned, firing back.

 

Kagami landed hard, but was able to stay on his feet. Kuroko felt something off about his light almost at once. He glanced to the bench, ready to inform their coach, but Riko was already moving, a grim look on her face.

 

Seconds later, the cannon sounded, calling for a substitution.

 

“Kagami, you’re out.”

 

“Coach!”

 

“What the hell did I just say?” Riko demanded. “Get off the field.”

 

Kagami looked furious. Kuroko could hardly blame him, but there was something seriously wrong with the Gryffindor’s magical core. Kuroko knew that Kagami couldn’t keep fighting without at least having it looked at. Riko and Tsuchida might together be able to patch up whatever the problem was, but for now Kagami would have to be taken out of the duel.

 

Kuroko felt his stomach sink a little as Kagami’s head bowed and he walked out of the arena. With him went their best chance of ending this duel quickly. Now the power difference between the two teams was just going to keep hindering them until they faltered.

 

“Furihata, you’re in,” Riko said. “Go support our captain for as long as you can. I’m going to try and get Kagami back in.”

 

Furihata nodded seriously, but he was shaking as he stood.

 

“Really?” he asked, his voice cracking.

 

“Yes, really,” Riko said. “I believe in you, Kouki, you can do this. You’ve captained your own Quidditch team, you’re more than wizard enough to face any of the duelists in there, Miracles aside. Go help our friends, okay?”

 

Furihata swallowed, but he slapped hands with Kagami and took his place in the match, setting himself opposite of Sakurai.

 

The cannons sounded, signalling the beginning of the duel.

 

“Sorry about this!” Sakurai shouted, throwing a curse at Furihata.

 

“No I’m sorry!’

 

“No I’m the one who’s sorry!”

 

“I’m sorry!”

 

“So sorry!”  


“Shut up and duel or both of you will be!” Hyuuga and Imayoshi roared as one, both captains glaring at each other as they spoke in unison. Hyuuga managed to pull Furihata away just as Imayoshi threw a blasting curse at the floor in front of them.

 

As the duel continued, Riko turned to her Ace.

 

“Sit,” she snapped.

 

“What did I do?” Kagami demanded, following her orders.

 

“I was wrong,” Riko said. “Your magical core is still unstable. If I let you stay in like this, there’s no telling what could happen.”

 

“Is there anything you can do to let me get back in?” Kagami begged. “Come on, Coach. I’m the best chance we have to win, you said it yourself!”

 

Riko nodded.

 

“I’m going to try,” she said. “Tsuchida, come over here!”

 

The seventh year Hufflepuff slid into place next to the coach.

 

“What can I do?” he asked.

 

“You’re going to help me temporarily stabilize his core so he can fight. He’ll need a real healer as soon as we’re done, but in the meantime, if we can, I want him back in the duel.”

 

Tsuchida nodded.

 

“I don’t know how much I can do,” he said softly. “Healing in the middle of a fight is one thing…”

 

“Do what you can, please,” Kagami begged, his head bowed. “Please, I need to get back in there.”

 

Riko and Tsuchida shared a glance.

 

“Let’s get to work.”

 

On the field, Kuroko grit his teeth. Without Kagami, the power difference between the two teams was becoming all the more real. Koganei had already been revived twice and they weren’t going to hold on much longer unless Coach could get Kagami back in.

 

“We need to buy time!” Hyuuga called to his team. “Mitobe, with me!”

 

As one, the two wizards raised a huge wall between them and their opponents. While Imayoshi and his team busied themselves with blasting through it, the rest of the team worked together, building a shield to outlast the coming battering they were about to receive.

 

“Do we have a plan for when the shield breaks?” Koganei asked.

 

“Run,” Hyuuga said seriously. “Scatter, misdirect, and hope we’ve got our Ace back by then. Much as I hate relying on our fucking juniors in the heat of a fight, we don’t really have another choice.”

 

It only took Imayoshi another minute to blast fully through the stone separating him from the other team.

 

Imayoshi stepped through the wall, framed by his team, ominously walking through the smoke. It was so smooth, Kuroko was pretty sure that they had practiced it. Somehow, he could totally see Momoi forcing them to spend an entire practice session working on dramatic posing.

 

“Going to run and hide from me now?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “If you’re that scared of us, I’d hate to see how scared you are of our main event.”

 

“God, do you ever shut up?” Hyuuga demanded. “Or do you just love the sound of your voice too much to be quiet?”

 

Imayoshi chuckled.

 

“I’m going to enjoy taking you down, Glasses,” he said.

 

“WE’VE BEEN IN THE SAME CLASS FOR SEVEN YEARS YOU KNOW MY GODDAMN NAME!” Hyuuga shouted, turning red in the face. “Come fight me you ass!”

 

Imayoshi sighed.

 

“Okay, if you’re gonna make me come through by force, I’m more than happy to oblige.”

 

Imayoshi turned to Sakurai.

 

“Would you do the honors?”

 

Sakurai squeaked and turned bright red.

 

“Sure!” he shouted too loudly, raising his wand to cast the first explosive attack on the shield being maintained by Hyuugas entire team.

 

On the bench, Kagami was gritting his teeth while he felt Tsuchida’s magic reaching inside of his own core. It was an uncomfortable experience, though one he had unfortunately been forced through multiple times since blasting off his own legs.

 

“Okay, I think he might be good,” Riko said, her eyes glowing green from her Rune Sight. “He won’t collapse during the duel, I don’t think, but he’s gonna feel this tomorrow.”

 

“I’m gonna feel this tomorrow anyway,” Kagami grunted. “Let’s go, I want to get back out there.”

 

Riko glanced behind her, where her team was still holding strong against the onslaught of six talented duelists. They were still in this. They still had a chance.

 

Her eyes went back to her Ace. Kagami was standing, antsy to get back out onto the field.

 

Oh god. Was this the right call? For a moment, Riko felt so young, too young to be making this decision. She could be putting Kagami’s health very seriously at risk, and for what? To win?

 

He would be fine. Riko squared her shoulders.

 

“I’m sending you back out there, but you better end this quickly. If I see you having any more problems, I’m going to pull you right back out. If I do, you’re not dueling again this week, do you understand?”

 

Kagami nodded grimly.

 

“I’m fine,” he said. “I’ve had worse, trust me.”

 

“That’s not all that comforting, you know,” Riko said, clenching her fists. Her boys were still holding steady, but they needed their Ace back to turn the tides in their favor.

 

And if Aomine were to show up now? It would be over. They were in a pretty dire situation.

 

Riko closed her eyes.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

Kagami paused.

 

“The truth is, I would never want to send out an injured wizard into a duel,” Riko said. “But we can’t win without you. We’ve been calling it team play, but it’s actually a style someone taught me.”

 

“Someone?”

 

“I’m not strong enough to draw out everyone’s full potential, so I have to rely on you, even though you’re injured, even though your magical core needs to rest. My own weakness pisses me off!”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kagami demanded. “You make our practice schedules, you cheer for us and treat us on the bench. You scout, you give us instructions… if anything, you do too much. You’re our coach. You have to be at least prepared during games! Don’t send me off by saying you’re sorry!”

 

“You’re a brat, you idiot,” Riko smiled fiercely. “Happy hunting then. Kick their asses.”

 

Kagami smiled broadly.

 

This was a fight he was going to enjoy, down to the very last spell.

 

“Yes!”

 

Kagami was thoroughly unprepared for the arm that was slung around his shoulders and the tanned face that filled his entire vision to the right.

 

“So you can entertain me after all,” Aomine drawled.

 

“You’re finally here, you jerk?” Imayoshi called over to his Ace. “Get in the field!”

 

“Eh? From where I’m standing it looks like you have it covered, Captain,” Aomine said, not letting go of Kagami.

 

“You bastard,” Kagami growled, throwing himself free of Aomine’s grip with an angry brush of his arm. “Get off me, A-hoe-mine!”

 

Imayoshi had his own orders for the blue haired Gryffindor as well delivered in a much calmer, but potentially more dangerous tone of voice.

 

“Get. In. The. Arena.”

 

Kuroko had never seen Imayoshi look quite so dangerous before. Aomine shrugged, letting go of his prey to throw his bag against the opposite wall of the Great Hall. It landed lightly, right next to Momoi.

 

“Fine.”

 

He shrugged off his robes, which followed his bag, and stretched languidly. It was clear that he had come prepared and was fully warmed up to duel. He straightened to his full height and joined his team to face Kuroko and Kagami on the field.

 

The Gryffindor filled Kuroko’s entire vision. His dark blue eyes burning with challenge, sweat dripping from his warm up, striding onto the court like he owned the whole fucking school. Kuroko almost forgot to breathe with how much he had missed walking into the arena with Aomine.

 

And then the Gryffindor fixed his eyes on Kuroko and opened his mouth.

 

“Hey, Tetsu, it’s good to see you again. I was wondering what face you would make when we finally dueled against each other.”

 

Kuroko’s hands balled into fists. He hoped his own expression conveyed every bit of anger he was feeling right now, because he wanted the Gryffindor to know exactly how hard Kuroko was willing to fight to bring him down.

 

“I told you not to call me that,” he said calmly.

 

Aomine twisted his head to the side, considering his former phantom.

 

“I like it,” he said, clearly ignoring what Kuroko had said. “You look fired up and ready to go.”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed. “I promised Momoi. And Kagami.”

 

Aomine laughed lowly.

 

“You’re _my_ shadow,” he said. “You might be mad at me right now, but you know that I’m a better light than the pretender standing on the court behind you.”

 

Aomine towered over Kuroko, eyes blazing, not concealing a single iota of his own power. He placed a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

For all that Aomine looked ready for a violent fight, his hand was gentle when it touched Kuroko.

 

“You could have come with me,” Aomine said, eyes gentling for a moment before returning to their previous intensity. “But if you want a fight, trust me I’ll be ready for it. At any rate, anything else you want to say to me, you can say it when you’ve beaten me. If you can do it.”

 

For a second, Kuroko was struck by how strongly he did not want to fight his former light. He didn’t want to cross wands with Aomine Daiki, not when they had always fought side by side. It left an ache somewhere under Kuroko’s ribs.

 

 _“Kuroko Tetsuya, that was brilliant!” Aomine had cheered the very first time they had stood in the arena together._ They had cleared a field of magical golems and utterly destroyed their competition together. Every foray into magical experimentation Kuroko had done, Aomine had been there to help him grow. Aomine hadn’t been afraid of beating his ass into the ground and had made him a better wizard, a better duelist, a better _person._ Aomine had been the one to give Kuroko the first taste of victory.

 

He’d made Kuroko realize how strong he was. Kuroko was angrier at Aomine than he could ever remember being, but here and now, facing down his former teammate, everything horrible that Aomine had done in the last twelve months faded into the background. All he could remember was how good it had been when their friendship had been strong.

 

Then the illusion came crashing down around him.

 

“Hey, asshole, you gonna duel or you want to terrorize my teammate some more?”

 

Aomine laughed, patting Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

“Oh don’t worry, I’m coming for you too, transfer kid,” Aomine jeered. “I’ll show you just how dim your light really is.”

 

Two cannons marked two substitutions. The Aces of each team were back in play and ready to fight. Neither of them looked like they were going to back down.

 

The will to fight would not be the driving force of this duel, Kuroko could see that. He was afraid that Kagami’s still unstable magical core might decide the duel before they were ready for it to end.

 

Then they would just have to find a way to finish this quickly after all.

 

As the duel restarted, Aomine faced down Kagami.

 

“You’ve been dying to let me have it since the beginning of the year, so come on and let me have it,” Aomine grinned. “If you think you can.”

 

“Oh it’s on,” Kagami glared back. “Let’s go.”

 

Kagami threw a ball of fire that Aomine shielded smoothly. Laughing, Aomine threw lightning back at his fellow Gryffindor, but Kagami rolled away from the magical attack, coming back up into a fighting stance.

 

Aomine threw another bolt of lighting at Kagami. This time, the redhead only stepped lightly to the side, allowing Kuroko to field the curse.

 

It burned with power, but the Hufflepuff was ready.

 

Kuroko swung the curse back around with all his might. It rocketed across the arena back towards the wizard that had cast it, taking on the power of the wizard that had redirected it as well.

 

Aomine, impossibly, caught it. Navy and baby blue magic revolved around his hand in a miniature storm of lightning, a ring of tightly condensed power.

 

Aomine smiled.

 

“Very good, Tetsu,” he said. “But the only one who can beat me is me. Or did you forget that your magic is just as familiar to me as my own? I was the first one you ever tried practicing this trick with. You’re _my_ shadow, after all. You can’t sneak up on me and you can’t use the tricks we developed together against me.”

 

Kuroko stared at Aomine in shock.

 

“You never should have left us.”

 

With a movement as quick as a whip, Aomine slammed the magic into the ground, letting it explode outwards.

 

The ground crackled and burned, throwing Kuroko to his knees. In his shock, he’d failed to keep his footing.

 

“Hey now, I thought you were gonna show me what you’ve got!” Kagami shouted. “Come fight me already, you bastard!”

 

Aomine turned around quickly, engaging Kagami with a loud laugh.

 

Kuroko took a moment to pull himself to his feet and assess the duel.

 

His eyes immediately went to where Kagami and Aomine were fighting, the incredible sight of the two Aces clashing rooting him to the ground. Their battle was one-on-one, raging across the arena. Kuroko could feel the almost physical presence of their magic as they fought.

 

Kagami and Aomine were moving almost faster than the eye could follow. The ground around them rippled like it was water rather than stone and the thick smell of ozone hung in the air as the tremendously powerful wizards threw their magic at each other in an attempt to force their opponent to submit.

 

Kagami threw out an attack against Aomine, who barely had to move to force the ground to rise up in front of him, allowing Kagami’s fire to dissipate easily against it. Lightning thrown into the rock sent Kagami diving for cover as Aomine’s makeshift shield exploded against him. Kagami lowered a bloody arm just in time to shield himself from a pack of dogs transfigured from the stones.

 

“Come on, transfer kid, keep up!” Aomine laughed. He was keeping Kagami moving, forcing the other boy to stagger back. Kagami was fighting to stay conscious, the draw on his power becoming more and more difficult by the second. Aomine was _fast._

 

Kuroko did what he could to keep the rest of the wizards on the other team at bay, but each of them was strong in their own right. Even Sakurai proved to be a difficult opponent, when he wasn’t apologizing for laying out one of Kuroko’s own teammates.

 

A powerful blasting curse took Mitobe out of the round for good. Sakurai blushed red, furiously apologizing to Hyuuga who was getting angrier by the second.

 

“Don’t apologize if you’re going to do it anyway!” he shouted, snapping his wand in an attempt to stun the sixth year Hufflepuff. Sakurai shielded himself and sent the curse exploding up into the top of the shield.

 

A crack of thunder exploded from the middle of the arena and Aomine shouted in victory as his lightning made contact with Kagami’s chest. Kuroko stared, wide eyed, as Kagami was hit.

 

The Gryffindor went sliding across the floor, only stopping when he ran into Izuki’s legs.

 

“Ouch,” he said, rubbing his head as he caught his bearings. “What a dick, huh?”

 

“This duel is getting pretty electrifying!” Izuki replied with a grin, reaching out a hand to help Kagami to his feet. Before he could stand though, the redhead’s eyes rolled back and he passed out cold.

 

Izuki bent to revive the redhead, but was forced to dive away as two of their opponents came after him. A hail of stunning spells made the Gryffindor dive and shield himself, landing too far away to reach Kagami. He turned, snapping out a curse of his own before taking off running, trying to put some distance between himself and his pursuers.

 

Kuroko focused back on Aomine, forced to engage with the much more present threat on the field in front of him. Imayoshi and Sakurai were shielding him.

 

The air around Aomine was shimmering and turning navy blue.

 

Something bad was about to happen, Kuroko could tell.

 

He could feel Aomine’s power before the Gryffindor even unleashed it. It was wild and uncontrollable and strong, just like the wizard himself, and it was going to lay waste to their entire team.

 

Lightning began to crack around Aomine. His eyes opened, and the power surrounding his skin exploded outward with a scream that wasn’t even human anymore. Above him, the shadow of a great beast - a massive bird – extended wide, dark, shadowy wings over the arena. The thunderbird spiraled upwards towards the ceiling of the arena, screeching violently. It flapped its wings and the terrible crash of thunder sounded again, forcing Kuroko to cover his ears. He stared in awe at the powerful creature Aomine had – summoned? Created? He couldn’t tell, but in that moment the bird opened it’s huge, dark blue eyes, and Kuroko knew that he was looking directly at a thunderbird.

 

And the bird was getting ready to dive directly towards him.

 

Kuroko would have been laid out in an instant if it weren’t for his captain coming to his rescue.

 

Hyuuga grabbed Kuroko by the arm.

 

“Get back!”

 

The captain only just managed to shield himself and Kuroko against the power of Aomine’s explosive thunderbird. The lightning came crashing down with the creature’s talons, bouncing off of Hyuuga’s flickering shield as the beast rose back into the air.

 

The sickening crackle of power was at once familiar and so so alien.

 

It was Aomine’s magic, but it had changed so much since the last time Kuroko had touched it.

 

The gigantic beast circled the arena. Its dark shadowy wings were interlaced with the navy blue lightning of the wizard that had summoned it.

 

Students watching the duel ducked and covered their ears as the creature screamed out again, angry and looking for prey.

 

“The only one who can beat me is me, Tetsu!” Aomine shouted. “There are no wizards like me! Not here in this school, not in Britain, not anywhere else!”

 

The bird dove, and where its claws hit the ground, lightning shot up and the stone exploded from the force of the contact.

 

Kagami was still out. Hyuuga had an arm thrown protectively in front of Kuroko.

 

“Captain,” Kuroko said. “My misdirection will work better if you aren’t marking me.”

 

“Ah, sorry,” Hyuuga said. “You’ll be okay?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

The bird dove again, and more lightning illuminated another cloud of dust and smoke. Hyuuga dove left, but Kuroko went to the right, searching for his opportunity to take out the thunderbird. The resulting explosion rocked the ground and Kuroko saw Koganei fall. The Gryffindor had been struck by stray lightning, unable to shield himself from the onslaught from their opponents in addition to Aomine’s massive thunderbird.

 

Could they take it down by just taking out Aomine?

 

 _Just taking out Aomine,_ Kuroko repeated mockingly to himself. As if it could possibly be so easy.

 

Kuroko looked around. Where was his team? Where was his light? Kagami was laying still on the far side of the arena. He had been knocked out and their captain was on the run, fighting Imayoshi, Sakurai, and another one of Imayoshi’s team members. Kuroko found himself in awe of his captain’s dueling capabilities – clearly he was in clutch mode, ready to fight as hard as he could against the other team.

 

Izuki was the only other member of his team standing, the only one who had managed to survive the initial onslaught. He was dueling against two of their opponents on his own with the aid of shimmering illusions, doing his best to keep them at bay. Neither of Kuroko’s teammates looked like they were going to last much longer.

 

Dimly, from somewhere very far away, Kuroko could hear Riko and Kiyoshi cheering with all of the strength in their lungs.

 

It was up to the three of them now.

 

Kuroko was getting ready to try and attack Aomine when the bird turned its gaze back onto him.

 

The thunderbird shrieked, identifying its prey.

 

Silver claws gleamed in the dim, flickering lightning and the bird dove down, ready to spear Kuroko through with them.

 

The Hufflepuff held his ground, determination rooting his feet to the floor.

 

He was going to shut down their opponents here. If he could rob Aomine of this advantage, his captain could revive their teammates and they could carry on the fight with a weakened opponent, with the element of surprise. They could do this.

 

_I am a shadow. I am a shadow. No light shines here. No storm rages, no thunder calls. I am still and silent and so are you._

 

Kuroko felt the power under his control – maybe for a second, maybe he was just imagining it, fancying himself more powerful than he actually was – before it broke free.

 

Aomine’s lightning was beyond the paltry and pathetic command of a shadow of a wizard, and it would flash and rage however it and its master pleased.

 

Kuroko hit the ground hard, rolling to a groaning stop.

 

“Kuroko!”

 

Kuroko didn’t know who called his name. He thought it might have been Kagami - but if the redhead was beginning to wake up, maybe he had a chance.

 

Kuroko pushed himself to his feet. The thunderbird had knocked the crap out of him. He felt like he couldn’t take a whole breath, with the way his chest was shuddering. He was at his limit, physically and magically. He looked up. Aomine was standing right in front of him, looking bored.

 

“Well, Tetsu?” Aomine asked, towering over Kuroko, the birds wings extending out behind him in bold, terrifying lines. “Is that all?”

 

Kuroko put his hands flat against the floor. With energy he didn’t know he still had he pulled himself up to his feet, shaking where he stood.

 

“It’s not over,” he said, pointing his wand unsteadily at his old light.

 

Aomine growled under his breath.

 

“What will it take to make you stay down?” he demanded. “Put down your damn wand!”

 

Kuroko couldn’t help but mentally feel that Aomine was right. He shouldn’t be standing here, pointing his wand at his former light. He belonged at Aomine’s side. He’d always belonged there. He was the shadow to Aomine’s blinding brilliance and he never should have pretended that he could stand against him.

 

Kuroko’s entire being rebelled against his own decision to stand against the Generation of Miracles. It was illogical and stupid.

 

No one could match the Generation of Miracles.

 

Kuroko thought about Aomine’s face the first time he’d realized that their opponents had just given up and refused to fight. Their helplessness had rendered Aomine into a monster, cutting them down without resistance.

 

At least he would do himself, his team, and his former light the honor of going down with his wand in his hand and fighting as hard as he could.

 

Kuroko grit his teeth, tightening his grip on his wand.

 

“It’s not over. We will continue to fight, no matter what. Curse me again if you believe you can land the hit, Aomine.”

 

Aomine snarled. Behind him, the monster made of lightning screeched in anger at its master’s fury.

 

And then it attacked.

 

Kuroko stared at the beast as its terrible power narrowed to a point of attack: him.

 

He couldn’t move. He could barely breathe.

 

_You don’t really know where I am, do you? I’m just a shadow._

 

Aomine’s magic missed. The thunderous bird rose back up into the sky, wings outstretched as it lapped the field, the ground next to Kuroko scorched and blackened.

 

Aomine was staring at Kuroko with wide eyes.

 

“I will not give up, Aomine,” Kuroko said seriously.

 

But such determination could only go so far and it did nothing to make up for a severe deficiency in magical abilities.

 

Despite Kuroko’s resilience, the difference in power was too much for their team to handle.

 

To the everlasting credit of every single person on that team, not one of them gave up.

 

Riko and the others cheered until their throats were hoarse and pained from the sidelines. Kuroko was everywhere at once, but still he was always just a step too slow to redirect the spells flying at his teammates, or if he was able to, meeting an impenetrable shield cast by his former light.

 

He wanted to scream in frustration as he watched his teammates go down.

 

Izuki was the first one to go down of those remaining, too far from the others to be easily revived as Aomine’s team defended the ground they had won.

 

Hyuuga fought as hard as he could, but between Imayoshi and Sakurai, he was being kept on the run, his footing barely able to keep up with the pace he needed to avoid their spells. Kuroko heard a sickening crack before his captain was thrown bodily out of Imayoshi’s way – right into Kagami, who was still sprawled out unconscious on the floor.

 

Hyuuga bowled over Kagami and the two fell still into a heap at the edge of the arena. With the field nearly clear Aomine faced down Kuroko. Both of the strongest powerhouses of Kuroko’s team had been taken out and it was left to the Hufflepuff to fight alone.

 

His skin was covered in a heavy sheen of sweat and the obvious strain he’d encountered trying to overcome them was gratifying. But it was just Kuroko left. He was at the end of his stamina and had nowhere near the level of power he needed to defeat them even if he hadn't been. In contrast, Imayoshi and his team looked like they had barely worked up a sweat slamming their way through Kuroko's teammates. There was no way the phantom could win this duel on his own. 

 

There was nothing he could do.

 

The thunderbird screeched one final time and vanished in a flash of lightning and smoke drifting slowly away across the top of the arena.

 

“Tell you what, Tetsu, because I’m so kind, I’ll let you surrender and you can still walk out of here under your own power,” Aomine said lazily, flicking his wand through his fingers. It was almost an insult in and of itself that he’d even taken it out – like he was saying Kuroko wasn’t worth the more impressive, explosive magic and transfiguration he could do without it. He hadn’t let the thunderbird fade because he didn’t have the power to maintain it - he was just making sure Kuroko knew exactly how little power Aomine needed to destroy him.

 

Their team lost. Kuroko knew that. He was barely holding himself upright.

 

Aomine knew it too. The fire that had blazed inside him when he had faced off against Kagami was gone now, replaced by a superior boredom that Kuroko loathed with every fiber of his being.

 

He could hear – muffled by the shield, but still loud enough to make out – his teammates shouting from the bench. None of them were giving up. Izuki, Koganei, Mitobe, Hyuuga, Kagami, none of them had given up either. Even to the very end, they’d fought like there was still a chance of taking this duel back.

 

That’s all he could do now, refuse to give up.

 

It was one of the very few things that had ever come naturally to him, after all.

 

Kuroko fell into a weary fighting stance and raised his wand, arm shaking.

 

“If you want to beat our team, then you better be willing to go through me too,” he said, lungs burning for air.

 

Aomine shrugged like he didn’t care either way. And maybe he really _didn’t_ care about hurting Kuroko, maybe he never had – but he still raised his own wand to match that of his former teammate.

 

“This should be over soon,” he yawned.

 

Kuroko watched his movements carefully. When Aomine cast, he jumped. But he was a second too late reacting and Aomine’s concussive curse hit his foot. He hissed in pain as he felt the bones in his right foot break with the force of the spell.

 

Kuroko hit the ground painfully.

 

“You gonna give up yet?”

 

Kuroko exhaled, trying to control the pain in his leg. He splinted the foot with a spell and pulled himself to his knees.

 

“No,” Kuroko said.

 

This time, when Aomine cast he was ready for it. Kuroko’s caught the spell and sent it flying back at Aomine who lazily shielded it.

 

“Damn you!” he growled. “Just _give up!”_

 

Too busy heaving for breath, Kuroko couldn’t answer. He couldn’t do anything except try, give his best, and never back down. He was going to fight until he was forced to stop.

 

He wasn’t going to give up on Aomine so easily, not now, not ever.

 

“This is sweet and everything, but I’m done with this fight.”

 

Kuroko didn’t have time to react to Imayoshi’s voice behind him before a spell slammed into his back and he fell forward into darkness.

 

…

 

Kuroko blinked his eyes open in the hospital wing.

 

“You’re awake!”

 

Kuroko turned his head to face the voice. It was, predictably, Kagami, which he should have known from the volume alone. The redhead was in the bed next to him, though looking much more lively than Kuroko felt.

 

“How are you feeling?” Kuroko shifted his vision and saw Aida, Hyuuga, Mitobe, and Furihata hanging out in the space between his and Kagami’s bed.

 

“That asshole Aomine was just playing with us the whole time,” Kagami seethed. “He could have ended it a long time before he did, he just wanted to hurt you even more.”

 

Still a little groggy, Kuroko went over those last few minutes. It did seem like Aomine had been trying to make him give up, to break him in a way just losing wouldn’t touch him.

 

What a bastard.

 

“Tetsu-kun!”

 

“Momoi,” Kuroko greeted his next visitor with a stoic face.

 

“Tetsu-kun!”

 

Momoi threw herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.

 

“I am fine,” Kuroko assured his long time friend.

 

“Dai-kun was such an ass,” Momoi said, pulling away from Kuroko. There were real tears in her eyes now, anger having clearly given way to sadness.

 

Kuroko bowed his head.

 

“I am sorry,” he said softly. “I promised I would win. I promised I would help you get him back.”

 

His hand clenched into a fist in the bedding beside him.

 

“You did everything you could,” Momoi said, taking his other hand.

 

Kuroko looked away.

 

Yeah, he knew he had done his best.

 

That’s what hurt more than anything else – his best had been nowhere near good enough to face Aomine.

 

“I’m so sorry,” he said again.

 

Momoi nodded.

 

“I can’t be sad that we won,” she said, “but I hate that Dai-kun is going to keep on the way he is. I really hoped… well anyway. I should go.”

 

Kuroko didn’t stop her.

 

“Hey now, it’s not your fault that Aomine is the world’s biggest asshole,” Kagami said. “You can’t really blame yourself for that, that’s all on him.”

 

Kuroko nodded, but didn’t say anything.

 

He thought of the dead look in his once best friend’s eyes, and let his head hang. The familiar taste of defeat lay heavy on his tongue, all the more bitter after having the ghost of victory dangled in front of him so tantalizingly.

 

He’d failed.

 

He’d failed to bring his team the victory they had so brashly sworn to take for themselves. He’d failed to beat Aomine as he had so adamantly promised himself and Momoi and Kagami that he would. He’d failed _Aomine,_ which was the worst of all his sins and then some.

 

Kuroko had been so sure that he could bring his friends back to themselves, but he had been spectacularly wrong.

 

There was little more to say than that.

 

…

 

Kuroko was walking across the Great Hall when he was accosted.

 

“Hey, shrimp.”

 

That was promising. Kuroko turned to face Imayoshi. To his surprise, the other boy walking towards him was alone and he wasn’t wearing his usual smirk.

 

“Can I help you, Imayoshi?” Kuroko asked.

 

“You’re too polite,” Imayoshi said lazily, loping towards the younger boy. “I just wanted to say you fought well.”

 

That was… surprising.

 

“Thank you, Imayoshi,” Kuroko said. “Thank you for such an excellent round of dueling. It was fun.”

 

“If I didn’t know you, I’d say you were making fun of me,” Imayoshi said casually, turning his head to the side as if to examine the Hufflepuff better.

 

“Is there anything else?” Kuroko asked.

 

“I wanted to apologize,” Imayoshi said. “For that sucker punch at the end. Aomine was acting like an ass taking his time and drawing it out unnecessarily, so I wanted it to be over, you know? At that point I felt the _most_ sportsmanlike thing I could do was to just take you down, even if I was hitting you in the back. They told me it knocked you out for a bit so I’m glad I didn’t hurt you.”

 

Kuroko stayed frozen, waiting for the punch line. When it didn’t come, he was hit by a wave of surprise. Imayoshi was earnestly… apologizing?

 

It seemed that the Slytherin wasn’t nearly as terrible a person as people gave him credit for.

 

“Thank you for thinking of me,” Kuroko said instead. “I don’t bear you any ill will over it.”

 

Imayoshi smiled.

 

“Yeah well, take care of yourself, kid,” he said, the words falling with more weight than they should have. “There’s some dangerous people out there that really would stab you in the back and you won’t always have kind people like Imayoshi to take care of you.”

 

“If I didn’t know you I would think you were making fun of me,” Kuroko replied. He was rewarded with the older boy’s smirk.

 

“You’re a good kid, Kuroko,” he said. “Don’t tell anyone else I said that, mind, but you are. Watch your back, okay?”

 

Kuroko promised to do so, watching as the seventh year strutted off to go bother Wakamatstu.

 

“Was that asshole causing you any problems?” Kagami asked, slinging an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders.

 

Kuroko successfully ducked under the arm and turned to face the redhead.

 

“He wanted to say sorry for hitting me in the back during our match,” Kuroko said.

 

“Huh, didn’t take him for that kinda dude,” Kagami admitted. “Guess he’s got a shit attitude, but a heart of gold. Next thing we’ll find out that Haizaki actually adopts abandoned puppies or something like that. Wanna go eat breakfast?”

 

Kuroko nodded and followed his light into the Great Hall. He parted with the redhead to walk over to the Hufflepuff table, grabbing a seat at an unoccupied section near the end.

 

Kagami had stormed past where Aomine and Kise were sitting next to each other, both scowling. He wondered if they were obeying orders from their Slytherin overlord, but wasn’t about to start another fight now.

 

Aomine apparently had other plans. The second he saw Kagami, he punched Kise in the shoulder to make him move and sauntered up to Kagami with a broad smile on his face. 

 

“For all that talking you did yesterday, it’s a shame to see you’ve got nothing to back it up.”

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko said under his breath. “Please don’t-”

 

“Yeah? I’ll kick your ass next time, just watch!”

 

“Bring it, transfer kid, I can take you any time, any day! I can’t believe Tetsu’s running around calling someone as pathetic as you his light-”

 

Kagami jumped to attack Aomine, but he didn’t get far. Before his fist could make contact with the other Gryffindor, a massive hand wrapped around his arm swinging it harmlessly away from its target.

 

“Both of you are so boring.”

 

Even compared to Aomine and Kagami Murasakibara towered. He had placed himself directly between the jeering Aomine and furious Kagami – a position no other wizard would feel comfortable inserting themselves into. Murasakibara glared at Aomine.

 

“Aka-chin wants to talk to you,” he said shortly. “Leave. You too Ki-chin."

 

Kuroko glanced over to where Kise was still sitting, watching the proceedings with vague interest. He shrugged, pulling his bag over one shoulder.

 

"Sure think Murasakibarrichi!" he chirped, throwing up a peace sign at the wizards assembled and sauntering away. Kagami and Kuroko's attention snapped back towards Aomine, the more immediate looming danger.

 

Aomine smirked at Kagami.

 

“Later, loser,” he said. “Tetsu, I told you this would happen. You’ve got nobody to blame for being a loser except yourself.”

 

Aomine sauntered off, Kagami watching him go as though he was still considering attacking him from where he stood.

 

As far as Kuroko could tell the only reason he hadn’t was Murasakibara’s hand still resting on Kagami’s chest – an implicit threat to stay where he was.

 

“He wants to see you too, Kuro-chin,” Murasakibara said, still glaring at Kagami.

 

“I politely decline,” Kuroko said calmly.

 

“He’s already not happy-”

 

“I’m not responsible for his happiness in any way,” Kuroko said. “If he can’t talk to me himself, I don’t want to talk to him.”

 

Murasakibara finally looked down at Kuroko.

 

“You’re making another mistake,” he said. “Why do you always have to do everything the hardest way possible? Why do you always want to fight with Aka-chin?”

 

Kuroko didn’t respond.

 

Murasakibara huffed.

 

“I thought you were smarter than this,” he said softly. “You picked a losing team and were crushed. Aka-chin wants to offer you another chance and all you want to do is pick fights with him needlessly. It’s so tiresome...”

 

“Sometimes things are worth fighting over,” Kuroko said.

 

“Kuro-chin do you have _any_ idea how boring it is to hear all of them arguing non-stop about what you’re doing? You and they waste so much energy on a stupid fight that doesn’t even matter. I thought you understood, that you were smarter than that.”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I know you wish I’d stayed with one of you,” he said. “But that would be as impossible as Kise or Midorima having done so and I don’t remember anyone saying anything about them leaving. If you want to call me weak, that’s fine, but I took on both Kise and Midorima and won. That makes me stronger than two of you already. Aomine beat me yesterday, but for how long will that stay true?”

 

Murasakibara took a step back from Kuroko.

 

“I am a shadow,” Kuroko said. “You were always more than just my strength in the arena. You are my friend and you have been since the first night we met as teammates.”

 

“So is Aka-chin and he is asking for your help.”

 

Kuroko sighed, looking down.

 

“I can’t give him what he wants.”

 

Murasakibara placed a gentle hand on Kuroko’s chin, bringing it up to look at him. This close, the differences in their height were astounding.

 

“You’re the only person I know who has never been afraid of me, aside from Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said bluntly. “You’ve never let anyone get away with calling me names or being mean to me even when it stopped bothering me. I told you that you had a good heart, and I still believe it.”

 

“I have a good heart because I have good friends,” Kuroko replied. “We’re not fighting, but I can’t be friends with Akashi when all he wants to do is move us around like pawns and make us play his game.”

 

Murasakibara frowned.

 

“But why do you have to be so stubborn fighting with them?” he asked.

 

Kuroko plucked at the house insignia at the front of his robes giving his friend a small, rueful smile.

 

“I guess it’s in my nature,” he said.

 

Murasakibara huffed out a sigh and patted him on the head.

 

“Well, then I’ll see you later, Kuro-chin.”

 

“Bye, Murasakibara.”

 

The giant of a teenager sauntered off, presumably to go find his former captain, as he had just directed Aomine to do.

 

“Kuroko, you know I think you’re kind of a badass, right?” Kagami asked after a moment.

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything.

 

“Well, I do. I just hope that’s not gonna come back to bite us in the ass.”

 

Kuroko turned to his light with a vaguely confused expression. He wasn't quite sure what Kagami meant. Kagami smiled ruefully and put a hand on Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

“Nah, nevermind,” he said, shaking his head. “I’m sure it’ll be fine.”

 

…   
  
  
  
  
  



	32. Akashi’s Unquenchable Thirst Rears Its Head

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi guys. Hey. So um. This is chapter thirty-two. It's about fifteen hours late, but I kind of got... uninspired to write. Recent events have left me Not Good, but that's no excuse to fail to keep on keeping on.
> 
> Whatever the outside world has in store, we carry on. This is the world, but it's okay to want to hold it at bay for a little while longer. If anyone wants to talk, I'm here. [Y'all have my tumblr too.](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) Stay safe. Be brave. And get ready to go to work, because we're gonna be a while keeping this mess in check. I love you all so much.

 

 

...

 

Kuroko was fairly certain that every single student in the school had come to watch the duel between Aomine and Kise.

 

It was not the final duel of the semester, but it was arguably going to be the most exciting. Having seen multiple extraordinary magical duels between several teams, the school was fired up. Support seemed to lean towards the fierce competitors of Imayoshi's team as they walked out onto the court, though not by much. 

 

Aomine loped out onto the arena behind his team, his expression bored and his posture comfortable. Every inch of his body advertised that he was certain that he was going to walk out of this round the victor.

 

Kise stood opposite his long time rival, gold eyes blazing. He marched up to Aomine, taking his hand.

 

Aomine shrugged and smiled tightly at the other boy.

 

Kise marched away still looking angry.

 

Now the two of them were locked in combat.

 

Kise had set the stage immediately, using his illusions to transform the arena into his own battlefield. Aomine didn’t seem bothered by the onslaught of illusion magic.

 

Brightly colored clouds drifted around the arena, impervious to any kind of physical magic. No wind, fire, or anything else could remove them. The illusion had snared several of Imayoshi's team, including Sakurai, who was drifting thoughtlessly after a stream of clouds that was halfway wrapped around him. 

 

Aomine didn’t care. He was laser focused on his target and refused to be distracted.

 

Kuroko remembered how viciously Aomine had cut through the illusion magic hindering him during the relay race in the interschool tournament. It seemed that he had learned how to set aside the distractions and hold onto what was real around him.

 

The two Miracles were exchanging spells in furious clashes against each other. It was clear Kise was dragging with exhaustion, but he was refusing to let his own limitations hold him back.

 

Kise waved his arm widely. Yellow lightning flashed among the clouds and the entire room seemed to shift. He was doing everything he could to confuse Aomine with the bright lights and colors.

 

“Come on, Kise, fight me head on damn you!” Aomine shouted.

 

“Catch me if you can and I will, Aominecchi!” Kise replied. With a snap and circular movement of his wand, Kise sent a bolt of yellow lightning towards Aomine. He ducked and rolled, shielding himself from Aomine’s dark blue power.

 

Brightly colored sparks shone as they bounced off the powerful shields of the two wizards.

It really was one hell of an exciting duel to watch. The explosive and powerful styles of both Miracles meant that their clash was visually stunning, to say the least.

 

“Is he… trying to copy Aomine’s lightning?” Kagami murmured from next to Kuroko. The Gryffindor was still recovering from their duel against Aomine. Kuroko had bounced back pretty quickly, but Kagami had damaged his magical core and would be out of commission for quite some time.

 

Kuroko leaned forward.

 

That was indeed what it looked like. Kise was mirroring Aomine, though he was still using his wand. Kuroko had never seen Aomine using his wand to conjure the dark blue lightning that he controlled so easily as though it wasn't some dangerous wild thing.

 

“I think so,” Kuroko said.

 

“Do you think it will work?”

 

Kuroko watched the two Miracles clash again and again, the booming bursts of thunder making him want to wince. He couldn’t help but remember the explosive thunderbird that had chased him down. Could Kise really replicate such a terrifying display of magical power?

 

“Maybe. Kise is extremely stubborn, but Aomine’s magic is very power and extremely difficult to pull off,” Kuroko said. His hand tightened into a fist. “I hope Kise manages to win.”

 

Down at the side of the arena he could see Momoi, gripping her notepad with white knuckled hands. He knew what she wanted out of this duel too and he hoped for both their sakes that Kise ended this here.

 

The blond was certainly doing his best to try.

 

Down in the arena, gasping for breath, facing off against the rival he could never beat, Kise was making his final stand.

 

“I’m done losing to you, Aominecchi!” Kise shouted angrily. “This ends right now!”

 

“You haven’t ever been able to beat me,” Aomine said, sounding bored. “’And I’ve only been getting more powerful since the last time you faced me. You don't have a chance.”

 

“Well I’ve been growing too!” Kise shouted. “And I won’t let you win this time!”

 

Kuroko stared in abject shock as Aomine blinked in surprise, and then _laughed_.

 

It was loud and genuine and not even a little bit bitter.

 

“Bring it on, blondie, I can’t wait! The only one who can beat me is me!”

 

Kise laughed, the sound angry and resentful as it rang across the space between them.

 

“You think only your own magic can beat you?” he asked. His voice was low and strange as he spoke, fury making his normally cheerful voice gravelly. “Then I can show you that too. I’ve been practicing more than just illusions, Aominecchi!”

 

Kise held out his hands and lightning formed between them.

 

It wasn’t the pure gold of Kise’s magic.

 

It was the deep ocean blue of Aomine’s own lightning that sparked around him.

 

What’s more, Kise wasn’t holding his wand.

 

“I told you,” Kise said. “I’m done losing to you!”

 

Kasamatsu and Imayoshi both had the good sense to pull their teams back as the two Aces clashed, lightning and thunder exploding in the arena.

 

Aomine ran to meet Kise’s attack, already shielding himself to direct the lightning away.

 

Blue lightning burned on both sides of the arena. Kuroko could barely keep track of which wizard was winning – they were both moving far too quickly too follow.

 

For several moments all anyone could see was the burning light and the booming crack of thunder covered any sound that might otherwise have been audible in the full arena.

 

Then it all stopped.

 

A haze of smoke and magic lay over the arena before it slowly began to drift away.

 

The arena cleared.

 

Kise had fallen.

 

Aomine was still standing.

 

The rest of their teams had been laid out in the assault, unable to shield themselves from the powerful magic of their peers as the two aces clashed on the field.

 

For a moment, Aomine’s eyes widened in surprise. Had there been a moment when he was unsure that he would win? But his shock didn’t bleed over to excitement or even happiness. Aomine seemed to crumble in on himself. He nodded to his opponents and turned away without a single word.

 

He strode towards the edge of the arena, but before he made it, Imayoshi intercepted him. The captain grabbed him by the uninjured arm and waved over a mediwizard.

 

“What’s wrong with Aomine?”

 

The blue haired Gryffindor was clutching his arm, scowling. Beneath his hand, the skin of his arm looked blistered and red. Even from this distance, it was clear he’d taken a direct hit of Kise’s lightning.

 

“Oof, that’s not going to heal anytime soon,” Furihata muttered. “He’s not going to be able to duel this afternoon. Probably won’t be able to tomorrow either if his team makes it to the final round without him.”

 

“You think anyone could beat Murasakibara without another Miracle? Good luck,” Koganei said. “Imayoshi’s done and he knows it. This is over.”

 

It was true: Imayoshi was talking to Aomine in a low voice, but his normally smirking features were drawn into a tight frown. Aomine kept trying to stalk away angrily from both the team’s manager and the mediwizard trying to help him, but Imayoshi’s iron grip held him in place.

 

“That kid has balls of steel,” Hyuuga muttered, his eyes fixed on the other captain. “I wouldn’t hold a dragon by the tail like that if I were in his position.”

 

Kagami snorted, but didn’t comment.

 

Kuroko glanced over at Akashi. The redhead’s face was impassive. 

 

It was hard to understand what on earth the other boy might be thinking. Kuroko thought maybe he had never really had such a good idea of what was going on inside Akashi’s head after all, even when they were actual teammates. Perhaps Akashi too realized how inevitable the outcome of the school tournament was now that Kise had fallen and Aomine was injured. 

 

He supposed the redhead had a plan to handle this. He always did. Apparently he had a plan for everything, if his oath to Midorima meant anything.

 

Well, either way it didn’t matter. This contest was well settled. Akashi had won, even it wasn’t all technically over yet.

 

As usual.

 

Murasakibara would not topple Akashi in this tournament no matter how strong he or his team was. With Kise and Midorima out and Aomine too injured to compete in the next round, the redhead and his crownless generals would sweep the competition.

 

“Well,” Koganei said. “I guess that’s that then. It was fun while it lasted.”

 

Mitobe nodded solemnly.

 

…

 

Riko called another practice a few days later.

 

Most of the team was, frankly, shocked. The remaining sixth years would not be able to continue this team without replacing all but two starting duelists. They would likely never compete on the same field together again.

 

“Well, we lost,” Riko said bluntly, once her team was assembled before her. “We fought hard and that was good. You deserve to keep your heads high. But I believe there are a bunch of sixth years who owe me punishment penalties.”

 

“Are you kidding?” Kagami demanded. “I thought that was a joke!”

 

“Absolutely not,” Riko said. “Astronomy tower, let’s go.”

 

“What about the seventh years?” Kawahara asked.

 

“They paid their dues to me last year. Now it’s your turn. Up we go. At least there shouldn’t be too many people out and about!”

 

The weather having just taken a turn for the nicer, Kuroko highly doubted that this was true. He tried to slip out of the room without anyone watching, but Kagami grabbed him by the arm.

 

“No way, Phantom, if I’m getting naked and confessing anything, you’re gonna be there too,” he said. “You’re staying right here.”

 

“Shadows do not have confessions,” Kuroko intoned mysteriously.

 

“You are absolutely the worst and I hate you,” Kagami said without any heat whatsoever. “Come on Prince of Darkness, we have a roof to get to.”

 

They begrudgingly allowed their Coach to herd them up to the Astronomy Tower, led by their heckling seventh year peers.

 

“This is technically harassment!” Furihata said.

 

“We know a prefect!”

 

“This is hazing!”

 

“Strip and confess!” Riko shouted over the objections of her team.

 

The sixth years did as they were told, standing naked in the April sunshine. Furihata and Fukuda did what they could to cover themselves, but Kagami just stood there glowering with his arms folded in defiance. Kawahara just shrugged, refusing to hide or be ashamed of his nudity.

 

Kuroko was pretty sure his light had no idea what the meaning of shame was, not that he had anything to be ashamed of whatsoever.

 

Kuroko could admit in a clinical, purely as Kagami’s friend kind of way admit that the Gryffindor had an amazing body.

 

Riko lined them up along the ramparts and then the confessions started.

 

Furihata was first in line. When he opened his mouth, he shouted at the top of his lungs, his face the beet red color of a tomato.

 

“I DON’T HAVE A GIRLFRIEND IN CANADA, I JUST HAVE A WEIRD BONER FOR AKASHI SEIJURO!”

 

Oh god. This was ridiculous. Kuroko didn’t want to hear this. He wondered if he could slip away without being noticed now that all attention was being fixed on the other Hufflepuff.

 

“Good to hear you admit it,” Kawahara grinned at his friend and then unashamedly put his hands on his hips.

 

“I would like to confess that I have a crush on Momoi Satsuki!”

 

The rest of the team snorted with laughter, not that Kawahara was shamed in away way by it.

 

“She’s hot and you’re all lying if you said that you wouldn’t date her in an instant if she asked. Don’t even pretend you wouldn’t!”

 

Fukuda shrugged when his turn came.

 

“I don’t really like anyone, but if I had to confess to anyone it would be Mako-chan!”

 

“The playboy bunny?!” Riko screeched.

 

Fukuda shrugged again, grinning widely.

 

“Hey listen, a man likes what a man likes.”

 

“Dude that is so rank,” Furihata complained. Fukuda did not seem bothered by this in the slightest.

 

The group turned to the towering Gryffindor, who had been struck by the sudden burst of information he really did not need to know about his classmates.

 

“Kagami?”

 

Kagami scratched his head, frowning.

 

“Don’t you have someone to confess to?” Riko asked pointedly.

 

“I mean, not really.”

 

“Really,” Riko said, her eyebrows disappearing into her hairline. “There’s nobody that you like, at all?”

 

Kagami shook his head.

 

“Well think harder because it’s gotta be cold and you’re not coming down until you have made your confession. That’s the penalty.”

 

“Oh come on!”

 

“I’m waiting!”

 

Kagami sighed.

 

“Uh, I like dueling?” Kagami offered.

 

“YOU CAN’T HAVE A CRUSH ON DUELING!” Riko shouted from behind them.

 

“WELL I SURE AS HELL DON’T HAVE A CRUSH ON ANYTHING ELSE!” Kagami shouted back.

 

“Idiot, it’s any _ one! _ ” Riko shouted. “Not any _ thing _ !”

 

“Then you should have been more specific!”

 

Kuroko closed his eyes as they argued loudly, gathering his courage for what he knew he had to do. He had to confess, and that would change everything. His friendship with Kagami could never be the same again. Maybe that was a good thing.

 

Maybe it was the end of the world.

 

Kagami and Riko kept shouting at each other at the top of their lungs for several long, tense minutes, before Riko threw her arms up in the air and walked away.

Kuroko opened his eyes, screwed his courage together, and spoke in a loud, clear voice.

 

“I have a crush on Kagami Taiga,” Kuroko said into the sky.

 

He waited for the inevitable shock and anger, for Kagami to push him over the edge, for any reaction to this incendiary statement at all, but nothing happened. When Kuroko opened his eyes, everyone was gone.

 

Oh.

 

Right.

 

His misdirection had caused them not to see or hear his confession. They’d packed up and left, probably still bickering about whether or not dueling counted as a crush.

 

Kuroko dressed quickly, trying not to feel disappointed.

 

At least his secret was still safe.

 

…

 

It was singularly unsurprising that Akashi’s team won the last round of the dueling tournament, though those that watched the final match groused over the fact that Akashi seemed to have deemed the last match too far beneath him to actually compete. Nor, it seemed, did any of the other Miracles, who had all sat out their final rounds with much more disastrous consequences for their teams. 

 

Murasakibara's team had demolished Imayoshi and the rest of Aomine’s teammates, who didn’t stand a fighting chance without their Ace. In turn, the Uncrowned Kings Akashi had gathered around him dealt Murasakibara's teammates a heavy blow. Mibuchi had bowed to Masako Araki after their round, offering her a flower. The seventh year had nodded to her one-time teammate and offered him a rare smile, before turning away. 

 

Kuroko did not watch the final round. He took a long walk around the lake, breathing in the fresh smell of coming summer and watching the moon rise into the sky.

 

Just like that, it was over. The school year had slipped by like water in cupped hands, shifting out of Kuroko's grasp like a dream. 

 

Slytherin was jubilant at the feast. Their dueling captain had secured them a victory (even if it was of a team built from almost every house, a Slytherin was still the captain), they had won the house cup, and their Quidditch team had once again dominated the competition.

 

“We’re rebuilding,” Furihata had whispered under his breath at the announcement and official delivery of the Quidditch cup. His hands were clutched into white knuckled fists at the table as he watched the Slytherin captain take the cup. Kuroko thought he could sympathize with the pain in Furihata’s eyes – the loss of the Quidditch cup had meant a lot more to Furihata than the loss against Aomine’s team had. “Come fight me next year.”

 

“I am happy to see that we have made it through the year without a single student having to be hospitalized due to our dueling program,” the Headmaster said, continuing with his end of the year speech. “I am honestly shocked. Astounded, really. It’s a fucking miracle.”

 

One of the professors at the head table coughed pointedly, and the Headmaster shrugged.

 

“Hey, it’s the truth,” he said.

 

Unbidden, Kuroko’s eyes scanned the Gryffindor table at the mention of dueling, landing on the large redhead that had wormed his way into Kuroko’s heart.

 

“We’ve survived, once again, until the summer, which leaves us with a few reminders to all of you… As always, all years will remember that magic is not permitted outside of Hogwarts…”

 

Kuroko tuned out the rest of the general end of year announcements. He looked past the Gryffindor table and made eye contact with Akashi.

 

Akashi smirked back at his former teammate across the hall.

 

Kuroko stared at the Slytherin impassively. Whatever Akashi had planned, Kuroko would handle it when it came.

 

For now, he knew the other teenager could do nothing,  _ would  _ do nothing, not here.

 

And if he did, well.

 

Kuroko had other options.

 

…

 

Kuroko had been expecting Akashi to try and corner him long before he actually did. Kuroko wondered if the Slytherin had been hoping Kuroko would face him in the final duel of the year or if he really had been waiting for the end of the year to approach Kuroko in person anyway. It was always hard to tell what Akashi really wanted, because everything he did and said was always layered behind plots and masks and more plots.

 

Suffice to say, Kuroko had not expected his first real face to face, one on one confrontation with Akashi Seijuro this year to be after the end of term feast.

 

Kuroko had been sitting in one of the less trafficked courtyards the morning after the feast, reading a light novel to pass the time before the carriages were meant to leave, when he heard the wooden door across from him open.

 

Akashi was dressed as impeccably as ever, with a light summer robe over his immaculately pressed slacks and white dress shirt. His Slytherin tie was in perfect order around his neck, not even loosened in deference to the heat – or the immediately impending summer vacation.

 

“I’ve been looking for you, Tetsuya.”

 

“I have been here for some time,” Kuroko replied, causing Akashi to chuckle.

 

“You say that quite a bit.”

 

“It is an unavoidable side effect of being mostly invisible.”

 

“That it is,” Akashi agreed lightly. “Might I sit with you?”

 

Kuroko couldn’t think of a reason to object, so he shifted over slightly and allowed Akashi to take a seat on the bench next to him.

 

Somewhere up above their heads, a trio of baby birds was chirping loudly and insistently from the alcove their nest was settled in. The morning summer sun shone down bright and clear into the courtyard.

 

“I wanted to speak with you before we parted for the summer.”

 

Kuroko just looked back at his former captain, waiting to hear the other boy out.

 

He didn’t know what he was expecting Akashi to say, but Kuroko was certainly not prepared for the next words that came out of the Slytherin’s mouth.

 

“I am not returning to Hogwarts next year.”

 

“What?”

 

Kuroko was honestly shocked. He had no idea where this was coming from, or if he’d even really heard Akashi correctly. He couldn’t have.

 

“I have no wish to form a team of mediocre duelists from our year and carry them on my own talents to another pyrrhic and pointless victory. I have no need to sit through mundane lectures when I could have successfully sat my N.E.W.T.s at the same time as my O.W.L.s. I could of course attend another year as Head Boy and have that leadership experience for my resume, but that feels like an empty waste of time to me.”

 

“You’re leaving Hogwarts?” Kuroko asked, still trying to process Akashi’s initial declaration. This didn’t seem real – maybe Kuroko was dreaming. This couldn’t be happening.

 

“As I said.”

 

Kuroko was struck legitimately speechless. He had never in a million years expected this outcome. He couldn’t think fast enough to keep up with what he was hearing.

 

It took him almost thirty full seconds to get around to what that meant. When he finally processed what he had heard, the Hufflepuff felt his stomach drop through the floor of the courtyard.

 

If Akashi was leaving, that meant that Kuroko would never have the opportunity to defeat him in a duel, to see this icy, terrifying version of the boy who looked like his friend become himself again.

 

“What about-”

 

“Shintarou sat his N.E.W.T.s over Easter. He wished to have the favorable effect of that astrological line up on his side and ensure he did not do something that turned out to be an irreversible mistake should he fail. Of course, he scored in the top percentile of all his exams. Ironically, I believe the only exam he did  _ not  _ receive an Outstanding with distinction in was Divination, but I’ve been telling him for years that the subject is a waste of time for him. Talent like his cannot be taught, only cultivated, and the type of testing they do is not well suited to his particular and extraordinary gifts.”

 

_ Midorima was leaving too? _

 

Kuroko supposed  _ that  _ shouldn’t be a surprise. Midorima’s contempt for anything related to class or school work was practically legendary. He had been diligently and thoroughly working ahead in the curriculum for ages.

 

He had faced Midorima and they had won, if barely. From Takao, it sounded as though Midorima had started coming back to the person he had been. But with Kuroko and Kagami’s challenge to all of the Generation of Miracles left unfinished and incomplete, Kuroko didn’t know if it would stick.

 

Merlin, how was this happening? What was going on? How had Kuroko failed to see this coming?

 

“The rest of my Miracles will sit the exams in short order,” Akashi finished. “I don’t expect any of us will have a problem.”

 

Kuroko took a second to process the full meaning of Akashi’s statement.

 

The rest of them…  _ All _ of the Generation Miracles would be leaving Hogwarts?

 

_ Including Aomine? _

 

“All of you?” Kuroko finally asked weakly, praying even now that Akashi would admit to this all being an elaborate prank. As unlikely as that might be, this felt even more unreal.

 

“Ryouta and Daiki took their exams last week with the seventh years,” Akashi explained. “I believe they passed, although their grades will confirm it when they arrive. Atsushi is sitting his exams with me tomorrow. As I said, I have faith that all of us have or will pass. At the very least, Satsuki knew the right way to motivate Daiki: by pitting him directly against Ryouta, they both appear to have actually managed to study to an acceptable degree. I have personally tutored Atsushi through the written portion of all of our exams and I believe he too will do fine.”

 

Kuroko felt like there was a fist gripping his lungs.

 

“What are you going to do?” Kuroko asked, grasping for something to say.

 

“My father has arranged for me to spend a year as the under secretary to the Ministry of Magic’s chief diplomatic officer.”

 

And of course the others would have to beat off offers for apprenticeships and jobs with a stick. Graduating a year early combined with their famous levels of power?

 

Akashi really knew how to announce himself and his cadre to the world.

 

“There are things happening in the world, Tetsuya,” Akashi said neutrally, looking up at the sky. From where Kuroko was sitting, he could only see one of Akashi’s eyes. It was the red one, the one that was the light color of his hair that was nearly pink in the natural sunlight. He looked almost like the boy Kuroko would have followed to the ends of the Earth not six months ago.

 

“Important things are happening out there in the world and I want to have a role in shaping them. The fact that at the same time I will be able to maintain and strengthen a core group of supporters who will aid me in furthering my goals is a bonus. The more well known my Miracles are, the better it reflects on me in my endeavors.”

 

“Then congratulations,” Kuroko said dully. “I wish you luck. It was nice competing with you, all of you, for as long as it lasted. I am just sorry that we never faced each other in the arena.”

 

He stood and tried to walk past Akashi back into the castle, but the redhead grabbed him by the arm, rising to his feet.

 

“I am disappointed about that as well,” he said. “My plan was thwarted by the chance drawing of the tournament schedule – as it almost was in fourth year. But perhaps there will be another time for us to prove our worth against each other.”

 

“Maybe,” Kuroko agreed.

 

“Tetsuya,” Akashi said, his eyes searching Kuroko’s face as though he expected to see there an answer to a question he hadn’t yet asked. “Tetsuya, what are you planning to do this summer?”

 

“I have an offer to continue my internship under a Master Healer in America,” Kuroko said blankly. “I worked under them last summer and it was quite enjoyable.”

 

“Healing?” Akashi made a face. “What a waste.”

 

“I’m good at it.”

 

Kuroko didn’t know why he was trying to argue this point. He didn’t want to admit to the dozens of unanswered letters sent back unopened - or with short one line rejections - from almost every ward master in the country or on the continent. Those that graced him with a response felt that he didn’t have the power, the scores, or the aptitude, and extended their best wishes for his continued endeavors.

 

Kuroko didn’t want to be spinning his wheels healing when that wasn’t what he wanted to do with his career, but it was better than doing nothing. And healing was  _ useful. _

 

“If you wish to pursue healing, by all means, but I am sure I could find you a more… suitable apprenticeship under a respected Potions or Ward Master. Perhaps even a proper Illusionist, someone who could help you improve your powers of misdirection.”

 

“I am content with the plans I have,” Kuroko managed weakly.

 

“Tetsuya, you know that I have the influence and ability to do as I say. Will you not even think about it?”

 

“No,” Kuroko said automatically. He immediately felt bad about it, given how hurt his former captain looked, but he couldn’t rely on the Slytherin to make his own way in the world.

 

“May I ask why not?” Akashi asked formally.

 

“Because I don’t know why you still want me to be on your team!” Kuroko burst out. “You’ve ignored me, you’ve smothered me, you’ve been rude to my friends and tried to attack them, and I don’t know why any of this is happening-”

 

Akashi kissed Kuroko.

 

Kuroko froze.

 

When Akashi broke away, his eyes searching Kuroko’s face, Kuroko didn’t know what he was looking for, or what he found.

 

Kuroko couldn’t process what had just happened. He didn’t know what he was feeling himself, aside from confused and a little… empty. There was a space where he assumed an emotion was supposed to be, he just… didn’t know how to feel or react.

 

“I apologize for my forwardness,” Akashi said formally, releasing Kuroko’s arm.

 

“I want you to succeed, not just because I care about you, but because I want all of us to be strong. I want the Generation of Miracles to take the world by storm and when it is time, we will all be well placed in the high echelons of society and ready to act.”

 

“You’re gathering an army,” Kuroko said. His voice carried as little inflection as ever, but his heart pounded in fear. He was still trapped against the wall and he was beginning to understand what was happening here.

 

Akashi wanted his friends to exert his influence and in doing so was pushing them to succeed even beyond their extraordinary talents.

 

He was about to succeed.  

 

“Tetsuya, Shintarou has confided in me. Soon we will be facing a war on two fronts with the potential to destroy the entire wizarding population. I hope to prevent it. I will do everything within my power to stop the incident that incites the bloodshed Shintarou saw, but if I cannot, we must be ready to fight for our very existence.”

 

“What?”

 

“My will is absolute,” Akashi said. “And I will impose it over the entire wizarding world if I must do so to save us. If we are to survive, we must become as strong as we possibly can.”

 

Was he actually crazy? Kuroko had taken in too much surprising news for this to even really make sense any more. He had to be dreaming, this had to be some sort of demented, nonsensical, awful dream -

 

“Akashi-”

 

“Tetsuya, I gave all of us our time apart, time to grow and develop magically. And you have done so  _ magnificently.  _ Three years ago, I never could have imagined what you are now.”

 

Kuroko let his hands ball into fists at his side.

 

“Take my offer, Tetsuya. Study under a Ward Master and when you graduate, rejoin the Generation of Miracles in your rightful place at my side. Surely you’ve seen now that even the paltry substitute you found in America cannot help you do what you were able to with us. Join us again. Join me.”

 

Kuroko stared back blankly. His mind was racing in panic his face did not show. Instead, he disentangled himself from the redhead and bowed respectfully.

 

He would not be a tool for Akashi to use, to be placed away whenever it was no longer needed. He would not fade into obscurity while his former friends descended into madness.

 

Did they even enjoy magic any more? Or for them, was it just another tool for domination, something to crush anyone who opposed them?

 

Something deep inside of Kuroko understood the answer before he’d even asked the question.

 

He could see in his mind’s eye, Kiyoshi trembling under the hulking figure of Murasakibara, tears streaming down his face. He saw Akashi’s smirk as Midorima taunted his opponents, the chaos that was Akashi Seijuro’s design of the world, and he wanted no part in it.

 

And whatever Akashi had to say about the war on the horizon, well he’d handle that too. But he wasn’t going to subsume himself to the Generation of Miracles, not now or ever again. He would face whatever was going to come the right way, his own way. 

 

“My apologies,” Kuroko said as politely as he could manage through the anger burning at the back of his throat. “I must decline.”

 

Akashi’s face contorted in surprise, for just a moment. Then he shrugged, complacency taking over once again.

 

“My will is absolute,” he informed Kuroko, and Kuroko fought not to wince at the words. Once, he’d rolled his eyes at their audacity. For a time, they had been a rally cry he had willingly fought under, certain in the teammates that fought by his side. Now, the words seemed more sinister than anything he’d ever heard before. “You will say yes to me eventually, Tetsuya.”

 

“I have made a promise-”

 

“Yes to the bumbling Gryffindor oaf, I know,” Akashi cut in sounding bored. “Ryouta was kind enough to inform me of your bold declaration of devotion during our first week back at school. So it  _ is  _ him. I don’t think much of your taste.”

 

Kuroko stared back, because that was easier than giving into the terrible, pounding rage that was pounding in his chest after Akashi had insulted Kagami.

 

Akashi sighed.

 

“It’s always so difficult with you,” he said loftily. “Why do you insist on being so stubborn?”

 

Kuroko didn’t answer.

 

“Very well,” Akashi said. “I will take my leave. Do as you feel is best, but remember that I expect my phantom to be every bit as impressive as the rest of my circle. Do not disappoint me.”

 

Akashi left, and Kuroko leaned back against the wall to support himself.

 

Holy shit. Holy goddamn shit.

 

…


	33. Time For A Prison Break

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So we missed a chapter last week due to my inability to get shit done at a reasonable pace but it's still Thursday so technically we're back on track. Sorry for going awol during a scheduled weekly update series, we're still on track for Thursday updates so keep staying tuned. I love all you nerds, and I'll see you on the other side

 

 

…

 

The dry, arid heat of Los Angeles was exactly as Kuroko remembered it as he stepped off the airplane onto the tarmac. The late afternoon sun cast a golden haze around the airport.

 

“Welcome back!” Kagami laughed, slinging an arm around Kuroko’s shoulders. “Man, it’s good to be home.”

 

Kuroko nodded demurely.

 

When Kagami had learned that Kuroko would be returning to Los Angeles to intern under Master Healer Takeda again, he had immediately proposed that they return to his hometown together.

 

At some point between writing home to describe his summer plans and asking for permission from his parents to travel to America with Kagami, Kuroko’s mother had decided that the two teenagers should spend a week at Kuroko’s family home in Wales first.

 

_ I told you that I would sort out the situation abroad and pick you up from school for the summer,  _ Kuroko’s mother had written obstinately in a letter to him.  _ And so I will damn well be picking my son up for the summer before he goes adventuring across the globe. _

 

Which, personally, Kuroko found just a little unreasonable given how much time his mother spent on her own adventures. Though, he supposed that was the difference between being a child and being an adult.

 

True to her very adamant word, Kuroko’s mother was waiting for her son and his teammate at King’s Cross station when they pulled in on the Hogwarts Express. She noticed the huge American before her own son, but quickly swept Kuroko up into a giant hug once he entered her line of sight.

 

“It is good to see you,” she said with a broad smile. Kuroko couldn’t help but notice the lines of worry at the edges of her eyes that had not been there when the year had started.

 

It seemed that the situation in America remained as tense as it was at Christmas.

 

“And of course you must be Kagami,” Kuroko’s mother said, turning to the tall Gryffindor. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you.”

 

Kuroko was positive that he had never been more thankful for his misdirection than in that exact moment.

 

The week passed quickly and soon enough the boys were packed and getting ready to leave for the airport the next morning.

 

Kuroko’s mother pulled him aside, her expression serious.

 

“The contents of conversations between myself and ranking officials in the American government are protected by more than just privilege and a top secret classification,” she said softly. “But I believe you have some indication that the situation abroad is not good.”

 

Kuroko nodded his assent.

  
“I’m not sure I like the idea of sending you so far away right now. But you are a student, travelling on a valid passport as a citizen of Great Britain, protected not just by the magical Prime Minister, but also by your citizenship to the Queen. The Americans are stopping diplomats at the border, but you need not lie to make it clear that you are just a student. Neither the muggle nor the magical government are entitled to prevent you from entering the country under the invitation of a Master, especially not a Master Healer, and certainly not a healer as well known as Master Healer Takeda.”

 

“What are you worried will happen?” Kuroko asked bluntly.

 

“I worry about many things my son, not the least of which is having something happen to you,” she said. “Be on your guard. Should anything happen, you have your scrying mirror. Contact me as soon as you can.”

 

Kuroko had no doubt that should anything happen, no law or president or border or god could prevent his mother from coming to his rescue.

 

“They would have to notice I exist first,” Kuroko said, causing his mother to laugh.

 

“That they would,” she said. “Just be safe, and don’t draw any attention to yourself. Remember, your passport doesn’t give you diplomatic immunity like mine does, but it does tell the government you are related to a diplomat. So please do your best to avoid creating an international incident.”

 

That, Kuroko could do, at least.

 

Kagami’s father had made the flight arrangements to the United States so they didn’t have to worry about much.With the distance being so great, it was still significantly easier to travel the muggle route than by magic. Plus with the situation with the American Magical Government being what it was, traveling the muggle way also was sure to produce a great deal less hassle than otherwise might have been incurred.

 

And so here they were, de-planeing on the tarmac at the Los Angeles Airport, the dry heat of the late afternoon bearing down on both of them. Kuroko imagined that even from here, he could smell the sea.

 

“Ah, it’s good to be home!” Kagami said, stretching to his full height. “We’ll get through customs and go head over to my dad’s apartment. Sound good?”

 

Kuroko nodded. Kagami was making a deliberate attempt to stay as close to him as possible. They passed through the doors into the main airport and followed the rush of the crowd towards the baggage check area.

 

Having been travelling for almost twelve whole hours, neither boy could wait to get home and into a long shower. So it was probably understandable that neither of them noticed they were being followed right away.

 

It was Kagami who saw the guy first.

 

“Hey Kuroko,” Kagami said, leaning towards the Hufflepuff. “Check out that guy off to the right behind us. He’s been following us since we got off the plane.”

 

“He was probably  _ on  _ the plane,” Kuroko said reasonably, unwilling to give any support to his light’s sense of paranoia. Kagami scowled.

 

“No way man,” he hissed. “I didn’t see that guy until we got inside. He’s definitely following us.”

 

“Well if he is following us, the last thing you should do is-”

 

Kagami did not wait around to see what the last thing he should do would be, because he was too busy doing exactly that. Kagami whirled around, slamming their pursuer into a wall, hand pressing dangerously into the man’s neck.

 

“Who the hell are you and why the hell are you following me?” Kagami demanded. 

 

“Magical Law Enforcement, Transportation Authority Division,” the man said at once, narrowing his eyes at Kagami. “You’re in violation of the revised Transportation Safety Act by attempting to enter the country without passing through magical customs to declare your presence.”

 

“Hey, Buddy, I’m an American citizen. I have rights and I know damn well there’s no Transportation Safety whatthefuckever Act,” Kagami snapped. “So pull the other one.”

 

“Kagami.”

 

“And furthermore, you’re lucky we’re surrounded by mundane guys or I would blast you so hard-”

 

“Kagami.”

 

“-Right through this wall-“

 

“Kagami!”

 

Kuroko finally managed to snap sharply enough to capture the attention of his light. Two more wizards had come up behind them appearing quite menacing in their dark suits. And they looked just about ready to start doing some blasting of their own.

 

“I’m sure we can get this sorted out,” one of the gentlemen behind Kuroko said pleasantly. “Agent Rivers. I’d be happy to explain everything you would like to know, but I think we would all be happier having that conversation somewhere less… exposed?”

 

Kagami glared at the guy he was still pinning to the wall, before letting him go.

 

“Okay fine,” he said. “For now.”

 

“This way then.”

 

Agent Rivers led the way, with the other two agents falling back behind Kuroko and Kagami as they followed him.

 

“What the hell?” Kagami murmured to Kuroko. “This is new.”

 

Kuroko didn’t reply. He stuck closely to Kagami as they followed the wizard through a poster into what looked like another building entirely. The floor was marble and the counters looked like expensive stone and metal. Here it seemed the population was about half and half dressed in muggle and wizarding attire. Along one long row, a set of fireplaces spewed the telltale bright green flames of Floo Powder travel, while the distant popping sounds further back indicated a common Apparition point.

 

“Welcome to the Los Angeles International Magical Travel Hub,” Agent Rivers said. “Follow me this way.”

 

Kuroko and Kagami were led down one of the side corridors and into a smaller room. The floor was the same white marble as the main hall, although the walls seemed to be made of a darker stone. A wooden table sat in the middle of the room with two chairs on either side of it.

 

“Please have a seat, gentlemen, we just have a few questions for you and then you can both be on your way,” Agent Rivers said pleasantly.

 

Kagami was still glaring suspiciously at the agent, but he complied with the request, throwing his bag onto the floor beside the closest chair and sprawling into it.

 

Kuroko slid his own backpack off more primly and took the farther seat, putting his light between himself and the authorities.

 

With a flick of his wand Agent Rivers summoned a pad with some sort of official looking form on it. He took a few notes, jotting down the date and time. The agent took a seat across the table from the two boys while his lackeys took up posts on either side of the door. The one Kagami had pinned to the wall in the main airport terminal was still glaring distrustfully at the two of them.

 

“Alright, now before I begin, how long have you been abroad?” Agent Rivers asked Kagami.

 

“Uh, like nine months?” Kagami supplied. “Maybe ten? I was in the UK for school on September first and obviously I’m just returning today, so however long that is.”

 

“I see,” Agent Rivers supplied. “Well, a recent development of this administration is the tracking of wizards and witches moving into and out of our borders, purely as a safety precaution.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?” Kagami asked. Kuroko, who had abandoned any hope of quick compliance on the part of his light, sent up a quiet prayer to the gods that Kagami wasn’t about to get both of them thrown in jail.

 

“It means that the Magical Government of the United States has a vested interest in knowing if anyone with connections to terrorist groups attempts to enter the country,” Agent Rivers said smoothly. “We track all incoming and outgoing travel, including keeping an eye on muggle means of transportation.”

 

“So you spy on people.”

 

“Some might see it that way,” Agent Rivers said pleasantly. “Now, you said you’re a student?”

 

“We both are,” Kagami said, and Agent Rivers jumped, realizing for the first time – or perhaps only now remembering – that Kuroko was also sitting on the other side of the table.

 

“I see. So you’re a citizen?”

 

“Yeah, want my passport?”

 

“Please.”

 

Kagami tossed the document down on the table between them. The agent flicked through to the travel visa for Britain, made another few notes in his file, and then handed the document back.

 

“And where are you staying in Los Angeles?”

 

“With my dad,” Kagami said. “We’re staying with him until we have to go back to school.”

 

“I see. Why not just study in the States?”

 

“Why the hell does it matter?” Kagami asked aggressively.

 

“It doesn’t really, it’s just a question,” Agent Rivers said. Kuroko could see that the Agent’s quiet confident attitude and refusal to be moved by Kagami’s obvious attempts to intimidate him was pissing off his friend.

 

“Well then, that should be your paperwork in order,” the Agent said, finishing his form and looking up at Kuroko. “Are you a citizen as well?”

 

“I’m a citizen of Great Britain,” Kuroko supplied, handing over his passport before the agent could ask for it.

 

“And why are you in the United States?”

 

“I am pursuing an internship with a Master Healer,” Kuroko supplied blankly. “And spending time with my classmate and friend. I am staying with Kagami and his father.”

 

Kuroko nodded very obviously at Kagami and the agent gave him a strained smile.

 

“Of course.”

 

He looked down at the document and frowned. Kuroko felt an uncomfortable twist in his gut. He had originally thought that his mother had been overreacting, but now he wasn’t as sure. The second the agent saw the diplomatic stamp on the dark red cover, Kuroko knew that this was not going to end well. He fought the urge to twitch his hand towards his bag, where the scrying mirror his mother had given him was buried. He wondered if now was the opportunity he needed to take to get word to his mother or if he could still expect to get himself out of this situation.

 

“Ah, just a moment.”

 

The agent pushed back his chair, taking the passport with him as he strode to the door.

 

“I will return this momentarily, I just need to consult with my supervisor.”

 

Kagami and Kuroko exchanged concerned glances before the door was shut behind the three agents, leaving them alone in an interrogation room.

 

“What the hell,” Kagami demanded as soon as they were alone.

 

“I agree,” Kuroko said simply. “I did not expect this.”

 

“Jesus, neither did I,” Kagami said, leaning forward onto the table to rest his head on his arms. “And now I’m tired, hungry _and_ pissed off.”

 

“At least we are not trapped on the plane.”

 

Kagami let out a barking sound that was almost a laugh.

 

“Okay that’s true,” he said.

 

“What’s their problem anyway?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“My mother is a diplomat and because of that my passport has a special stamp on it. It might be unusual, but it should not be a problem.”

 

“Huh. Yeah, I remember you were saying your mom did something like that. That’s cool. Maybe this guy’s just never seen something like that on a passport and has to go make sure of what it is?”

 

Kuroko could only hope.

 

“That may well be it.”

 

They waited in silence for a while. From Kuroko’s watch, it was about half an hour before Kagami couldn’t take the silence any more. Frankly, Kuroko was impressed he’d made it that long without talking to begin with.

 

“What the hell are they even doing?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I just want to go home,” Kagami whined. “I’m sick of being in airplanes and airports. I knew we should have just come by portkey.”

 

“Do you have any idea how difficult it is to arrange an international portkey drop off?” Kuroko asked blankly. “There are five different departments that have to approve the request before you can submit an application to the Department of Magical Transportation and then you might  _ still  _ have to wait weeks to get the portkey. By the time you’ve done that you could take a plane back and forth like three times.”

 

Kagami huffed, smiling at his shadow.

 

“Okay okay I get it, I’m whining,” he said, turning his face down to his arms to block out the light in the room. “I just wanna be home already.”

 

“I agree,” Kuroko said simply.

 

It was another fifteen or so minutes after that when Agent Rivers strode back in, accompanied by his posse.

 

“Yo, are we getting out of here any time soon or what?” Kagami demanded. The Agent ignored him.

 

“Could you please explain the nature of your passport?” he asked Kuroko once he was seated.

 

“It is a diplomatic passport,” Kuroko supplied blankly. “My mother is an unattached delegate to the International Confederation of Wizards and she travels internationally frequently. As her dependent I occasionally go with her. My passport indicates only that I may be travelling with a diplomatic attache, not that I am one myself. It also has my student visa inside, which should tell you exactly why I am here already, but you already knew that.”

 

“I did,” Agent Rivers said. “So you understand my problem.”

 

Kuroko stared back in blank agreement. He really didn’t understand why that was a problem. Even if the States were tightening their hold on allowing diplomats into the country, it wasn’t like he was one, or travelling with one, or associated with one.

 

“What the hell?” Kagami demanded. “Someone want to explain to me what’s going on?”

 

“The American government has closed its borders to diplomatic ambassadors,” Kuroko supplied to his friend, not looking away from the agent. “And they want to claim that because my mother is a diplomat for the ICW that they cannot allow me entry on my student visa.”

 

The agent nodded.

 

“That’s bullshit!” Kagami exploded. “You can’t just make up rules in a few months and then decide to stop letting people who are legitimately coming into the country!”

 

“I find that suspicious as well,” Kuroko said, feeling a burn 

 

“I’m afraid that, unfortunately, under the current laws, that is exactly what we are authorized to do,” Agent Rivers said. “You will both be detained here until-”

 

Whatever else Agent Rivers wanted to say was cut off by the sound of the door slamming open. A witch in the same imposing black attire as the other agents strode quickly over to Agent Rivers, who listened to her with an impassive expression.

 

“One moment,” he said, leaving the room again.

 

Kagami didn’t even wait for the door to close again.

 

“What the hell is this bullshit?” he yelled.

 

“Please lower your voice, you are beginning to harm my ears,” Kuroko said.

 

“But it  _ is  _ bullshit!”

 

“I agree, but rules are rules.”

 

“And bad rules are bad rules,” Kagami said stubbornly, angrily. “What the hell is going on?”

 

Kuroko didn’t answer.

 

They waited in tense silence for maybe an hour or so. Kuroko was beginning to believe that his best option would be to contact his mother for help and reinforcements when the door opened, and Agent Rivers politely handed Kuroko his passport.

 

“You are both free to go. Your stamps of entry are in your passports.

 

“Why?” Kagami asked.

 

“You want to stay here?” Agent Rivers asked, raising an eyebrow.

 

“No freaking way,” Kagami said, shouldering his bag. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

 

“Your aunt is waiting for you in the terminal,” the Agent said. “I will escort you back into the main building.”

 

“Aunt? Huh?” Kagami asked. Agent Rivers frowned a little, so Kagami just played it off.

 

“Okay. Whatever, let’s go.”

 

He and Kuroko followed the agent back down the hallway and into the main part of the building, where Kagami’s expression of stubborn confusion broke into a smile of sheer joy.

 

“Alex!”

 

Kagami made a beeline for the blonde woman, crashing into her and wrapping her in a massive hug.

 

“Thank god it’s you,” Kagami said. Alex hugged him back for a moment before pulling back, her relief morphing into anger.

 

“I can’t  _ believe  _ it’s a Friday night and I’m busting you out of immigration prison.”

 

“What the hell,” Kagami grumbled. “This time I promise it wasn’t my fault.”

 

“Yeah yeah, I’ve heard that before,” Alex said. “You’re just lucky I found out about it before you both got deported. Speaking of which, where’s your friend?”

 

“I’m right here,” Kuroko said, making the blonde woman jump.

 

“Oh right, Kagami told me you were hard to find,” she said with a smile. “Hello.”

 

“Hello,” Kuroko replied. “Thank you for your interference.”

 

“No problem,” Alex grinned.

 

“How’d you know we were being detained or whatever?” Kagami asked.

 

“Because trouble seems to follow you around anyway, brat,” Alex said, navigating them through the muggle structure with ease. She continued to dodge Kagami’s questions all the way up into the muggle parking structure. Kagami grinned as they approached their car, sliding past Kuroko.

 

“Shotgun!”

 

“Really?” Alex demanded. Kagami just smiled at her.

 

“It’s been a long night and I’m taking shotgun,” he said. “Anyway, you wanna explain the hell is going on because I feel like I just went full on out of my mind for a solid two hours there. And I wanna know for real how you found out about us getting arrested.”

 

“Later.”

 

“I’ve been hearing that all goddamn night!” Kagami snarled. “Now I want to know what is happening! How did you know we were here, and why do we even have Transportation Security or what the fuck anyway? This whole thing is bullshit!”

 

“Yes it is, but for starters, couldn’t you have just tried to maybe, I don’t know…  _ not threaten a  _ police officer?” Alex demanded. “Maybe that’s what got you on their radar to begin with.”

 

“Yeah, because you’re the queen of subtlety,” Kagami threw back.

 

“This isn’t about me and I don’t have to explain myself to you.”

 

“For the record he actually assaulted the officer, he didn’t just threaten him,” Kuroko tattled, climbing past Kagami and into the front seat.

 

“Hey, I called shotgun!” Kagami protested.

 

“Shotgun is for people who don’t assault aurors,” Kuroko said. Kagami’s face got, if possible, even redder.

 

“OI, you know what-“

 

“Stuff it, Taiga,” Alex said, slamming her door and starting the car. She turned to glare between the two teenagers taking up her passenger and back seats.

 

“And, first off, that disappearing act – not cute, kid, my nerves are frayed as it is. Second, Kagami your mom is gonna kill me.”

 

Kagami let out a pained sound.

 

“Don’t tell her then.”

 

“She already knows.”

 

Kagami’s groan turned into something that sounded more like a dying animal than a human. Kuroko was honestly a little worried.

 

“No way.”

 

“Way. She was working late tonight, caught wind of a disturbance in the station. She’s already seen your little brawl.”

 

“So that’s why you knew,” Kagami groused. “I should have known. She told you to come pick us up because she knew if I saw her coming I would run the other way.”

 

“Unfortunately, that’s pretty much exactly what happened,” Alex confirmed. “Sorry.”

 

“Maybe you could… uh… help us lay low for a bit?”

 

Alex snorted.

 

“Your mother nearly murdered me last time I tried to hide something from her, and as you’ll remember, it ended with you blowing off your own legs in a misguided attempt to impress the admissions committee at Salem.”

 

“You fucking suck, I thought you were supposed to be helping me. Instead it turns out you went over to the dark side!”

 

“Language.”

 

“I learned from the best,” Kagami shot back heatedly, without losing a beat. Alex sighed.

 

“Right. Yeah. I’m here because I told your mom you were coming back into the country and she was worried about you. When your mom heard you were detained at the border she immediately pulled some strings to make them let you both go. She got in contact with me in the middle of a lecture I was giving and told me to come find you because she wants to talk. Happy?”

 

“No. I’m fucking mad at you, Alex! And I don’t want to talk to her, so she can just shove whatever she wants to say to me right - ”

 

“Well, it doesn’t matter because that’s where we’re going so buckle your seatbelt, get comfortable, and shut up.”

 

Alex started the car, and while Kagami sputtered, the blonde woman refused to engage him any farther than she already had.

 

Kagami huffed and folded his arms, spreading out in the back seat as Alex pulled out of the parking space and started them on the way to exit the Airport.

 

“You are overreacting,” Alex said once they were finally out on the highway. “It’s not like she’s gonna bite or anything.”

 

“Whatever,” Kagami growled.

 

“Kagami Taiga-”

 

“She never wanted anything to do with me!” Kagami roared. Alex started in the driver’s seat, and even Kuroko was surprised at the vehemence of his light’s reaction. “She never wanted anything to do with me and now all of a sudden, she wants to see me? Alex, come on, even you know that’s messed up, so tell me what is going on!”

 

“I think it’s better if your mother explains,” Alex said.

 

After that, the tense silence in the car was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

 

"She does care about you."

 

"Yeah fucking right," Kagami growled, glaring out into the night.

 

…

 

Kagami’s mom lived in a mansion overlooking the Pacific Ocean. The wide grounds were maintained by magic – Kuroko could feel it covering every inch of the property as they passed. Whereas the entire state was suffering from a drought and too much heat, here magic maintained a reasonable temperature and humidity for plant life to thrive. It was the greenest place Kuroko could remember seeing in Los Angeles.

 

The house itself was sprawling and low, influenced by the Spanish architecture extremely common to the area. It screamed taste and wealth.

 

“Let’s get this over with,” Kagami said. His backpack was slung over one shoulder and his massive duffel covered the other. Leaving the car, Alex had tapped Kuroko’s bag with her wand and made it feather light so that he could manage it, for which he was immensely grateful.

 

“It wouldn’t kill you to respect your mom a bit more,” Alex said, locking the car and starting up the drive with them. Behind them, Kuroko could hear the distant roaring of the sea.

 

“You don’t know that,” Kagami grumbled under his breath. Kuroko was sure he hadn’t meant for anyone to hear him.

 

They followed a long gravel pathway up to the house, where an actual butler led the way to a sitting room.

 

“I’ll just… go find somewhere else to wait,” Alex said as they were about to enter.

 

“Do not leave me hanging here, you - “

 

But Alex was already gone.

 

“You suck,” Kagami said into the empty space where his former teacher had just been standing.

 

“I think we should go in,” Kuroko supplied. Kagami started, suddenly remembering that Kuroko was next to him.

 

“Yeah, okay, well. I’m sorry for everything that’s about to happen,” Kagami said. “I don’t have the best relationship with my mom, but I promise I will answer any questions you have when we’re out of here, okay?”

 

Kuroko nodded. He’d been willing to follow his light’s lead wherever the boy was planning on taking them. He trusted Kagami’s judgement, even when he was this obviously angry and upset. There was clearly something Kuroko was missing, but he didn’t need to know what that was to know that Kagami was going to handle this situation as best he could.

 

Kagami pushed open the door to the sitting room. He strode in with his shoulders thrown back, exuding the confidence and power that gave him his amazing and extraordinary strength. It blazed off him like the sun.

 

The woman standing by the fireplace in the room bore only a passing resemblance to Kagami, but there was something about the stubborn set of her jaw that made it very obvious she was Kagami’s mother.

 

“Hello, Taiga.”

 

Her voice was unwavering and strong. Kuroko was struck by the immediate and lasting impression that this was a woman who should not be crossed, no matter what.  

 

“Whats up,  _ Judge  _ Rodriguez,” Kagami responded flippantly, flopping onto the couch. Even Kuroko could hear the intentional disrespect in every note of the address and in the deliberate sprawl of Kagami’s body over the antique furniture.

 

What Kuroko couldn’t figure out was exactly why Kagami was deliberately trying to piss off his mom.

 

“Taiga!”

 

“What?” Kagami demanded, as though he didn’t already obviously know that what he was doing was blatantly disrespectful. 

 

Kuroko stood as still as possible, hoping that nobody involved in this confrontation would notice him.

 

“Three years, I don’t get so much as a Christmas card and now you’re trying to pretend you give a damn? When did that change?”

 

“You have the family magic.”

 

“And  _ there  _ it is,” Kagami snarled. “Kuroko, can you believe this?”

 

Kuroko was a little terrified to exhale as both mother and son glared at him.

 

“Um.”

 

There was a long, awkward pause.

 

“You’re so full of shit,” Kagami sneered at his mom, clearly angry enough to keep himself going on his rant without Kuroko’s input.

 

“Language!” the judge snapped.

 

“Whatever,” Kagami said. “So what do you want?”

 

“Would you at least sit down?” Kagami’s mother asked, sounding exasperated.

 

“No.”

 

For a second, Kuroko was legitimately concerned that the woman was going to start breathing fire. He was ready to duck and run for cover, but Kagami did not back down. The moment passed and the woman sighed, partially turning away.

 

“Things are more dangerous here than has been reported in the news,” she said.

 

“You think? What the hell is this transportation safety crap?”

 

“The president is exercising control over the magical community,” Judge Rodriguez said. “He is attempting to sever the connections between the mundanes and the wizards. His position is… unpopular, among the international community. We have outlawed diplomatic visitors in order to prevent any interference.”

 

“What is it that he’s trying to do?” Kagami asked.

 

“At best? I believe Nash Gold intends to set himself up as dictator over the American magical community. I wouldn’t be surprised if he were planning to consolidate the magical people into their own separate state and maintain the complete autonomy and secrecy of the community.”

 

“That’s insane!”

 

“It is no different than what happens in Britain now,” the Judge replied. “But the severance of magical people in the United Kingdom took place a long time ago, in a very different time. I don’t believe that could be done, especially here out west, without considerable damage.”

 

“Okay, and?”

 

“What do you mean,  _ and,  _ is that not bad enough?” Kagami’s mother snapped, irate at his disrespect.

 

“No I want to know what you want me to do about it!”

 

“I want you to stay and fight!” the Judge growled. “It is time for you to take your education seriously. You will study under a ward master and stay here where you are needed.”

 

“Why do you even give a shit where I am anyway?” Kagami demanded. “You never did before.”

 

“Because you’re needed  _ here! _ ” his mother snapped. “You’re off fooling around in a dueling ring when there are real battles to be fought here and now! You can’t afford these silly distractions anymore.”

 

“Well maybe I wouldn’t have these  _ silly distractions  _ if you had  _ answered even one of my damn calls  _ in the last few years! Maybe you could have sent me to Salem before I got desperate enough to try magic so dangerous it blew off my damn legs! You could have visited me in the hospital to let me know you still gave a damn about me! Or maybe you could have decided that you wanted me around before sending me half a world away to some boarding school when you knew all I wanted was to be here.”

 

Kagami didn’t back down. Kuroko could feel his magic raging almost beyond the redhead’s control. His light was furious and his magic was responding to the sharp, threatening aura of Kagami’s mother’s magic.

 

The woman who had given birth to Kagami was by no means magically weak either. Soon her own magical aura was flaring to match her son’s.

 

“Starting tomorrow, you will apprentice under Ward Master Seehan, and that’s the end of it.”

 

“What the hell is wrong with be apprenticing under Alex?”

 

“Because she failed to supervise you when you decided to try dangerous and destructive magic. Do you not remember it resulting in your very near death!”

 

Kagami glared at his mom and she glared back. Neither, it seemed, was willing to give an inch. Kuroko had the distinct impression that Kagami’s pigheaded stubbornness when it came to what he believed in was genetic.

 

For a moment, it seemed like it would be inevitable that the two of them would fight it out. The intensity of the atmosphere broke suddenly and Kagami turned away, hands clenched into fists.

 

“Fine, I’ll go study with the damn warding master, but I’m not staying under your damn roof,,” he said. “Nice talk, Mom. Come on, Kuroko.”

 

Kuroko followed his light without a second thought.

 

“And  _ you’re  _ a goddamn traitor,” Kagami added to Alex as they passed her in the hallway.  She look surprised, although whether it was at the words themself or at the lack of heat Kuroko was unsure. “I can’t believe you went and told my  _ mom  _ on me.”

 

He didn’t wait to hear her response. Kuroko was hard pressed keeping up as he strode quickly down the hallway.

 

He could practically feel heat radiating off the other boy from the force of Kagami’s magic.

 

It was probably taking Kagami every ounce of self-control he had not to suddenly explode the building where they were standing.

 

Nobody stopped Kagami as he stormed out the door and down the massive marble steps. 

Anyone who considered it must have thought twice after seeing the look of pure murder on Kagami’s face.

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko started when they were outside. The redhead held up his hand.

 

“Not here, come on,” he said. His voice was tense, but he didn’t sound as angry as he did before. The two of them kept walking, the only sound around them the soft crunch of gravel under their feet as they followed the path up to the gates of the mansion.

 

Down the slope, Kuroko could see the crashing waves against the shore and could look out across the vast ocean.

 

They were so very far from his home. This wasn’t even the same ocean that connected him to his homeland.

 

Kuroko had never felt so small as he did in that moment.

 

“Grab my hand and brace yourself,” Kagami said. Kuroko did as he was asked. He experienced the sudden, alarming sensation of side along apparition not a second later. Before he’d even registered what was going on, he opened his eyes and they were somewhere else entirely.

 

That somewhere else appeared to be a grungy alleyway. Kuroko could see a dumpster with several large bags of trash piled up next to it. A neon red exit sign hung over a metal door with a chipping coat of green paint.

 

“Welcome to my neck of the woods,” Kagami said with a bitter smile. “Sorry, but I wanted to get us out of there as soon as possible. We’re okay here, but let’s talk when we get to my dad’s place.”

 

“I understand,” Kuroko said, though he really didn’t. What was happening?

 

Kagami led Kuroko out of the alleyway by the hand, into the busy, well lit West Hollywood that Kuroko knew so well.

 

“Come on, we’re only a few blocks away.”

 

Kuroko followed silently as his light walked ahead. True to Kagami’s word, it wasn’t five minutes before they were walking through the large glass doors of an apartment building a few blocks off the main drive. They rode the elevator up to the tenth floor and then walked down the entire length of hallway upstairs, Kagami fumbled with his keys for a few minutes before withdrawing a brass colored key and inserting it into the lock.

 

Whatever Kuroko had been expecting on the other side of the door, it was not what was before him. The apartment was spacious and clean, well organized for being the home of a bachelor and his son.

 

The living room had a large, comfortable looking couch facing a large television. The kitchen was white and gleaming, visible through a wide open archway off to the left.

 

“Welcome to our place for the summer!” Kagami said, gesturing towards the clean apartment. “It’s no mansion or anything, but it’s home. Dad said he’d be coming back in a week or so, so until then we have the place all to ourselves. Rad, right?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Very rad,” he agreed. He might have even been smiling.

 

…

 

The next morning Kuroko returned to his internship. He took the bus from Kagami’s apartment to a stop a few blocks from the clinic. From there the route was mostly familiar. The sleepy, sunny streets, the dry brush, the faded storefront signs, it was almost like he had never left.

 

The clinic was just as he remembered it. The wooden door was worn with use and the interior moist and cool in comparison to the world outside.

 

The receptionist was sitting in perhaps the same position she had been in the last time Kuroko had been here: feet thrown up on the table, a stack of comics beside her. The boots were lime green this time, but the leather gloves were the same.

 

She looked up from the comic upon hearing the bell, but it took her a few seconds to find the object of her search standing right in front of her. When she did, she looked back down at her comic before even greeting him.

 

“Oh, it’s you. Yo.”

 

“Hello,” Kuroko greeted the receptionist politely. The inked dragon stirred from its sleep to glance around before settling back in the crook of her neck.

 

“Boss is upstairs,” she said without looking up again. “You know the way and everything.”

 

“Thank you. It is good to see you,” Kuroko said, before passing the desk to climb up the stairs.

 

“Hmpf. Nice to see you too,” she said, turning the page.

 

Kuroko found the Master Healer in her office, making notes on a pad of paper while consulting the contents of a manila folder. For all that some ten months had passed since the last time Kuroko had been here it felt like almost nothing had changed.

 

It took about half a minute, but he finally managed to draw the healer’s attention.

 

“Ah, my intern,” she said, smiling thinly. “I don’t suppose you can tell me the priority triage for a burn victim that has been subject to fiendfyre.”

 

“Assessment of vitals and damage, treatment to internal burns and injuries, preventing infection by topical potion or stasis spell, pain treatment, and eventually, in a secure location, skin grafts and outpatient treatment to ensure proper growth of the grafts and magical prevention of serious scarring.”

 

Healer Takeda tapped her pen on the table.

 

“Would you use a magic or potions based statis treatment, assuming you could choose?”

 

“Potions.”

 

The Healer’s eyebrow twitched.

 

“Elaborate.”

 

“Magic takes less time, but more energy and healing skin is delicate work,” Kuroko said bluntly. “If I used all my magic to prevent the infection of a patient I would have none left to stabilize them, nor could I continue triaging any other victims.”

 

The healer’s eyebrow came down a notch.

 

“Very good. I see your instincts remain intact despite a year spent taking idle notes,” she said. “I have a curse victim over there. Give me a proposed course of treatment by the end of the day.”

 

Kuroko reached for the proffered file.

 

“Welcome back, Kuroko,” Takeda added, returning to her own work.

 

Kuroko fought the urge to smile.

 

It was kind of good to be back. This wasn’t what he wanted. It wasn’t what he’d planned to be doing with his life, but he thought if he had to be, he could be happy here.

 

He didn’t have the power to do very much, but he was stubborn and he knew quite a bit about magic.

 

Kuroko would do his best here.

 

There was, however, a familiar feeling clenching in his heart.

 

It was the same feeling of challenge he’d felt when Akashi had cornered him in the library and challenged him to enter the tournament. He wanted to prove himself, he wanted to take the hand Akashi had offered.

 

Back then, he’d been scared to.

 

Now, he knew he couldn’t. The power and victory Akashi was offering him was something Kuroko hungered for with an intensity that scared him. It ran deeper than almost any other feeling Kuroko knew.

 

But the cost of that power was something Kuroko could not ignore. What Akashi was doing was insane. So even at the cost of being able to find a home in the career he wanted, even at the cost of rejecting the easiest possible road to the person he wanted to be…

 

Kuroko had to say no.

 

There was part of him that was bitter about that.

 

He wondered if this was what the Sorting Hat had seen six years ago. If the hat had known that one day, Kuroko would be forced to choose between his ambition and his sense of duty and that there would never even be a contest.

 

Or was it the other way around? Had the hat’s decision to put him in Hufflepuff cultivated a man who would have to reject that offer anyway?

 

Kuroko gritted his teeth and clenched the file in his hand.

 

Curse victim. Thirty-two. It was a nasty mess of hexes to undo and he was going to have to start at the beginning.

 

He didn’t have time to feel bad for himself; he had work to do.

 

**…**

 

Between their respective schedules Kagami and Kuroko were kept on the run. They saw each other only at night when Kuroko trudged home from his internship at the healer’s clinic and Kagami was sprawled out with the readings assigned to him for his apprenticeship.

 

Neither had much time for anything other than work.

 

“This is worse than being in school,” Kagami groaned, rolling onto his back and covering his eyes to avoid looking at his homework.

 

“Tell me about it,” Kuroko said, engrossed in the anatomy textbook he was reading. He had gotten very good at guessing what kinds of questions the Master Healer would ask him based on the incoming cases they had and he was pretty sure he was going to get grilled on major muscle groups tomorrow. He wasn’t going to let himself be caught with his pants down this early in the summer, which meant a lot of ancillary reading just to keep up.

 

He couldn’t believe some of the other interns actually got to study this at school.

 

It was only Tuesday.

 

By the end of the week, both boys were chomping at the bit and ready to go stir crazy from the workload. Thankfully, the universe chose exactly that moment to intervene in their lives and give them the break that they both so desperately needed.

 

Kagami came running through the door of the apartment about twenty minutes after Kuroko had gotten home, shouting incoherently. Kuroko patiently waited out another few seconds of Kagami’s ranting before jabbing the redhead in the stomach as hard as he could. 

 

Kagami doubled over, gasping for breath.

 

“Please explain at a volume and speed I can follow,” Kuroko said when Kagami roared and swung his fist, trying to hit him. Kuroko neatly ducked both blows before the Gryffindor finally remembered why he had been so excited when he came home in the first place.

 

“So I was leaving the Warding Master’s office and look what I found! It’s happening tomorrow in  Porciúncula Alley! ”

 

Kagami was shouting excitedly, waving a bright blue piece of paper at him. 

 

“What is  Porciúncula Alley?” Kuroko asked, not looking at the piece of paper. Kagami made a face. 

 

“Ah, it’s where all the stuffy pure bloods hang out mostly,” he said. “You know, the kind of old school pure blood that doesn’t go hang out at street duels. Their families came over during the original Spanish invasion and are all practically descended from royalty. They all congregate around the center of the magical district in LA, by the river. It’s pretty goddamn awful mostly, but sometimes they have pretty cool events. Anyway, look!”   
  


The flyer Kagami shoved at Kuroko was a magical advertisement for a dueling tournament.

 

“You and I could go sweep the floor with all these stuck up assholes!” Kagami said excitedly. “Come on, it would be awesome!”   
  


Kuroko admitted he was feeling the itch to duel again. He couldn’t even imagine how frustrated Kagami must be feeling after the disappointing end to their season only a few months ago. The duel against Aomine had been epic, but they had been doomed to fail against the explosively powerful team, especially with Kagami not at his best.

 

The other boy was a hundred per cent prepared to get back in the arena and now he had something to prove to himself and everyone else.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said, looking up from the flyer. “Let’s do it.”

 

Kagami beamed.

 

The next day, with their spirits high and their adrenaline running, Kagami and Kuroko took a bus down to a lesser trafficked neighborhood along the river. 

 

The sky was overcast and grey, unusual for Los Angeles, especially in the summer. In the dim light of the cloudy day, the two of them walked over to the entrance to the bridge and continued just pass it. Kagami smirked.

 

“Watch this,” he said. “It’s a new trick I learned.”

 

Kagami tapped the stone underfoot twice with his magic causing it to glow a deep green. Suddenly, the light rose up out of the wall of the basin, forming a second bridge made out of magic. The air around it shimmered. On the other side, Kuroko could see that where the bridge met the other side of the river, what he had originally seen as a fenced off series of warehouses looked very different. 

 

Kagami didn’t hesitate in crossing the bridge, and so neither did Kuroko in following him. In what felt like no time at all, they stepped off the dark green bridge, and the magic receded to its starting point, leaving them in a small magical city tucked away under a series of glamors strong enough to give Diagon Alley a run for its money.

 

Kuroko immediately could see what Kagami meant in calling the Alley stuffy. It gave off a very similar aura as Diagon Alley. Everywhere you looked, there were signs of magic. Signs blared with moving color, and storefronts boasted sparks and floating colored bubbles that took the forms of various animals. A miniature display of a game involving broomsticks was set up outside a sporting store, though Kuroko didn’t recognize it as quidditch.

 

And the fashion… most of the wizards and witches wore loose clothing with bright colors. Kuroko could easily see the Spanish influence among what appeared to be more traditional magical garb in this area. He saw several witches and wizards with bright ornamental jewelery that shimmered as it moved around them in semi-sentient patterns. Colorful necklaces and earrings gave off brief flashes of power so often that it nearly blinded Kuroko’s senses.

 

It was at once similar to and nothing like the village of Hogsmeade. There was the inclusive feeling of knowing that you were surrounded by your own kind of magical people, but the obvious wealth of everyone around him made Kuroko rather uncomfortable. He and Kagami, wearing muggle clothes, stood out easily among the well dressed elite of the wizarding world.

 

“I haven’t really been out here since I was a kid and my mom and her family would drag me out here, back before things kind of went to shit,” Kagami said. “But as far as wizarding areas go I really like Hogsmeade more.”

 

Kuroko nodded his agreement. As far as the comparison went, there was none. If anything, Porciúncula Alley was more like Diagon Alley - an upscale shopping district, though somehow Porciúncula Alley seemed even more high class than Diagon. Hogshead was a welcome shelter of a wizarding community, and even though it included a shipping district it was so much more.  There was a long pause after Kagami had spoken - neither of them had discussed what had happened between Kagami and his mother the night they arrived in Los Angeles, and Kuroko was hesitant to poke at it when Kagami was so obviously uncomfortable. He got the feeling Kagami’s relationship with his mom had degraded when Kagami was still very young. 

 

“Anyway, come on, let’s go!” Kagami shouted, taking off down the road. “We have a duel to win!”

 

Kuroko followed his light, a serene expression on his face.

 

The courtyard at the end of the alley was open to the sky and lay right against the river. It seemed incredible that none of the muggles passing on boats or on the other side of the shore could see them.

 

And yet here lay settled an entire piece of magical community, tucked away right under their very noses.

 

Kagami led Kuroko around a tight corner and then they were facing a wide open courtyard. Four tiled fountains stood at each of the four corners with wide swaths of space around them, but the middle of the courtyard was big enough to fit several large dueling rings.

 

Kagami signed them up for the tournament and they wandered off to one of the offshoots of the alley, down the side of the river. The competition wouldn’t begin until later in the afternoon anyway, so they had time to kill before they needed to return to the crowded courtyard.

 

“Man, that last duel sucked,” Kagami said.

 

It was the first time they had talked about the duel against Aomine since it had happened.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed. He remembered the wrenching, tearing loss as though it was yesterday. He never wanted to experience a feeling like that ever again.

 

He wanted to win. With Kagami by his side, he felt good about their chances.

 

“The next time I face off against that smug punk, I’ll wipe the floor with that stupid smirk,” Kagami said. “Just wait until next year…”

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko cut in, looking at his light. Kagami was staring determinedly at a point far in the distance. Kuroko hated to be the one to interrupt his pump up fest, but Kagami needed to know what Akashi told Kuroko. When Kagami looked back over at Kuroko, the Hufflepuff sighed internally.

 

“Aomine isn’t coming back to Hogwarts,” Kuroko said. “None of them are.”   
  


Kagami just stared at him.

 

“What do you mean?” he demanded.

 

“None of the Miracles are coming back,” Kuroko said. He felt a little hysterical saying it, like by speaking the words he was giving truth to them, but deep down he knew there was nothing he could do to change their decisions.

 

“Oh.”

 

Kagami’s hands were clenched into fists.

 

“Well then, I guess I’ll just have to beat their assess off the court. But we’ll have other duels. And I am more than ready to kick some ass today. I haven’t had a really good workout since Kise let me wipe the floor with him.”   
  


Kuroko nodded, and the fist clenched around his heart loosened a little.

 

Even without the Miracles standing in their way, Kagami was still his light and Kuroko was still Kagami’s shadow.

 

They were still partners.

 

About an hour later, they heard the announcements that the duels would begin soon. Kagami and Kuroko took off running, sprinting for the court. 

 

They made it just in time too, panting for breath and already warmed up for the fight. When the announcer called out Kuroko and Kagami’s team number, they were ready.

 

Kagami rolled his shoulders as he stepped into the cleared arena, a predatory smile on his face. 

Having had plenty of time to rest and recover after their last two trying duels, he was back in fine form and ready to fight.

 

But Kagami stopped short just as he got into the dueling circle.

 

“Tatsuya.”

 

For a moment, Kuroko thought Kagami had called his first name and was confused. Kagami had never called Kuroko by first first name in all the time that they had known each other. However, Kuroko immediately realized that his light’s eyes were glued to one of the competitors in front of them.

 

The boy had a messy mop of dark hair, falling artfully in front of one of his eyes. He was stretching, obviously not paying attention to the fact that his competitors were standing in the ring.

 

“Tatsuya!”

 

Kagami sped off, running to go meet Tatsuya, just as Kuroko remembered where he recognized their opponent from. Himuro Tatsuya had been one of the American competitors who had fought against them in the interschool tournament. He had been one of the most powerful wizards there, aside from the Miracles.

 

And apparently, he knew Kagami. The second he saw the bulky Gryffindor, Tatsuya smiled broadly and straightened up, opening his arms to hug Kagami. 

 

“Taiga! It’s so good to see you!”

 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kagami demanded. “I thought you were all the way on the east coast!”   
  


“Ah, I’m studying under a Master here in LA, so I decided to stay for a while,” Tatsuya said. “I heard you went to Britain.”

 

“Yeah well, blow off your legs once and everyone trips over your own feet trying to make someone else take responsibility for you, am I right?” Kagami laughed. Tatsuya’s eyes narrowed.

 

“That’s not really funny,” he said.

 

“Yeah well after a year I think it’s been long enough I can joke about it,” Kagami said, but the smile slid off his face. “I thought Alex had told you.”

 

“How do you always manage to get into such stupid crap when I’m not around?”

 

“Don’t flatter yourself, we got into plenty of stupid crap when you  _ were  _ around, which is why you got shipped off to Salem to begin with.”

 

Tatsuya laughed.

 

“Oh yeah, the glitter dick. Classic.”

 

Kuroko was intrigued despite himself, but before he could ask what they were talking about, Kagami changed the subject.

 

“You bastard you could have at least written me!”

 

“Well, I was busy getting stronger,” Tatsuya said. “And trust me, when I win this time, it won’t be because you let me.”   
  


Kagami snorted.

 

“Okay, if it’s gonna be like that, it’s gonna be like that,” he said. “If you really want me to hand you your ass I can do that, but no matter what, I won’t lose!” 

 

Tatsuya smiled back, but every line of his face and every bit of his posture screamed that he was a threat.

 

“Please, while you were playing with those toys British wizards call wands, I have been learning and perfecting my magic. I’m in a totally different league from you now,and we have a score to settle.”

 

Kuroko didn’t know what they were talking about, but he did know that he didn’t like the strange wizard trying to talk shit about his light. He was about to intervene to let this wizard know exactly what Kuroko thought of him when someone else did the job of cutting through the fight much more effectively.

 

“Muro-chin, you didn’t say you were going to leave.”

 

Kuroko froze as a large shadow fell across the court.

 

He knew that voice. He recognized the familiar structure of the nickname, even though there was no reason that the former Slytherin should be here now.

 

“Murasakibara!”

 

Tatsuya turned and smiled brightly at the towering giant.

 

“You’re here just in time!”

 

“Eh? But the master said we’re not supposed to be dueling outside of lessons.”

 

Tatsuya shrugged.

 

“Yeah, he did I guess,” he said. “I was just fired up to go up against an old friend of mine.”

 

“It’s not like you to want to break the rules like that,” Murasakibara said, thoughtfully taking a bite of the candy bar he was holding and letting his eyes scan across the crowd to land on Kagami. Interest and recognition sparked there for a second.

 

“Oh, it’s just the transfer kid. But if he’s here, that means…”

 

Another munch on the candy bar, and Murasakibara’s eyes cast about the arena, clearly looking for someone in particular.

 

“Hello, Murasakibara.”

 

Murasakibara looked down at Kuroko standing next to his elbow. The purple haired giant did not seem particularly surprised to see the other boy seemingly appear out of nowhere, but then again, he rarely looked ruffled about anything in particular.

 

“Kuro-chin! I didn’t know you would be here. It’s good to see you.”

 

Kuroko looked back at Murasakibara, not trusting himself to speak. Murasakibara reached out a hand to ruffle Kuroko’s hair, messing up the already lightly mussed blue locks.

 

Kuroko fought the urge to scowl and batted at the much larger boy’s hand.

 

“Excuse me,” Kuroko said, “but could you please not do that?”

 

Murasakibara shrugged, though his expression was confused.

 

“Kuro-chin’s hair is soft,” he said, as though the explanation made everything okay between them again.

 

Kuroko felt his heart clench as though someone had wrapped it in razor wire.

 

He wished that were true. He wished he was still looking at the same boy that had told Kuroko that it was fun to compete on the same court as him.

 

But everything was different now.

 

“What are you doing here?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Ah, Aka-chin told me to come work for an abjurer here,” Murasakibara said. “He’s so bothersome, all he wants me to do is work. But that’s how I met Muro-chin and he’s okay.”

 

Kuroko frowned, but said nothing.

 

“Tatsuya, what the hell are you doing?” Kagami asked. “Your magic is illusions.”

 

“My magic is whatever I need it to be,” Tatsuya sneered, all teeth. “And the master we’re studying under is one of the most powerful wizards in the world!”

 

“And he’s demanding too. I’m not even supposed to be dueling outside of my lessons,” Murasakibara added. He frowned, turning to Tatsuya.

 

“You shouldn’t be either,” he said, remembering what he had come to find Tatsuya to tell him. “You’re going to get in trouble and kicked out and then I’ll be stuck being bored again.”

 

“Oh sure, probably,” Tatsuya said, rolling his shoulders. “But this is one duel I’m not going to back down from. What the master doesn’t need to know won’t hurt him, right, Atsushi?”

 

Murasakibara hummed thoughtfully before extending a candy bar out to the American teenager.

 

“I brought snacks,” he said.

 

“I see,” Tatsuya replied with a smile, taking the offered candy bar in a gentle hand. “Thank you. Will you duel with me, just this once? I owe an old friend a beat down.”

 

Murasakibara looked down at Kuroko and then turned to look at Kagami.

 

“You mean the transfer kid that was annoying Aka-chin all year?” Murasakibara asked. “He lost to Mine-chin, he’s not even worth it.”

 

Kuroko was thankful for Tatsuya in that moment, because if the American had not stepped in to stop Kagami, Kuroko was pretty sure Murasakibara was going to turn the boy into a pancake.

 

“We used to duel together,” Tatsuya said. “In fact, before Kagami went and abandoned me to go run off to Britain, we were brothers.”

 

Kuroko stared at the dark haired boy, shocked. He expected Kagami to immediately deny this, but he saw the steel in his light’s eyes, the determined set of his jaw, and realized that Tatsuya was telling the truth.

 

“And this time,” Tatsuya said, turning to Kagami, “if you hold back, I’ll kill you.”

 

_ Merlin and Morgana this kid is crazy,  _ Kuroko thought. He might even be able to give Akashi a run for his money when it came to pathological and emotional disruption.

 

Kagami just smiled. There was a grim sense of vengeance in his eyes, and Kuroko could see that the boy was gearing up for a fight. He was taking this seriously too.

 

“It’s you and me, Tatsuya. You’re the one that didn’t want to be brothers anymore. I’m going to wipe the floor with you. You might have a Miracle, but so do I.”

 

It was only then that Tatsuya seemed to notice Kuroko at all. His eyes widened in surprise.

 

“How long have you been here?” he demanded.

 

“I’ve been here this whole time,” Kuroko said. He decided that this kid annoyed him, since he made Kagami so obviously upset. “I was talking to your teammate three seconds ago.”

 

Tatsuya looked up at Murasakibara to confirm this. Murasakibara shrugged.

 

“You didn’t notice, Kuro-chin?” he asked. “But you competed against him. We crushed you, just like the two of us will crush them.”

 

Tatsuya frowned.

 

“You competed with the Generation of Miracles?” he asked, frowning around his lapse in memory. The more he tried to think about it, the more he thought he remembered flashes of light blue hair, a polite but determined expression, and the absence of something he couldn’t quite touch.

 

“What the hell kind of wizard are you exactly?” Tatsuya demanded harshly.

 

“I’m the Phantom Sixth Man,” Kuroko said. “It is nice to meet you once again. But I would like to apologize.”

 

“Apologize?” Tatsuya’s eyebrows raised.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said. “I am sorry, but you won’t beat us.”

 

Tatsuya stared at Kuroko for a beat, before his lips broke into a smile.

 

“Okay brat, bring it on,” he said.

 

“If Kuro-chin really wants to fight, I can crush you too,” Murasakibara supplied lazily. “I don’t want to, but I will.”

 

With the purple haired giant towering over him, Kuroko had no trouble believing that either

 

That’s when the heavens opened up, and it started to rain.

 

...


	34. Murasakibara Solves A Giant Problem

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like to take this moment to remind y'all that this fic is rated M, and we're getting into some graphic descriptions of violence. 
> 
> I will say, this has been an amazing and fun chapter to write. I am enamored with my subplot that is now taking over, and I hope all of you will be too. Anyway, nothing says "happy thursday" quite like 15k, so here you go! Happy thursday my lovelies.

 

…

 

“Well now this is appropriately dramatic,” Tatsuya said, grinning viciously. He tapped his face with his wand, murmuring a charm to keep his vision clear. Kagami did the same for himself and Kuroko.

 

“Let’s settle this!” Kagami shouted as the rain began to pound on the ground in front of him.

 

“Whenever you’re ready!” Tatsuya shouted back.

 

A deep bell signaled the beginning of the round.

 

Murasakibara pulled back, a shimmering purple wall protecting him and Himuro.

 

“Now let me show you a taste of true power,” Tatsuya said.

 

With a twist of his wand, Tatsuya sent a bright pink spell flying towards Kagami.

 

Kagami grinned, throwing up a powerful shield to knock away the spell.

 

Things did not go quite the way he planned.

 

The pink spell rocketed through the air, but it did not stop at at the magical boundary Kagami had created.

 

Instead, the spell passed through as though the shield wasn’t there. It collided into Kagami’s chest and sent the redhead flying.

 

_ It looks like my misdirection,  _ Kuroko thought, already trying to figure out the best way to block the spell. It had appeared to vanish and had reappeared just as it reached Kagami’s shield, almost as though for that instant it did not exist.

 

“I call it the Mirage Shot,” Tatsuya grinned. “Beat that, Brother.”

 

Kagami growled in anger, but a second later he was laughing, his eyes bright with the challenge.

 

“Oh you bet,” he said. “Whatever tricks you’ve got up your sleeve, I guarantee we have some too!”

 

Kuroko definitely agreed with this assessment. Whatever tricks Tatsuya had, he and Kagami would still win this battle. Kuroko had been robbed of the opportunity to face his old teammate in the arena, but he would take that chance now.

 

Kagami had regained his composure and was ready to strike back. Kuroko was just as fired up in the face of two incredible opponents and he was ready to fight for their lives.

 

Suddenly the ground began to shake.

 

Kuroko looked up at their opponents, but Murasakibara and Tatsuya looked just as surprised as he was. Outside the ring, a wave of conversation surged as the spectators tried to figure out what was going on.

 

_ What now?  _ Kuroko wondered, but the confusion didn’t last long. A high-pitched scream drew his and everyone else’s attention to the other side of the river.

 

They were on the south side of the river, but to the north, past where the tall buildings of downtown LA rose into the sky, Kuroko saw them.

 

Giants.

 

There were Giants coming from the hills.

 

Kuroko’s brain skipped right over wondering how that could be possible and went straight to realizing that they needed to address this crisis, now.

 

“Fuck!” Kagami shouted. He glanced back at Tatsuya, whose eyes were wide and fearful.

 

Murasakibara looked up.

 

“They’re going to destroy the whole city!” Kagami shouted.

 

Tatsuya glanced at Murasakibara and then pointed his wand at Kagami.

 

“We’ll settle this later,” he threatened. “We’ll see you up there.”

 

The shield around the arena came crashing down. Immediately, the screaming and panic in the alley assaulted Kuroko. When he looked up, Murasakibara and Tatsuya had already vanished, probably having apparated further north to help contain the giants.

 

Kuroko felt a lurch in his stomach. If they didn’t stop any cameras or phones from recording what was going on, they would have to deal with more than just death and destruction.

 

They would have to worry about the exposure of the entire magical world.

 

“Protect the alley!” Someone yelled in a frantic, high-pitched tone.

 

The ground shook again.

 

Kuroko got the feeling that the alley wasn’t in very much direct danger right now, but the civilians out in the city… he and Kagami exchanged another glance.

 

“We need to help!” Kagami said.

 

Kuroko was a hundred per cent on board.

 

“Where are you thinking, like, Franklin and Normandie?” Kagami asked Kuroko.

 

“Perhaps a little further south, just in case,” Kuroko suggested, watching a cloud of black smoke rise into the sky. He did not want to apparate into the path of a rampaging giant. He was insane for even wanting to be near the path of a rampaging giant. They were both insane. That had to be what was going on. Kagami nodded.

 

“Alright, hold on tight.”

 

They vanished from the alley in a whirl of movement and an entirely unnoticed  _ pop. _

 

They appeared in a disaster zone.

 

The rain was still falling, but the air was thick with smoke. As Kuroko watched, one of the giants slammed their club into a building and the entire side of it exploded.

 

“Ah shit!” Kagami yelled, throwing up a shield to protect them from the rain of dust and broken glass and concrete. “Must have been a gas line.”

 

Debris rained down on the street, shattering on the tarmac, the crunching, screeching sound of folding metal and the crash of breaking glass almost lost in the chaos.They were lucky to have only caught the edge of falling rubble.

 

This close up, the giants were  _ terrifying.  _ They were taller than some buildings, each step causing wanton destruction. Kuroko held onto Kagami’s arm.

 

Why were they even here? Giants were warlike, but there was no way they suddenly just decided to attack LA for no reason. Besides, they were nowhere near any known enclave of giants. Where would you even hide one in Southern California? 

 

Kuroko did not have long to dwell on this right now.

 

People were screaming and crying. Someone was standing on a corner, phone in hand, staring up in terror at the attacking giants as he filmed everything.

 

All around them, muggles were fleeing for their lives. Only a handful of wizards had arrived on scene, most of them clad in the black robes of aurors.

 

They truly were standing in the middle of a disaster zone.

 

Twisted steel and metal, smoking wreckage, shards of shattered glass – everywhere he looked, the city Kuroko knew was unrecognizable.

 

But the worst was the smell. Smoke, ozone, and burning flesh combined in a putrid odor that made Kuroko want to gag.

 

“Hey, you okay?” Kagami asked, steadying Kuroko and taking down their shield.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Let’s go.”

 

Kagami grabbed the attention of an auror and asked what he could do to help. After convincing the auror that both Kagami and Kuroko were seventeen - and thus entitled to place themselves in any danger they found appropriate regardless of parental supervision - Kagami managed to secure orders for the two of them from the auror.

 

“Aim for the eyes,” the auror said. “Thank you for staying, and be careful.”

 

Kagami grinned and clapped the guy on the back.

 

The ground rumbled and Kagami took off running with Kuroko, straight into the fray.

 

There were six giants, each towering over twelve stories tall. They were bulky, dirty, and extremely angry.

 

“Hey, Kuroko,” Kagami said, grinning.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Just so you know, if I had to draft pick anyone to take down a giant with, you’d be my first pick.”

 

“Is that something you have often considered?” Kuroko asked. He left the blank sarcasm cover up how touched he was by the comment. 

 

Kagami shrugged with a wide grin, rolling up his sleeves. His eyes surveyed the attacking giants, and picked out the nearest one.

 

“See that one?” he pointed to Kuroko. Kuroko nodded.

 

“I’m gonna trip it,” Kagami said. His voice sounded shaky, but when he turned to look at Kuroko, he looked confident enough. “You with me?”

 

“All the way,” Kuroko said.

 

“Okay, he’s gonna come down Vine in a second, so here's the plan…”

 

Less than a minute later, Kuroko and Kagami were in action. Kagami conjured a line of thick cable. He tied it around the lamppost and then heated the metal, melting the cable into the post.

 

“That should do it,” Kagami said. “Can you get the other line tied to that beam and bring it back?”

 

Kagami gestured to the exposed beam from the shattered storefront across the street. Kuroko looked down the street at the slowly approaching giant and looked back to Kagami.

 

He could do this. He grabbed the bundle of cable and dashed out across six lanes to wrap the cable securely around the foundation column of the store.

 

He hated the idea of hurting another creature, but they had to subdue this threat. If they tripped the giant, he could be caught and returned to his home. The giants might not mean to aggressively attack, but they couldn’t be allowed to freely destroy the city and leave death in their wake. The damage already done was almost unbelievable, and it couldn’t be allowed to continue. 

 

With an eye on the giant, his heart pumping loudly in his chest, Kuroko ran back across the street, panting for breath.

 

They did this another two times, securing a netting of cord across the middle of the street.

 

“This isn’t gonna work,” Kagami said, eyeing the giant, and then the two posts the cord was secured to. “These are going to rip right out of the ground…”

 

“Can you fix that in the next thirty seconds?” Kuroko asked. “Because otherwise there is going to be a very angry giant right next to us without anything we can do about it.”

 

Kagami frowned.

 

“Okay yeah,” he said. “Yeah. Okay.”

 

Kagami placed both hands on the lamppost. The metal under his hands glowed red.

 

“I’m gonna do lasting damage to the LA sewer system with this,” Kagami muttered, “but we gotta do this.”

 

Kagami took off to run to the other post anchoring their metal cord. He did the same thing there, rooting the metal deeper into the ground.

 

“Kagami!” Kuroko yelled, looking down the street. “Kagami!”

 

“What?” Kagami demanded.

 

“We have a problem!”

 

Kagami pushed his red hair out of his eyes and followed Kuroko’s gaze.

 

“Motherfu-”

 

Kagami vaulted over the net of cords, chasing after their giant, who was veering off down another street.

 

Obviously not thinking through what he was doing, Kagami picked up a pipe from the ground and threw it with all his might at the giant’s head.

 

It didn’t do anything.

 

Cussing a storm, Kagami sent a fireball flying at the giant.

 

It exploded harmlessly on the back of the giant’s head, but it did cause the giant to stop and slowly turn.

 

“Hey! Hey over here!”

 

The giant lumbered towards Kagami, back towards the path Kuroko and Kagami wanted him on.

 

Kagami grinned. It didn’t take long for him to realize that while he had succeeded, he now had a very large giant gunning straight for him.

 

“Fuck!” Kagami shouted, bolting down the street. He ducked under the net of cords he and Kuroko had set up and kept going.

 

The maniac was standing in the middle of the street, sending up miniature fireworks and shouting, waving his arms up and down to keep the giant interested in him.

 

The giant was taking the bait.

 

“Get clear, get clear!” Kagami was shouting, herding people out of the way. “Move, move! Get out of the way!”

 

Kagami was forcibly pushing people out of the danger zone – the estimated falling pathway of the giant. Kuroko watched in awe as the giant took a step and it’s foot was caught in the makeshift metal net.

 

Just as Kagami had predicted, the giant stumbled and fell forward, arms waving frantically. The buildings on either side took significant structural damage from the flailing hands.

 

Kuroko shielded his head with his arms and took off in the other direction. If he stayed where he was he was going to be turned into crushed phantom.

 

As much as his misdirection could fool wizards, he was certain it would not have the same effect on solid rock and metal.

 

Through the cloud of smoke, mostly blind, Kuroko ran.

 

The ground rumbled and Kuroko was thrown to his knees. He felt the skin on his legs tear, but he held onto the ground. He watched the building he had just been standing in crumble entirely to the ground, sending out a cloud of ash and smoke.

 

When the ground was mostly still, Kuroko opened his eyes.

 

Soot was everywhere. The loose outline of the giant on the ground could be seen. The creature was trying valiantly to rise, but the auror squad had arrived. A team of twelve wizards twisted the metal beams into bonds to contain the giant.

 

“We need to get him out of here!” One of the wizards yelled.

 

Kuroko searched the crowd for Kagami, but he couldn’t find even a glimpse of bright red hair.

 

He was sure that the American had somehow survived, but everyone was covered in ash and dirt. Kagami could well be one of the figures he’d dubbed to be aurors.

 

Behind him, Kuroko heard a high-pitched scream for help.

 

One of the aurors turned, but his wand was already in use, helping conceal the giant to be transported out of the city.

 

Kuroko ran towards the building. The doorway was blocked – a portion of the wall had collapsed by the glass doors, but that didn’t matter. Summoning the magical strength he needed, Kuroko blasted a hole through the wall.

 

The source of the screaming was a little girl, clutching a panda doll in her right hand. She’d been burned, though with the thick smoke Kuroko couldn’t tell how badly. Her hands and arms were blistered - Kuroko presumed she had been pulling at the hot metal beams blocking her way to freedom. Her face had been badly burned along one side as well, from where she had fallen to the floor. 

 

Kuroko swept her up in his arms, allowing her to hide her face in his shirt, and ran back out through the exit, depositing the girl onto the curb outside to examine her.

 

She was badly burned. Her hands were the worst off, but he could see blistered skin visible along the side of her face and down to her neck . The girl was still screaming and sobbing and didn’t seem to register that she was no longer in the burning building.

 

Kuroko took stock of what he had on him. He had the results of his attempt to distill Murtlap essence and a stock of anti-burn ointment. It was hardly impressive, but he could help a little. He would have to reserve the bulk of them for the patients who were worst off.

 

“Excuse me,” he said.

 

It took him a few tries to get the girls attention. When she looked up, he could see how far the burn extended. He could already tell that with the aid of only muggle medicine, the child would be scarred for life.

 

He could save her that by pure luck.

 

“I’m going to help you, but would you please trust me?”

 

The girl nodded tearfully and Kuroko started working. He had never applied any treatment on his own, but he knew what to do. The potion was topical and would work fast to repair the burned skin. Kuroko applied it gently to the side of the girl’s face.

 

Within moments, the burn was fading, and tears had stopped streaming down her face. By the time Kuroko was able to treat the girl’s hands, her face was completely healed, if still dirty. Kuroko patted her head and handed her the dropped doll.

 

“It will be okay.”

 

The girl buried her newly healed face in the doll.

 

“If you go out the other way, you’ll be okay,” Kuroko told her. “Is anyone else trapped here?”

 

The girl shook her head.

 

“Do you know where your parents are?” Kuroko asked. The girl shook her head, but a loud wailing sound from down the street made her look up and the girl took off running.

 

From the tearful reunion happening half a block away, Kuroko presumed that these were the girl’s parents who had gone for help. He was glad he had been there, though his heart was racing with the fear of what might have been.

 

He looked up and realized that there were muggles, civilians, trapped everywhere around him. He might not be able to fight giants like Kagami, but he could do his job and help them.

 

He went door by door. In most of the buildings he stopped in, he found muggles and wizards helping evacuate. 

 

He bandaged cuts and bruises with what he could find – sheets and blankets mostly. Someone donated a bottle of tequila to help cauterize the serious wounds, the ones Kuroko needed the murtlap essence for. He used his magical supplies as sparingly as he could, directing traffic towards the rescue healers wherever possible.

 

As he moved closer to the center of the devastation to find the buildings emptier, more thoroughly destroyed. Here and there he saw other healers; some were wearing the obvious red of emergency rescue (charmed to stay bright and clear no matter what conditions the wearer was in), others were in scrubs or white coats, having come directly from work and clinics. None seemed to strictly care about secrecy, because Kuroko saw wands in almost every hand that could wield one. He supposed if they could track exactly who had been treated, it would be a simple matter to alter their memories later to believe that a muggle doctor had worked on them.

 

In one of the buildings Kuroko helped a family with an older grandmother evacuate. Nobody was injured, but a solid part of the wall had been knocked out and the rubble was making it difficult to clear a way for the wheelchair bound woman. There was still smoke in the air, though at this point Kuroko didn’t know if this building was on fire or if it was the smoke from every other building drifting through the gaping hole in the wall. The dark cloud over the city was growing thicker by the minute.

 

Kuroko helped move the wreckage away and get the grandmother to the door when the woman's son, a man at least twice Kuroko’s age, stopped him.

 

“Are you a doctor?”

 

“Medical student,” Kuroko said. He had been able to immediately tell that the man in front of him was a muggle and that was the closest comparison he could make.

 

“Here, I have a first aid kit.”

 

It would be basic, but triage was triage. Kuroko stripped the kit for bandages, pain meds, and peroxide. First wave of triage was stop active bleeding, prevent infection, and get the patient comfortable.

 

It was going to be a long afternoon.

 

“I can get the rest of these people out, go see about anyone who needs more help,” the man said when Kuroko was done. “I know they probably need every pair of hands they can get out there.”

 

Kuroko threw the pack over his shoulder and nodded.

 

“Thank you.”

 

Kuroko had many more such interactions in the hour that followed.

 

The devastation was incredible.

 

Kuroko stopped  _ seeing  _ the world in front of him. He was assessing and clinically reacting, falling back into the blankest, most emotionless side of himself.

 

He couldn’t react to this any more. What he was seeing in front of him was beyond words. It defied description and transcended categorization.

 

He’d never seen so many people hurt, so much devastation, so much pain, in one place.

 

This was the power of the magical world breaking free and raining terror onto the muggles. This is what a war between wizard and muggle kind would look like – slaughter.

 

Only three of the giants were left now. It took gigantic teams and too much strategy to pin them down. It didn’t help that these three seemed to be the biggest and orneriest of the bunch.

 

He crossed the street, entering what looked like the lobby of a bank. There was someone groaning loudly further in so Kuroko crept closer, recognizing the sound of someone in pain.

 

There was a man crying in the middle of the lobby. Kuroko ran forward as soon as he identified his next patient, but paused before he actually got to the man. There was a segment of piping sticking out of the man’s left leg. It looked like it might have once belonged to a segment of railing from the counter, but it was hard to tell – half the room had been smashed by the telltale footprint of a giant and was now coming down on itself.

 

Kuroko was glad for his iron constitution. If he’d been any weaker, the sight of the marble floor slick with blood and rent flesh would have caused him to vomit.

 

But then again, if his constitution had been weaker he never would have made it through this morning, either.

 

“I’m here to help, you’re going to be okay,” he said. “This is going to hurt and I’m sorry, but the pipe has to come out.”

 

He did not give the man a chance to respond. If Kuroko did not act quickly, the man would lose the leg and maybe even his life.

 

Kuroko severed one end of the metal and pulled the pipe free. He moved as quickly and emotionlessly as possible, letting the man scream as the pipe was removed.

 

The metal had missed bone and hadn’t severed any major tendons. Kuroko reached forward with his magic, repairing the first seams of major muscle groups. He closed the wound with murtlap essence. The wound fizzled and the man screamed again, much more weakly. Kuroko started wrapping a makeshift brace around the man’s upper thigh, just in case the newly grown skin was torn from excess movement. The man needed time to heal and rest, but he would be okay as long as he was able to evacuate safely.

 

“In a few days your leg will be fine,” Kuroko said. “Can you walk now?”

 

He helped the man to his feet and finished tying the brace with two wooden branches from uprooted trees.

 

“What – what are you?”

 

“A fever delusion,” Kuroko said calmly. “You’ve been hit in the head. Your leg was bruised and I made you a brace just in case it was broken.”

 

“But my leg-”

 

“Your leg is fine,” Kuroko said firmly.

 

Another set of screams came from down the street.

 

“Get out of here,” Kuroko advised, turning towards the source of the shouting.

 

Kuroko stumbled out of the building, shielding his eyes. The spell Kagami had cast on his face to keep the rain away must have worn off. He was soaked to the bone, covered in mud, blood, grime, sweat, and ash.

 

He took a few tentative steps, trying to see where the next crisis that needed to be addressed was. He didn’t know where anyone who was organizing rescuers was, so he was stuck here alone, doing whatever he could with his rapidly dwindling supply of potions and magical power. He swayed on his feet.

 

Kuroko looked up. To his horror, he saw Kagami and a team of three aurors sharpening the end of a lamppost. The team of four levitated the post into the air, and with precise movements, sent it flying towards a giant. It struck him in the back, sticking deep into flesh, and sending the giant flying face first into the ground. Kagami cheered weakly.

 

Kuroko was glad to see him, but he felt his heart jerk at what he had just seen his friend do.

 

The giant was dead.

 

Kuroko ran towards Kagami with all his might. He dodged a car that was thrown into the middle of the street. It exploded and the wreckage slid through the lobby of an apartment building.

 

“Why are you killing them?” Kuroko demanded.

 

“First of all what do you mean why are we killing them, are you fucking crazy?” Kagami asked.  “And second, do you fucking have a better idea?”

 

Kuroko stared back with wide, furious eyes.

 

“We can stop them without killing them! I thought that’s what you were doing!”

 

“Kuroko, they’re impervious to magic. We have to fight with whatever weapons he have and take them down. If we don’t contain this disaster, hundreds of people will die! People have  _ already _ died! This isn’t school, we can’t afford to play by the rules and avoid hitting below the belt.”

 

Kagami shook off his friend, and Kuroko stared in horror as his friend went to help the aurors as another giant came rumbling over.

 

Merlin, Morgana, and Morgause.

 

Kuroko didn’t think he would ever forget the sight of the blood, dark purple and moving like oil as it slowly seeped out from underneath the massive giant. The makeshift spear had obviously gone straight through the giant’s heart and killed him at once.

 

Kuroko thought this was probably the most awful thing he had ever seen.

 

He heard cries for help from a nearby building and immediately started moving again. People needed his help and there was no use in letting himself be overwhelmed by the horror around him. Processing could wait, he had to keep moving and stay on his feet.

 

And then he was standing in the middle of the street with a giant right in front of him. In slow motion, Kuroko saw the giant raise its hand, but he was frozen in place, unable to do anything. 

 

He couldn’t fight, he couldn’t move, all he could do was watch his oncoming death right in the face as the huge fist swung towards him.

 

Someone screamed as the giant’s fist came pounding down. Kuroko slammed his eyes shut as tightly as he could, anticipating impact that never came.

 

Instead, when the fist hit the street, Kuroko was thrown into the air to safety. He landed hard, ripping up the skin on his forearms as he rolled across wet pavement.

 

“Get back, Kuroko!” Kagami shouted. “Move!”

 

Kuroko didn’t need to be told twice. Heaving for breath, more thankful than he had ever been in his life for Riko’s insane stamina training, he kept moving.

 

“ _ Wingardium Leviosa _ !”

 

A segment of street about half the size of a city block rose into the air with Kagami’s hands. The giant swung his massive club, destroying another apartment building. Another wave of screaming came spewing from the people running for cover.

 

“Let’s see how impervious you are to this,” Kagami grinned. He flicked his fingers.

 

The debris went flying straight up into the air.

 

“Wrong way, Taiga! You fucking missed!” Tatsuya shouted from the other side of the giant. Huh. Kuroko hadn’t seen Tatsuya originally, but he was clearly right there. Kuroko wondered where Murasakibara was, before seeing him out of the corner of his eye, across the street from Tatsuya. It seemed that while Kuroko was helping the wounded and trapped evacuate, Kagami had found their former opponents in the fray. 

 

“You wish!” Kagami said. “Hey, Ugly! Over here a second!”

 

The giant took a lumbering step towards Kagami, who threw the wreckage of a car right into the giant’s face with a sweep of his arm. “Yeah that’s right! Come and get me!”

 

“Kagami!” Kuroko shouted.

 

And then the giant pile of debris Kagami had hurled into the air came crashing down. Fire surrounded it as it slammed through the air gaining speed and force with every second it continued to fall.

 

“Yeah man, I’m talking to you!” Kagami shouted. “Come on over here and fight me!”

 

The giant took one final, roaring step.

 

Kagami’s improvised missile hit dead on.

 

With a loud crunching sound, the giant staggered. He was dead before he started falling, teetering into buildings as his massive body tumbled to lie in the middle of a city block.

 

On the other side of the street, the fire hydrant continued to spew water.

 

Somewhere in the distance, the final giant fell with a crashing boom like thunder and a spark of golden magic, rattling the ground beneath their feet for the final time.

 

And then there was silence.

 

It was over.

 

The only thing Kuroko could hear was the steady stream of water from the broken fire hydrant. Nobody seemed willing to move or so much as breathe, waiting for the other shoe to drop. The world seemed too quiet, too unreal.

 

The earth felt like it had gone off its axis. Kuroko wasn’t sure if he was spinning or if the ground was spinning, or if he just couldn’t quite process the off kilter buildings and broken wreckage properly.

 

The rain had ended, but the air was still thick with smoke, ash, and dust.

 

All Kuroko could think was that he was lucky as hell Kagami had gone looking for him.

 

“What are the odds they can hide this?” Kagami asked bleakly. “This is exposure. Nobody can write this off as some stunt, there will be people on the news with videos of giants destroying the city, people will be terrified-”

 

“Don’t worry so much,” Murasakibara said, walking past Kagami.

 

“What the hell do you mean don’t worry so much!” Kagami shouted.

 

“With the amount of magic that’s in the air here, nobody recorded anything,” Tatsuya supplied. “Plus we can take care of explaining the damage.”

 

“What are you talking about?”

 

“The master has an idea and we’re going to put it into practice,” Tatsuya said. “I think the rest of the apprentices have all laid the runes, by the way.”

 

Murasakibara huffled.

 

“Why do you always insist on doing things the hardest, longest way? I already told the master I don’t need runes.”

 

“Yes, but we do want to limit the field of destruction,” Tatsuya said. “We don’t want to do any more damage than we have to.”

 

Murasakibara shrugged.

 

“It’s all going to get crushed anyway,” he said, kneeling to the ground. “Muro-chin, please shield Kuro-chin.”

 

“Shield him from what, what the hell are you doing?” Kagami shouted.

 

“What the master and Muro-chin said I have to,” Murasakibara said. “Aka-chin said this is what I’m supposed to do too, and he’s always right anyway.”

 

Where his hand met the earth, rings of purple power radiated out into the ground. With each pulse, the Slytherin’s magic grew stronger, more vibrant.

 

Then the ground started to shake. Kagami grabbed onto Kuroko to stop him from falling as the very earth rumbled underneath them. Tatsuya wrapped the three of them in a magical shield, insulating them from the effects of Murasakibara’s magic.

 

“What the hell-!”

 

“It’s an earthquake,” Kuroko said, looking up. “More accurately, I think that’s Murasakibara.”

 

The street ripped open. A crack ran all the way down Hollywood Boulevard, skewing all the buildings on the right side of the street up into the air, where they tumbled like matchsticks. The earth ripped open and the chasm swallowed up several cars and the resting body of the giant.

 

A new cloud of smoke and ash rose into the sky.  

 

It lasted about ten seconds, and then it was over.

 

“Damn, Murasakibara, remind me not to piss you off.”

 

“I wasn’t joking when I told you I could crush you.”

 

“Well I already knew that.”

 

Kuroko was just left staring in blank awe at Murasakibara. The boy wasn’t even out of breath. 

 

He’d been running and fighting and had just now caused an act of god, and still did not even show any wear. And the area he was looking at... it was completely unrecognizable. Once the rest of the giants had been disposed off and the worst of their distinctive traces were wiped away, it would be impossible to tell exactly what had happened here. 

 

Murasakibara's magic had indiscriminately destroyed all of it.

 

“Kuro-chin, we have to go,” Murasakibara said. “But you should at least consider writing to Aka-chin. He knows better than anyone else what’s going on, and he knows what to do to fix it.”

 

Kuroko’s natural stubbornness rose up, but before he could pick a fight with his former teammate, Murasakibara and Tatsuya were gone.

 

“Damn, they’ve both become even saltier bitches since the last time I saw either of them,” Kagami grinned, rubbing the back of his head.

 

“I always found Murasakibara fairly sweet,” Kuroko said.

 

“Yeah well, all the Miracles are nice to you. You don’t have to worry about them murdering you in your sleep.”

 

“Aomine is far too lazy to murder you in your sleep, Kagami.”

 

“But what if!”

 

Kagami laughed and Kuroko chuckled a little, but both of them sounded and felt like they were on the edge of hysteria. They leaned up against the closest, most stable looking wall, and tried to take stock of the situation. Smoke was still thick in the air. The active fires were all farther away from them, thankfully. The area they were in was completely destroyed, but also appeared to have been successfully evacuated. They were the only ones in the otherwise empty street, with only smouldering rubble to keep them company.

 

“I don’t know what else we can do,” Kagami admitted.

 

After several minutes catching their breath, the two of them strode down the side of the street, looking for any sign of aurors, of someone to give them direction.

 

“I guess we should go help with the clean up efforts. They’re probably starting closer to the center of the attack.”

 

“Yes.”

 

Kuroko’s phone started ringing at that moment.

 

“Hello,” Kuroko said, picking it up.

 

“How close are you to West Hollywood?”

 

“I am already here Master Healer Takeda,” Kuroko said.

 

“Good. We’re blocking off the streets and doing triage. Mundane lives are the priority, we need to handle serious injuries before muggle EMS gets to them or we won’t be able to explain their recovery.”

 

“I will be right there.”

 

Kuroko hung up and turned to Kagami.

 

“Duty calls,” he said, just as Kagami grabbed his pocket and removed a flashing mirror.

 

“That would probably be duty of my own,” he said. “I’ll meet you back home… whenever this is is over.”

 

Kuroko agreed.

 

…

 

The greatest swath of damage had been in the North Hollywood area, where the giants had emerged from the hills. They had cut a huge swath of destruction that Kuroko couldn’t imagine they were going to be able hide.

 

He found Master Healer Takeda exactly where he thought he would – in the thick of the devastation, her lips drawn in grim determination.

 

“Thanks for coming,” she told Kuroko when he reported to her, wiping her hair out of her eyes. Her gloved hand left a streak of blood across her forehead. “Help do immediate assessments, call one of my apprentices for life threatening injuries, you know the drill. Anyone in better condition who wants to leave needs to be obliviated first. This is a fucking disaster.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He set off towards the end of the line of patients lying on the side of the street. He turned away anyone with minor scrapes and bruises to the aurors, but many had serious injuries. Most, if faced only with muggle treatment, would have lost limbs or worse. Others had severe burns that only magic would heal. So long as the bleeding was stopped and the right treatments administered, they could save a lot of lives.

 

But they had to move fast.

 

The senior apprentice to Master Healer Takeda was giving orders, directing the movement of the interns.

 

Only a few blocks away, Kagami was working another form of crisis management. He and his fellow apprentices were working under the administration of the local auror force to ward off the section of city that had been destroyed. Anyone who came close would suddenly remember something else very important they had to do right that moment and would turn away. So long as the aurors could contain obliviation to only a certain few range of blocks, they could avoid the full exposure of the magical community.

 

They were working to save wizards not just in America, but the world. Exposure here was exposure everywhere and even one slip up could mean war.

 

Inside that range, teams of wizards and witches were fixing the damage caused by the giants, erasing footprints and leaving only a disaster consistent with a massive earthquake.

 

Fires were allowed to rage under containment, maintaining the ruse of immediate danger.

 

Kuroko lost count of the number of injuries he helped treat. He could administer potions and aid in diagnosing patients without drawing from his dwindling pool of stamina, but he felt like the second he stopped moving he would fall asleep wherever he stood.

 

This was a nightmare, one he hoped he would wake up from soon.

 

In the distance, about a block away, Kuroko saw the form of one of the last giants. He could hear it’s rattling breath’s as the creature struggled to take in air. From the sound alone, Kuroko could tell that his lungs were filling with blood and that the prognosis wasn’t good.

 

Glancing back at the apprentice he was helping carry potions for, Kuroko saw that the girl was elbow deep in blood. She wouldn’t notice him missing for a few minutes.

 

Tentatively, Kuroko crept closer to the giant until he was standing where his face met the floor.

 

“I… am… Tog.”

 

Kuroko was honestly surprised when the giant blinked open large grey eyes and fixed his gaze upon him.

 

“You can see me?”

 

“Wizard… tricks don’t… mean anything to giants…”

 

Well. That was something Kuroko hadn’t even considered, but his own misdirection was rooted in magic. It made sense that a creature mostly immune to magic would be able to see him as clearly as anyone who was not subject to his misdirection.

 

“I am sorry,” he said. “Why did you attack us?”

 

“They came… they take us from our homes… they brought us to big water…”

 

“Who are ‘they’?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Wiz…ards. They said they free us if the city destroyed.”

 

Kuroko bit his lip. He didn’t think he could do anything for the dying giant, but he had to try.

 

“I’m going to find help,” he told the giant.

 

Tog closed his eyes.

 

Kuroko picked his way through the rubble, wiping the lines of dirt out of his face. He found Master Healer Takeda taking a long drink from a water bottle.

 

Quickly, he explained the situation.

 

The healer shook her head.

 

“No magic known to wizards can heal a giant’s wound,” she said softly. “Their skin, their bones, their entire beings are impervious to our kind of magic. They are nullifiers.”

 

“Won’t you even try?” Kuroko demanded.

 

“I can’t do anything,” the healer said. “And even if I could, I would be crucified for trying. Do you understand?”

 

Kuroko didn’t, but he nodded, nonetheless.

 

Maybe Kagami and the master healer were right. Maybe this was just the way things had to be. Maybe there was no choice other than to accept the brutality of the current situation.

 

Perhaps the only thing left was to place the blame for this squarely where it belonged – with the wizards that had clearly colluded to bring the giants here to attack a muggle city.

 

_ What kind of person would want  _ this? Kuroko asked himself, looking around.

 

He made his way back to the fallen giant. He’d failed, he deserved to at least look that in the eye and sit with the giant while he died.

 

Tog was already still.

 

Kuroko wanted to scream at the loss, at the unfairness of the situation. The giants hadn’t wanted to be here, someone had brought them here specifically to cause destruction.

 

What had been their aim? Pure chaos? Or was there a greater plan in the workings?

 

_ We will be at war. _

 

It wasn’t a coincidence Murasakibara was here, Kuroko knew. Whatever Akashi was planning, it involved the events unfolding in America. 

 

Barely able to hold himself upright, Kuroko stumbled back to the line of patients. His magic was tapped, but he still had enough energy and focus to administer ointments and potions. He would help organize the efforts in the field.

 

It was some hours later that Master Healer Takeda found Kuroko, kneeling in the wreckage of a street next to one of the apprentices.

 

“A team from San Francisco came down,” she said, placing a hand on each of their shoulders. “Go home, all of you.”

 

“I’ll stay as long as you do,” the apprentice said stubbornly.

 

The master healer ruffled her short hair.

 

“Your stamina is admirable, but I’m leaving the field. I’ll be back to help handle the relief efforts this evening, but I need to rest, as do all of you. I am handing over command of the relief efforts until then.”

 

The girl nodded, and in a swift movement, removed her rubber gloves and put them in the bag for medical waste. She placed their patient in statis, stumbling down the street without another word.

 

“You too,” the master healer ordered Kuroko. “Report to the clinic tomorrow at five, Imam will be running the brewing efforts.”

 

Kuroko did not have the energy to argue with her.

 

“Thank you for staying,” she added. “Try to get some rest.”

 

Kuroko didn’t think, after what he had seen today, that he was going to get much rest. The terror and panic of the attack had almost been subsumed by the resigned horror that came in its wake. The clean up effort had been infinitely worse than the fight.

 

He stumbled down the road, only now sparing a thought for his and Kagami’s apartment.

 

He needn’t have – their block had blessedly been spared any direct attacks from the giants. It was across the street from the boundary set up to stop the giants from going any further. If they had gone west instead of east towards downtown, the building would have been crushed.

 

Kuroko let himself into to the building, thinking about the privilege of sleeping in his own bed tonight when so many would be going without one.

 

It twisted his stomach with guilt.

 

By the time Kuroko got to their apartment, Kagami was already there. Kuroko could smell baking pastry and heard the T.V playing some national news channel.

 

“Reports coming out of Los Angeles indicate a localized earthquake of a 6.3 magnitude, with effects felt up and down the coast,” the blonde, well-dressed reporter was saying. “All contact and communications infrastructure inside the city was lost for about four hours, but authorities are reporting a miraculously low level of casualties. Thirty-five people are reported dead, all in the initial collapse of buildings. For more on this, we’ll go to-”

 

The screen flicked off.

 

“They’re buying it,” Kagami said, sticking his head out of the kitchen. “That’s all I wanted to know. I just can’t keep looking at-”

 

He paused, rubbing his face with his hands. He’d cleaned up some, but his clothes were still covered in soot.

 

“I can’t look at the pictures any more,” Kagami said, his voice rough. “It was so bad.”

 

“I know.”

 

Kuroko could understand.

 

“I’m making pie.”

 

“I see.”

 

“Once I helped set up the final ward markings, they sent me home,” Kagami admitted. “I went and helped the cleanup crew with the wreckage for a bit, but they sent me away too.”

 

“Master Healer Takeda sent me home as well,” Kuroko said.

 

“Damn useful to have you around after all,” Kagami said.

 

“I couldn’t do anything in the fight,” Kuroko said softy. “I was useless.”

 

“You’re not useless,” Kagami protested.

 

The oven timer went off loudly.

 

“Ah, shit!”

 

Kagami pulled his pie out and stared at it.

 

“I don’t really feel like eating, he admitted.”

 

Kuroko thought of the severe injuries he’d helped heal that morning and his stomach turned again.

 

“Neither do I.”

 

“Well, I’ll just shove it in the fridge. We can always eat later, right? Right.”

 

Not much was said after that. They took turns in the shower, washing away the evidence of their part in the rescue efforts.

 

At least for his part, Kuroko was sure he would never feel entirely clean again.

 

Kagami was already in bed when Kuroko got out of the shower, having scrubbed his own skin raw. Quietly, Kuroko slipped into his room and under the covers.

 

But he couldn’t sleep.

 

Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see were the giants. The people he’d helped. The long line of injured and barely surviving patients.

 

He tossed and turned, knowing the hour was getting later and later. He finally decided to try and get a drink of water. He stepped out of his bedroom and found that there was already a light on in the living room. A soft purple night light was plugged into one of the walls and Kagami had made a nest of blankets on the floor in between the couch and TV using the cushions to make a mattress.

 

He looked up blearily when Kuroko picked up a glass, stirring at the noise.

 

“I did not mean to wake you,” Kuroko apologized.

 

“Wasn’t asleep,” Kagami said, sounding worn out and exhausted. “Can’t.”

 

“I understand,” Kuroko said. He filled the glass and drank it quietly. Neither of them quite knew what to say. It had been awful, but they both already knew that. They had been there, they knew what they had seen.

 

“My room was too quiet,” Kagami said into the emptiness of the room.

 

“I understand,” Kuroko replied again. “I can’t close my eyes.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Kuroko stood in the kitchen, leaning over the counter, looking out through the window.

 

He could still see smoke rising in the distance. He thought it was probably lucky that it had started raining just as the giants had started attacking – it had minimized the fire damage in an otherwise far too dry city. A lucky coincidence that had probably prevented the damage from spreading even farther than it had.

 

“What happened?” Kuroko asked. “With your mom, I mean. Why didn’t you want to stay with her?”

 

Kagami sighed. 

 

“It’s a long story,” he hedged. Kuroko left the glass in the sink and walked over to where Kagami was sprawled, laying across the ground next to him.

 

“It is a long night and I can’t sleep either,” Kuroko confessed. Kagami nodded.

 

“My mom’s family never liked my dad,” Kagami said. His voice sounded rough in the too-quiet apartment.  “He was never good enough for her, never… _high class_ enough for her. I mean her family can trace their bloodline back to Spanish _kings_ if you go back far enough and they never forgot that even if nobody gives a shit any more. My dad's not just a savage to them, but an _artist_ , and he doesn’t have the common decency in their eyes to pretend to be anything other than what he is.”

 

Kuroko had nothing he could say to that.

 

“My mom didn’t care, not at first. But I guess after a year or so of not having her family talk to her at all, she finally gave up. She left my dad because she couldn’t take being blocked out of the family.”

 

“She just left you with your dad?” Kuroko guessed.

 

Kagami shook his head.

 

“No,” he said. “She kept me. I was raised in this-” Kagami waved his hand at the air above them. “I mean, the whole old respectable magical family bullshit - mostly by my grandparents. I guess the whole time they were really waiting to see if I could manifest the family magic, but as a kid I was never strong enough for them. By the time I was five or six they just kind of gave me back to my dad to deal with.  I don’t know if my mom even noticed.”

 

That was… incredibly sad. Kuroko reached out and took Kagami’s hand in silent support. There wasn’t anything he could say that would make it better, but he could make sure that the Gryffindor knew that his shadow wasn’t going anywhere.Their hands rested on top of the blanket between them. 

 

“I met Tatsuya on the street courts here and we became best friends,” Kagami said. “Before, after… he never cared where I came from or who my parents were, he just  _ loved  _ dueling, and so did I. I felt so alone and out of place, and we were definitely too young for it, but he gave me two things I can never repay him for. Somewhere in the world that I belonged and a brother. He promised we would be together forever, that we would always be by each other’s sides, and until we were teenagers, that was true.”

 

Kagami looked down.

 

“I guess it wasn’t enough for him. When I finally started beating him on the field, he stopped thinking it was funny. ‘How can I be your big brother if you surpass me?’ he kept asking. He told me that the day I beat him for good, we would no longer be brothers. So when the time came for me to take the victory that I had won, I choked. I let him stun me even though I knew I could have taken him out. And he knew it too.”

 

Kagami closed his eyes. Kuroko tightened his grip on Kagami’s hand. Rage welled up in his heart – Tatsuya had hurt Kagami more than Kuroko had realized. Kuroko had no intention of allowing the boy to walk away unscathed the next time they faced each other on the court.

 

“Anyway, he flew off the handle,” Kagami explained. “He told me the next time we fought, he would beat me down until I couldn’t stand any more unless I did the same to him. He told me we weren’t brothers any more. And then the next day he was on a plane to Massachusetts.”

 

Kuroko bit his lip.

 

“His parents sent him off to some fancy private school because they thought I was a  _ bad influence _ or something,” Kagami laughed bitterly. “They sent him off to get the ‘right sort of education’ as his mom put it to Alex. And I guess you know the rest.”

 

“You thought you could impress Salem by developing a new runic configuration and accidentally blew off your own legs.”

 

“It was easier than asking my mom’s family for help,” Kagami said, turning over to look up at the ceiling. “They never wanted me. They barely want me now. The only reason they give a shit about me is because I’ve become so powerful recently. But you-”

 

Kagami looked back over at Kuroko. The soft purple light of the night light illuminated the soft curves of his shirtless torso and threw into stark contrast the lines of his muscles.

 

“You saw that in me before you even knew me.”

 

“I knew from the first moment I saw you that you were a powerful light,” Kuroko said. “But that had nothing to do with your magic and everything to do with who you are. You love magic, more than anyone I have ever known, and it is part of you in a way that few wizards rarely experience. That is an attitude you have chosen, not a gift imparted upon you, and it can never be taken away.”

 

Kagami blushed.

 

“Stop saying such embarrassing things,” he said, huffing. The portion of Kagami’s face that Kuroko could see looked suspiciously redder than usual.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how long they remained, frozen as if in stasis, before Kagami spoke.

 

“Please stay with me?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

Kagami sat up and pulled down the rest of the cushions from the chairs and couch in the living room, extending the sleeping space.

 

“I will be right back,” Kuroko said, jogging to his room to grab his giant comforter before joining Kagami on the makeshift bed.

 

He let the other wizard wrap him in his arms. They fell asleep twisted together on the floor in front of the couch, the moonlight streaming through the glass doors to the balcony.

 

Outside, the destruction remained, but here they could hold it at bay for just a little while longer.

 

…

 

Kuroko woke to the low sound of voices in the other room. He roused sleepily to see Kagami sitting at the kitchen table, his computer in front of him.

 

“I’m sorry I can’t come up right now boys, but I’m relieved that you’re safe,” a voice was saying from the speaker of the computer.

 

“Thanks dad,” Kagami said. His expression wasn’t very happy though.

 

“Listen Taiga, I trust your judgement. Both of you are adults, and your choices are your own. If you need anything, Alex isn’t far away. And your mother-”

 

“Don’t start,” Kagami said, rubbing his eyes. “Anyway dad, I have to go. I love you.”

 

Kagami signed off and looked up in surprise.

 

“Oh hey, sorry for waking you,” he said, noticing Kuroko.

 

“I have to be up anyway,” Kuroko said, still mostly asleep. “Master healer wants me in by five.”

 

“You should probably hurry then, I’ve got breakfast going,” Kagami said. Then he paused.

 

“You should also do something about that hair.”

 

Kagami collapsed into laughter while Kuroko pawed at his hair, trying to make it lay some kind of flat before running out of the apartment.

 

...

 

Three days had passed since the attack from the giants. Kuroko was back at the clinic, stuck on the brewing crew. He had the feeling that Takeda wanted to avoid giving him the opportunity to have another meltdown and he felt weird about it.

 

He ate downstairs in the nursery and did most of his sleeping in the brewing room. Most of the interns and apprentices pulled similar full shifts.

 

There were a lot of people in need of a lot of help.

 

Kagami was pulling similar hours volunteering to help clear the wreckage caused by the giants.

 

Slowly, the city was healing. Muggle construction crews were being brought in to clear the streets. The worst of the damage had been magically repaired, but there was no way to cover up that a disaster had taken place. The best the wizards could do was to hide what  _ kind  _ of disaster it was and it seemed like they were successful at least at that.

 

All thanks to Murasakibara, Kuroko thought. He’d been exactly where he needed to be to prevent the disastrous exposure of magical creatures. His power – the kind of power that could shake the very earth and incite the planet itself to chaos – was a one of a kind miracle.

 

This was the boy whose magical power had been beyond conventional  _ measure  _ at fifteen.

 

Kuroko wondered, whenever his mind was unclouded by the fog of shock and fear, how likely it was that a Miracle had happened to be standing in exactly the right place to help, in the exact moment this city truly needed his power.

 

What bothered him more was the question of who had sent the giants to begin with. The question consumed him, rotting inside him for days.

 

Luckily these thoughts, while consuming, could only take up presence in his mind when he wasn’t focused on his work. There was more than enough work to keep him on his feet and focused until he crashed from exhaustion.

 

Whenever Kuroko laid down to sleep and closed his eyes, all he could see was that little girl’s face, burned beyond recognition, the gaping hole in a man’s thigh, and the sick, seeping blood of the giants.

 

Three days after the disaster, the master healer finally returned to her office. She'd been out in the field every day since the disaster, helping with the relief effort - and then the massive job of making sure that every mundane was obliviated. While non-magical folks could almost always be trusted to explain the errant act of magic here or there, there was no hiding this without the judicious and determined application of multiple memory loss spells. 

 

“If I see any of you here for the next day, you’re fired,” the master healer announced grimly to her staff. “We are here to help and you cannot do that while exhausted. I have nixed four batches of burn ointment for sloppy mistakes – mistakes you are all better than. I know the last few weeks have been difficult. Go home. Hug your parents, your spouses, your pets; just find some rest and come back no earlier than tomorrow. Noon. You’re dismissed.”

 

Kuroko found himself at the local street ball court. He and Kagami hadn’t come out here yet. There was a massive crack in the ground, though someone had made an attempt to smooth over the uneven court with concrete.

 

Kuroko sat in the stands and watched a handful of boys shooting hoops.

 

There was trash and rubble piled on the sides of the court, hell, half the seats were twisted and unuseable. And yet the sun was shining and life was proceeding.

 

It was funny how that happened.

 

People, he supposed, could survive just about anything, and they would still be playing basketball and going to work and trying to hold on to the barest vestiges of their humanity, no matter how much else was taken from them.

 

Kuroko stayed there until long after the sun had set, unnoticed and unremarked upon. He laid across the metal bleacher and looked up at the sky – the only part of his view unobstructed by signs of the recent disaster. When the sky had fully gone dark and one of the three lamps over the court had turned on (the other two seemed to be broken), Kuroko heard footsteps on the metal bleachers and finally sat up.

 

“Thought I would find you here when you weren’t answering my texts,” Kagami said. “Wanna walk with me?”

 

Kuroko nodded and let Kagami help him to his feet.

 

They set off away from the destruction, west towards the ocean.

 

“I heard from my dad again today,” Kagami said. “He’s not coming back for a while. He didn’t say how long he’d be gone, but I got the impression that it would be… a while.”

 

“I am sorry,” Kuroko said. Kagami made a face.

 

“It’s not your fault,” he said. “I think he went back to our tribe. Sometimes, depending on what’s happening, he can’t get away, even for something like this. But still I can’t help but think…”

 

“Can’t help but think what?” Kuroko asked.

 

“I can’t help but think my mom had something to do with it,” Kagami said finally. “Like that she asked him to stay away.”

 

“Do you think she would do that?”

 

Kagami shrugged noncommittally.

 

“No. Yes. I don’t know. My grandfather would. I used to think my mom wouldn’t, but who knows? Like whoop de doo suddenly I’m strong enough for you to recognize my existence, I don't have to be grateful for every scrap of attention they give me now.” Kagami scowled into the distance before changing the subject.

 

“Apparently the gossip around Master Seehan’s office is that someone brought the giants here,” Kagami continued. “The aurors apparently got a statement from one of them, who told them that someone managed to smuggle the giants here without anyone noticing. Why the hell would anyone do that?”

 

Kagami was raging and Kuroko could empathize. He was confused and angry too.

 

Kuroko was lost in thought as Kagami ranted beside him, both trying to work through why this had happened. It really almost seemed as though someone had been trying to deliberately expose the wizarding world and force the muggles to violently attack them.

 

_ We will be at war,  _ Akashi’s voice whispered insistently in Kuroko’s ear and his stomach sank. The match had sparked and someone was pouring gasoline all over.

 

Was this what Midorima had seen?

 

Was this why Murasakibara had been here?

 

Kuroko heard a soft noise as they passed another alleyway and stopped short as Kagami continued walking.

 

The whining, sad sound was almost like a whimper. He recognized it as the sound of someone or something in pain and immediately turned into the dark alley.

 

“Lumos,” he whispered, lighting his wand.

 

There was nobody in the alley, but Kuroko could still hear that high pitched sound of distress. There was some scuffling from further down the alley. Glancing behind himself to make sure there were no muggles following him, Kuroko took a few steps further into the alley.

 

A box in a stack of trash to his left fell. Kuroko fixed his blank gaze on the plie, wand at the ready for all the good it would do him in a fight.

 

“Hello?” Kuroko asked.

 

_ Whatever you are I’m just a shadow, I’m a shadow and I can’t hurt you. _

 

That high-pitched whine came again and Kuroko lowered his wand a little and peered closer at the trash.

 

What Kuroko had assumed to be some sort of discarded, formerly fluffy garment moved. Kuroko realized suddenly that it was an animal of some kind.

 

It was breathing and it was hurt.

 

Kuroko stepped forward, letting his wand go out and gently pulled the trash away from the furry heap. As soon as it was free, Kuroko pulled the animal loose. It gave an encouraging, but very weak, “woof.”

 

Kuroko gently pet the poor dog’s head and saw the source of the animal’s distress. There was a long gash rending the skin along the creature’s left side where his fur was matted down with blood. The poor beast's fur was almost sticky from having lain in the trash. Kuroko assessed the injury quickly. It needed to be cleaned and treated, or the dog would die. He wondered if the injury had been obtained during the giant attack, or if the dog had been harmed some other way.

 

“Hello,” Kuroko said when the dog opened his eyes and stared directly at Kuroko. His eyes were blue, like the sky. A white paw rested on Kuroko’s hand, as though he was asking for help (though of course that was ridiculous, because this was just a dog and it wasn’t like he could understand what was happening).

 

“I’m going to help you,” Kuroko said, sitting back. He pulled out his wand and concentrated hard on the spell. He’d never quite managed cleaning spells, but he didn’t have time to get the dog somewhere that he could clean his fur by hand in time to treat him. Kuroko had gotten into the habit of taking his work home with him, never going anywhere without a fully stocked magical first aid kit. He never wanted to be caught in a situation where he was left trying to treat injuries that could be easily healed by magical means with muggle remedies.

 

Now, it would pay off in the form of saving this dog’s life.

 

Some of the muck and grime around the wound vanished. Kuroko tried the spell again, feeling the drain on his power as he did.

 

Fur cleaned, the animal looked much more like a dog than before. His fur was clearly ordinarily very fluffy, with patches of black and white; he would be a beauty when Kuroko got the chance to untangle it. With practiced ease Kuroko identified the bright pink ointment that would clear the wound of infection. He watched as it harmlessly let off a cloud of pink steam as the virus inhabiting the wound was destroyed. The dog squeaked, but it sounded more curious than upset now.

 

“Don’t worry, you will be fine,” Kuroko assured the dog, petting his head. The dog licked his hand and Kuroko felt certainty settle into his heart. He was keeping this animal and he was going to protect him.

 

Murtlap essence closed the wound quickly. It wouldn’t grow back the fur, and the dog would have a scar there underneath his coat when it did grow back, but his life was no longer in danger.

 

“What do you think, do you want to stay with me?” Kuroko asked the dog, who was attempting to totter to his feet. The dog stumbled and fell, looking up at Kuroko with those clear blue eyes.

 

He barked an agreement.

 

“Alright then, let’s go find Kagami.”

 

Kuroko picked up the dog and settled him into the satchel he carried at his side.

 

It took him about ten minutes to find his light, who was frantically running in circles looking pissed off. Kuroko guessed that Kagami was angry at having to go look for him again, especially after this week. He tugged on Kagami’s sleeve stopping him from running right past him.

 

“What – Kuroko, where the hell did you go this time?”

 

“I’m sorry,” Kuroko said clearly. Kagami whirled around to glare at his shadow, only to reel back in shock.

 

“What the  _ hell  _ is that?” Kagami demanded, staring at the dog in Kuroko’s bag.

 

“It’s a dog, Kagami,” Kuroko said seriously, as though he had entirely missed the point of Kagami’s question. It was possible he had.

 

“WHY DO YOU HAVE A DOG?”

 

Kuroko fixed Kagami with the most pleading look he could muster. He picked the creature out of his bag to show Kagami how hurt the poor dog had been.

 

“Someone left him hurt and bleeding in a trash heap in an alley,” he said, holding up the little puppy in his arms. The dog seemed perfectly content to be handled in such a way. He stared up at Kagami with an eerily similar expression to the wizard holding it. “That or he got hurt in the attacks. But I had to help him.”

 

It was then that Kagami noticed that Kuroko and the dog looked… very disturbingly alike, for all that one was a human and the other a dog. Both had the same unnervingly light blue eyes that seemed to be the exact same shape. It had to be a trick of the light, but the more Kagami looked, the more he saw the resemblance.

 

“His name is Nigou,” Kuroko supplied after Kagami had been silent for a few long, tense seconds.

 

“YOU NAMED IT?! WHY DID YOU NAME IT?”

 

“He’s not an it, he’s a  _ he,  _ and of course he has to have a name,” Kuroko said defensively, petting the dog’s head gently as though to assure him that Kuroko did not share Kagami’s opinion. “He’s my number two!”

 

Kagami was thrown for a loop. On the one hand, the sight of the tiny pup in front of him was terrifying, but the look on his shadow’s face was adorable.

 

“Oh fucking hell you’re gonna keep the goddamn dog no matter what I say,” he muttered under his breath. “You’ve gone and fucking  _ bonded  _ with it or some shit this is un _ believable. _ ”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed.

 

The dog barked happily.

 

Kagami ran a hand over his face.

 

“Do you even know how to take care of a dog?” he demanded. “It’s a lot of work. You have to feed it and walk it and make sure it has plenty of room-”

 

“So it will be very similar to being friends with Kagami.”

 

Kagami paused mid rant. For a moment, he was frozen in place. Kuroko was a little afraid that he had broken his light and would be forced to find a new wizard to help him take on the Generation of Miracles. And then Kagami’s face was moving, resignation morphing right back into rage, his voice roaring with anger.

 

“Come here and SAY THAT TO MY FACE, you little shit!”

 

Kuroko held up Nigou in front of him in defense. Kagami stopped short, screeching as the dog barked again, waving tiny furry paws at the wizard.

 

“You’re mean.”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed again, resting his chin on Nigou’s head. “He’s very cute, isn’t he?

 

Kagami stared down Kuroko and the dog.

 

“Keep that monster away from me and we’ll be fine,” he said finally. “Now let’s go already.”

 

Nigou waved his tail in victory.

 

“Don’t let that thing get my floor dirty!” Kagami shouted, walking several steps ahead of Kuroko to stay out of range of the dog.

 

“Excuse me, but he’s not a thing!”

 

Kagami whirled around and fixed Kuroko with a ferocious glare, forcing the blue haired shadow to quail.

 

“He won’t make a mess,” Kuroko promised.

 

Kagami turned back around and started stalking away again, muttering about “shadows” and “dogs” and “fucking hell am I whipped or what.”

 

“I don’t know what that means.”

 

“It means I’ve spent all night running from police officers and my best friend has to go pick up a damn dog.”

 

Nigou barked happily in agreement.

 

…

 

Nigou fit into Kuroko’s life as though the dog had always belonged there. He accompanied 

Kuroko everywhere the boy went, determined to dog his heels as faithfully as possible. Kuroko was just happy that the master healer had either not noticed, or did not care about the tiny Alaskan Malamute puppy that curled up next to Kuroko’s feet whenever he was brewing. Kagami had yet to warm up to the dog, but there was no helping that.

 

Two and a half weeks after finding Nigou, Kuroko entered the clinic to the sounds of shouting and pottery shattering.

 

“What the fuck is he talking about?”

 

“Sanchez, would you-”

 

“I WILL NOT CALM DOWN!”

 

“If you set fire to the venomous magical plants in this building, I will be forced to intervene myself.”

 

That was the same calm, authoritative voice that Master Healer Takeda used in the field when taking command of a crisis. Kuroko slipped into the building to see her arguing vehemently with her receptionist. The tattooed punk wasn’t holding a magazine, but the flaming newspaper in one hand told Kuroko that she was pissed about something.

 

“Why can’t you see that he’s using this as an excuse to cut off the wizard community? They want to break ties entirely! The first places they’ll target are clinics like this where healers are treating muggles  _ and  _ wizards!”

 

“Now is not the time to react emotionally. We will see what time brings,” the master healer snapped.

 

“I’m not waiting for them to arrest my ass,” the girl said. “You know as well as I do that when they start busting down doors this is one of the first ones that’s gonna get kicked in. I’m not going to just stand around until they’re already on our doorstep. I’m getting the hell out of here. Good luck. I quit.”

 

Sanchez stormed right into Kuroko, sending the blue haired boy sprawling to the floor.

 

“How long have you been there?” she snapped.

 

“I just got here,” Kuroko lied swiftly. He had the feeling now was not the time to piss this girl off.

 

“Well, see you around, ghost kid,” she said, throwing up a piece sign. “You should read the writing on the wall and get out while you can too.”

 

The door slammed shut behind her.

 

The master healer sighed audibly.

 

“Well shit,” she said, looking up at the ceiling. She turned to Kuroko.

 

“Well, come on, you’re shadowing me this morning and brewing this afternoon.”

 

Kuroko nodded, feeling a little off balance.

 

He didn’t want to ask what the healer and her receptionist had been arguing about. It was obvious, at least to Kuroko, that their receptionist believed that their role in providing services to mundane people would cause the government to come after them in the wake of the giant-led disaster. Neither Kuroko nor Kagami had paid very much heed to the angry speeches happening in the upper echelons of American society. Kagami ignored anything that reminded him of his mother’s politics so vehemently and thoroughly that it was almost impressive. Kuroko just didn’t want to hear it.

 

It was a weird kind of day. The office was quiet. Master Healer Takeda put Kuroko back on brewing in the afternoon, but the staff was a little lighter than usual. Kuroko had noticed that in the last few weeks, fewer people were coming back. Only about half their usual brewing staff was working today. 

 

He wondered if the disaster had cemented for some people exactly how much they did not want to be doing this for their careers.

 

It was late afternoon and Kuroko was working on one of the many variants of pain reliever potion they needed to stock when it happened.

 

Downstairs, the sound of breaking glass and cracking wood caught the attention of all the apprentices in the room.

 

All five of the interns exchanged panicked glances because honestly, what _ now? _

 

One or two of them shakily drew their wands.

 

Then the shouting from downstairs started.

 

“Department of Magical Law Enforcement! Lower your wands!”

 

The metal door slammed open, hitting the wall with a resounding crash.

 

“Nobody move!”

 

Kuroko froze.

 

Aurors were pouring into the building, wands raised and ready to attack. The interns and apprentices were backing away from their projects, hands in the air, and Kuroko had to make a split second decision.

 

He let panic and fear fade away in an instant, instinct taking over.

 

_ I’m not a wizard, I’m a shadow. _

 

Kuroko dove for the bag that held Nigou and came up on the other side of the table, inching himself towards a back corner.

 

_ You can’t see me, I’m not here. _

 

“What is the meaning of this?”

 

Master Healer Takeda had never looked as pissed off and in charge as she did at that moment, storming out of her office with her quill stuck in the tight bun at the back of her head. She had a stack of files under one arm and did not flinch when faced with several wands turned against her at once.

 

“Takeda Keiko, you are under arrest for violating section seven point three of the national wizarding act, practicing magic on mundanes.”

 

“This is absurd,” the Master Healer said, slamming the files down on one of the work stations. “Nothing I have ever done has exposed our world to mundanes!”

 

“You flirt with danger every time a mundane walks through those doors,” the auror said. “And you’re going to be held responsible for that. Round them all up for questioning and let’s go. Magical Crime Scene can handle collecting evidence.”

 

The auror handcuffed the master healer. The rest of the black clad aurors were moving among her apprentices, doing exactly the same.

 

Kuroko stayed as still as possible.

 

_ I am a shadow. I am a shadow. _

 

He held his breath, praying Nigou wouldn’t bark and give him away, but the dog seemed to know that right now it was important that he stay as still as his namesake. He merely watched the proceedings with his round, light blue eyes.

 

Nobody seemed to notice him.

 

Kuroko made a break for it.

 

He slipped through the door when nobody was looking and made a beeline down the street, trying as hard as he could to give off the impression of  _ just another pedestrian, nothing to see. _

 

He didn’t need to get far, just far enough that the Aurors didn’t think he had anything to do with the clinic.

 

They would know that he interned there soon enough anyway. There were sign in sheets with his name on them, papers he’d filled out, and files he’d composed that had his signature. There was a shelf dedicated to his brewing efforts in the store room with his name on it too.  

 

If they were going to be thorough about arresting everyone involved in the clinic, it didn’t matter if Kuroko slipped the net here, because eventually they would pull up his name, see his immigration status, and know where to find him.

 

He had to warn Kagami. 

 

More importantly, he thought this was the time to contact his mother. They might have to flee the country relatively quickly, but if Kagami’s mother insisted on him remaining here…

 

Kuroko shook his head to clear it. If it came down to that, he wasn’t going to leave Kagami in a war zone, not unless Kagami demanded the opportunity to fight. 

 

Kuroko caught Kagami coming home, as luck would have it. Kuroko practically barrelled into him trying to get into the elevator.

 

Quickly, Kuroko relayed what had happened at work to the redhead, whose expression darkened with every word.

 

“What the fuck is happening?” he growled. “What is going on right now? Seriously, has this entire country gone insane?”

 

“I don’t know,” Kuroko said, and Kagami huffed in anger.

 

“We should warn the usual dueling crew,” Kagami said suddenly. “They’re meeting tonight. They should know if people are running around arresting people for using magic. The aurors have to know people hang out down there.”

 

Kuroko agreed.

 

Neither of them had been down to the street court to duel since coming back to the States. Both had been kept busy by their internships and in the wake of the giant attack nobody really felt like fooling around on the street court.

 

The street leading to the court was empty. Night had already fallen. Nobody had replaced the broken street lights yet, so there was a single, slanted lamp lighting the court.

 

Nigou trotted faithfully next to Kuroko, who was consciously keeping himself between Kagami and his pet, knowing Kagami wasn’t very comfortable with the dog yet.

 

As they approached the court, Nigou started to growl.

 

Kuroko glanced down at the dog and stopped. Kagami didn’t notice and kept walking. Kuroko called out trying to get his attention, but Kagami was gone.

 

Kuroko tried to follow his light, but the dog would go no further. Nigou started barking angrily. He was small enough that the barks were more like adorable woofs than anything menacing, but Nigou was definitely trying to make his feelings known.

 

The hair was standing up on the back of his neck as Kuroko scooped up the dog and ran after his light.

 

He caught up to Kagami just as they were turning around the bleachers and caught sight of a team of aurors. Four teenagers were sitting on the far side bleachers with their hands in glowing cuffs. Two others had their wands drawn and were arguing with a set of aurors.

 

“Sit down and shut up!” one of the aurors was ordering them. Kagami instinctively reached out a hand for Kuroko, his jaw set.

 

“We need to go,” he said.

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko said. Nigou growled his displeasure and Kuroko was about to break free of Kagami’s grip to do something himself.

 

“Hey, what’s going on over here?”   
  


Two more aurors walked into the court from the other side.

 

Kuroko wasn’t liking these odds.

 

And then Nigou barked. 

 

“Shh!” Kuroko whispered, but the damage was done.

 

“Over there!”

 

The two newly arrived aurors split off and started walking towards where Kuroko and Kagami were hiding behind the bleachers.

 

“I think we have to go,” Kagami whispered. “Run!”

 

“Nigou, come!” Kuroko said.

 

The dog barked and leaped down onto the ground, narrowly avoiding being hit by a spell as it ran towards the aurors, barking loudly.

 

“GOD DAMN IT, KUROKO! LEAVE THE DOG!” Kagami shouted. “IT’S NOT WORTH DYING OVER!”

 

“I apologize, but I am not leaving Nigou behind,” Kuroko panted, turning directly around.

 

He misdirected two spells away from himself as he ran back for Nigou. The dog struggled, but Kuroko swept him up and dumped him into his back.

 

“Come back here!” one of the aurors shouted. “You’re under arrest by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement!”

 

One arm securing Nigou, Kuroko sent another wave of curses flying away as he ran as quickly as he could. He stumbled, but caught himself before he hit the ground. Kagami grabbed his arm, using Kuroko’s momentum to keep him moving.

 

They turned a corner and the edge of the building behind them exploded in a shower of brick and dust. Kuroko sheltered the poor pup with his own body, feeling a spray of stone shatter over him. Remnants of the wall cascaded down off his back and bounced into the street.

 

“Idiot, come on!” Kagami said, dragging Kuroko back to his feet. “We need to get out of the open. You might be a shadow or whatever, but they can see me just fine.”

 

A scatter of spell fire continued on the court.

 

Kagami grabbed Kuroko’s arm and they took off running.

 

They only made it about a block when Kagami collided face first with a very tall, very blonde, and very frantic looking witch.

 

“There you boys are! I knew I would find you skulking around this damn street court!”

 

“Alex, thank the gods, what are you doing here?”

 

“Looking for you, obviously. Now come on, we need to get out of the open right now! Why the hell didn’t you apparate out of here anyway?”   
  


Kagami turned bright red and sputtered as Alex took his hand and started walking briskly down the street.

 

“Don’t draw attention to yourself,” she chided him. “Well?”

 

“Eh? I kind of forgot,” Kagami said, rubbing the back of his head.

 

“Didn’t your better half remind you?” Alex asked inquisitorial.

 

“I was busy taking care of Nigou,” Kuroko supplied calmly. “I thought Kagami felt it would be wiser to run than cast such obvious magic in front of an auror in the middle of a muggle street.”

  
“Oh, cute,” Alex said, patting the dog as Kuroko held it up. She rolled her eyes as she listened to Kuroko’s explanation.

 

“Hey, not to rain on your parade or anything, but what the hell is going on?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Haven’t you been watching the news?” Alex asked, looking both ways before heading down another side street, taking them in the opposite direction of Kagami’s apartment. Kuroko figured she was trying to evade detection if they had anyone following them. Kagami shook his head.

 

“You know, I kind of got enough of my fill of the giant attacks without seeing the analysis on screen too,” he said ruefully. Alex shook her head.

 

“Nash Gold is calling for the magical community to tighten its borders. No association with muggles, period. He is cutting off the magical world, claiming that this is the only way to keep the muggle community safe.”

 

“Or, you know, his aurors could get better at investigating people smuggling giants into the country instead of harassing random people in the airport,” Kagami shot back. Alex grimaced.

 

“Yeah, well. Your mom wants to see you again.”

 

“Alex, for the love of god, maybe not now-”

 

“I’m not here to help her, I’m here to help you,” Alex said. “She wants you to stand with the family so that the bloodline can be united. Her family is important to her, but the best way to protect you is to keep you the hell out of here. The president announced it this morning: All wizards and witches living in the mundane world must sever their ties with the mundanes, or be arrested for violating the new, strictly enforced Statute of Secrecy.”

 

“This is insane!” Kagami shouted. Alex whirled, wand pointed directly at Kagami.

 

“Shut up before you get us caught!” she hissed. “Don’t you think I know that! Don’t you think  _ all of us  _ know that? Your mother chose to stay here because this is her home, because she wanted to stay and fight for the continued freedoms of the magical community, but we are barrelling towards a dictatorship at full speed.”

 

“He can’t arrest half the country!” Kagami insisted. “We have rights!”

 

“Rights don’t matter when it comes to safety,” Alex said darkly. “After all, if it prevents another giant attack in New York? Chicago? Somewhere it can’t be so easily explained away and it prompts us to all out war? There are plenty of people who would rather see us under the rule of a dictator with no freedom at all than risk that kind of exposure of the magical community.”

 

“This is insane,” Kagami whispered.

 

“You’re just up here, right?” Alex asked. Kagami nodded and led the way back up to their apartment.

 

“Anyway, I’m getting the two of you out of here,” Alex said. “You can’t stay in the country. Your invisible friend over here is already on a watch list and he’s about to become legally Persona Non Grata. You’re not far behind. So pack what you can carry. I’ve arranged an international portkey, it will take you just south of the border into Mexico. I have plane tickets for a flight back to London from Mexico and Kuroko’s mom will be waiting at the airport in case anything goes wrong.”

 

“Okay, bags, let’s go.”

 

Kuroko packed without order or attention to detail. He already was carrying his potions supplies in his satchel. He threw clothes and books and personal effects into his suitcase without care, prioritizing speed over order. 

 

“Company is coming!” Alex shouted from the other room. “We need to go!”

 

“Almost done!” Kagami shouted. 

 

“Me too!” Kuroko yelled. He snapped his suitcase shut, but was startled when Nigou jumped on top of it.

 

Kuroko was reminded that he wasn’t just responsible for himself any more - the dog was under his protection too. He dragged his bag into the living room with Nigou eagerly trotting at his feet. Alex shrunk their bags, letting them slip the bigger suitcases into their backpacks with ease.

 

“What about Nigou?” Kuroko asked, picking up the dog. “Can we take him too?”

 

“We’re going on the run from the law, you can’t take your damn dog!” Kagami shouted.

 

“But he’ll be all alone without me.”

 

Kagami groaned in frustration.

 

“You are the worst.”

 

“Please?”

 

“The dog should be fine, but the time we’re arguing about it is-”

 

Alex paused mid sentence and swore.

 

“Alex, language,” Kagami teased.

 

“Child, I will end you,” Alex snapped. “They’ve got an anti-apparation field up. Damn, these warders with the bureau of magical investigation work fast.”

 

“Just punch a hole in it!” Kagami argued. “They’re fast, but you’re better.”   
  


“I  _ might  _ consider doing that if I were just apparating myself out of here, but who knows what that would do to a portkey. I could end up leaving half of you in the Pacific.”

 

“Well I’m not just waiting around for them to arrest us and it wouldn’t be the first time I lost half of me anyway,” Kagami urged impatiently.

 

Alex glanced out at the balcony and nodded.

 

“Thankfully, I don’t think it’s going to have to come to that. Get your dog, we’re getting out of here now.”

 

Kuroko slipped Nigou into the satchel over his shoulder. The dog, seeming to understand how critical it was that he remain silent, ducked his head down into the bag and curled up, looking trustfully up at the wizard that had saved him.

 

“I can’t believe we’re smuggling the stupid dog out of America with us. This is absolutely the worst idea anyone I have ever known has had.”

 

Kuroko met his gaze without giving any of his emotions away. Kagami snorted.

 

“You shut up with your sass, by the way,” he said. “Both of you.”

 

“Didn’t say anything,” Alex said. “Neither did he. But now that’s that settled, we need to get the lot of you on the move. Come on, the apparation field only extends over the building, if we make it a block or so down you’ll be fine. We shouldn’t have a problem.”

 

‘Shouldn’t have a problem,’ Kagami mouthed to Kuroko, putting air quotes around the word “shouldn’t” while Alex’s back was turned, opening the glass doors.

 

“Hey, kid, any chance that trick of yours covers multiple people?” Alex asked, pulling open a window.

 

“I’ve never tried,” Kuroko said.

 

“And now isn’t really the time to experiment. Well that’s just dandy. Come over here.”

 

Alex tapped Kagami on the head with her wand. As Kuroko watched, Kagami disappeared, as though someone had poured a can of invisible paint on him.

 

When Alex motioned for Kuroko to come closer, he did so. She gently tapped him, and Kuroko could feel the distinctly unpleasant sensation of an egg being cracked over his head.

 

“Okay, we’re going to move,” Alex said. “A disillusionment charm won’t fool all their tracking devices, but we should get clear since they’re still only setting a perimeter. Let’s go.”

 

They stepped out onto the balcony.

 

“Just like Tatsuya and I used to do in the old days?” Kagami asked with a grin.

 

“You bet,” Alex said.

 

“We’re going to jump,” Kagami told Kuroko. Kuroko felt the other boy’s charm take hold on his shoes. Featherlight.

 

“We’re going to that roof, and climbing down into the alley,” Kagami said.

 

“I cannot see where you are pointing,” Kuroko said blankly. He heard a short laugh.

 

“Right ahead, red brick. Got it?”

 

“Got it.”

 

“Then let’s go!”

 

Kuroko crouched and jumped.

 

The feeling of falling freely through the air was unpleasant. Kuroko gracelessly hit the roof of the other building, rolling with a grunt.

 

“You alright?” Kagami shouted.

 

“Fine!” Kuroko said from where he was planted face down in the gravel. He’d probably been scratched up a bit, but he could see from here that the aurors were already entering the building next to them.

 

It would not be long before they discovered that the apartment was empty.Soon their short window to escape would close.

 

“Down the fire escape, quickly now!”

 

Alex released the illusion the second all three of them had cleared the lip of the building.

 

“No need to have people shoving their feet in each other’s faces if we don’t have to,” she said, taking the lead. Kagami muffled their footsteps so that they made no sound against the twisting metal fire escape.

 

They moved like burglars in the night, quickly making it to ground level.

 

“We’re clear,”Alex said, panting lightly. She leaned out of the alleyway to glance into the street. In the distance, they could hear shouting.

 

She turned back and kissed Kagami on the forehead.

 

“Stay out of jail, keep causing trouble, and make me proud. Now go, before they catch you.”

 

Alex winked and apparated away.

 

Kuroko turned to look at Kagami.

 

“You know, I want to say I never expected to be running from police twice in one day, but I feel like I should have known that was exactly how this would end when I agreed to live with you over the summer.”

 

“You are a goddamn smartass with no respect,” Kagami said, but he was grinning as he activated the portkey, and the two of them were whisked away.

 

When the team of aurors looked down the formerly occupied alleyway, all they saw was a gust of wind and leaves.

 

…

 


	35. Kise Becomes A Motivational Speaker

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In Which I Am The Least Subtle Person Anyone Knows
> 
> Happy thursday, basketball nerds.

 

**** …

 

The whistle of the Hogwarts Express blared across the countryside as the train chugged towards the school.

 

“This is going to be a pretty boring year, huh?” Kagami asked, laying across an entire bench seat.

 

“Compared to the summer we had perhaps that would be for the best,” Kuroko suggested, looking out at the passing countryside with only marginal interest.

 

It was their last year at Hogwarts. After this, they would be adults. They would be expected to have careers and know what they wanted out of life.

 

It had become clear to Kuroko that unless he did something really goddamn fantastic, he wouldn’t be able to secure an apprenticeship in warding. He supposed he could always ask Akashi for help, but…

 

Kuroko didn’t trust Akashi’s motives. Murasakibara had been at exactly the right place at exactly the right time to help with the giant attacks. That was too much coincidence for Kuroko. Wherever Murasakibara went, it was usually at Akashi’s request (or more like order). He was conflicted and didn’t know what to make of that.

 

“Yeah, that was pretty wild,” Kagami admitted with a wide grin. “You know, I’ve never been a wanted man before. I feel all  _ dangerous  _ now and everything.”

 

“You will likely not be able to return home for some time,” Kuroko said seriously, choosing to ignore how enamored Kagami was with his own rakishness. “Does it bother that you are on the opposite side of the border as your family and mentor?”

 

Kagami made a face.

 

“Well when you say it like that, you make it sound so depressing instead of really cool,” he complained.

 

“I am just being realistic.”

 

“Well look on the bright side – we’ve had an amazing adventure!”

 

“An adventure that nearly ended in both of us getting arrested,” Kuroko flatlined.

 

“You have no sense of wonder.”

 

“You might have too much wonder.”

 

The two of them had returned to Britain only a week before. After the nonstop pace of their summer, both boys enjoyed the quiet peace of Kuroko’s home. Kuroko’s mother gave them both an impressive and thorough dressing down when they had arrived, but Kuroko could read between the lines of her anger. She was proud of them for what they had done. She fawned over Nigou, who despite being a high energy dog with a tendency for trouble, immediately burrowed his way into the hearts of Kuroko’s family.

 

Kuroko’s grandmother had been much more transparent in regard to what her grandson had done.

 

“In my day you kicked fascists in the balls with your heels!” she’d cackled. “You’re on the right track. I knew my girl and I raised you right.”

 

Kagami had laughed until he couldn’t breathe.

 

Before long they were heading back to school, tucked away in a compartment on the Hogwarts Express.

 

“I can’t believe you brought the dog,” Kagami said.

 

“Hush,” Kuroko replied, patting the backpack sitting on the seat next to him.

 

A small yip rang out through the compartment and an excited head popped through the opening in the zipper.

 

Nigou smiled out at the world, mouth open and panting. His tiny furry paws rested under his chin. Kuroko patted his head and scratched behind the dog’s ears.

 

“Keep that thing away from me!” Kagami screeched, rolling away from the dog towards the window. Kuroko held Nigou tighter as he tried to jump over to Kagami.

 

“He’s a dog, he doesn’t know any better,” Kuroko defended Nigou reflexively.

 

“He  _ knows  _ I’m scared of dogs, you bastard!” Kagami said. “I swear he does, why else would he follow me around like that?”

 

“Because he likes kind people,” Kuroko said.

 

Kagami choked on whatever else he was going to say.

 

By the time he got his breath back, Kuroko was starting to recognize the scenery of the Scottish hills around them. Nigou had burrowed back into Kuroko’s bag and was curled up sleeping inside of it.

 

“We should start getting into our robes,” he suggested. Kagami agreed.

 

They were halfway dressed when the door to the compartment slid open.

 

“Ever heard of privacy?” Kagami demanded, turning around to glare at an unfazed Takao.

 

“You know what, I’ve seen your bare naked ass in the shower and I don’t give a shit about your impressive abs,” Takao dismissed the other man’s indignation with ease before turning to Kuroko.

 

“Oi, Phantom, I got a bone to pick with you.”

 

“You want to know where Midorima is,” Kuroko guessed.

 

“Nice deduction skills,” Takao grinned. “But Midorima already told me he isn’t coming back. In fact, I got the letter about five hours ago. I had a different question for you.”

 

Kuroko waited with a blank face to see what the other man wanted to ask him.

 

“What I really wanted to know is how long did you know?” Takao demanded. “How long did  _ he  _ know he wasn’t coming back and didn’t say anything?”

 

“Akashi told me on our last day here last term.”

 

Takao shook his head.

 

“Just like Shin-chan,” he said. “He told me he just wanted to make sure I found another study partner for Runes, but he probably just didn’t want me so upset that I’d go marching up to his door and yell at him.”

 

“Eh? Do you and that glasses bastard study together?” Kagami asked. Takao laughed outright, patting Kagami on the shoulder.

 

“You’re a dense guy for someone so good at dueling,” he said. He looked at Kuroko.

 

“Anyway, do you know where Shin-chan is?”

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“I do not,” he admitted. “To be honest, I haven’t spoken very much with any of the Miracles since before the end of fifth year. I do not know what they are up to now.”

 

Takao stared at him with furrowed brows for a moment before understanding struck.

 

“None of them are coming back this year,” he said.

 

“They are not,” Kuroko confirmed.

 

Takao laughed, shaking his head.

 

“Shin-chan didn’t tell me that, but I guess it makes sense. I wonder what they are up to.”

 

“I would not know.”

 

“Well, whatever. I’ll work on my man the old fashioned way and woo him by the pen.”

 

“Oi, does anything you say ever make sense?” Kagami asked. Takao just smirked at him and looked over at Kuroko.

 

“Speaking of wooing,” he said.

 

“I am working on it,” Kuroko said immediately, hoping to forestall any mention Takao might make of Kuroko’s feelings.

 

“Eh? Working on what? What the hell is he talking about it?”

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya, I am getting tired of watching this. Make your move soon or I will make it for you.”

 

“Do it and die,” Kuroko deadpanned.

 

Takao snorted.

 

“You gonna back that up with your amazing biceps?”

 

Kuroko smiled, just a little bit.

 

“No, with Kagami’s amazing biceps.”

 

Kagami turned beet red.

 

“Wow,” Takao whistled. “Alright, I see you have this handled. I’m gonna go get dressed then.”

 

Kagami was still sputtering as they pulled into the station.

 

“Alright, let’s go grab a carriage before all the good ones are taken,” Kagami said, standing up.

 

“All of them are the same,” Kuroko said, pulling the bag with Nigou inside over one shoulder. Nigou popped up out of the bag, letting his head rest on Kuroko’s shoulder.

 

For a moment, alone in the compartment, Kuroko met his dog’s eyes.

 

“I’m gonna do it,” he said seriously. Nigou barked.

 

“I am,” Kuroko insisted. He hoisted the back more securely onto his shoulders and pulled open the compartment door, chasing after Kagami.

 

“I can do this.”

 

…

 

“I can do this. I can do this.”

 

Kise turned away from the mirror in his small apartment, a wide smile on his face masking his true feelings.

 

He remembered the last meeting of the Generation of Miracles so vividly it could have been yesterday. Early morning, with the sun shining out of a clear blue sky, and the intensity of his former captain’s expression as the redhead laid out what they were supposed to do.

 

Akashi had told them with no room for argument what their new job was. They would be graduating early, taking their exams, and skipping out of school a year before they were supposed to. In theory, Kise thought this was excellent.

 

But in practice…

 

Kise was seventeen years old. He wasn’t ready to have the responsibility of saving the world placed on his shoulders.

 

Aomine and Murasakibara had been sent to America. Kise did not know the specifics of their orders, but he supposed it was similar to what he had been assigned to do.

 

The master illusionist under whom Kise worked was a woman who was famous for her magic all across the world, not just as a researcher and skilled witch, but also as a performer. 

 

She was pretty cool.

 

It was Kise’s job to stop her from leading his entire country into a violent revolution.

 

That should be simple enough.

 

Kise snorted to himself.

 

Yeah, right.

 

He knew that his master was going to, at some point, encourage the wizards in Britain to wholesale attack the muggles in their country. She was going to lead the charge for exposure. And it was going to get a lot of people killed.

 

Kise respected his teacher. She was brilliant, powerful, and charismatic. Master Allure was one of the most talented witches he’d ever heard of. He even mostly agreed with her radical politics.

 

But he wasn’t going to let people die.

 

Tonight, as usual, he dressed in black, his hair slicked back out of his face. He and the other two apprentices working under Master Allure aided in her performances by adding three extra wands to manage the illusions in her show. She ran them on drills until they were flawless at what they did, and it was truly exciting to be a part of such a large scale enchantment.

 

Kise apparated into his master’s workshop, smiling and waving to his fellow students. One was a Hogwarts graduate from about four years prior, who had spent quite a bit of time travelling and working various jobs before settling on his career. The other was a French girl, a recent graduate from Beauxbatons

 

“Good evening, everyone!” He said cheerfully.

 

“Kise, hello,” Master Allure said, waving him over. “Is your kit ready?”

 

“I finished assembling it before I left this afternoon,” Kise confirmed with a winning smile, grabbing the box from under his workbench. “Where are we heading tonight?”

 

“Nowhere you lot have been, I think I can safely say,” Master Allure told him.

 

“Ooh, mysterious,” Kise chirped. “Sounds exciting.”

 

“Believe me, I think tonight is going to be a night nobody is going to forget,” Master Allure said. “Everyone ready?”

 

Something about the way she said that gave Kise pause. What did that mean, exactly?

 

His heart started pounding more quickly.

 

Was tonight the night? Was this his chance to change history?

 

Kise’s fellow apprentices nodded their assent to the master illusionist’s question and she gathered them all around.

 

“I’ve got a portkey to our final destination, so everyone grab hold,” she said, holding out a metal hoop.

 

Kise reached out and firmly gripped part of the hoop with his other hand holding the trunk with his supplies for the show,. The other two apprentices did the same.

 

For an awkward moment they just stood, staring at each other.

 

Then the portkey activated and they were gone. Kise closed his eyes against the whirling, spinning world around him as they travelled, focusing on keeping his feet when they landed.

 

A short time later, he felt solid ground. When the world stopped spinning, Kise opened his eyes.

 

Only by sheer force of will did he let the surprise he was feeling show on his face.

 

They were in the muggle world. He knew that right away by the metal and glass buildings that surrounded them and the street filled with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

 

The brightly lit neon signs and boards around them were another major clue. They were standing in the heart of muggle London.

 

But there was something even more surprising for Kise than just the fact that their performance venue was apparently a public square in the muggle world. Kise had stood here before. He’d seen it in the pensieve when Akashi had shown him the very night that Britain had lost its goddamn mind. Kise suspected that it had been Midorima’s vision, but Akashi had been fairly sparse on any details aside the ones Kise needed to do the one job that had been entrusted to him.

 

_ Even after all this time, he still doesn’t believe in me,  _ Kise thought angrily to himself. 

 

Akashi had said that things were already better than they had originally been in the world Midorima had seen. They were doing a good job. But this next hurdle was Kise’s to clear and Kise’s alone. He could see in his mind’s eye his master standing on the very fountain that was currently in front of him, fire and rage in her voice as she called for an attack on all muggles, the eradication of the enemies of the magical community before it was wizards who faced extinction.

 

A chill ran up his spine.

 

It was happening tonight.

 

This was it.

 

This was his show, his point in the timeline to correct, the way in which he was going to help his friends save the world.

 

He was more than ready.

 

Meanwhile, Kise’s fellow apprentices had gotten their bearings and seemed to have finally processed where they were. Neither was stupid; they had to know what their master was planning now that they were standing here. There could be no mistake that Master Allure was intending to singlehandedly expose the magical world in the most public, showy way possible.

 

“Master-”

 

“I will not order anyone to partake in this performance,” Allure said, turning to her apprentices. “If you wish to go home it will not be held against you. But I will not stay silent. Performance and politics are one and the same. Our communities must be co-mingled, or we will eventually destroy each other.”

 

The apprentice who had spoken up nodded, but he did not leave. Kise saw the wide edge to his eyes and his shaking hands, and admired the other man’s bravery. 

 

“And the rest of you?”

 

Allure looked at her second apprentice, who nodded shakily. Her eyes fell to Kise, who smiled warmly, his head titled to the side.

 

“Master Allure, I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” he said.

 

“That’s my boy,” she said, clapping him on the side of the arm. “Let’s go make some history gentlemen, lady.”

 

The three of them picked up the props for their performance and began to set up.

 

With the lid of his box up, Kise scrawled a quick note and taped the piece of paper it was written on with his wand. It glowed yellow and folded itself up into the shape of a bird.

 

“Quickly,” Kise murmured to it. “Quietly. You must not be seen.”

 

This was his only chance, his only hope. Even if he sabotaged the performance now, his master would simply remove him and continue. He needed reinforcements.

 

The bird hopped a few feet away from the group of apprentices. When it was on the other side of the fountain, it took flight.

 

Kise hoped it reached the auror office in time.

 

Meanwhile, all he could do was help put on a show.

 

Muggles started to gather around as it was clear that something was happening in front of them.

 

“Everyone ready?” their master asked them a few minutes later. Three tense nods were her response and she beamed.

 

“Let’s make it count, everyone,” she said. “Let’s go.”

 

They began with illusions that made smoke and fog swirl around the square like a shroud.

 

Out of the mist came Master Allure’’s  purple fire, burning all the brighter as it reflected off of the dramatic smoke around them.

 

“Listen well,” she spoke in a booming, amplified voice that was not her own. “The world is a stranger and more magical place than you could begin to believe. Monsters are real. Magic is real. And tonight, you will see real magic take place in front of your eyes.”

 

With a burst of fire, Master Allure held her wand up in the air and a herd of purple unicorns emerged from it, galloping around the square in between the spectators who cheered and screamed with delight. Kise and his fellow apprentices set off dramatic colored flashes of light and sparkles of color where they went, leaving a trail of rainbows behind them.

 

“I am Master Allure and tonight I will show you the magic that lies just beyond your very sight!” Their master shouted into the night. The crowd went wild.

 

_ They think this is some muggle show,  _ Kise thought with some relief. Muggles were fairly dense when it came to magic. They’d believe anything was some electronic special effect before they believed that it was true wizardry.

 

So long as that belief held out before Master Allure did something insane that could not be explained away, they would be fine.

 

Maybe this would all work out.

 

Kise started to relax into the show.

 

This was the fun work: the showy, pretty, sparkly side of magic that so few people valued in the real wizarding world. It was honestly pretty impractical, but at the same time there was a beauty to it that Kise liked.

 

The crowd exploded into cheers at the next wave of Master Allure’s wand, which produced a giant, roaring dragon that took up a quarter of the entire square as it took flight.

 

The muggles were going  _ wild.  _ They were laughing and clapping and cheering in amazement at what they were looking at as the dragon performed several flips and turns.

 

Kise saw the muggle officer walking towards them, but he didn’t get the chance to warn his master before the cop was close enough to try and talk to her.

 

“Ma’am, excuse me, do you have a permit?”

 

“I don’t need a permit to speak the truth!” Master Allure insisted, striding forward. She’d cancelled the spell on her voice and was speaking normally. The dragon, now run entirely by the magic of the apprentices while Master Allure was preparing for the next trick, continued to loop overhead. The two other apprentices were so preoccupied with maintaining the magic, Kise was pretty sure they hadn’t even seen or heard the officer. The other Hogwarts grad was a few yards away and the Beauxbatons girl was muttering anxiously to herself as she struggled hit hit every cue. Kise was running the musical background of the show, which was fairly simple, amplifying the recorded track preserved inside of a crystal.

 

“Keep going,” Master Allure said to Kise, when she turned and saw that he was watching her walk away. He nodded, and watched as she approached the officer calmly.

 

“Listen, you have to have a permit to operate equipment like this in a public place. If you don’t have one I’m going to have to ask you to pack up and leave,” he said. “I’m sorry, but that’s the law.”

 

“But I’m not doing anything wrong!” Kise heard Master Allure say, sounding outraged. “People have a right to hear what I’m saying!”

 

“I’m sorry, but you can’t just set up a whole pyrotechnics show up in the middle of a public place. Someone could get hurt. If you’re refusing to leave, I have to arrest you for disturbing the peace.”

 

“You can’t arrest me for telling the truth!”

 

“Hey, Kise?”

 

Kise, who had been engrossed in the drama unfolding a few yards away, turned to look at the Beauxbatons girl, who was blushing furiously.

 

“I’m not quite sure I have this one right,” she said nervously. “And Master Allure keeps yelling at me for messing up, but I always lose the timing on the smoke spell.”

 

“Ah, of course!” Kise said, smiling to cover up the feeling of uneasiness that was swelling in his gut. Something was wrong. Something bad was going to happen.

 

“Remember, the smoke comes with the dragons breath, so you have to wait for the music to hit that chord and then go-”

 

Kise heard the music swell and grinned.

 

“Now!”

 

His fellow apprentice cast her spell right on cue, a cloud of dense pink smoke seeming to spew directly from the dragon’s mouth as it raged in the air above the fountain. The crowd ‘oooh-ed’ and cheered loudly, clapping.

 

_ Where the hell are the aurors? _

 

“You’d think muggles wouldn’t be into this so much, but it’s actually pretty fun,” Kise’s female co-apprentice remarked.

 

“Everyone loves a good show!” Kise said happily.

 

And then he heard the angry yelling.

 

Kise turned, attuned to the sound of a fight, when he saw a flash of green out of the corner of his eye and his heart started to really pound.

 

_ Shit, what’s going on? Where was that? Was it what I think it was? _

 

The muggles were screaming and Kise whirled around in a circle, trying to find the source of the disturbance.

 

It was immediately apparent, as the crowd formed a circle around the source of their distress.

 

The cop was on the ground and his master had her wand in her hand, looking confused.

 

_ Oh fuck what the fuck is happening how did it get this far? _

 

Kise didn’t have time to process anything before the aurors finally arrived. A series of loud pops occurred, and then aurors, dressed as muggle police, rushed the scene.

 

“Oh shit!”

 

The third apprentice joined his fellows.

 

The dragon above the three of them immediately disappeared, and all that was left were the effects of the smoke, drifting above them lazily.

 

A team of aurors broke off, surrounding the apprentices. Through the gaps in their shoulders, Kise could see his master arguing with another burly auror before she was arrested and apparated away from the scene.

 

“You lot are under arrest on suspicion of conspiring to violate the statute of secrecy,” the auror facing Kise said. “You kids are in a lot of trouble.”

 

“We didn’t know!” The girl from Beauxbatons spoke up immediately. “We didn’t know what was happening! What is going on?”

 

The auror sighed.

 

“We’re taking you in for questioning, now come on. I want you lot out of the sight before the obliviation squad comes in to do their work. It’s already going to be a long night, so I appreciate your cooperation.”

 

Kise nodded, allowing himself to be apparated away by the auror gripping his shoulder without a fuss.

 

Inside, his stomach was sinking.

 

This could have been so bad. This could have been the riot that started the end of the world. Kise had done nothing more than get Aurors on the scene as quickly as possible, but he’d been helpless to save the life of the poor officer who had decided to confront Master Allure.

 

This was a nightmare.

 

Akashi was going to murder him.

 

Kise and the other two apprentices were shown to separate interrogation rooms. Kise waited patiently for an auror to show up and read him the riot act.

 

Finally, late into the night, someone opened the door. Kise leaned back in his chair, fixing what he hoped was a winning smile onto his features.

 

“Hello, Auror,” he said conversationally.

 

“Kise Ryouta, right?” the Auror said, sitting down opposite him. Kise nodded.

 

“That’s me!” he said.

 

“Thought so,” the auror said with a small smile. “My daughter reads all these magazines with your face in them.”

 

Kise blushed.

 

“Ah, thank you?” he said. The auror rolled his shoulders.

 

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Now first, I want to make it clear that we know that you sent the message to alert our office of the performance tonight and you’re not in trouble. You’re going to get a warning for your role in participating in the performance, but it won’t stay on your record unless you have another violation in the next year.”

 

Kise exhaled. Well, that was much better than he’d had the right to hope for.

 

“I just need to know how this all went down. Now before we begin, you know what this is, right?”

Kise eyed the device the auror placed on the table between them.

 

“Ah yeah, It’s an altered sneakascope, it lights up in the presence of a lie,” Kise said, recognizing it immediately.

 

“Exactly. With your consent, I would like to use it during this conversation.”

 

“I have nothing to hide about what I saw,” Kise said honestly. The auror tapped the device with his wand and pulled out a notebook to take down comments on what Kise said.

 

“So, let’s begin. Can you tell me what happened tonight?”

 

Kise nodded, taking a deep breath.

 

“I went to work,” Kise explained. “I worked on my independent research for a bit and then I prepped for a show.”

 

“What does that entail?”

 

“Ah, we have potions packs for the simple effects like smoke and flashes,” Kise said. “If we’re doing something crazy and all four wands are in use, we need tricks like that, so we produce those in conjunction with our research. We’ve got all sorts of stuff, some of which is muggle inspired.”

 

“Okay, so you set out your pack. Did you know where you would be performing?”

 

Kise shook his head, letting his entire being radiate innocence.

 

“Not until we got there,” he said. “Master Allure used a portkey, like usual, and it wasn’t until we were standing there that I realized what was happening.”

 

“But you assisted in the performance.”

 

“I don’t know what you know about being an apprentice, but if I want my mastery, I’m not going to start a fight with the woman I work for in a crowded public place,” Kise said. “I thought at worst, she causes a fuss and we have to explain that it’s all electronic special effects or something. I didn’t know what was going to happen during the show, but that’s why I sent a message to the auror office. I didn’t hide where it came from.”

 

The auror rubbed his forehead, looking like he was extremely tired.

 

“Right,” he said. “Did you see what happened between your master and the muggle officer?”

 

Kise shook his head no.

 

“He came up and told her she needed a permit. She started yelling in his face and he told her he was going to arrest her or something, but one of my fellow apprentices was asking me about the timing of one of the spells for the show and I stopped listening,” Kise admitted. “I know I should have just told them to drop it when the officer walked up, but I just didn’t know what to do in the moment.”

 

The officer nodded.

 

“Did you see her cast the curse that killed him?” the auror asked.

 

“No,” Kise said adamantly.

 

“Alright.”

 

The officer took a few more notes and then closed his note pad.

 

“Thank you for your candor,” he said. “You’re free to go. You might be contacted by our office if we have any more questions or need your testimony at trial. Please offer your continued cooperation as best you can.”

 

Kise nodded and made haste out of the auror office.

 

As soon as he had the chance, he apparated back home, sighing deeply.

 

Well that was that.

 

Kise wasn’t particularly satisfied with that ending. He doubted anything would have made him thrilled about his job, no matter how it turned out. He happened to agree with Allure, but it was kind of hard to find her particularly compelling when he knew exactly how and when her efforts at activism would contribute to spiraling their society into an all out war.

 

That said this was the end of it. Allure would go to jail and her fanbase’s anger would dissipate.

 

Kise was glad it was over. He was sad that a muggle officer was dead, but all things considered, the casualties were extremely light compared to what Midorima had seen. Akashi was going to ream him out for letting it get as far as it did, but it didn’t matter, because Kise had protected them from the events that Midorima had foreseen.

 

…

 

Kise was woken some time in the night. It was still dark out, but there was a shrill sound coming out of the communication mirror Akashi had given him.

 

“Wake up!”

 

Kise immediately picked up the mirror.

 

“Akashicchi!” he chirped. “What’s going on?”

 

“There’s a riot happening in Diagon Alley right now!” Akashi said without preamble. “Allure died in police custody this evening and the news has the entire wizarding population of Britain ready to burn down Muggle London. They all think she was arrested just for criticizing the government and they’re furious. You need to go there and stop them.”

 

Kise stared in shock at the mirror. No, that couldn’t be right. How could that be right? He’d stopped it, he’d gotten Allure arrested despite her being his mentor and master, how could this be happening?

 

“They’re destroying the Alley, you need to go now! None of the others can make it in time, we can’t cross oceans that quickly.”

 

But Kise still wasn’t listening, his face frozen in shock. Akashi’s eyes narrowed.

 

“RYOUTA!”

 

Kise snapped out of it, thrown back into the present by the violence promised in his leader’s tone.

 

“Akashicchi, I’ll fix it,” he promised. “I heard you. I won’t let this happen.”

 

Akashi nodded, satisfied that he had finally gotten through to the blond.

 

“Do what you can,” he said. “Nobody is there to help you, so you must diffuse this situation on your own. I will try and send Satsuki as soon as I can, but she can’t simply pop over from South America. It is up to you to keep the peace and disperse the crowd. You cannot allow them to attack the muggles.”

 

Kise paled, but he nodded.

 

“I understand,” he said, his expression fierce with determination. “I won’t let you down.”

 

Akashi nodded sharply and his image disappeared from the mirror.

 

Kise took a deep breath.

 

For a moment, he felt the magnitude of the responsibility for this situation suffocating him.

 

Not for nothing, however, was he the most popular model to ever grace the pages of Teen Witch Weekly. Not for nothing did he bear the moniker of the Generation of Miracles.

 

With the effortless application of his own magic, Kise styled his hair and painted his face.

If he was going to die putting himself in the middle of a fight between the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and a bunch of crazy, angry fans of his master, Kise was going to die looking pretty.

 

Kise apparated into Diagon Alley and found himself in the middle of a war zone.

 

Kise shouted in alarm as he quickly dodged a purple curse that went flying past him, crashing into a brick wall and sending up a bright cloud of smoke.

 

“Shit!” Kise swore. He put up a shield so that he could watch the crowd without the interference of being attacked.

 

A mob of thousands of wizards and witches were shouting and screaming angrily. Brilliant flashes of offensive magic were prevalent, especially closer to the Leaky Cauldron. Kise couldn’t make out any individual phrases in the cacophony of shouting.

 

A miniature explosion rocked the street a few yards up from the pub.

 

The noise in the street only grew louder.

 

If they broke out into the muggle world, there would be casualties.

 

The back wall of the Leaky Cauldron had already been blown out, leaving the opening to the Alley almost obliterated. Dust filled the air, creating bright clouds of light as colored spells passed through the air between the rioters and the aurors trying to push them back down the alley away from the gateway to the muggle world.

 

Smoke was drifting gently over the alley, illuminated in patches and clouds by various colors.

 

Merlin.

 

Under any other circumstances, Kise thought it was likely he would be on the other side of the line between the Aurors and the wizards and witches fighting them.

 

From the upper levels of buildings, Kise could see witches and wizards firing on the Aurors. Some of them were using their wands to create giant floating scripts in the sky, spelling out anti-ministry slogans, most of which were pretty profane.

 

Responsibility dictated only one course of action.

 

He had to calm the rioters somehow.

 

This was going to be terrible.

 

Ducking down and keeping himself protected, Kise shoved his way into the crowd. He was immediately jostled from every side, pushed to and fro with the flow of the crowd. Kise held his ground, not giving up until he could see the line of white shields at the end of the alley.

 

Praying that he wasn’t about to get killed, Kise shoved forward.

 

Here on the front lines, things were brutal. The aurors were shouting for order, and the rioters were shoving back. As Kise watched, three wizards tried to rush the line of aurors and were thrown back by a cannon of water. Kise was close enough to feel the brush of spray and found it was freezing cold, even on the mild September night.

 

Kise didn’t even know if he could exercise his illusions on the scale he wanted to, but he was sure as hell going to try.

 

If he didn’t, people were going to get hurt.

 

Kise took a deep breath.

 

This would be the most fantastic show he was ever going to put on and he was going to need to make sure it counted.

 

Kise turned to face the rioters and grounded himself. He dug his feet into the cobblestone. 

 

Whatever happened, he would hold this line. The rioters would not ever cross it, even if he had to physically fight them one by one. That was the least desirable option, but Kise would do it if he had to. If he’d learned anything from fighting Aomine at the end of last year, it was that he was stronger than he’d given himself credit for.

 

Kise held out his arms, the air behind him shimmering gold in the night. As the brightness faded and people were able to see again, anger faded to confusion, and then excitement as the people closest to him recognized the face of the famous model and Miracle.

 

“Who the hell is that?”

 

“Idiot, it’s Kise Ryouta!”

 

“The model?”

 

“The Miracle!”

 

“He’s here helping us!”

 

Kise smiled winningly.

 

“Hello everyone!” he said encouragingly.

 

_ Diffuse the crowd’s anger, make them understand that violence isn’t the answer. Stop this somehow. People are going to get hurt. Good people. Everyone standing here wants to go home to their families tonight. _

 

“What are you doing?” Kise asked them. He sent out soothing, calming waves of magic over the crowd.

 

“If they’re going to start picking us off for defending ourselves, then it’s time to end the statute of secrecy!” someone yelled.

 

“They murdered her just like that for protecting herself against some dirty muggle, she never should have been arrested in the first place!”

 

“No justice, no peace!”

 

“No justice, no peace!”

 

The crowd was shouting as one. Kise forced himself not to flinch back.

 

He was going to hold this line.

 

A few of the protestors fired spells at Kise and he shielded himself from them easily. None of them were powerful enough to make them sweat.

 

“Listen to me, this isn’t the answer, please just listen!”

 

It wasn’t working. Kise shielded another few spells, his mind working overtime. The flashes of power blinded him and he had to resist the urge to shield his eyes and give away any weakness.

 

Merlin’s beard, this was going to turn into a full on war. Kise didn’t want to get trampled.

 

People were yelling again so Kise did the only thing he could. He was going to rely on the strength of his talent, the true core of his magic. His illusions had served him well for his entire life thus far and he would use those same illusions to help him now.

 

“Please! Be quiet! You need to hear something!”

 

The crowd pulled back, settling a little at the desperation in Kise’s voice.

 

The ground around him started to smoke.

 

Blood red runes in the ground around him glowed, sending the dark colored smoke up to the sky. Fire broke out in the circle around him and the crowd shouted in alarm.

 

“My master came to me,” Kise intoned, his voice deep. It was the same tone he’d learned from his master, the same deep, powerful voice that captured the attention of anyone listening.

 

He would make them listen.

 

“She told me the truth,” Kise said. “She told me that she wanted there to be peace between muggles and wizards. When she left our workshop yesterday she wanted to help bridge our communities, not destroy them.”

 

Kise clenched his hands into fists, closing his eyes.

 

This was important. He had to sell this better than he had sold any other performance in his entire life.

 

The ground around him instantly changed color, burning a bright, neon green. Kise opened glowing green eyes.

 

Smoke rose up from the now green circle of runes around him, gently floating up above Kise’s head. As the crowd watched, they whispered among each other in low hushed tones.

 

The smoke began to take shape – forming the very familiar torso of the famous master illusionist and performer, Allure.

 

Kise opened his mouth, a thousand howling voices spoke with him.

 

“LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF A WITCH BEYOND THE VEIL. HEED HER VOICE OR ACCEPT THE DOOM OF YOUR KIND.”

 

The hushed whispers started to rise in volume.

 

And then the illusion above Kise’s head began to speak.

 

“Please be quiet now,” the loud, echoing voice of Master Allure implored. “I went into the muggle world to show them the wonder of our kind. To hate what one does not understand is human. I wished only to help them understand. When they did, I believed we could see a world where muggle and wizard could stand side by side. Fight for that dream. Fight for the vision I had of a better world. Do not go to war in my name, for my sake. Fight for what is right, but heed the rending forces of violence.”

 

The crowd was deathly silent.

 

Kise could feel the strain of the illusions he was running. This seemed to be working, and if he lost his track now, he would just piss off a whole lot of angry people even more.

 

“Do not surrender to despair, instead fight for a better, more peaceful world.”

 

Kise allowed the illusion of his master to fall silent.

 

This was the tricky part. He was going to have to go for some high drama if the crowd was really going to believe that he had summoned his master’s spirit from beyond the veil of death to speak to them about compassion and peace.

 

Remaining absolutely still, Kise let the smoke rush down against gravity, slamming back into the ring of runes as the howling of a thousand wolf packs echoed down the alley. People covered their ears and bent their heads to protect themselves from the noise.

 

Then it was over.

 

Kise staggered, his exhaustion only partly an act. The illusions were complex and far beyond anything he had tried to do before. He’d managed it, to the cost of his own energy and power. Kise was running multiple large-scale spells at the same time, and trying to do that while speaking to the crowd was beginning to strain the limits of his talent. He wasn’t going to be able to keep this up for much longer. He needed to end this now. 

 

Kise held up his hands, trying to impose silence over the crowd. It seemed to be working now.

 

“Allure was an amazing witch,” Kise said, gathering their attention. He let the golden air behind him shimmer and sparkle, hiding the aurors and letting everyone’s focus fall directly to him.

 

Kise had never met a stage he didn’t like, nor a crowd that didn’t respond to him with abject adoration. This was going to be simple, if he could stay on his feet.

 

“We will not allow her death to go unpunished. Tonight we are angry, but tomorrow, we will be angry and  _ organized. _ ”

 

There were some upset cries at this, but Kise held out his hands, begging for silence. He needed to keep the calm here. If he lost the attention of the crowd to fear and anger again, he wasn’t ever going to get it back. This was the only time he was going to get to calm the crowd down. He let the yellow of his magic shine brighter in the night, inspiring a general sense of optimism. He couldn’t calm anger this strong and fear this deep, but he could redirect it.

 

Not for nothing had he won Witch Weekly's “most charming bachelor” award ten weeks running. 

 

“Tomorrow morning I will march up the steps of the Ministry and I will stand there until the Minister himself is ready to sanction the officers involved. Join me. Shut down the wheels of governance until our anger is satisfied!”

 

The roar of approval was deafening.

 

“We will have justice, and we will have peace, but we achieve neither by attacking muggles on the other side of this gateway without cause,” Kise said. “Violence is a strike of last resort but we  _ will be heard _ ! We will give them no excuses to ignore what we have to say!”

 

The crowd was cheering, clapping and screaming as Kise finished talking.

 

“We will make sure they know that without justice for Allure, we will remain in their halls and streets!” Kise said.

 

He let the energy of the crowd carry their chanting for several more minutes before he tried to open his mouth again.

 

“Lend me your wands and we will pay tribute to Allure tonight,” Kise said. “We will honor her memory in the way that we do as wizards, and tomorrow we will honor it again by fighting for the vision of peace and community that Master Allure was fighting for too.”

 

He held his wand high in the sky and allowed a yellow light to form there.

 

Slowly at first, and then with increasing speed, wand after wand joined his.

 

Pink and blue and green and orange and every color of the rainbow joined the bright light of Kise’s wand.

 

A thousand points of light filled the Alley, tracing back down every crooked bend and turn. Down past Gringotts bank, to every corner of Knockturn alley, the whisper was passed along.

 

“Kise Ryouta said put your wand in the air!”

 

Dark night was turned into a nearly blinding light of day. The Alley burned with the light those left behind by the master illusionist shone in her honor.

 

Silence fell. It was heavy, pregnant, and full of the anger and righteousness of the wizards and witches of Diagon Alley, redirected into grief.

 

“To Master Allure, may your light shine brightly for tonight and for all nights,” Kise said, his voice booming out. “May you find peace.”

 

“May you find peace.”

 

Some echoed Kise in whispers, some at the top of their lungs, some in tears.

 

The lights at the end of their wands shone brighter and brighter fueled by the emotion of their bonded wizards.

 

“Go home, my friends,” Kise said. “Grieve tonight. Tomorrow come armed not with indiscriminate rage, but determination. We will force the Ministry to acknowledge what has happened here. Join me in the Ministry tomorrow! We will stand there and refuse to leave until we are heard!”

 

The roar of cheering drowned out anything else that could be said.

 

And then, miraculously, the crowd began to thin out.

 

Kise had stopped the riot.

 

Slowly he lowered his wand, and moved among the crowd, encouraging their departure.

 

The aurors had started leaving, with only a few left behind as the crowd in the alley began to disperse. It seemed that Diagon Alley had calmed down once again.

 

Kise wandered down the street, helping shop owners fix displays, talking to them about what had happened.

 

He stayed until late into the night before finally apparating back to his apartment.

 

…

 

Kise had wanted nothing more than to just collapse into bed when he got home, but it seemed the universe had other plans.

 

Akashi was waiting for him, still wearing his work clothes.

 

“Akashicchi!” Kise chirped. “I could use a drink. Want something?”

 

Akashi shook his head contemplatively.

 

“No thank you, Ryouta,” he said politely.

 

Kise beamed and headed over to his kitchen. He pulled a bottle of Butterbeer out of the fridge and popped it open magically.

 

“This is exhausting,” Kise said, collapsing onto the couch and taking a long drink from the bottle. “You heard we managed to stop the riots?”

 

Akashi nodded sharply. His expression was calm, but Kise’s smile faltered as he noticed that Akashi’s magic was ready to lash out. The air was thick with his power.

 

“You cannot be this irresponsible. We must be prepared for the next major turning point,” Akashi said stiffly. “You nearly allowed the exposure of our world. We could have had all of our efforts wasted tonight because of your carelessness.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kise demanded, rising to his feet. “What was I supposed to do? They’re right! There can be no peace until there is justice. If they do not believe that their rights will be protected, they will continue to lash out, and none of this will matter.”

 

“I will impose justice when we are not on the brink of war!” Akashi snarled. “Your stunt tonight could have seen all of us dead by sunrise, do you understand that? What were you thinking?”

 

“I was  _ thinking  _ that a thousand witches and wizards were about to start a goddamn riot in the street and unlike you I can’t fight all of them at once!” Kise snapped. “I was  _ thinking  _ that even at the expense of exposure, we cannot allow those in authority to indiscriminately abuse that authority. I was  _ thinking  _ that if I gave those people a direction, they would  _ protest  _ instead of  _ violently rioting  _ and I was absolutely right!”

 

Akashi looked like he was about to literally breathe fire.

 

“I convinced my father to adopt you into our family as a ward of the Akashi line, and you honor that by deliberately disobeying me? “

 

Kise gaped at Akashi.

 

“I was doing what was right!”

 

“Right? You are an Akashi now. You are my brother under the law, and the old pure bloods of this country will use your actions to undermine me.”

 

Akashi’s voice was dangerously calm now.

 

“I work for the Minister, I won’t allow you to jeopardize my position in this way,” he said.

 

“I will do whatever I damn well please, Akashicchi,” Kise snarled. “And guess what? If you want to get rid of me you can, but right now I’m the  _ only  _ person in this whole goddamn country that can hold the line between the angry people in our world, and indiscriminate attacks on muggles. What do you think my fans will do when I just disappear after advocating for peace and temperance, hm?”

 

When Akashi didn’t say anything, Kise smiled.

 

“I’ll see you on the steps of the Ministry,” he said. “You can’t save the world as a tyrant, Akashicchi. I won’t let you.”

 

The floor was beginning to freeze over under Akashi’s feet. Dark red ice was crawling across the wooden floor. Kise knew he was probably at best half an inch away from a pretty gruesome death if the other man lost control, but it seemed Akashi was better than his rage. For now.

 

“You adopted me into your family as your brother because you knew I could provoke Haizaki into insulting me seriously enough to justify letting me fight an honor duel with him in your name,” Kise said quietly. “Let’s not pretend that my position is anything other than what it is, hm? I’m the pawn you used to neuter Haizaki. I won’t be used to neuter the justice system the same way. You might pretend to be absolute, but you can’t control me, just like you couldn’t control Kurokocchi. You’re not as powerful as you think you are.”

 

Kise stopped himself, horrified. He had just jumped the shark with that last insult, and he was pretty sure he was flirting with death. 

 

“Akashicchi, I didn’t mean it like that, I’m sorry, I just got all heated up, I’m sorry-”

 

Akashi held up a hand, silencing Kise. The blond wilted under Akashi’s withering glare.

Kise waited in trepidatious silence for his former captain to hand down his judgement.

 

“I see.”

 

Akashi remained silent for several more minutes before speaking again.The unnatural calm there sent shivers up and down Kise’s spine.

 

“If I can seek justice for your master without undermining my position or our end goals, I will do what I can,” Akashi said finally.

 

Kise exhaled, hardly able to believe it.

 

“But, Ryouta-”

 

Kise met his foster brother’s eyes, and saw in them a depth of darkness that terrified him more than anything he had ever seen in his life.

 

“Do not disobey me again. You will not enjoy the outcome. No one stands against me. Not anyone. Not you, not even Tetsuya.”

 

With that, Akashi apparated away.

 

Kise finally let out the breath he was holding. Feeling a little giddy and hysterical, he downed the rest of the beer in a few long gulps.

 

He had no doubt Akashi was already contemplating a way to punish him for what he had done, but Kise didn’t even care.

 

It was so worth it.

 

…

 


	36. Save A Horse, Ride A Demon?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh hey, finals are over and now all I have to do is wait for grades. And that means - A NEW CHAPTER! Happy thursday my wonderful friends, and I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. <3 <3 <3

 

…

 

The only thing anyone was talking about at school was Kise and his apparently full on bout of necromancy in the middle of Diagon Alley.

 

“I heard the Ministry is planning on charging him with practicing dark magic,” one girl said at the top of her lungs between classes, parroting an already pretty popular conspiracy theory.

 

“Well _I_ heard that the two other apprentices are being charged with it too!” her friend replied, refusing to be topped on the chain of gossip.

 

“Well obviously Allure was using her performances as a cover up to lure attractive young students into her workshop to teach them the dark art of raising the dead!” A fifth year boy cackled. The girls shrieked and ran off.

 

Kagami rolled his eyes.

 

“You’d think they’d realize after six years that his power is _illusions,_ ” he murmured under his breath. Kuroko nodded sympathetically.

 

“This school has lost its mind,” he confirmed.

 

“Then why don’t you say anything? Set them straight?”

 

“Because,” Kuroko said thoughtfully. “It is also extremely amusing.”

 

And it was, for the most part. 

 

The morning after the riots in Diagon Alley, Kuroko had been subject to an intense conversation at the Hufflepuff table on the subject of his former teammate’s apparently hitherto unknown necromantic leanings.

 

A gaggle of fifth years had gathered around the seventh years, all asking as many questions as they could while the older Hufflepuffs did their best to answer them and eat at the same time.

 

“You think he really summoned her from beyond the grave?”

 

“I think I wouldn’t put it past any of those Miracles. All of them could have passed their N.E.W.T.s as fourth years, what do you think they’ve been doing in their free time? Just playing around? Those guys have the power to change the world, and I think they decided to use it.”

 

The fifth year stared at the paper, looking a little awestruck.

 

“What do you think Kuroko?” Sakurai asked. “You competed with him.”

 

“I think it does not matter,” Kuroko said thoughtfully. “Either way, he has given voice to the anger and grief of people who did not feel they were being listened to.”

 

“Oh, that’s bullshit!” Fukuda complained. “Come on, wand to your head, do you think he could bring someone back from the dead?”

 

“If the question is one of ability…” Kuroko paused. He remembered how over a single summer between fifth and sixth years, Kise had improved so much that Kuroko could barely recognize the signature of his magic. How over the course of a single duel, Kise was able to copy Aomine’s magical signature exactly.

 

“I believe that there is no doubt he _could_ do it,” Kuroko said.

 

“See!” Kawahara crowed. “He did it!”

 

“Honestly, I just want to see what Akashi’s face looked like when he found out that Kise was egging people into protesting the ministry” Tsuchida said with a serene smile.

 

“Well, he’s right isn’t he?” Fukuda asked. “If someone dies in auror custody after killing a muggle, that’s pretty suspicious. It kind of looks like the government was looking for a reason to off her for her pro-integration politics.”

 

“Don’t lump her in with the pro-integration crowd,” Tsuchida said, rolling his eyes. “She was probably looking to start a fight because she wanted to off a muggle. People like that say one thing and all they mean is that they don’t care about the value of non-magical lives.”

 

“Plus you know half the people at that riot don’t give a shit about muggles,” Kawahara rolled his eyes. “They’re only upset because someone they liked died and they don’t think the Ministry is going to look into it.”

 

“Right,” Fukuda said. “If they cared about integration with muggles, they’d be more pissed that she actually _killed_ someone.”

 

“I don’t know man, the aurors said it was probably an accident,” Sakurai said seriously.

 

“I wonder how many people at that riot really hoped she did it on purpose,” Tsuchida replied darkly.  

 

“But don’t you think maybe that really _was_ why she went out there with her students anyway?” Kawahara asked. “She wanted to bait muggles into attacking her so she could use magic in public. She was _trying_ to agitate people.”

 

“Either way, people are gonna be yelling about the aurors who killed her at the ministry, no matter what she did,” Fukuda scowled. “Whatever she intended, she’s unified both side of the aisle against the ministry itself. Half the country wants justice for the pro-integration activist and the rest want to protect a radical who had the right idea about baiting muggles so you could have a decent excuse to off them. The Ministry has to do something.”

 

“And even if she was trying to kill someone, nobody deserves an execution without a trial,” Sakurai put in. “Kise’s right. It’s not right that the government can just try and sweep the death of someone already in custody under the rug. No matter what she did, she’s entitled to a fair chance to prove her side of the story before she gets executed.”

 

As the conversation moved on, Kuroko thought very hard about what he believed had happened in Diagon Alley. Kise learned fast, but Necromancy? It was possible, but it was significantly more likely that Kise had used an illusion and some form of magical persuasion to help sell the deal.

 

In the days and weeks that had followed, the school had been consumed by gossip about the former Hogwarts student turned potential dark wizard. By Halloween more than one teacher had banned all discussion of the event inside their classroom just to avoid having to talk over excited and gossiping students.

 

The papers had been filled with news of protests outside the ministry and nearly every single one of them featured a close up shot of Kise Ryouta, the model turned revolutionary. He was the face of the protests against the ministry.

 

Halloween morning, news broke that an investigation was being launched into the death of the master illusionist and tension was high in the school. With political opinions split evenly across Hogwarts campus, students were on the verge of brawling in the hallways. More than one fight had to be broken up between classes.

 

“This is insane,” Kagami muttered to Kuroko as they headed to Ancient Runes after lunch.

 

Nigou barked in agreement, his head popping out from inside Kuroko’s bag.

 

Kuroko had gotten Kawahara and Fukuda, who didn’t have a morning block, to help him make a Halloween costume for the dog, who had a little stuffed approximation of a pumpkin sitting on his head.

 

“Jesus Christ, warn me before you take that thing out!”

 

“You have to get used to him sometime,” Kuroko insisted. Nigou barked in agreement.

 

“No I don’t!” Kagami said, edging away. Kuroko lifted the dog up, revealing the little orange jump suit with the jack-o-lantern face on the back.

 

“He really is just adorable,” Kuroko said flatly.

 

“Get that dog away from me!” Kagami shouted, taking off running down the hall.

 

“But he loves you!” Kuroko said in an even voice, taking off after his light with Nigou in his hands. The dog was barking happily with his paws resting on Kuroko’s arms, enjoying the chase.

 

“God damn it!”

 

…

 

“God damn it!”

 

Aomine Daiki swore violently as he threw an explosive spell at another set of targets. He took them all down easily and scowled again.

 

It was September first. The Hogwarts Express would be pulling out of the station soon, and for the first time in six years, Aomine wasn’t on it. Instead he was working out his frustrations in a humid training court in downtown Boston, avoiding doing work for his mastery.

 

Here, among a sea of wizards whose light couldn’t hold a candle to Aomine’s own, the blue haired Gryffindor was floundering.

 

This was too easy.

 

There was no challenge for him, even here. He could barely concentrate on the “research” he was supposed to be doing because offensive transfiguration magic was much more fun. But even here, he wasn’t really being challenged.

 

He remembered the moment in the duel against Kagami and Kuroko, when he had been legitimately uncertain who would walk out of there the winner.

 

It had almost caught his dwindling spark of love for dueling on fire again. He’d felt alive and complete again in the face of what had seemed at first to be a difficult challenger. For the first time in over a year he’d remembered what it had been like to breathe past the vice holding his lungs in an iron grip.

 

And then Kagami had let himself be thrown off to the side like a useless rag doll and Aomine had torn through the rest of their team like tissue paper.

 

Kuroko’s devastated eyes kept haunting him, even now, and Aomine threw another explosive curse at the charred remains of his practice targets.

 

Fucking Tetsu and his fucking blue eyes and his fucking soft hair and the fucking willpower of a glacier.

 

“Daiki.”

 

“WHAT!” Aomine shouted, turning around, his hands surrounded in flames.

 

“Would you please calm down,” Akashi said politely. He didn’t look phased by the angry Gryffindor in front of him, which kind of pissed off Aomine even more.

 

Here he was, stronger than almost everyone, able to beat anyone in the world… except the man standing in front of him right now.

 

Not that Aomine wanted the headache of playing games with Akashi.

 

Aomine forced himself to relax, allowing his magic to recede casually, as though he hadn’t been inches away from barbecuing his former Captain.

 

“What’s up?”

 

“I have another one for you.”

 

Aomine shrugged, rolling his shoulders.

 

“Nice,” he said. “I was just getting bored.”

 

“I assume then that you’re up to date on your research for your mastery?” Akashi asked, knowing full well that Aomine had barely touched his mastery. He didn’t need Aomine’s confirming laugh.

 

“That shit is boring, I don’t need to do research to know that I can do this better than anyone else,” he complained.

 

“We’ll discuss that later. As I said, I have another job for you.”

 

Aomine shrugged.

 

Akashi had sent Aomine to America once they had gotten their exam scores back. Murasakibara had been positioned far in the west, but Aomine was working for a transfiguration master in Boston, thousands of miles away.

 

Akashi had been coming to him occasionally with other jobs too, like these.

 

“Where’s this one?” Aomine asked, stretching.

 

“Not far south, I commissioned a Port-key for you,” Akashi explained. “The crossing is set to erupt at about ten this evening, according to Satsuki’s research.”

 

“No problem,” Aomine said, taking the proffered coin from Akashi. “Same as the last few?”

 

“I doubt you will encounter any problems,” Akashi said smoothly. “If you do, both I and Atsushi are in the States to aid in backing you up should you require it.”

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“Like I would need any help,” he said. “Nobody can beat me but me.”

 

Akashi smiled at that.

 

“That’s the spirit, Daiki. Please let me know when the job is done.”

 

Aomine agreed.

 

“You ever gonna tell me what I’m doing on these trips you keep sending me on?”

 

Akashi’s smile didn’t fade.

 

“It is significantly safer for you to not know,” he said lightly. “Should you ever have to answer for your actions to any authority, you may honestly say that you had no idea what I was asking you to do.”

 

“AHA! So you DO have something illegal planned!” Aomine said triumphantly. Akashi actually sighed at that, looking disinterested.

 

“The laws of this land have become increasingly strict with regards to the unauthorized use of magic,” he said. “One does not save the world from a man hell bent on its destruction by _following the rules._ ”

 

Aomine laughed outright.

 

“I knew it,” he said. “You secretly love breaking the rules.”

 

“I get no satisfaction from doing what I must,” Akashi said seriously. “It is my earnest intention to make sure that we all survive this with our lives and reputations intact, however the future plays out.”

 

The mirth left Aomine’s face at Akashi’s earnest seriousness.

 

“Alright, well I’ll do what I have to. But one day I _am_ going to hear about why I’m doing this!”

 

“I promise that as soon as it is necessary or safe for you to know the purpose behind what I am asking you to do, I will tell you everything that I can.”

 

“I can live with that,” Aomine said.

 

“And Daiki?”

 

“What?”

 

“Please be careful.”

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“Don’t worry about that Akashi,” he said dismissively. “No one can beat me, but me.”

 

Akashi wasn’t smiling as he apparated away.

 

…

 

The summer air was humid. Aomine knew enough about geography to know that he was probably in a different climate than he had been moments ago.

 

He’d gone on two or three of these trips already.

 

Akashi had met with him at the end of the last school year and one on one had described what he needed Aomine to do. Aside from insisting that Aomine take a mastery, he had one more order.

 

_“Daiki, what do you know about ley lines?”_

 

_“Mostly nothing,” Aomine admitted. “It’s not like I’m taking Runes or Arithmancy and we don’t exactly cover theory in History of Magic.”_

 

_“An unfortunate truth,” Akashi agreed pleasantly. “They are… for want of a better term, magical currents that mirror the spread of electromagnetic energy under the earth. Where these lines are, our kind can draw from their power in aid of our own magic. Where these lines cross, wizards and witches have often made permanent homes and used that ambient power to protect themselves.”_

 

_Aomine nodded._

 

_“Like Hogwarts,” he said._

 

_“Perfectly like Hogwarts,” Akashi said._

 

_“So what exactly do you need me to do?”_

 

_“At the locations where these lines cross, sometimes gateways and portals will open. I will be contacting you a few times throughout the year in order to have you close them down. It will require only an influx of power, nothing particularly complicated.”_

 

_“Then why do you need me to do it?”_

 

_“It is… better if you don’t know the larger scheme,” Akashi said at last. “Perhaps we can call it plausible deniability.”_

 

_“Is this illegal?” Aomine asked, raising an eyebrow. “Forget it, you know what, I don’t care. Sure. I’ll close your damn portals.”_

 

_“Gateways,” Akashi corrected, without much faith that it would be heeded._

 

Which is why Aomine was walking alongside a river, following the map he had of the ley lines in order to locate the crossing he needed to shut down.

 

Whatever Akashi was afraid of coming through those portals, Aomine would make sure that he could rest easily. Nothing was going to get past him.

 

It didn’t take more than a few minutes of walking before he reached the site of the crossing.

 

According to the notes Akashi had given him, he didn’t have very far now.

 

In fact, as Aomine followed the river, he saw exactly what he was looking for. A bright glowing circle of green light was floating gently over the sandy incline at the side of the river up ahead of him.

 

Aomine picked up his pace, hoping to get the job done as soon as possible.

 

When he reached the incline, he slid down the sandy bank, sending sand scattering as he reached the source of the light.

 

The circle was neon green and shifting lazily. The power it was giving off felt foreign and wrong to Aomine, but he didn’t know why. The power behind the light felt cold. It wasn’t like Akashi’s ice, but something sharper, older, and malevolent. Aomine could just sense that it was dangerous.

 

Whatever Akashi wanted to stop coming through these portals was probably dangerous too.

There was no marking or indication on the ground what this site was, but that didn’t matter. Once Aomine knew what he was looking for, he could feel the power of the crossing ley lines easily enough. All he had to do was choke off this portal from the source that was feeding it, and burn away any chance of the gateway springing up again.

 

The blue haired man knelt in the sand, placing his hand on the ground as he sought the source of the portal’s power.

 

The ground under Aomine’s hand started to smoke as he poured power into the connection, severing it. The sand around him was turning black from the use of magic, but Aomine was too busy concentrating on his task to notice.

 

The light went out.

 

The ground slowly stopped smoking. Aomine felt out the area with his magic. He could still feel the ley lines, burning with power, but the portal was neutralized. It wouldn’t be able to open for quite some time, just like the other portals Aomine had dealt with over the summer.

 

It was honestly almost too easy.

 

Aomine dusted off his hands.

 

Piece of cake.

 

Aomine returned to his warm apartment only half an hour after he’d left, wondering what else he could do to put off doing his research for his mastery.

 

…

 

Before long, it was Halloween. Aomine was in a bad mood as it was; his Master had read him the riot act about his research and Aomine had spent several hours in a practice arena blowing up golems to blow off steam.

 

He supposed it was inevitable that he would get in trouble. He didn’t even have a real topic yet. It was all Akashi’s fucking fault – Aomine didn’t need nor want a mastery. He was already the strongest wizard he knew, there was absolutely no reason for him to prove it. Aomine returned to his apartment in a bad mood, glowering at the world.

 

Of course, it was at that exact moment that the object of Aomine’s frustration chose to appear in his living room.

 

“Oi, warn a guy!” Aomine shouted.

 

“Your perpetual bad mood is beginning to wear on me,” Akashi said sharply, the glint in his eyes warning Aomine that the redhead was extremely short on patience today. “I have another assignment for you.”

 

Aomine felt that he really should have seen this coming. If there was any day of the year when an otherworldly portal would choose to open, it would be Samhain. Tonight, the veil between many different worlds would grow thin and allow all sorts of beings to cross over.

 

“Sure sure,” Aomine grunted. “Where is it?”

 

“Scandinavia,” Akashi said. “I have a portkey for you.”

 

Aomine took the portkey without further verbal complaint, still scowling.

 

“And, Daiki, if you are so strapped for research ideas, you might consider beginning with the Golem of Prague and branching out from there.”

 

“Whatever,” Aomine huffed.

 

_I can’t believe this bastard is still trying to tell me what to do!_

 

“You done?”

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“Yes, I am,” he said politely. “Contact me by mirror when you are done.”

 

“Jackass,” Aomine muttered into his empty apartment once the redhead apparated away.

 

The portkey had taken Aomine to a freezing forest. The evergreen pines rose like dark shadows into the sky, their black trunks rooted in the icy ground. The floor of the forest was coated in about a foot of snow, and it was still coming down heavily.

 

Aomine took a deep breath of icy cold air, and pulled his jacket more closely around himself.

 

Akashi could have warned him just how _cold_ it would be out here _._

 

It was definitely creepy.

 

Aomine followed the coordinates Akashi had given him. He wasn’t very far from the ley lines crossing, as usual. He huffed, his breath rising up into the dark night in a fine mist.

 

Damn it really was cold.

 

Aomine cast a few belated warming charms on himself, feeling much more comfortable as he negotiated the woods. By now, he could feel the distinct call of the ley line he was following. There was a meeting of three of them in a spot not far from here. Aomine could _feel_ it, vibrating in the back of his mind.

 

He didn’t need to be told to know that this was a crossing of at least four ley lines, maybe more. It was a powerful spot. Aomine could feel the echoes and remnants of old magic here. People had been coming to this spot for ages to take advantage of the crossing of the latent power.

 

He felt the wrong, sharp, icy power of the portal before he saw its eerie green light. His shoes crunching on the snow, Aomine made his way towards the glowing gateway.

 

This one felt different than the other portals he had seen. It wasn’t just more powerful than the other portals Aomine had dealt with - it was also significantly more malevolent. This was pure dark magic.

 

On edge, Aomine resolved to shut it down as quickly as possible and get the hell out of this damn forest. This place was creeping him out.

 

The low humming sound of the portals magic in the back of Aomine’s mind wasn’t helping.

 

“Alright, let’s get this done,” he muttered to himself. He placed a hand in the snow under the portal, feeling for the powerful connection of the ley lines in order to cut off the power they were feeding into the portal.

 

Before he could sever the connection, Aomine was thrown away from the portal. The pulse of magic tossed the Gryffindor into a tree where he watched, dazed, as the portal grew to three times its original size.

 

The world seemed to shift. Aomine could feel it – something was coming. He pulled himself to his feet shakily. Every instinct in his body was telling him to run, but he knew he couldn’t leave without the job being done. Whatever was coming was dangerous and Aomine was the only one who could stop it.

 

Whatever was coming, Aomine knew that it was the reason why Akashi had sent him here to take care of these portals. Akashi expected him to finish this.

 

A black, scaled claw appeared first. Frozen, Aomine watched in horror as the claw was followed by a long, sinewy arm that was easily twice the size of his entire body.

 

He stepped back, staggering instinctively away as a face followed the arm.

 

It was grotesque, like a skeleton. The two large eye sockets burned with twin green fires. There was no nose in the bony face, which rose up into a pair of twisted horns.

 

Beneath the eyes was a terrifying mouth, dripping with a dark colored fluid, filled with rows of sharp teeth. It breathed and Aomine felt the rattling sound in his own bones.

 

The monster burst through the portal in a single bound, revealing a cadaverous body with protruding ribs. Aomine shuddered as the creature fixed burning green eyes directly on him.

 

It opened its horrific mouth and howled a terrible, loud, screeching howl. It breathed a line of green fire towards Aomine who shielded himself and jumped to safety. The flames felt like ice. Aomine winced as he looked down at his arm and saw black marks where he hadn’t been able to shield himself quickly enough. As it roared, fire erupted not just from the terrible mouth, but it seemed to catch around the creature’s entire body. It burned with green fire as it continued to advance on the blue haired wizard.

 

_What the hell is that thing?_

 

Aomine didn’t have time to think about it. The monster was coming for him again and Aomine’s only chance was to kill it before it killed him.

 

He sent a powerful severing curse at its ugly head. It hit, but it didn’t seem to have any effect other than to make the thing angry. It roared and jumped towards Aomine, who was forced to keep moving to avoid being filleted.

 

“Alright, you wanna play it that way?” Aomine asked, bracing himself for a fight. This time he threw a powerful bolt of lightning at the creature.

 

His spell should have been enough to demolish an entire city block, but when the lightning stuck, it just _disappeared._ Aomine felt his connection to the spell sever as the monster destroyed it with something that looked horrifically like a smirk on its distorted features.

 

Aomine dodged as the monster lunged at him, twisting as he threw another spell at the creature mid air.

 

The new attack was also just absorbed by the creature. This time it seemed angry. The creature screamed, and Aomine fell to his knees, covering his ears from the awful, terrible sound.

 

The monster swiped a massive claw at Aomine, who did not have the opportunity to move in time. He didn’t feel it catch, but a second later he was on the ground and his chest _hurt._

 

Aomine tried to raise his hand to cast another spell, but the demon was already on top of him, pinning him down. The grotesque face opened its snapping jaws and Aomine screamed.

 

He didn’t know what was happening, but it felt like this monster was ripping at his very _soul_ even though he hadn't felt it tear into his skin again. He was in more pain than he could ever remember having been in his entire life.

 

_I can’t believe I’m going to die here._

 

Through the haze of pain and helplessness, Aomine heard a voice.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

Aomine’s heart jumped at the sound, shocking him back into his own body. The creature looked up over his head and roared in anger. It sounded like a thousand howling wolves, like the screech of broken metal and the roar of fire, all at once. If Aomine could have, he’d have covered his ears again. 

 

As he strained to look, Aomine could see his former captain clearly, though he _felt_ more than saw the other man as he crossed the clearing in the woods.

 

Akashi was burning with magic.

 

“If you are here for a meal, I am a much larger and more appetizing one,” Akashi said.

 

The creature seemed to actually understand Akashi. It lifted up off Aomine, who breathed a sigh of relief, straining his neck so that he could see what was happening. His body felt cold and he couldn’t move, which was beginning to set into panic in the back of his mind.

 

Akashi did not look alarmed by the fact that he was now facing an unknown, dangerous creature.

 

“Careful, it doesn’t react to magic!” Aomine tried to shout, but the sound came out as more like a gurgling croak. Akashi didn’t even look in his direction, giving no inclination that he’d heard Aomine. Aomine tried to stand to help the Slytherin, but it was useless. He couldn't even move his arms enough to move over onto his stomach. There was blood on his chest but from this angle the blue haired wizard couldn't tell how much of it there was, or how badly he was injured.

 

Akashi wasn’t holding his wand anyway, when Aomine strained to focus on him again. Clearly he already had a plan to fight whatever this creature was.

 

“I name you Golgoa, hear me!” Akashi said.

 

His voice was calm. Aomine stared on in astonishment. He could feel the sharp whip of Akashi’s magic – stronger than any power he’d ever felt before.

 

Akashi was standing directly in front of the monster, hands at his side. Akashi’s wand was nowhere to be seen.

 

“I am the Speaker, and my will is absolute,” Akashi said. He could have been commenting on the weather for all that his voice betrayed no fear of the terrifying beast in front of him. And yet, despite being calm, his voice rang with power.

 

“I banish you. I abjure you. I rend you into a deeper nothingness than that from whence you crawl. I erase your being from all of creation for all time.”

 

The monster was transfixed. It breathed a deep, rattling breath, green eyes fixed on Akashi’s. The redhead’s gold eye burned so brightly it hurt to look at in the darkness of the cold forest.

 

The fire around the monster seemed to fade, and a crack in the armor-like scales on its underbelly appeared.

 

And then it began to laugh.

 

“Little Master Summoner, you are _centuries_ away from surpassing the power of a being such as me. You have a long way to go before you can match wills with me! I have crawled from the depths of the shadow realm! I have lived a thousand of your lifetimes! You will not stand in my way.”

 

Aomine was startled by the revelation that the thing could _talk,_ but he was too busy trying not to scream himself hoarse at the sound of the creature’s voice.

 

The monster snarled, jagged mouth an inch away from Akashi’s calm, unmoving face. Akashi didn't even blink. 

 

“I am the Speaker and my will is absolute,” Akashi repeated, like he was explaining it to a small child. Aomine felt the tightening of Akashi’s magic as the other man increased the power he was using. Akashi raised a hand and placed it on the demon’s face. The burning horns and snarling teeth were less than an inch away from him, but still Akashi showed no fear.

 

“Be. Gone.”

 

Smoke began to rise out from the point of contact with Akashi’s hand. The demon let out a horrifying, rending screech that made Aomine wince and wish he had enough feeling in his arms to cover his ears.

 

“My will is absolute,” Akashi sneered into its ugly, dangerous face, the first emotion he had shown all night. “I Unmake you.”

 

The demon exploded.

 

Aomine closed his eyes against the heat and the horrific sound of the creature being destroyed.

 

By the end of it, all that was left was a blackened hole in the ground.

 

“Nothing will grow here, not for a hundred thousand years,” Akashi said softly. He sounded almost sad. He placed a hand in the scorched earth.

 

“Cursed soil,” he murmured, taking several handfuls and secreting it away in a handkerchief. “Freshly made under a full moon on Samhain. This will be useful.”

 

“Useful! What the hell!”

 

Akashi seemed to snap out of the trance he was in. All business, the redhead strode swiftly to where Aomine was still on the ground.

 

“What. The hell. Was that?”

 

“Daiki,” Akashi said. “We need to talk.”

 

“Yeah!” Aomine growled. “We fucking do! Now are you going to help me out here or what?”

 

…

 

Akashi had apparated Aomine back to his apartment, setting the blue haired wizard on his bed.

 

“You’re lucky I was able to come and intervene,” Akashi said. He reached a hand into his bag and pulled out several bottles of potions.

 

“If I had known I might be fighting for my life, I would have kept my guard up!” Aomine complained. “And I would have come prepared with some heavy artillery. What the _hell_ was that thing?”

 

Feeling suddenly lightheaded, Aomine closed his eyes as the world tilted, his vision a little unfocused when he opened them again.

 

“You should always be prepared for the worst and ready to fight at a moment’s notice,” Akashi scolded him. “That you were caught unawares is no excuse. You could have died tonight. We could have lost you."

 

This, understandably, did not alleviate Aomine’s grumpy mood in any way. 

 

“Why can’t I move?” he asked.

 

“You’re in shock, but you’re going to be fine,” Akashi informed Aomine from far away. “Stay with me. The demon’s venom paralyzed you, but I have the antidote. The cuts were deep but nothing that cannot be cured by mortal essence, some magic, and a good night's rest.”

 

Akashi poured a vial of potion down Aomines throat, forcing the blue haired wizard to cough and sputter before he came back to himself. Aomine groaned as he felt the full pain of his injury.

 

Akashi considered Aomine as he applied the potions to the cut in Aomine’s torso. Aomine flinched and hissed as the pain of the antiseptic reached him.

 

“It was a demon,” Akashi said. “I suppose if the portals are becoming active again, you need to know how to fight them. I will tell you everything, but please allow me to treat your wounds first.”

 

Aomine growled and swore, but acquiesced. He would have his answers from the redhead before the other man left, anyway.

 

What felt like an age later, Akashi was done treating Aomine. He’d given Aomine an antidote to counteract the paralysis and by the time Akashi had carefully wrapped the slashes in Aomine’s stomach and chest, the other man was able to sit up and move around.

 

“Okay, spill.”

 

Akashi nodded, pushing his fringe out of his eyes. He looked tired.

 

“The ley line crossings I have been sending you to are potential sites where gateways can open,” Akashi said. “Usually it requires extremely specific circumstances and a ritual on the part of a wizard to take advantage of these gateways, but I suppose on Samhain, demons get agitated and are capable of punching through on their own.”

 

“So that thing-”

 

“Saw an opportunity as the portal fluctuated, and found its way through. Demons feed on magic, Daiki, and it would have destroyed you and gone on to destroy the nearest magical community, perhaps several of them, before the alarm would have been raised and it could have been stopped.”

 

“You didn’t think I should know that while I was hanging around these portal things there was a risk that a goddamn demon could come crawling through?” Aomine demanded, leaning forward.

 

“I did not believe the risk was significant. My intention was to avoid sharing too much information too widely.”

 

Aomine huffed again, turning away from the redhead as much as he could while still sitting on his bed.

 

“Then fill in the gaps,” Aomine said.

 

“Are you asking for a lesson?” Akashi asked, his eyebrow quirked in surprise. “I didn’t know you had such academic leanings after all.”

 

“Academic my ass, I just want to know what those things are and how to kill them!”

 

Akashi was still smirking as he leaned back in his chair, but he didn’t comment any further on Aomine’s request.

  
“Historically, magical communities did not just gather around multiple ley line crossings,” Akashi started. “They were built on those lines as first areas of defense. One of the most famous instances of a major demon invasion was born out of the crossing Hogwarts sits directly on top of. Thankfully, the Founders had advance warning and were able to fight the enemy back and close the portal. In studying the journals of Helga Hufflepuff, Satsuki and I learned the method of neutralizing natural portals that you have been using here. Ordinarily, such demon crossings happen maybe once or twice every ten years and are quietly and firmly _handled._ This year, Satsuki has found a disturbingly common pattern of active ley line crossings.”

Aomine didn’t say anything for a very long time.

 

“So this is related to that thing you and Midorima are doing.”

 

“Saving the world, yes. In the timeline that Shintarou saw, when the muggles began making war on wizards, Nash Gold brought demons into the world  to try to turn them on the muggles. Of course, once he realized that they were much more interested in eating wizards, he turned them on his political opponents. Within a matter of weeks, the wizarding community was decimated.”

 

“Just how many of those _things_ are there?” Aomine asked.

 

“An incalculable number of demons reside in the shadow realm. It would be suicide to attempt a census and useless foolishness to make such an uninformed estimate.”

 

Aomine nodded. His hand turned into a fist.

 

“Can we fight them?”

 

“You, I, and our friends, yes. Most wizards would be helpless in the face of such an attack, especially if they did not know what they were facing. Shintarou and I have been working on a contingency plan, should the worst happen, but if you are able to close the doorways between the shadow realm and our own, our kind will never be faced with the threat of annihilation.”

 

Aomine nodded.

 

“Tell me how.”

 

Akashi smiled.

 

“Banishing a demon is a matter of will and power, both of which you have in spades,” he said. “You should find yourself with no problem. I have some reading that might help you.”

 

“More homework?” Aomine groaned.

 

“Do you want to live?” Akashi raised an eyebrow. “It is unlikely that another spontaneous crossing will occur, but if it does, I would prefer not to lose you to unwariness.”

 

Aomine agreed, against his will. He had in no way been prepared to fight the terrifying monster that had crawled its way free from that portal.

 

“I’m going to bring Satsuki here,” Akashi continued. “She’s been in Peru, doing the math to predict where portals like these will open. I think it would be beneficial if she worked with you.”

 

“You mean you don’t have her working on a Mastery too?”

 

Akashi smirked.

 

“Satsuki has already completed a Mastery in Arithmancy,” he said. “She has not submitted it to her master yet because it would have to be publicized. That presents a problem as the same calculations she has used to predict the movements of duelers are the basis of her work for me at the moment and she did not want to provide our enemies insight into what we are doing.”

 

Aomine shook his head.

 

Trust Momoi to be the first of them to end up with a mastery. That girl’s brain was even more impressive than her breasts, and that was saying something.

 

“Alright, fine,” he said, flopping down on his bed. “Demons are real and Satsuki and I gotta stop the invasion. Sounds fine to me.”

 

“Thank you, Daiki,” Akashi said politely, and with a crack, he was gone.

 

Not much longer after that, Aomine fell asleep. 

 

...

 

“Ah shit,” Momoi muttered from the kitchen.

 

Aomine, who was begrudgingly reading up on the Golem of Prague (under Momoi’s threatening glare) looked up.

 

“What’s up, Satsuki?” Aomine asked lazily.

 

“A portal is going to be opening tonight,” she said. “I can’t believe I missed this.”

 

“Hey, nobody’s perfect,” Aomine tried to assure her, dodging a pillow she sent flying at him without even looking in his direction.

 

Momoi had been staying with him on and off since the incident on Halloween about a month before. She had commandeered a section of the building and created a second room purely out of magic, which she used to conduct her own research. Aomine, having seen the inside of it only once, knew that it was full of complicated charts and delicate equipment he didn’t need to know anything about and steered clear of it.

 

The only thing he really hated about living with Satsuki was that she would drive him up the wall about leaving his stuff around - something that had been perfectly acceptable only a few weeks before. But because it was easier to just do what Momoi wanted most of the time than fight with her, Aomine ended up almost always doing what she asked when she got that determined look in her eye.

 

Hence him actually doing homework at the moment.

 

“But Dai-kun, my master is taking his students to a banquet tonight, I can’t just miss it!”

 

“So? Leave it to me,” Aomine said.  “Even if something happens, this time I know how to handle myself so I’ll be fine. And you’ll be close by if I need to reach you by mirror call.”

 

“It’s not that easy to get from Peru to Wisconsin,” Momoi said.

 

“You’re worrying way too much,” Aomine groused. “Just go get ready for your thing. I can take care of this.”

 

Momoi bit her lip, still worrying.

 

“Okay,” she said. “Alright.”

 

She spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready, perfecting the careful style of her hair and her makeup. Aomine wolf whistled at the dark blue dress she came out in.

 

“I have to go soon, are you sure you’re going to be okay?” Momoi asked, her voice worried. “I should stay anyway, back you up just in case something happens-”

 

Aomine scoffed.

 

“I know what we’re dealing with now, if we get in trouble I’ll be fine,” he said. “Nobody’s dragging me down to the depths of hell, but me. Don’t worry so much, you’ll get wrinkles.”

 

Momoi screeched in anger and slapped Aomine’s arm.

 

“Don’t even talk like that, you’re the worst!”

 

Aomine grinned back at her.

 

“I told you I’ll be perfectly fine,” he said. “I’ve been doing this a while before you showed up, remember?”

 

Momoi nodded, but she still looked worried as she wrapped a scarf around her neck.

 

"Fine, but make sure you get more work done," she chided him. "You're really behind. Kise doesn't even  _have_ a master anymore and the Guild might assign him a new one and give him a mastery before you finish deciding on a topic!"

 

Aomine laughed outright.

 

"Fine, fine, what did you think I was doing right now?"

 

Memo's face softened, and she smiled genuinely at the man. She fastened the belt on her coat securely, huffing at the thought of walking out into the cold.

 

“Merlin it is freezing out here,” she muttered. “I miss Peru.”

 

“Yeah?” Aomine asked. “You spend much time walking around in a bikini?”

 

Momoi threw a spell at him as she left. His quick reflexes allowed Aomine to deflect it quickly and he was left chuckling as he prepared himself to go shut down another crossing.

 

 _You’d think that portals could wait until summer to start opening,_ Aomine thought bitterly as he climbed through several feet of snow. _I’d love to be in Peru right now._

 

This portal was in the middle of a forest of brown corn plants spread far in front of him. Struggling with the urge to just burn the whole field down to make his job easier, Aomine followed the sound of humming to its source, the bright green light that popped into existence just as Aomine got there.

 

Cautiously, Aomine approached the portal.

 

This time, he didn’t even get close before he felt the pulse of magic bursting from the portal.

 

Aomine reared back in alarm as the portal began to glow an even brighter green.

 

His eyes widened as he recognized the signs of the gateway activating.

 

The blue haired Gryffindor was frozen as a dark, scaled claw reached out of the glowing portal.

 

Another demon. Crap.

 

This one was fast, too. It had the same cadaver-like appearance as the last member of it’s kind that Aomine had fought, except it moved on all fours, with a more twisted spine, and it had an elongated jaw, like a grotesque version of a dog.

 

This one also had a long tail covered in deadly looking barbs.

 

What had Akashi said?

  
“I uh - I abdore you - shit that isn’t right-”

 

Even knowing what to expect, Aomine was still caught off guard by the fire.

 

The fireball exploded right where Aomine had been standing a half second before. He could feel the heat licking at his skin as the demon turned, fixing its gaze on where Aomine had moved. It’s barbed tail swished behind it, taking out a solid portion of the corn field.

 

 _Maybe I should have just burned it down anyway,_ Aomine thought sardonically.   

 

“My will is absolute - ”

 

Aomine was cut off by the demon’s barbed tail slashing at his chest, slicing through his robes and skin like it was tissue paper.

 

Aomine shouted a curse and rolled out of the way of the demon as it brought slashing claws down where he was standing. It screamed into the night as the target of its attack managed to escape again.

 

“Yeah yeah fuck off,” Aomine said. He honestly couldn’t remember what it was Akashi had said or done, but he was pretty sure it wouldn’t work anyway. He’d read the entries in the book Akashi had given him like three times. Satsuki had lectured him on the techniques from the book on at least twice that many occasions, but right now the only thing running through his mind was how he could survive. His best chance was to do what he did best.

 

Aomine took off running again as the demon swung its tail, trying to hit him. When it missed, Aomine had to shield himself from the swiping reach of those terrible claws. He wasn’t able to do so fast enough and it ripped into his left arm.

 

Aomine hissed and cursed in pain. He rolled away as the demon opened its mouth, leaving a trail of bright red blood seeping from its jaws into the snow. He’d felt it as the demon had tried to leech away at his magic while in contact with his skin. He was lucky his flesh had given way before he’d been drained entirely dry.

 

The demon didn’t seem too bright, unlike the last demon Akashi had banished. It took several moments for this one to realize that its prey had escaped the grasp of its jaws before it  looked around trying to find it again.

 

That screeching, grinding scream was starting to grate on him. It shook the trees around them, sending flocks of birds fleeing for safety from the intruder.

 

Aomine staggered to his feet and ran towards the demon, avoiding another spray of fire. He had an idea. It was entirely insane and more than likely to get him killed, but he didn’t have another option.

 

“Come on, just let me get close,” he muttered. “Just a little closer.”

 

Aomine cast a featherlight charm on his shoes and jumped away from another burst of fire, landing directly on the demon’s back.

 

With a whooping cheer, Aomine gripped the bony back as hard as he could, concentrating as much as possible with the demon bucking and roaring underneath him. He threw as much magic as he could into the transfiguration, willing the hide underneath him to change its nature at his order.

 

Aomine’s magic had no effect and he was thrown free of the demon.

 

The wizard went sailing several yards, past the edge of the field, landing in a bank of snow.

 

He was lucky for the cold weather, or he’d have probably been dead when he hit the ground. Not so far away, he could hear the demon sniffing around for him like some kind of demented dog. The blood still seeping from his arm was staining the snow red wherever he moved and Aomine felt himself wobble a little.

 

Aw shit.

 

Akashi had said that these things eat magic. Both demons he’d fought had been able to dismantle his spells before they reached them as though Akashi had never cast them at all. It didn’t just feed on magic, it was highly resistant to its effects. But Aomine had felt Akashi’s power - he knew the _right kind_ of magic would work on them.

 

Aomine took stock of his surroundings and quickly came up with a backup plan as he heard the monster coming closer to him.

 

Aomine pulled a dead stalk of corn free from the earth, and let it change under his hands. Pure iron, ice cold from the ground from whence it had been pulled. Aomine could execute the transfiguration without so much as a thought now.

 

Just in time, the monster came bursting free from the corn, growling as it found its prey.

 

“Hey, ugly!” Aomine yelled. “Take this back to hell with you!”

 

Aomine threw the sharpened pike as hard as he could, magic lending strength to his uninjured arm as the iron was launched through the air and pierced the demon's skull. The creature reared back on its hind legs, screeching in what Aomine supposed had to be pain, if these things could feel anything as banal as that.

 

This demon definitely wasn’t as smart as the last demon he had fought. Aomine watched as it went on a confused, angry rampage, its prey forgotten in the snow, confirming his earlier supposition that this was a lesser enemy than the one that had taken him down in the forests of Scandinavia.. While the demon was busy screeching, Aomine made his move. He jumped, landing on the horned head of the horrific creature, and held onto his makeshift weapon for dear life.

 

Aomine had his way in, past the demon’s seeming impenetrable hide. Using the iron pole as a conduit for his magic, Aomine focused all his power on the screeching demon below him. He was flying back and forth, slamming repeatedly up and against the demon’s facial bones, but he didn’t let it tear away his focus.

 

Aomine reached deep within the demon, letting his power bleed through the pole.

 

“You’ve got nothing on me,” Aomine growled. “I’m undefeatable. Nobody can beat me, but me!”

 

The demon shook its head. If Aomine had not been holding onto the pole, he’d have been thrown into the air again, but he slammed against the thing’s horn, cursing as he lost control of his magic.

 

“No you don’t!” he yelled with all the force in his lungs. “You aren’t shit!”

 

He could feel his magic working this time, starting with the soft inner tissue. The demon screamed as its body was transfigured.

 

“Shut the fuck up,” Aomine growled, pouring out more and more magic. The ice was beginning to reach the demon’s bones, freezing its skeleton from the inside out. He could feel the thing’s life force being drawn out of it with every millimeter of progress he made. Akashi had not been kidding when he’d said these things were resistant to magic.

 

Aomine didn’t know how much time had passed before the demon gave one last huff and fell still. His bruised body continued hanging from the pole as the ice began encasing the entire demon, turning otherworldly scale and skin into harmless frozen water.

 

The ice reached up and around the creature, turning it into the ugliest ice statue the world had ever seen.

 

Aomine turned the last of the dead creature’s bones to ice and jumped free of its body, landing in the snow. He was shaking - his warming charms had long since failed and the huge amount of magic he’d just used was taking a toll. And yet, he still had work to do.

 

Fighting exhaustion, injury, and the cold, Aomine brought lightning crashing down onto the demon, shattering it into a thousand unrecognizable pieces and leaving them scattered across the field.

 

Quiet fell.

 

Aomine limped a few feet forward, exhaustion coming over him.

 

That had been _tough._

 

But he wasn’t done. Whoever came across this scene would have questions about the blood and the fire, and he needed to hide what had happened.

 

With whatever strength he had left, Aomine called down another storm, striking the ground around him. The boom of the thunder comforted him as he closed his eyes against every strike, burning away any trace of what had been here.

 

Freak thunderstorm, people would accept. But if anyone came and discovered the remains of a fight with a demon, Akashi would just murder Aomine wherever he stood. There was a reason Akashi had gone to such extreme lengths to keep this secret.

 

When he was done, Aomine staggered over to the portal and placed a bloody hand on the ground underneath it.

 

The ground began to smoke where the light had been shining, before starting to burn. Focusing his power, Aomine closed the portal down.

 

He knew that he’d been successful when the light behind his eyelids dimmed completely. When it was fully dark around him, Aomine allowed himself to sway. The world tilted dangerously sideways, and then he was out.

 

…

 

When Aomine woke up, he was warm.

 

He hadn’t expected that.

 

Slowly, he opened his eyes. He was hit by the pain in every one of his limbs as he tried to move and hissed in response.

 

“Oh good, you’re awake.”

 

Aomine groaned internally. He did not want a lecture from Murasakibara at the moment.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?”

 

“You should be grateful,” Murasakibara chided Aomine. It sounded like he was in Aomine’s kitchen, which would have concerned Aomine more under ordinary circumstances, but the room still felt like it was moving around him. When he tried to focus his eyes to see the source of the voice a splitting pain wracked his skull and he winced.

 

Okay, staying still for now was a better plan.

 

“Why should I be grateful?” Aomine demanded. “I feel like I got stepped on by a giant.”

 

“You basically did,” Murasakibara said. He sounded closer now. “You went into magical shock because you decided to expand all your magical power in one go. I felt it on the other side of the _country_. Sa-chin told me to slap you and tell you ‘congratulations you proved you have the biggest dick’.”

 

“Satsuki? Is she okay?”

 

“Aside from you giving her a heart attack? She’s fine. She also said you deserve almost dying for not doing your homework.”

 

“Die?” Aomine croaked as Murasakibara came into hazy view.

 

“Yeah, you almost died of magical exhaustion,” Midorima said impatiently. He not so gently helped Aomine sit up and held a mug to his lips.

 

“Drink.”

 

“I’m not gonna let you feed me-”

 

Aomine sputtered around the hot chocolate as Murasakibara tipped it into his mouth despite his protests.

 

He inhaled about half the cup before Murasakibara pulled it away again.

 

“Mine-chin, you need to be more careful,” he said.

 

“Yeah yeah,” Aomine said.

 

“What were you even doing?”

 

“You really don’t know?” Aomine asked, watching Murasakibara carefully. The Slytherin shook his head, his long purple hair sweeping from side to side with him.

 

“I don’t think Aka-chin wants me to know,” Murasakibara decided, shrugging. “Or I would already know what you were doing.”

 

Aomine accepted this reasoning. It seemed Aomine wasn’t the only one he was keeping secrets from, but maybe it really was safest that way.

 

“You good for the rest of this?” Murasakibara asked, holding up the cup.

 

Aomine nodded, determinedly reaching for it. His arm was shaking and in pain, but it was also already feeling a little better.

 

“What is it?” he asked hoarsely.

 

“Hot chocolate,” Murasakibara hummed. “Special recipe.”

 

“It’s good,” Aomine said. He took a long drag of the drink, determined not to spill any. He was mostly successful.

 

“You really worried Sa-chin,” Murasakibara said, standing up. “You’re lucky you didn’t kill yourself and you’re lucky she was watching out for you. I’ll bet that seconds after I left that place was crawling with American aurors.”

 

“Probably, but they won’t find anything anyway,” Aomine said. “I burned it.”

 

“Not the point,” Murasakibara said, wandering around Aomine’s apartment and peering at the piles of unwashed robes and scraps of notes.

 

“Akashi making you take a mastery too?” Aomine asked as Murasakibara looked at the very small pile of meager notes Aomine had collected on the subject.

 

“Yeah,” Murasakibara said. “He’s right you know, that we can help him better when we have the authority of a mastery behind us.”

 

Aomine nodded. Suddenly he was feeling extremely tired. The mug started slipping from his hands, but it was gently levitated back over to the table next to him.

 

“You’re gonna rest for a bit,” Murasakibara said. “I’ll wait here until you’re ok or Sa-chin can get back.”

 

Aomine was already out.

 

He drifted in and out of sleep for a bit. Murasakibara made him drink another mug of extremely sweet hot chocolate later on, but Aomine fell back asleep before he could ask how long he had been out for.

 

When Aomine truly woke again, it was dark outside and Murasakibara was reading in his armchair by the fire, a half eaten pile of cookies on the table beside him.

 

“How long was I out?” Aomine asked. Murasakibara looked up.

 

“Eh? A few hours, maybe. There’s cookies if you want, but I think if you’re awake and ok now you shouldn’t need me to go get a healer.”

 

Aomine tried sitting up and found he could do so much easier.

 

“I’m fine,” he said. “You don’t have to stay.”

 

“Sa-chin will be mad at me…”

 

“But Akashi will want you doing the job he asked you to do, right?” Aomine asked. “I’ll be fine, promise.”

 

“Okay,” Murasakibara shrugged, standing up. “I left some cookies I think. I ate most of them.”

 

“It’s fine,” Aomine waved his hand. “Thanks. I’ll see you around.”

 

Murasakibara paused, before looking back down at the book in his hands.

 

“Mine-chin, can I borrow this?”

 

“Yeah, sure, whatever just get out of here already. I’m fine, don’t let Akashi or Satsuki say otherwise. I don’t need a babysitter.”

 

Murasakibara grabbed the book, still leafing through it as he apparated away.

 

“Fucking asshole,” Aomine growled, throwing himself onto his bed. “Bastard couldn’t even give me the dignity of pretending I’m fine.”

 

At least it hadn’t been Midorima, Aomine mused humorlessly. The green haired Ravenclaw would have been physically incapable of holding himself back from lecturing Aomine like a mother and Aomine didn’t think his dignity could survive that in his current state.

 

His apartment did not respond, not that he expected it to.  

 

Still, as the night settled in, Aomine smiled to himself.

 

He’d just kicked the ass of a fucking _demon,_ who else could say that? And he’d done it without any of Akashi’s fancy tricks too. He really was the best there had ever been.

  
…


	37. Murasakibara Whines And Kagami Pines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's a *little* early but I'm sure nobody minds. Here were are reaching just that much closer towards the closing act of Arc II, and things are getting mysterious and dangerous all over again. We have reached uncharted territories my friends, so I hope you are all wearing your seatbelts.
> 
> Your captain would again like to remind you that the "it gets a lil violent later kiddos" means its happening now, and it should be read with the "graphic descriptions of violence" tag for good reason. Its not necessarily relevant for this exact chapter, I just want to make sure you continue to be aware. Otherwise, please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times as we go full steam ahead into the wild blue yonder #600kOrBust

 

…

 

Kagami got a letter from Alex two days before Christmas. The warding master was comfortably residing in China at the moment, working on an archeological dig somewhere in the far north.

 

Unfortunately, the rest of her news was not quite as uplifting.

 

Alex had gotten word from a former apprentice who was still in the United States that the protests in North Dakota against the forced integration of Native tribes into the American wizarding community were over. At some point in the last week tensions on the front lines of the protests had grown high and spell fire was exchanged. After several days of violent conflict the government sent in military police to arrest every witch and wizard resisting the aurors there.

 

As far as Alex’s contact knew, Kagami’s father had still been there when the aurors had started arresting people and nobody had seen him since.

 

Kuroko found him sitting on one of the moving staircases, holding the letter, lost in thought.

 

“What happened?”

 

Kagami didn’t even jump at the sudden appearance of his shadow. He didn’t even glance up, but his fist tightened around the paper he was holding.

 

“I think I need to go home,” Kagami said hoarsely.

 

“Why do you think that?” Kuroko asked calmly, lowering himself onto the steps beside Kagami.

 

“My dad got arrested protesting against the government,” Kagami said, closing his eyes. “My dad’s tribe – they’re going to dismantle it and try and force them all to live in the controlled areas just for wizards. Nash Gold is going to fully tear apart the magical and mundane communities until there isn’t any contact left between them. It doesn’t matter if some mundanes have known about magic forever and have never done a single thing about it. It doesn’t matter that he’s going to rip families apart. He’s going to destroy their culture and I’m stuck here, wasting my time when I could be helping.”

 

Kuroko didn’t try to talk for a long time.

 

“This is only temporary.”

 

“No, this is a waste of goddamn time!” Kagami groaned, getting to his feet. “I’m here and I should be over there. My mom was right the whole time; I should be out protesting on the streets, not wasting my time at school! I should be going to try and burn down the Capital or something. I don’t know what, but I have to help somehow! Nobody’s gonna give a shit what N.E.W.T.s I’ve got if Gold takes over!”

 

Kuroko scrambled to his feet, looking concerned.

 

“Kagami-”

 

Kuroko wasn’t prepared for Kagami to slam his hand against the stone wall behind him. Fire flared out from the point of impact and Kuroko could feel the boy’s power sparking like never before.

 

“I trusted you!” Kagami shouted. “And here we are: I’m not getting any stronger and we’re just stuck here. There aren’t even any strong duelists to practice against anymore! I’m stuck spinning my wheels while the world is out there on fire! We should be _doing something!_ ”

 

“What would you do if you were there?” Kuroko demanded. Kagami hadn’t seen this level of passion from the other wizard in a long time and was taken aback by it.

 

“I could have helped fight!”

 

“No, you would have gotten arrested,” Kuroko replied succinctly. “You would be in jail and then you wouldn’t be helping anyone.”

 

“So then nothing would be different!” Kagami snarled. “I’d just be wasting my time somewhere less boring!”

 

Kuroko didn’t flinch at the raised tone of voice. In fact, he seemed to deflate in front of Kagami. The fire flickered out behind his eyes almost as quickly as it had come and his expression flattened. When he spoke, his voice was so soft Kagami had to strain to hear him.

 

“If you feel that way then maybe you should have stayed in America.”

 

Kuroko turned and strode away. Kagami was left stunned, glaring at Kuroko’s back as the other wizard left him standing in the middle of the hallway.

 

Muttering angrily to himself, Kagami went to the pitch to see if he could borrow one of the school brooms and fly until he forgot why he was angry to begin with. They weren’t exactly top of the line, but neither was anything Kagami had flown in America.

 

The ground was covered in a foot and a half of snow, but the sky was clear enough to fly. Kagami judged he still had a few hours of light as he trudged towards the shed by the Quidditch pitch where the school brooms were kept.

 

Where did Kuroko get off being angry at him for being upset that his dad had been arrested? Kagami felt like his home country was on fire and he was too far away to help put it out. Hell, Tatsuya and that giant purple Miracle were both in a better position than he was to do something about the situation abroad.

 

What was he supposed to do? Just sit here and focus on class like a good little kid? What the hell did grades matter? What did school matter? What did any of it matter when the real world was in real danger and nobody seemed able to do anything about it? At the very least Kagami was more than powerful enough to go help protect the protestors. But would that even matter? Was Kuroko right that the only thing they could do is help from afar?

 

He found the shed unlocked and signed out the broom that looked like it was the least in need of immediate repair. It had been a long time since Kagami had flown and he didn’t want to chance anything with a finicky broom. Still feeling angry without cause, he kicked off the icy ground and tried to kill a few hours without thinking about his argument with the blue haired wizard.

 

It didn’t really work; by the time the sun had set over the distant hills and Kagami made his shivering way back to the castle, he was no more centered than he had been when he left.

 

Kagami slept fitfully. He was still trying to calm his churning emotions when he woke up the next morning. It was the day before Christmas and his dorm was completely empty. Tsugawa and Takao had both found other places to be for the holidays.

 

Kagami couldn’t help but continue to replay the argument he’d had with Kuroko the day before. He felt the burn of irritation deep under his skin. He felt itchy from spending so much time cooped up in the castle. He should be moving and fighting, not staying still.

Kuroko might be content to hide, unnoticed, on the sidelines, but Kagami could not.

 

Kagami wrapped himself in his winter gear and made a beeline for the Entrance Hall.

 

It seemed that the weather had deteriorated overnight. Kagami pulled open the heavy doors and was confronted with a powerful blast of icy wind.

 

The sky was dark grey and snow was falling heavily. Another foot and a half had accumulated overnight. Kagami pulled the door closed behind him and ventured out into the cold.

 

 _Ain’t no half assed snow storm going to stop me,_ he thought with determination. He’d never been out in a real snow storm before coming out to the frozen hills of Scotland, but once he set his mind to do something, Kagami Taiga was almost impossible to dissuade from following through on it.

 

Kagami summoned a ball of fire to help keep him warm and clear the way as he crossed the grounds. With his path carved for him Kagami didn’t take very long to get to his destination and sign out the same broom he had been using the day before.

 

This time, Kagami mounted the broom much more confidently and took off, his mind still swarming with thoughts.

 

Should he stay? Should he be making a beeline for his home country? Kagami executed a barrel roll as he considered his options. He entertained a brief fantasy of waging a one man war on an American prison and freeing his father, but even he knew that that wasn’t going to happen.

 

He knew his mother had been working on a vocal political opposition to Nash Gold, but it wasn’t as though Kagami was particularly politically savvy. Just the opposite. He had the family magic, but it wasn’t exactly useful unless his mother was planning a siege of her own against the wizarding government of America.

 

Kagami cursed as a particularly heavy gust of wind nearly sent him spiraling into the stands. He pointed the broom upwards and gained about fifty feet of altitude, rising into the storming sky as he thought.

 

He couldn’t get Kuroko’s eyes out of his mind either. The dead way that Kuroko had looked at him after their argument in the hallway chilled him even more than the winter storm and made Kagami pause as he thought about his future.

 

What was the blue haired wizard’s problem, anyway? Kagami had never asked the damn kid to be his shadow! Kagami never asked for shit from him! He didn’t know what the hell the other wizard could possibly expect from him in response.

 

He remembered, because it was not so very long ago, seeing the small boy watching him play basketball on a court in Los Angeles. Kagami remembered how excited he had been, knowing that this kid was a wizard and, even better, was one of those rare wizards who truly loved dueling. He’d been so disappointed to learn that Kuroko was no more a match for him than a mundane person. Then Kuroko had revealed the true extent of his abilities, and Kagami had been in _awe._

 

Kuroko had to know that among wizards, his power was truly unique, and that made him special. And yet the blue haired student refused to see it.

 

The Hufflepuff was fearless, too. Kagami had seen him running towards the tornado of power Midorima had used to attack them during a duel. It had been Kuroko who had shut down the green haired wizard for good, even after all the power Kagami had couldn’t help him keep up with the Ravenclaw.

 

Was it that which drew Kagami towards Kuroko?

 

No. That night on the court right before Kagami had gotten on a plane to London, when Kuroko had revealed the extent of his own power, Kagami had been excited. But Kagami could pinpoint the exact moment in which he’d known that he was going to throw in his fate with Kuroko Tetsuya.

 

It had been on that dark night, the last one they had spent together that first summer in Los Angeles, when the smaller wizard had turned to Kagami. With eyes that burned with a determination that was the brother to the fire in Kagami’s own soul, Kuroko had made his ultimatum.

 

_I will be the shadow to your light._

 

This small wizard had somehow wormed his way under Kagami’s skin without him realizing it. It was so _easy_ being friends with Kuroko that Kagami hadn’t noticed how much of himself he’d shared with the other man. They had met each other’s families _._ They had fought by each other’s side and had made an oath to take on the world together, whatever that meant now that the Generation of Miracles had left Hogwarts.

 

Kuroko made him want to be a better person.

 

Realization hit him like a brick.

 

“Oh, shit!”

 

Kagami had been halfway through a flip in the middle of the air when he lost his grip in utter surprise. He had forgotten that he was flying, about the storm, about everything except the truth that was suddenly revealed to him like clouds passing to allow the sun to shine through again.

 

Luckily, Kagami wasn’t too far off the ground. He fell off his broom, landing fifteen feet down in a heavy pile of snow. He looked up at the storming sky with wide, red eyes.

 

_Fuck me, I’m the world’s biggest idiot._

 

Like those moments just after the very simple answer to a cleverly worded riddle was revealed, Kagami felt like a moron for not having put the pieces together sooner.

 

He _had a crush on his dueling partner._

 

Kagami blew snow out of his own face as he stared up at the sky.

 

_He liked Kuroko._

 

As in, he was full on, head over heels, in total gay crush-love with the blue haired Hufflepuff, and hadn’t even known it until just now. Huh, that was it. Kagami had followed the other wizard across the ocean and accepted the moniker of his light without any complaint. He’d defended Kuroko’s honor against the five Miracles, who –

 

Oh shit.

 

Oh _shit._

 

Kagami found himself suddenly very thankful that none of the Miracles were at Hogwarts anymore, because he was pretty sure they would fillet him if they knew.

 

Kagami huffed and suddenly realized how cold he was. He held up his hand to summon the broom back into his grip. It came flying through the storm, thankfully undamaged. Kagami used it to lift himself up out of the snow.

 

Kuroko was right. Kagami couldn’t do anything now, but with the force of his N.E.W.T.s and the completion of his education, he would be in a better position to help the family he had left behind. He was a front line soldier, and waiting was not his forte, but this time he couldn’t just charge right into battle without thinking about it.

 

Broom returned, Kagami made his way back up towards the castle. Even warming charms could do little to keep the increasingly bad storm at bay. It took him much longer to get back to the castle than it had taken him to come down to the pitch. Finally he was standing in the Entrance Hall dripping newly melted snow onto the cobblestones and trying to get warm again.

 

Kagami heard the barking long before he saw the dog. He winced as the noise echoed down the hallways. While he was looking for somewhere to hide, Nigou came racing around the corner with Kuroko hot on his heels. The Hufflepuff’s sleeves were drawn up to the elbow and his robes were missing. Both wizard and dog were covered in pink suds.

 

Kagami held up a hand to cover his smile as Kuroko corralled his pet and picked up the happily struggling animal.

 

“Kagami-”

 

Kuroko paused, looking cautiously up at Kagami as though he was bracing for another outburst. Kagami sighed. He really hated it when the other wizard looked at him like that; it was like Kagami had dangled Nigou off the astronomy tower (no matter how many times he’d fantasized about doing exactly that when the dog snuck up on him and scared him he would never actually do it).

 

“Did you go out in that storm?” Kuroko asked. Kagami just nodded, his teeth chattering a little.

 

“Come on, I’m giving Nigou a bath, you can help me and warm up at the same time if you want to.”

 

Kuroko seemed to hesitate at the end of this sentence, as though he wasn’t sure that Kagami was going to agree. Kagami sighed, resigning himself to spending Christmas Eve with a terrifying dog.

 

“Yeah, lead the way,” he said.

 

As he followed the Hufflepuff with an arm full of happy, sudsy pup down the stairs, realization hit.

 

He couldn’t ever tell Kuroko about his feelings.

 

Kuroko called Kagami his light, but Aomine had been the first one to be called that. Kuroko had cajoled Kagami into service for the sole purpose of convincing Aomine that dueling and magic were fun. Kuroko had gone to war with all of his former teammates, but in retrospect, Kagami could see the underlying feelings and tension that had driven Kuroko.

 

And who could blame Kuroko for pining after Aomine? The wizard was strong, powerful, and extremely athletic. Even Kagami had felt his heart pounding as they faced off in their arguments in the hallways and again on the dueling pitch. Aomine might be a jackass, but he was Kuroko’s jackass.

 

Kagami felt his stomach twist uncomfortably.

 

Having decided that he was staying away from America for now, he seemed to have doomed himself to a broken heart. He was a convenient replacement for Aomine, that was all. There was no way that he could ever hold a candle to a wizard as miraculous and extraordinary as Aomine Daiki, the asshole who had left a giant hole in Kuroko’s heart.

 

Well, Kagami might not be able to do anything about the situation in his own country, but he could help his friend win back the guy he was in love with, even if Kuroko was too polite to say it out loud.

 

Suddenly, Kagami looked around and realized he’d been walking on his own for a while and had lost sight of the Hufflepuff and his dog. He whirled around in a circle, trying to locate the other wizard.

 

“Kuroko? Oi, Kuroko!”

 

Kuroko stuck his head out of the doorway a few feet behind Kagami. There was now a pile of pink suds on top of his light blue hair – and how the hell did it even get there, especially so fast?

 

“I’m right here, there’s no need to shout.”

 

…

 

“I’m here!” Murasakibara shouted, apparating into the living room of his apartment in Los Angeles. Himuro was sitting on the couch, obviously having waited up for him.

 

“Your friend alright?” Himuro asked, putting aside the mug he was drinking from.

 

“Yeah, he’s okay now,” Murasakibara said.

 

“What happened to him?” Himuro asked.

 

“Eh? I don’t think I should say,” Murasakibara mused. “Aka-chin wouldn’t like it.”

 

“Well then you don’t have to,” Himuro said. “I was just worried when you never came home.”

 

“Why? If anything happened or someone tried to attack me I would just crush them.”

 

Himuro looked at a loss for a moment before he chuckled.

 

“That’s right,” he said, a little bitterly. “You don’t really need to worry about staying safe, do you?”

 

Murasakibara reached over the distance between them and ruffled Himuro’s hair.

 

“It’s cute of you to worry anyway,” he said. Himuro smiled, this time much more genuinely. “Do we still have vanilla cookies?”

 

“I made a second batch, they’re on the counter,” Himuro said, tilting his head towards the kitchen.

 

Murasakibara held out a hand and two cookies floated over from the plate. The purple haired wizard threw himself into an armchair, munching on one of them happily.

 

As he took a bite into the vanilla sphere, lavender sparkles shot out of the inside of the cookie. The filling oozed with raspberry jam and it popped like little fireworks in Murasakibara’s mouth.

 

“I wish I could send some of these to Kuro-chin,” Murasakibara mused. “Your baking is amazing.”

 

Himuro smiled indulgently, turning a page in his textbook and making a note on the outline in front of him.

 

Murasakibara liked his roommate. For all that Himuro was more insistent on studying than Murasakibara would have liked, the American was generally extremely laid back. He cared very little for what other people thought of him and was rarely motivated by the same external pressures most wizards felt.

 

Even more appealingly, Himuro Tatsuya was a stress baker, which worked out well for Murasakibara. He liked sweet foods because they made him happy, something not much else did these days – especially with the stress Aka-chin kept putting on him.

 

“You ready for the exam tomorrow?” Himuro asked casually after a few minutes. Murasakibara shrugged as he ate the last of the vanilla cookie and started on the second one in his hand.

 

“What exam?”

 

Himuro rolled his eyes.

 

“You’re gonna get kicked out of the program if you don’t do the work you know,” he chided Murasakibara. “You might have more than enough power, but to get a mastery in Abjuring you really have to understand the theory too. It's not just all blowing shit up."

 

“I hate homework. And it  _is_ mostly blowing things up. That's why I like it."

 

“If you help me study for the test tomorrow I’ll show you how to make the fudge you really like,” Himuro said immediately.

 

Murasakibara trained purple eyes on his fellow apprentice, knowing full well what Himuro was doing.

 

“Are you going to keep trading baking recipes to bribe me into studying so I don’t fail?” he asked.

 

Himuro nodded.

 

“As long as it continues working,” he admitted without even a hint of remorse. “Look at it this way: It’s a win-win situation for both of us. You pass and we both get sweets while we bake. Your side benefit is getting to learn how to fill your cravings for sweets whenever you want.”

 

“So Muro-chin is whoring out his baking knowledge to get both of us a mastery?”

 

Himuro burst out laughing.

 

“Whatever works, man,” he said. “I don’t have nearly enough power to make an excellent wizard, so I have to use my smarts to get me there. If my knowledge of baking is worth an extra pair of eyes on my notes, then yeah. I’ll whore out my baking knowledge.”

 

Murasakibara summoned a third cookie, thinking over the offer.

 

“Fine, what’s the exam on?”

 

Himuro smiled like he’d just been told that he won a truly excellent prize at a very difficult game. Murasakibara filed that odd reaction away into the pile of things that were interesting, but unworthy of the energy it would take to focus any attention on them, where most of the information he processed sat. He moved over to the couch so that he and his roommate could look over the same set of notes.

 

It looked like the night, which had already been long, was going to get even longer.

 

…

 

Akashi asked Murasakibara to check in with him in person during the first week of November, about a week and a half after Momoi had frantically begged Murasakibara to go save Aomine. Murasakibara used the portkey Akashi sent him to travel directly to the redhead’s office. The giant Miracle wasn’t quite sure where Akashi was making his base of operations for this venture, and didn’t much care. It didn’t affect him either way, so long as he could talk to Akashi when he needed to.

 

It seemed he wasn’t the only one there, however. Kise was having an argument with Akashi –which was useless and stupid, as far as Murasakibara was concerned. The blond was red in the face and Akashi looked pissed, which meant this had been going for a while.

 

“Is it that hard to just to do what Aka-chin tells you?” Murasakibara asked, garnering the attention of both wizards. “He’s always right so you might as well just save yourself having to argue for an hour before he finally convinces you to do what he wants anyway. It’s a lot less effort.”

 

“Nobody asked your opinion Murasakibaracchi!” Kise glared at the much larger wizard even as Akashi smirked at the support from another Miracle.

 

Kise rounded on his former captain, clearly eager to continue whatever dispute had started before Murasakibara showed up.

 

“What the hell more do you want from me?” Kise demanded angrily. “I stopped an entire goddamn riot in its tracks without any magical compulsion whatsoever. I took control of Master Allure’s narrative before she could be turned into a martyr for the pureblood supremacists - the same supremacists that want to make it open season on muggles - and I have been successfully controlling that narrative ever since! I toned down her politics to focus on using her death as a vehicle for more transparent government! Since Halloween, most people have forgotten about her thoughts on muggles anyway!”

 

Murasakibara sighed.

 

“Ara, Aka-chin what do you want from me so I can go?”

 

“Atsushi,” Akashi said, not taking his eyes off the blond wizard. “Thank you for coming. Ryouta, we’re done here.”

 

“I’ll never be good enough, will I?” Kise asked, realization hardening his features. "What are you waiting for me to do?"

 

“Stop. Failing.”

 

Akashi’s tone was so sharp it could have cut diamonds.

 

“I’m doing my best!”

 

“That is what I meant,” Akashi said coldly. “Ryouta, I need you to calm the people down, not rile them up so that they are distracting the government when they need to focus on the legislation I am putting through.”

 

“If I ignored what made them angry, they would stop listening to me!”

 

“Direct their attention towards Wizengamot bill 2265 and _help me_ instead of working against me!”

 

Kise grit his teeth, but he nodded.

 

“Fine,” he said. “Give me the bill, I’ll read it and figure out how to market it for you.”

 

“Then I will see you in a few weeks for the vote.”

 

“I suppose you will.”

 

Kise stormed out of the office, the folder clutched tightly in his hand.

 

“Atsushi, I appreciate you waiting,” Akashi began.

 

“It wasn’t that long,” Murasakibara waved away the need for the apology with a swipe of one of his large hands.

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“I believe I have some more information that will be helpful to you,” Akashi said. “I outlined the specifics in here, but when the time comes, you will know what to do with this information.”

 

Murasakibara took the roll of scrolls from Akashi, yawning.

 

“Was that all?” he asked. “Couldn’t you have just sent these to me?”

 

“This information is too dangerous to trust to regular owl post,” Akashi said. “But it will be essential in carrying out your mission.”

 

“I thought you said that the eruption was supposed to happen in September,” Murasakibara complained. “How long am I supposed to wait around for it?”

 

“I believe that another force may be intervening in our plans,” Akashi said. “Perhaps it is by mere chance, but please be vigilant. I cannot have you slack off; I cannot stress the importance of this turning point. If it happens while we are caught unawares, there will be problems."

 

Murasakibara nodded.

 

“I won’t slack off, not for something Aka-chin thinks is so important,” he said. “You’re always right about these sorts of things.”

 

Akashi smiled tightly at the vote of confidence.

 

“I appreciate your faith, Atsushi,” he said. Murasakibara smiled at him a little.

 

“However, there was something else I wanted to talk to you about,” Akashi continued. Murasakibara nodded, sprawling into one of the armchairs in the room.

 

“You’re mad at me for going to save Mine-chin, aren’t you?”

 

Akashi nodded.

 

“You should have let me handle it," he said. "As it was, I am glad nothing went wrong, but that could have been a much more dangerous situation than it was, and you had no idea what Daiki was facing. You could have easily become it's next target."

 

“You’re afraid that whatever had hurt Mine-chin would have hurt me if he hadn’t taken care of it,” Murasakibara realized. “It was fine. I could have handled myself.”

 

Akashi seemed to struggle with himself for a long moment. Murasakibara turned his attention to the fireplace while his friend argued with himself over how to respond. Either Aka-chin would tell Murasakibara why he shouldn’t have gone or he wouldn’t, but either way there was no point in wasting any energy on fighting with him.

 

“In this case, I believe you did the right thing,” Akashi said. “If you had not saved Daiki when you did, he could have been discovered and arrested, which would not be convenient. Just please wait on my word the next time Satsuki asks you to do something related to our mission. She wasn't thinking clearly when she called you to come, and she didn't consider that we could have lost both of you as a result of her request."

 

Murasakibara nodded.

 

“I always listen to you first, Aka-chin,” he said. Akashi nodded in gratitude as his friend continued.

 

“Now we just need Ki-chin to realize that he’s wasting all of his time and energy trying to argue with you when it’s pointless,” Murasakibara said thoughtfully. “And Kuro-chin too.”

 

Akashi’s small smile turned into something that looked more like a grimace.

 

“Thank you for your help,” he said instead. “I will contact you when we have a better idea of the timing of our next disaster.”

 

“I can’t wait until all this excitement is over,” Murasakibara complained. “Though I don’t mind the American sweets.”

 

Akashi smiled more genuinely at this, and bid his friend farewell for the time being.

 

...

 

Himuro was dwarfed by his large friend as they strolled along the cobblestone streets of Porciúncula Alley. Murasakibara was eating at a steady pace from a bag of fried doughnuts with various fruit flavored fillings. Himuro was carrying a much more modest bag, most of which he suspected would end up being gifted to the purple giant beside him.

 

“How is Muro-chin not still in school?” Murasakibara asked as they passed by the lit storefronts.

 

Himuro burst out laughing.  


“Are you making fun of me?” Murasakibara asked, confused.

 

“No no, it’s not that,” Himuro said. “Sorry, I didn’t know that you hadn’t realized! Technically I _am_ still in school.”

 

“You’re in school, but you’re not going to classes? That doesn’t seem fair,” Murasakibara pouted. “Aka-chin always got on my case when I wasn’t going to classes. I got yelled at when I didn't show up to normal practice, too.”

 

“I have a special arrangement with my school,” Himuro said. “They let me take my last year’s worth of classes here. I just have to do some additional reports on the work I do for our master and the kinds of projects I’m assigned.”

  
“That’s pretty cool,” Murasakibara said.

 

“Well, you got the better deal, graduating early and not having to do classes at all,” Himuro said.

 

“Why didn’t you do that?” Murasakibara asked.

 

Himuro grimaced and looked down.

 

“I didn’t want to.”

 

“Uh huh.”

 

The tone of Murasakibara’s voice made it blatantly obvious that he didn’t believe Himuro. The American turned to the other wizard, glaring at him.

 

“I didn’t pass the exams, okay?” he asked sharply. “I told the entire goddamn school I was testing out and busting myself out of class a whole year early and told them they could shove their conceited heads up their tightly wound asses until diamonds came back up out of their shoulders. Then, after causing a public nuisance of myself, I went and flunked half my exams. I’m taking remedial courses in those subjects so that I can prepare to take my exams at the end of the year without having to face the rest of my school after giving them the middle finger.”

 

They walked in silence for a while longer.

 

“That’s why you shouldn’t start fights,” Murasakibara said. “They’re annoying and tiresome and the only person who loses is you.”

 

“Thanks for the advice,” Himuro said bitterly. “I didn’t think you would understand.”

 

“I don’t, but Kuro-chin does and sometimes he’d talk to me. He didn’t like getting in fights either. He likes that nobody notices him, which makes a lot of sense to me.”

 

Himuro made a face and fell silent as they kept walking down the street, heading vaguely in the direction of their apartment. Murasakibara started on a new bag of sweets, crumbling up the old one and sending it sailing in a perfect arc over his shoulder to land in a trash bin.

 

“Why is he so important to you?” Himuro asked out of the blue.

 

“Eh?” Murasakibara asked, looking up from his doughnut cautiously. “Who are you talking about?”

 

“I’m talking about your old teammate, Kuroko,” Himuro said as though it was obvious. “You talk about him all the time.”

 

“No, I don’t,” Murasakibara denied immediately. Himuro chuckled. It seemed his bitterness at their earlier conversation was beginning to dissipate.

 

“Yeah, you really do,” he said. “All the time, especially when you bring up vanilla sweets.”

 

“Oh.”

 

“Hey man, I’m not judging you for it, I was just curious,” Himuro said. “I won’t make you talk about it if you don’t want to, but I’m the last person who can throw stones around here. Remember: mouthed off to the entire student body, talked a big game, couldn’t follow through, ended up here… my moral high ground here is comparatively on the bottom of the Dead Sea.”

 

They continued walking for a little bit while Murasakibara tried to figure out how he was going to answer his roommate. Himuro had pretty much given up on getting any answers at all when the purple haired wizard spoke again.

 

“You remember competing against us, right?” Murasakibara asked. Himuro nodded.

 

“How could I forget?” he asked. “You broke a magical measurer with a wandless Wingardium Leviosa. I couldn’t believe it.”

 

“A lot of people couldn’t believe it,” Murasakibara frowned, remembering how he’d been accused of cheating in the very first round of that same tournament.

 

“Okay, and?”

 

“People don’t like me,” Murasakibara said. “Nobody does. I scare them or I piss them off. The powerful ones want me to constantly prove how smart I am and they hate that I just don't want to do anything. They think I should be doing something other than eating doughnuts with my time, which is stupid and tiresome. The weak ones want me to reassure them that I’m not dangerous all the time. Between how big I am and how powerful I am, they all think I’m going to hurt them. And they’re not wrong – I could crush almost anyone if I wanted to.”

 

“But you wouldn’t,” Himuro said. There was no doubt in his voice.

 

Murasakibara blinked in surprise at the vehemence of this statement.

 

“That’s not true,” he said softly. “They’re not wrong, you know. I am a monster. Kuro-chin was the first person I met who saw me the way I am and who never felt afraid of me.”

 

“What about that captain of yours?” Himuro asked. “The intense guy with the red eyes?”

 

“Aka-chin is the most powerful wizard in the world,” Murasakibara said disdainfully, as though Himuro were an idiot for having asked the question in the first place. “He doesn’t have any more to fear from me than I do from you. He treats me like anyone else because to him _I am_ anyone else. But Kuro-chin knew exactly how strong I was compared to him, and never hesitated to be my friend.”

 

Himuro didn’t visibly take offense to this. It was true, at any rate – certainly, he was much less powerful than Murasakibara. One on one, it wouldn’t even be a close contest. As bitter as that truth made him feel sometimes, he wasn’t unreasonable enough to deny it.

 

Meanwhile, Murasakibara was busy thinking about the first night he'd realized how strong the weakest duelist on their team really was. 

 

 _“You’re part of my strength,”_ Kuroko had told him once, smiling at the other boy after a particularly long practice in which Kuroko had managed to get the best of all of the Miracles except Akashi. _“I knew that with you on the field, Aomine and Midorima would be more distracted. They would focus more on you and it would make it much easier to beat them. You all are my strength where I’m weak. So long as you are on the court, nobody would ever look twice at me and that’s where the real threat of my power comes from.”_

 

“Kuro-chin made dueling fun,” Murasakibara said. “He accepted me for who I was off of the court, even if he was always angry about how I was on it.”

 

“He pushed you to do more than you were doing,” Himuro filled in. He knew, based on what he’d seen and heard about the determined blue haired wizard and what he’d observed about Murasakibara that their attitudes about dueling were polar opposites.

 

Kuroko must have been one of the few people pushing Murasakibara to improve even when everything about the purple haired wizard resisted the idea that he needed to be any stronger than he already was.

 

“He was nice to be around when he wasn’t all intense,” Murasakibara agreed. “He just never understood that working harder didn’t make me better at dueling, the way it did for him. He worked so hard all the time and only barely managed to not get crushed by our opponents. Working more just made me more of a monster. Not that you understand that either.”

 

Himuro laced his fingers through Murasakibara’s much larger ones.

 

“He made you want to be a better, more determined person. You hate work and so you decided to hate him,” he smiled up at the other boy.

 

Murasakibara nodded, a little annoyed at being so easily seen through. They were passing over a bridge that connected two sections of the alley over a tributary of the Los Angeles River. The two wizards watched the reflections of the city on the water before Murasakibara spoke again.

 

“Kuro-chin is a good person,” he said. “I’m not, even if he thought otherwise.”

 

“Kid seems pretty smart to me,” Himuro observed. “And no offense, but you’re not exactly top of the class, so I think he was the right one.”

 

“You’re so annoying,” Murasakibara said.

 

“No, but I am pretty smart,” Himuro said seriously, turning to his roommate. “Smart enough to duck, anyway.”

 

“What?”

 

Murasakibara did not register Himuro dropping to the ground in time for an arc of water from the other side of the bridge to hit him directly in the face.

 

Murasakibara sputtered for a few seconds, hardly daring to believe that Himuro Tatsuya had been so bold as to antagonize someone that could so easily murder him with his bare hands.

 

“Just trying to lighten the situation!” Himuro said, raising his hands in defeat.

 

Murasakibara did not accept the terms of the other boy’s surrender. He gave chase, a giant ball of river water rising into the air behind him as he did. They ran, shouting, off the bridge and into the darker residential area of the Alley, Murasakibara pelting balls of water from his dwindling supply at his roommate all the way up to their apartment.

 

…

 

The atmosphere was hectic by the time Murasakibara got to work. He sighed internally. He hated when people got all worked up and excited like this – it took far too much energy to deal with.

 

“They finally tracked down that group of dragon smugglers!” someone yelled in Himuro’s direction. “They’re holed up in a cave system under a volcano and they warded the thing to high hell with some really complicated runes. The master is going to take some of us to help pull down the wards. We’re looking at the scheme now!”

 

Murasakibara tried tuning out the extremely loud, extremely excited apprentice with almost no luck. This was far more bother than he wanted to deal with this early in the morning. Or ever.

 

“No way, real dragon smugglers?” Himuro asked, oblivious to Murasakibara humming in boredom and pulling a pack of chips out of his backpack.

 

“Yeah, man! They’re even going to let us help!”

 

The apprentice gave Murasakibara a cautious glance before looking back at Himuro.

 

“Come on, you guys should get your stuff and start working. I think they’re going to pick the apprentices who are going to go soon!”

 

“Be right there!” Himuro said, taking Murasakibara by the hand and starting to head towards the lockers.

 

Murasakibara did not budge. In fact, he shook off Himuro’s hand and made his way in the opposite direction towards the out of the way lunch table.

 

“Hey! Atsushi! Hey!”

 

Himuro yelled after him, but Murasakibara sprawled into a chair by the table, ignoring him. He put another chip in his mouth as he looked up at the shocked and disbelieving Himuro.

 

“You’re not going to help?”

 

Himuro sounded offended. Well, that wasn’t quite right. He sounded hurt, like Murasakibara had wounded him with his refusal to join the other apprentices in fighting the smugglers.

 

Which was hardly fair: Murasakibara had never encouraged whatever opinion Himuro had of him. The weight of this man’s expectations was too heavy and entirely unfounded in reality.

 

There was a reason Murasakibara had built this incredibly simple persona around himself and it was to avoid exactly this situation.

 

He wasn’t there to solve everyone’s problems one moment and be called a freak by them the next.

 

Murasakibara tried very hard to ignore the persistent, insidious voice inside his head reminding him that Himuro Tatsuya had never once asked him to use magic on his behalf before. He had never treated him like anything other than an equal, even from the beginning. Even though the other man was obviously fighting serious envy of Murasakibara’s power, he’d never acted on it in any way.

 

Himuro Tatsuya had a kind soul, his heart whispered.

 

Murasakibara frowned.

 

“I don’t want to,” he said plaintively. “I’m eating chips.”

 

“How can you be so callous?” Himuro demanded angrily. “What the hell is your problem?”

 

Murasakibara shrugged, letting another chip crunch in his mouth.

 

“I don’t like work and I like chips,” he said very simply.

 

Himuro opened his mouth.

 

And here it is; the veneer of civility that surrounded Himuro Tatsuya, about to come crashing down. Murasakibara scowled into his chips. He’d heard the words enough times to know where this conversation was about to go. Lazy. Freak. Monster. Infantile. Cheater. Ignorant. He’d heard a litany of insults in the hallways of Hogwarts, both on and off the court, and he’d heard a steady stream of the same complaints from his fellow apprentices here.

 

He thought he’d deadened his heart to their barbs well enough that he could ignore them entirely, but he couldn’t claim it wasn’t going to hurt, hearing them from someone he’d thought he could trust.

 

“I’m disappointed in you,” Himuro said. Murasakibara looked up in shock, but the American wizard was turning away. “I can’t talk to you right now, I’m too upset. I’m going to do something constructive if you decide to help”

 

Himuro stormed off to go join the group of apprentices trying to untie the knot of runes laid out on the parchment on the main table.

 

Murasakibara stretched.

 

He wanted to take a nap, but Himuro’s words were needling at him like a barb under his skin.

 

It was like when Kuro-chin got one of his ideas in his head, the kind that were dangerous and usually resulted in Aka-chin getting really really mad. Well, no. It was more like when Kuro-chin gave him the most disapproving look he could manage, like he’d been let down somehow.

 

Murasakibara scowled, closing his eyes.

 

He’d never given anyone any reason to expect anything from him! If anyone was disappointed in him, it was their own damn fault for having ridiculous expectations anyway. He’d never promised Kuro-chin or Muro-chin anything. They didn’t have the right to be disappointed in him for not doing something he never promised that he would or could.

 

Murasakibara was distracted from his sulking by a vibration in his pocket. He pulled out the scrying mirror he kept on him at all times – like Aka-chin had wanted – and blinked as the redhead himself appeared in the silvered screen.

 

“Atsushi,” Akashi said pleasantly. “Have I caught you at a bad time?”

 

Murasakibara shook his head.

 

“It seems that our eruption is going to be caused by a team of dragon smugglers that have been hiding out on the mountain. Their presence delayed the eruption Midorima saw, and they must have taken the dragons living there to put them up for sale, which has extended the timeline. If your master isn’t aware of the situation, you should make him aware presently and make your way to Washington State.

 

“Oh, these dragon smugglers.”

 

Murasakibara internally groaned. He really hoped Aka-chin wasn’t about to tell him that he had to fight them after all, not when he’d already managed to get Muro-chin to leave him alone about it.

 

“Do I really have to do something about them?” he asked. “I have chips and I don’t want to do magic right now.”

 

Akashi didn’t bat an eye at this revelation. To be perfectly honest, he had probably expected that this would be the status of affairs he caught Murasakibara in. He was always right, which meant he always knew what was going on, even when there was no earthly reason that he should. 

 

“If you are not there, I guarantee the efforts of your peers will fail and the smugglers will cause a disaster that is more dangerous than just defying the ban on the import of magical creatures.”

 

“It might do these people some good to not have things go their way,” Murasakibara muttered petulantly. “Why do I have to be the one to save the world anyway?”

 

“Atsushi, do you remember what I told you about power?”

 

“The strong use it to crush the weak. If they’re not strong enough to fight on their own, they deserve to die. We’ll survive, no matter what. Nothing could crush us. Nothing could crush me.”

 

Akashi paused, processing this comment.

 

“That’s not what I said,” he said quietly. “Even remotely. But as an alternative to repeating my original statement verbatim, I will instead once again assure you that if the future Shintarou has seen comes to fruition, that is not an outcome you want. Perhaps we could defend ourselves to the end, but what of the world?”

 

Murasakibara opened his mouth to tell Akashi that the entire world could shove it if they couldn’t stand up for themselves. He wasn’t their shield, he wasn’t their sword. He was an eighteen-year-old kid with an uncommonly large magical core and none of them were his responsibility.

 

Akashi cut him off before he could give voice to any of these objections.

 

“What about Tetsuya?”

 

Murasakibara made a face.

 

Akashi really was always right. It was pointless to fight with him and yet he’d tried to argue with him anyway. Murasakibara had learned at fifteen that there was no point trying to defy the redhead. He should have known better today.

 

When Akashi spoke again, it was with the strength of conviction that his orders would be heeded.

 

“Atsushi, you need to be there.”

 

“Alright Aka-chin, if you insist,” Murasakibara said, heaving a long-suffering sigh. “But it would be better if you could get Kuro-chin to do it. He could go in without a problem and then handle the dragons for us."

 

“Tetsuya isn’t an option,” Akashi said flatly. “Take down the smuggling ring and stop them from setting the dragons lose.”

 

“Sure thing, Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said, sounding sad. “Will you at least bring me sweets if I do?”

 

“I’ll get Shintarou to send you something,” Akashi said. “I am sure that where he is at the moment has an adequate variety of high quality sweets.”

 

“Then why didn’t you send _me_ there?” Murasakibara whined.

 

“Good bye, Atsushi.”

 

Murasakibara pouted as the image of his former captain disappeared from the small mirror.

 

Well, he guessed he was going to be helping break into a smuggling ring. Sighing, Murasakibara straightened himself to his full height.

 

He was done with his chips anyway. Murasakibara crushed the bag into a ball and flicked it, banishing it once it was a few inches away from him. It vanished without a sound.

 

Murasakibara pulled out a candy bar as he went to join the group of apprentices planning on how to bring down the shield.

 

“I thought you weren’t coming?” Himuro asked Murasakibara as he joined them.

 

“I changed my mind,” Murasakibara said, in a tone of voice that made it clear that that was going to be the end of the conversation. Himuro shrugged, accepting this as just yet another eccentricity in his extremely eccentric roommate, and returned his attention to the plans in front of them.

 

The runic sequence was extremely complicated. Murasakibara scanned his eyes over the lines of runes, listening to his fellow apprentices debate how to destroy it. This wasn’t exactly _abjurer_ territory, but the business of their profession was the business of destruction, and that included runic wards.

 

Murasakibara tilted his head to the side and looked at Himuro.

 

“I can overpower the rest of this sequence if we pick apart that section there,” he said quietly, pointing to one part of the laid out chart.

 

Himuro squinted at that section of the pages.

 

“You think so?”

 

“Yeah,” Murasakibara replied. “That’s the limiting field, which will destabilize the power source. If you can unknot all the runes around it then I can do the rest.”

 

“Alright, Miracle boy, you know that nobody here is like your old teammates, right?” Himuro chuckled. “I can’t just ‘unknot’ a series of runes that are so convolutedly tied into the root of the spell and extra layers of magical protection.”

 

Murasakibara huffed.

 

“Well, I see someone’s been doing his homework.”

 

“I’m already annoyed, don’t make me crush you,” Murasakibara said without any heat. They went back to glaring at the runes as their fellow students shouted around them, arguing about how to bring down the protective shield the smugglers were using.

 

Murasakibara raised his hand slowly. Himuro glanced at him. The purple haired wizard stood there with his hand in the air, silently, for a solid minute before one of their fellow apprentices noticed him.

 

“Do you have a suggestion?” she asked.

 

“I have a question. What do we do when the mountain erupts?”

 

“The volcano hasn’t been active in a hundred years or so,” another apprentice said impatiently. “It shouldn’t be a problem.”

 

“This volcano is going to erupt,” Murasakibara said, sounding bored. “When it does, do you have a plan to stop it or protect the surrounding plans?”

 

“No, because in case you didn’t notice, most of us are more concerned about the freaking dragons that are going to kill us faster than some non-existent mountain!”

 

Murasakibara fixed the apprentice with a dead eyed stare and shrugged.

 

If it came to it, he was more than strong enough to do this on his own. It was Muro-chin’s damn fault that he tried soliciting help, anyway.

 

“Gentlemen, Ladies, that’s enough!”

 

The master abjurer had arrived. He was wearing jeans and a loose t-shirt, clearly not having considered the possibility of fighting dragon smugglers when he had gotten dressed this morning.

 

“I will hear your conclusions from the apprentices assisting me in the field today,” the master continued, his draw drawn into a determined line. “Speaking of which, the following four apprentices will be working with me on site to unravel the wards the smugglers are hiding behind.”

 

The master took a breath, surveying the group of assembled apprentices, all of whom were praying that they would be selected for such a unique opportunity to show off their gifts.

 

Murasakibara just hoped he could stop a major catastrophe before it began. He didn’t care much – or at all – about what anyone thought about him.

 

“Murasakibara Atsushi.”

 

Murasakibara didn’t bother being surprised. Of course he was the first draft pick. That was just common sense.

 

The second two apprentices weren’t students Murasakibara had spent much time with. He was irrationally pleased that the master abjurer had chosen Himuro Tatsuya as the fourth member of their team.

 

Despite the fact that Himuro’s talents were the kind of easy tricks that Ki-chin liked to use in a duel, he was very clever and always found little holes and loops in the wards they were looking at that nobody else could. He wasn’t a genius like Midorima or Akashi, but he was creative in the way that he approached warding.

 

Actually, Himuro reminded Murasakibara of Kuroko quite a bit. Both of them tried to compensate for not being as strong as other wizards by being very smart and using clever tricks and neither of them liked letting on exactly _how_ hard they were trying.

 

Actually, the more Murasakibara thought about it, the more apt the comparison seemed.

 

“Apprentices, do we have a suggestion?”

 

Himuro raised his hand before the rest of his fellows could.

 

“Atsushi can overpower the runes that connect the protection sequence to the first trap sequence. If my fellow students and I can unwind the second trap from the root sequence and the third layer of protection, he can break through the second and third layers together. That would reveal the limiting sequence. If we force our way through there instead of trying to unwind the rest of the ward, it’s going to overpower itself, and take out whatever wizard, witch, or power source they’re using. The whole thing will collapse. So long as we have cover, we’ll be fine.”

 

The other two apprentices gaped at Himuro, who shrugged.

 

The Master Abjurer walked over to the table where the scheme of the ward was laid out.

 

“I see,” he said. “You’re missing two traps and a connection to another set of the ward, but those can be dealt with as well. This plan is workable. However, I worry that the first protection sequence is incredibly strong.”

 

He looked over at Murasakibara, who cracked his neck.

 

“I’ll crush it,” he said. Himuro smiled a little.

 

“Well spotted,” the Master Abjurer said. “This is an excellent plan. You three follow Himuro’s lead. We’ll head over now.”

 

The Master Abjurer rolled up the paper and handed it to Himuro, who smiled victoriously.

 

“Everyone ready?”

 

Four heads nodded, and the Master Abjurer conjured a small hoop.

 

“I have permission to Portkey us over,” he explained. “We’ll be landing at the base of the volcano momentarily.”

 

He wasn’t kidding – as soon as he finished speaking, the five of them were whisked away into the spinning void, transported out of the workshop in Los Angeles and towards the site where the smugglers were holed up.

 

They hit the ground roughly.

 

The volcano smelled like sulfur. Murasakibara put an air bubble around his lower face to filter the air so that he didn’t have to smell it. It was pretty annoying, honestly.

 

In quick order, the team of abjurers was ready to bring down the ward and help take control of the smuggler’s cave. A team of aurors and two teams of dragon handlers (easily identifiable by their thick, fireproof robes) were standing by, ready to head in as soon as the wards were down. Murasakibara could feel that they were under a ward of their own to prevent the smugglers from magically detecting them. Unfortunately, the warding team would have no such protection, since they wouldn’t be able to reach through a ward of their own to work on the ward they were trying to break.

 

Which made their job more bothersome and more dangerous.

 

“Ready?”

 

Murasakibara nodded. He felt for the specific sequence he was looking for. It would have taken Midorima less than ten seconds to bring this whole wall down, but Murasakibara thought he was doing pretty well, given that he didn’t have the benefit of Rune Sight.

 

Finally, he found it. With a burst of power that was nothing more than a small flare, Murasakibara overpowered the sequence. The shield glowed purple and sparked.

 

“Done,” he said, standing back.

 

Himuro nodded.

 

“Okay, first trap!”

 

The three apprentices finished unwinding the trap from the two layers of protection it was tied into.

 

“Master Abjurer?” Himuro said. “Are we clear to proceed?”

 

The Abjurer’s power flared in the shield and he nodded.

 

“The next sequence is taken care of. Murasakibara, you’ll overpower the second layer of protections?”

 

Murasakibara did as he was asked, yawning as a much larger series of purple sparks appeared along the shield. When they stopped, he stepped back.

 

A burst of magic on the rocks where he had just been standing made him look up.

 

“Oh dear, we’ve been made,” the Master Abjurer said absently. “Students, unwind the last trap from the limiting sequence, I’ll take care of this.”

 

The Master Abjurer raised his wand and suddenly the entire side of the volcano exploded.

 

The remaining smugglers were forced to retreat, throwing curses over their shoulders as they ran. The Abjurer chuckled.

 

“Cowards,” he said. “I’ll let the aurors know they should be ready to go in about ten minutes.”

 

His estimate was pretty accurate. Nine minutes of quiet later, a sweating and exhausted Himuro turned to Murasakibara, who was leaning against a large rock, absently watching the side of the mountain.

 

This volcano was going to erupt. Akashi had said so and he was always right. And that meant Murasakibara was missing something. He could smell the sulfur from the mouth of the volcano, but it was by no means active.

 

There was no way this volcano was going to erupt today.

 

Murasakibara was frowning when Himuro tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.

 

“Care to deliver the finishing blow?” he asked. “We’re all tapped out. Thank Circe we've got you here to help.”

 

Murasakibara didn’t even bother standing up. He could feel the sequence in his mind, and he knew exactly where to direct the blunt force of his considerable power.

 

He felt the shield break. It glowed purple for a few seconds and then exploded inwards.

 

“That’s that,” one of the other apprentices said. “Think they’ll still need us around?”

 

Then the ground started to shake.

 

Murasakibara looked up in alarm as black smoke started rising out of the mouth of the volcano.

 

“It’s active!” one apprentice exclaimed, springing to their feet. “Shit, we need to get out of here!”

 

“NO!” Himuro’s voice rang with command as he grabbed his fellow student’s hand. “The rescue teams are still in there with the dragons! If we leave, the volcano is going to erupt around them!"

 

“What the hell about us! If we stay here we’re going to get fried!”

 

“We need to stabilize the volcano so that the aurors and dragon handlers can get the dragons out. They’ll survive the fire which means that if we don’t get to them, they’re going to go nuts all over the countryside!”

 

The two apprentices exchanged glances and groaned.

 

“How did this even happen?”

 

“They must have tied the power source to the volcano,” Himuro guessed. “When we destroyed the limiting sequence, the spell overpowered and the volcano was destabilized, awakening it.”

 

“Well shit, we should have seen that,” the apprentice muttered. “We’re so failing our exams.”

 

Himuro glared at the three apprentices he’d technically been left in charge of until one of them finally broke.

 

“Okay, let’s make sure we don’t have to get a new apprenticeship by saving our master.”

 

“Atsushi?”

 

Himuro turned to Murasakibara, who sighed deeply.

 

This was kind-of his fault for not realizing that the runes were connected to the heart of the volcano itself. Aka-chin would expect him to fix it before something really bad happened.

 

“None of us actually know how to _make_ wards you know, we’re just abjurers. You know, we make things go _boom,_ ” the first of the other two apprentices groaned.

 

“Then let’s take some of the pressure off,” Himuro said. He pointed his wand at the far side of the volcano, eyeing the distance between it and the set of caves the aurors were currently entering.

 

“There,” he said. “On three!”

 

Himuro called the count.

 

The side of the volcano blasted outwards. Rolling magma came with it, letting off a burst of heat and fire. It rolled sluggishly down the far side of the mountain, bright red.

 

“Holy shit.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Think that did it?”

 

The ground lurched frighteningly under them again.

 

The first team of dragon handlers came running out of the cave mouth, far up ahead.

 

“We should be fine,” Himuro said.

 

A darker plume of smoke rose from the mouth of the volcano. A burning rock exploded from the lip of the volcano, making landfall about halfway down the mountain and rolling the rest of the way. Thankfully, it came nowhere close to hitting anyone.

 

The sky was turning dark from all of the smoke pouring out of the mouth of the volcano. Ash was beginning to fall in light drifts, like snow.

 

“Has anyone seen our master?” one of the apprentices asked.

 

“No!”

 

“He better hurry up soon, because it’s going to erupt!”

 

As though encouraged, a line of lava bubbled over the lip of the volcano.

 

Another line of the molten rock began to drip down the mountain, showing no signs of stopping. Visibility was beginning to become a problem.

 

“No it isn’t,” Murasakibara muttered. Nobody seemed to be doing anything, so he was going to handle this himself.

 

Murasakibara raised his arms.

 

The lava stopped moving. It held against Murasakibara’s power, staying exactly where it was.

 

“The pressure is going to make this whole mountain blow!” someone yelled.

 

“Get everyone out!” Himuro shouted. “Come on!”

 

The dark haired man cast one last glance at Murasakibara before rushing forward between two lines of magma that were holding steady under the purple haired wizard’s power.

 

The first team of dragon handlers had sent the dragons with a representative and were heading back in. Thankfully, the dragons they were bringing out were small and caged, and could be released and dealt with later.

 

The aurors apparated away with the last of their suspects. Murasakibara’s fellow apprentices had reached the entrance to the cave and were helping move people and dragons alike away from the cave system as quickly as possible.

 

Bursts of lava were erupting from lower in the mountain where the four apprentices had caused their first explosion. Murasakibara was beginning to feel the strain of protecting the rescue workers.

 

Lava was pooling around the mountain, only moving as languidly as it was because Murasakibara was forcing it to slow.

 

The heat was becoming unbearable.

 

Another line of lava came rolling down the volcano, heading directly towards the cave entrance.

 

Murasakibara’s fellow apprentices appeared with the last of the dragon handlers, led by the Master Abjurer.

 

Himuro looked down at Murasakibara and shouted, waving his arm. The other was helping a handler drag a large metal cage. Himuro’s face was smeared with ash and there was some cloth makeshift bandage around his arm, but he was yelling about something.

 

It took Murasakibara a second to realize that Himuro couldn’t see the lava heading directly towards him from further up the mountain. The American was shouting about the line of lava that was heading towards Atsushi from the other side of the mountain, where they had foolishly blasted a hole in an active volcano and expected that to fix the problem.

 

“ATSUSHI! MOVE!”

 

Murasakibara did no such thing. He’d never run from anything in his goddamn life. It took too much energy.

 

The purple haired wizard dug his feet into the ground, bracing himself, and growled as he called to bear a well of magical resources he hadn’t had to tap in a long time. He ignored the blazing heat, and the overpowering smoke, and the smell of sulfur that threatened to make him gag, and he stood his ground.

 

 _Aka-chin is going to be mad at me,_ he had time to think. _But if I don’t do anything, Muro-chin is going to be crushed. I'll take the lecture._

 

Murasakibara channeled his power into the earth. He could still feel the ground moving underneath him as the magma built up pressure inside the volcano. He had to do something, or this entire area was just going to blow up.

 

He couldn’t let that happen. He would be fine, but he couldn’t get to Muro-chin in time.

 

Murasakibara exhaled. With all his will, he ordered the Earth under him to _calm down._

 

Slowly at first and then quickly, the magma around him began to steam and then freeze into black, porous rock. Murasakibara exhaled again, and forced his power further up the mountain.

 

Spreading faster and faster, the hot magma cooled and hardened in the blink of an eye. Up the side of the mountain, burning red, molten magma turned into smoking, black rock. Quicker than the eye could process, it was being forcibly shaped and cooled where it stood, preventing it from sliding further down the mountainside and providing a barrier that added some level of protection for the fleeing rescuers.

 

The ground was still rumbling. Murasakibara could feel the pockets of magma and the pressure still building under the earth. The roiling molten rock would find a way to break free if he didn’t stop it.

 

With the immediate danger gone, Murasakibara drilled a hole deep into the ground right in front of him. He pushed back the magma, letting the hot air and pressure escape.

 

The ground broke and cracked around him as hot air came whistling out of the large hole in front of him. Without his shield, the skin would have probably been boiled directly off Murasakibara’s bones by the terrible heat.

 

Later, Murasakibara would wonder at the protective instinct that had driven him to pick a fight he never would have normally engaged in. After all, if Muro-chin had been crushed by the volcano, he would have deserved it for not being strong enough to defend himself. Under any normal circumstance, having gone far enough to buy Muro-chin time to flee the oncoming lava would have been enough, but Murasakibara had done the full distance, settling the core of the volcano in an immense show of magical power.

 

Murasakibara huffed to himself and let it go. Trying to analyze the obvious dissonance between the way in which he saw the world and the way he saw his friend (much the same way he viewed Kuroko’s weaknesses) was bothersome and annoying. It was what it was.

 

The whole process had taken maybe five minutes, all told. When it was done, the mountain lay still, and the ground was still smoking.

 

“Holy shit,” Himuro said, looking up from the ground about thirty yards away from Murasakibara. He'd left the dragon to the professionals and jumped the rest of the way down, rolling through the dirt and soot to get to the bottom and safety faster. He was filthy from head to toe and after standing for quite some time in the direct path of falling ash and the thick of the smoke from the erupting volcano, Murasakibara was pretty sure he was just as bad. Humid shook his head, stood, and whooped loudly, cheering as he realized that they were all alive and no longer in danger. He made it the rest of the way down the slope much more carefully, only stopping when he reached Murasakibara's side.

 

“Remind me about this the next time I get on your case about doing the dishes.”

 

…

 

“We found one of the Miracles, Nash.”

 

“Oh really?”

 

“He’s been apprenticing to a master abjurer in L.A.”

 

“These god damned Miracles are getting on my nerves,” Nash Gold, Jr. said, making a face. “I’ve got that freaking heterochromatic sociopath apparating and portkeying in and out of my country as he pleases. His friends are popping around, unsupervised, undermining my father’s governance, always exactly where I don’t need them to be, at the exact moment I want them elsewhere.”

 

Gold Jr. paced, agitation making his moves sharp and abrupt.

 

“I spent half a _year_ getting those giants smuggled into the country without anyone knowing, and that purple Miracle was already there to stop them from revealing the existence of magical creatures,” he raged. “And again, he was there in time to stop the mountain erupting and the dragons breaking free. He is far too underfoot for my liking. My father's policies have progressed with only passing resistance, but with the interference of these damned Miracles is making me look like a fool!"

 

“What do you want us to do?” Silver asked, hoving by the door to his friend’s office.

 

“I want him gone,” Nash Gold Jr. said softly. “All of them. Which one of them did you say you found?”

 

“Murasakibara Atsushi,” Silver replied. “The big purple one. It turns out he was working with the curse breakers that stopped the dragon smugglers out in Washington state.”

 

“He shouldn’t pose a significant threat if you catch him by surprise,” Nash Gold, Jr. said after a few moments of thought. “He’s not nearly intelligent enough to fight you if you can put him down before he levels the building. Do you need backup to handle him?”

 

“No,” Silver replied, sounding a little offended by the suggestion.

 

“Well then, let me know when he’s taken care of,” Gold, Jr. said, sitting back down in his chair and leaning back. “Don’t disappoint me.”

 

“Sure thing,” Silver grinned. “You want me to kill him or what?”

 

“No,” Gold Jr. said. “That shouldn’t be necessary. Just beat the crap out of him and arrest him for crimes against the state or something. You’ll catch him breaking at least one of my father’s new laws, I’m sure.”

 

Silver smirked, flattening the front of his auror robes.

 

“On it,” he said, ducking out of the room.

 

…

 

Himuro raised the issue while they were finishing up the summary reports of their research for the fall semester.

 

“I’m going back to Boston for the holidays.”

 

Murasakibara nodded, still writing.

 

“Do you want to come with me?”

 

Murasakibara did stop at that, turning to eye Himuro cautiously.

 

“Why?”

 

“Because nobody should spend the holidays alone, no matter what they celebrate.”

 

Murasakibara shrugged.

 

“It doesn’t really matter to me,” he admitted. “Christmas was never all that important to my family.”

 

“Oh,” Himuro said. “Well, you’re still welcome to come!”

 

Murasakibara considered that. It was a nice offer, but he was needed here. Akashi had given him a mission and he couldn’t just go off to Boston for a week.

 

Or could he?

 

No, that was ridiculous. As much as he wanted to go hang out with Muro-chin and eat sweets and celebrate, Aka-chin had told him to stay where he was for a reason and Aka-chin was always right.

 

He sighed.

 

“I promised Aka-chin I would stay in the city,” he said slowly.

 

“This is about that thing you can’t talk about that’s really important,” Himuro observed.

 

Murasakibara nodded.

 

“The reason you knew the mountain was going to erupt,” Himuro added.

 

Murasakibara nodded again, but after a much longer pause as he considered exactly how much information it would be safe to give his roommate before Akashi just decided to kill both of them.

 

“Well, far be it from me to interrupt the very important business of your saving the world,” Himuro joked weakly.

 

“It’s not saving the world,” Murasakibara said overly suspiciously. “Nobody said anything about saving the world.”

 

Himuro tilted his head, narrowing his eyes as he considered the other wizard’s knee jerk defense.

 

“Okay,” he agreed amicably. “Anyway. I'm not asking, I don't want to know, I don't even want you to start. Just wanted to leave the offer open.”

 

“Thank you,” Murasakibara mumbled, looking back down at his notes.

 

In silence, the two of them finished their reports. Himuro left to pack and Murasakibara took over the kitchen, carefully shaping molds and mixing batters to do what he wanted them to.

 

By the time Himuro was ready to leave, Murasakibara had made a giant plate of hopping snowmen that were made of marshmallows and peppermint, dipped in chocolate. He conjured a box and packed six of them into it, biting the head off a seventh he had made just for himself.

 

The rest of the space in the box was filled with various other pastries and Murasakibara’s attempt to make Himuro’s popping vanilla cookies. They were good, but Murasakibara wasn’t fully pleased with the result. Still, he added the ones that had come out the best into the box, still chewing on his chocolate covered peppermint, marshmallow snowman.

 

He shoved the box at his roommate as Himuro brought his luggage into the living room.

 

“Here,” he said. “Merry Christmas.”

 

Himuro placed the box on his bag and hugged Murasakibara tightly.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “I’ll see you after the New Year, okay? So try and stay out of trouble.”

 

“I don’t go looking for trouble,” Murasakibara frowned. “It’s too annoying.”

 

Himuro laughed, wiping at suspiciously bright eyes.

 

“I’ll miss you when I’m with my asshole relatives,” he said. “See you!”

 

Murasakibara waved as the dark haired wizard stepped towards the fireplace in their apartment.

 

“Have a good holiday!” Himuro waved, and threw a handful of Floo powder into the fireplace. It glowed green, and he stepped into the flames, holding the box of snowmen securely in one hand, with the duffle thrown over his opposite shoulder.

 

With a roar of fire, the American wizard was gone.

 

Murasakibara stood in the too quiet living room for a few minutes before the oven beeped. He rushed over to pull another set of cookies out of the oven.

 

Baking helped pass the time thoughtlessly. It had already been late when Himuro had left, so it was almost morning when Murasakibara was done with his assortment of cookies and pastries. It was almost enough to sustain Murasakibara entirely during his break.

 

It’s not like he was intending to spend the rest of his break eating junk food.

 

 _Aka-chin never told me I couldn’t only eat sweets,_ Murasakibara thought, almost smugly, as he neatly arranged his last baked good and took off his apron, leaving it gently handing on the stove handle.

 

The pots and pans were cleaned and put away with magic. That left only the delectable desserts for Murasakibara to enjoy when he wanted to. He grabbed a handful of cookies. The rest were placed in stasis, so they would be fresh when he wanted them.

 

Murasakibara frowned at the silence that filled his apartment as he stepped back into the living room.

 

Silence never bothered him before, but he’d become accustomed to living with Himuro. The other boy was always respectful of his boundaries, but he was another body, making noise and sound. He would turn pages and walk and breathe, and he would be _there._ And sometimes he would chuckle at a particularly sarcastic line in a textbook or sigh at a difficult problem, or just talk into the apartment to fill the quiet.

 

Murasakibara told himself that he absolute did not miss the other man.

 

He prepared for bed and wrapped himself in his massive blanket. He closed his eyes against the world.

 

He would not be kept awake with regret. He never had been before. And true to form, once his eyes were closed and his head on his pillow, Murasakibara found himself quickly welcomed by sleep.

 

What seemed like seconds later, but in reality was probably a few hours at least, Murasakibara was thrown into wakefulness by two events.

 

The purple haired wizard felt a disturbance in the wards he had set around the apartment at the same time as he heard the window break.

 

 _I must have done something wrong when I set them,_ Murasakibara thought grumpily. _Mido-chin is going to lecture me about not protecting myself properly and now I have to deal with an intruder… this is going to be so bothersome._

 

There was a small explosion in Murasakibara’s apartment.

 

White smoke filled the room and Murasakibara stumbled out of bed, coughing and covering his face. His lungs and eyes were burning as he tried to see through the smoke to find his attacker.

 

Bent over and hacking from the smoke, Murasakibara did not sense his attacker when a blow from behind sent him careening into his bedroom wall.

 

Murasakibara sent a wave of magic to the other side of the room. A shouted curse told him he’d only been partially successful in ripping his opponent in half, but that he’d struck at least one blow.

 

He couldn’t see at all, and tears were streaming down his face. He couldn’t breathe through the smoke.

 

He staggered into the living room where the air was thinner and summoned a bubble of fresh air around his head. His eyes and throat were still burning, but they weren’t getting worse.

 

He threw up a shield in time to avoid a stunner. With his eyes mostly closed and puffy from irritation, he crashed into the couch as he tried to flee. His shield fended off two more extremely powerful spells.

 

Whoever Murasakibara’s attacker was, he certainly wasn’t an average wizard. Murasakibara vaulted over the couch, pulling it with him to act as a physical shield in addition to his magical one.

 

Smoke was pouring out of his bedroom. Murasakibara could make out a figure and sent two curses at it, but they were deflected into a wall, sending up two purple explosions.

 

 _Muro-chin is going to be mad at me for destroying the apartment_ , Murasakibara thought bitterly. Not that it mattered - he could defend himself or not, but this guy was determined to hit him with something. The attackers next spell set the couch on fire, causing Murasakibara to retreat again. He tried the door, but screamed as it burned his hand. Someone had cursed the knob so that when he grabbed it, it would hurt him.

 

Through the tears in his irritated eyes, Murasakibara could see that his hand was already beginning to blister badly.

 

“You couldn’t have just made it easy for me,” a voice said from somewhere behind it.

 

Murasakibara ran for it just in time. The door being ruled out as an option, he cast a wandless featherlight charm and jumped off the wall, shooting directly by his attacker.

 

With his good arm protecting his face, Murasakibara went sailing directly through the window and part of the drywall. He fell two stories and rolled when he hit the concrete, the featherlight charm the only thing preventing him from suffering serious bodily injury.

 

Behind him, an explosion roared to life, sending a column of fire out the open window. A line of dark smoke rose into the sky behind it.

 

Murasakibara caught a glimpse of an angry face glaring back at him through the window.

 

It was time to go.

 

Murasakibara felt a small pang of loss at the knowledge that he wasn’t going to be able to return to this apartment, to this city… the life he’d built here since the beginning of the summer wasn’t worth staying for, but he’d liked Muro-chin. And there were still mountains of cookies that he’d backed that would waste away unfortunately and sadly on his counter.

 

He spared another thought for how Muro-chin would feel returning to the empty, burned out apartment. It made him feel a little sad, watching smoke coming out of the living room window.

 

Fortunately, Murasakibara had more sense than to hang around to let himself get caught. Tearing through the anti-apparition wards set around the entire block was easier than ripping into wet tissue paper. They posed no threat to the purple haired wizard. He brought them crashing down and vanished from the street with a loud _pop._

 

Silver was left running into an empty street, glaring both ways down the road, his hand clenched around a wrapped package as he tried to sight the fleeing wizard.

 

Well, it didn’t really matter. The purple haired giant wouldn’t be showing his face around here again anyway. Hearing the assortment of pops associated with a magical accident response squad, Silver decided to make himself scarce. He needed to report to Nash Gold, Jr. anyway.

 

…

 

It was late in the evening when Silver returned to his friend’s office. Unsurprisingly, Nash was still hard at work behind his desk. The man hardly ever stopped working these days – between policy initiatives he spent most of his days pitching to his father and research for their larger plans, Nash Gold, Jr. was never without work of some kind.

 

“Hey, Nash, I found something for you when I was handling the purple Miracle.”

 

Silver handed the heavy book over to the man behind the desk in front of him.

 

“It looked important.”

 

“That giant imbecile can read?” Nash Gold Jr. asked, sounding amused. “Well I’ll be damned, and here I thought he was illiterate. Why did you think I would be interested in this?”

 

“Just take a look, even I can tell this is important. I caught a glimpse of the open pages while he was running away and figured you’d be happier if I came back with something instead of nothing.”

 

Nash Gold, Jr. rolled his eyes, but did as Silver suggested, opening the book. He skimmed through several pages, his interest growing with each title and illustration.

 

Without realizing it, he chuckled.

 

“Oh my.”

 

The son of the president snapped the book closed, deep in thought. If this book was what he believed it to be, then Silver had just handed him his enemies on a platter. He could finally be rid of Akashi Seijuro and his band of merry Miracles for good, while finishing his father’s work of unifying the magical community in America.

 

And with Akashi and his friends gone, nothing could stop them.

 

Nash placed the book on his desk, moving around to start pulling out parchment and quills.

 

“Leave me for now, but I’ll read you into my plans as soon as I know what I want to do with this,” he told Silver dismissively. “Well spotted, my friend. This is exactly what we needed.”

 

Silver grinned and left.

 

Once he was alone, Gold, Jr. was back to smiling like the cat that caught the canary.

 

“Well, it seems I will have a leg up on you after all. Your Miracles have stopped me at every turn. You have been prepared for every challenge I have placed before you. But you have finally made a mistake, Akashi Seijuro.”

 

Nash Gold Jr. ran a hand lovingly down the front cover of the book.

 

“Checkmate.”

 

…

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have I pimped out [my tumblr](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) recently? Come say hi!


	38. Midorima Shintarou Will Not Draw You Like One Of His French Girls

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back! We're gearing up for the exciting conclusion of Arc II: A Night With No Moon, which will all be going down next chapter. In the meantime, you lot have been really interested in what our favorite tsundere is up to, so here we go!
> 
> Happy 2017 to all of you, and I hope it's an excellent year.

 

…

 

Easter break would normally have been a time for Hogwarts students to rest and goof off before settling down for the final stretch of exams once classes started again. Kuroko and his classmates quickly learned that there could be no rest or goofing off for the seventh years that would be facing the rigorous N.E.W.T exams in their chosen fields in only a short few weeks.

 

“This sucks,” Furihata said, his face resting on his potions notes. “I give up. I’m going to live in the woods as a fiddler.”

 

“Why am I even taking potions again?” Kawahara muttered.

 

“Come on guys, we’re supposed to be leading by example!” Sakurai tried to cheer up his classmates. “Remember how the senpais used to study cheerfully and were always coming by to check on us?”

 

“Sakurai, I love you man, but haven’t you figured it out yet?” Kawahara asked. His Charms textbook was resting on top of his head, its open pages forming a caricature of a hat over his face, which was also laying on the table.

 

“What do you mean?” Sakurai asked.

 

“The senpais came and helped us study and baked lemon bars and made coffee because they _were avoiding doing their own work._ ”

 

“Oh,” Sakurai said, sounding a little surprised. He seemed to shrug it off fairly quickly, however.

 

“Well, even when they did that, they all passed, right?”

 

“Oh yeah, Kiyoshi even managed to get decent marks in all his subjects,” Fukuda said. “Though I think he may be secretly a genius or something anyway so I'm not sure he counts. And I don’t know how Mitobe did, but he definitely didn’t fail or he’d be back here.”

 

“There, so we’ll be fine,” Sakurai said. “Now I’m going to go get some butterbeer to corrupt our younger peers. Anyone who wants to join me in helping spread good cheer during this exam season is welcome to join me.”

 

Sakurai slammed his own Charms notes closed with a much louder sound than he probably intended. Furihata gaped a little, only half processing what was happening, but he jumped up to join his housemate.

 

“I’m proud, but also a little ashamed at how thoroughly we’ve corrupted that wonderful cinnamon roll,” Kawahara observed as the door to the common room closed behind the two seventh years.

 

“Yeah, I don’t think that was us, somehow,” Fukuda said. “I think we all know who should get credit for that.”

 

“Is he still dating that asshole?” Kawahara asked. “I thought that ended when Imayoshit graduated.”

 

“And I thought we agreed to stop calling him that for Sakurai’s sake,” Furihata said, slapping Kawahara with a ream of parchment. “Don’t be an ass, he’s our friend and he has pretty good judgement. Imayoshi has a terrible personality, but he could do a lot worse.”

 

“He could be dating Hanamiya,” Kawahara suggested grimly.

 

“Didn’t Imayoshi date that jerk at one point too?”

 

“Who cares, they’re both gone.”

 

The Hufflepuffs murmured in agreement at this lovely development.

 

Outside the walls of Hogwarts, exciting things were happening. America’s wizarding world was quickly being condensed under the thumb of a ruthless fascist and protests were happening in the Ministry every day.

 

Nearly every Daily Prophet featured a close up shot of Kise Ryouta at the front of a new charge to the government. Kise seemed to have found his life’s love in politics. Aside from the push for an investigation into the death of the Master Illusionist he had been apprenticed under, Kise had been pushing for educational and healthcare based reform. Most recently, he had led every shop owner in Diagon Alley in a walkout to protest excessive Ministry regulation of magical businesses.

 

Some of these were reforms Kuroko knew Akashi had designed. The new educational bill being discussed in the Wizengamot had Akashi’s name all over it, but Kuroko wondered about the wars Kise was waging on his own.

 

It seemed that once he started speaking out against injustice, Kise found that he couldn’t stop giving voice to those that raised legitimate concerns with the Ministry. Kise had become the face of a revolution in the Ministry of Magic. There were already whispers that the Minister himself was considering Kise for a cabinet position when the next round of nominations came up.

 

Kuroko was proud of his friend. He hoped Kise never stopped causing trouble to fight for what he believed to be right. But Kuroko was also extremely curious about what was going on out in the world, and why Akashi and the rest of the Miracles were doing what they were doing. Was Kise giving voice to a revolution on Akashi's orders? And if so, to what end? Curiosity burned at him whenever he had time to think about what was going on with his former teammates, but with exams coming up he didn't have very much time to dwell. Honestly, that was probably a good thing.

 

As Sakurai returned with two barrels of Butterbeer, followed by Furihata with another two barrels, Kuroko wondered where the rest of the Miracles were.

 

Akashi was working for the Ministry, obviously. Kuroko sometimes caught a glimpse of his face in the papers, but Akashi was doing a relatively good job keeping his name out of the news, for all that he was undoubtedly affecting policy in the Wizengamot almost as strongly as Kise himself was.

 

There was no news at all of Kuroko’s other three teammates.

 

Kuroko let himself remember them as they had been, smiling and happy, and found that he missed them, especially Aomine.

 

The blue haired wizard was often an asshole off the court, but he and Kuroko had never had trouble reading each other on the court. Aomine had pushed him to improve, had fanned the flames of determination to the point where he sometimes helped Kuroko blow himself up with poorly completed experiments, but their partnership had achieved some truly amazing things.

 

Kuroko wished he could see Aomine smile like he had the first time they had dueled together.

 

_“Kuroko Tetsuya, you are amazing!”_

 

Kuroko winced and glared down at his notes. He shouldn’t care about that, not after all this time, not after how shitty the Miracles had been to him and everyone else in the damn school.

 

He wasn’t going to think about it. Everything Aomine had done since then had only made things worse for Kuroko and everyone else involved. Kuroko forced himself to remember that he was mad at Aomine.

 

Kuroko stared at his notes on Runes until he thought his eyes might bleed, until long after the fire had burned itself out.

 

He didn’t get up until Sakurai was tugging on his sleeve, letting him know that their group of Hufflepuff roommates were calling it quits for the night.

 

Sleepily, Kuroko packed up his things and followed his roommates upstairs, knowing that he would just be spending tomorrow cramming as well.

 

From here until the end of exams, all they would be doing was revising. Kuroko was determined to scrape by every N.E.W.T with passing grades, no matter how difficult the practical aspect of the exam was. And he was even more determined to secure an outstanding grade in Ancient Runes; at this point it was the only way he was going to be able to convince a warding master to take him on as a student. As it was, Kuroko had already gotten a fair share of rejection letters from local ward masters and he was slowly running out of options.

 

If he didn’t find a master soon, Kuroko had no idea what he would be doing out of school.

 

“What do you think, Kuroko?”

 

Kuroko was pulled back into the moment hearing his own name called.

 

“Hm?” he asked sleepily.

 

“We were discussing Furihata’s type,” Kawahara called. “You know tiny, angry, sociopathic…”

 

“Akashi isn’t a sociopath,” Kuroko disagreed on instinct, his face showing no chance whatsoever. “He has poor anger management and control issues combined with an overly logical mind and an excess of magical power. But if anything, he suffers from an overabundance of empathy.”

 

“Uh huh,” Fukuda said, clearly in disbelief.

 

Kuroko shrugged. He’d long since given up vocally defending the Generation of Miracles, even if it still irked him when people insulted them.

 

“Well anyway, how can Furihata have a type when he’s only had one crush?” Kawahara asked. “It’s an insufficient sample size!”

 

“Okay, well, who else in our house has a type?” Fukuda replied, answering the question with another question.

 

“Well, we already know Kuroko’s type,” Sakurai said slyly.

 

“If I hear another word about my ‘type’ I will murder whoever says it in their sleep.”

 

Kuroko’s pleasantly mild tone was at odds with the very grave threat conveyed by his words. The steel in his eyes threatened violence, even if the rest of his expression was mild.

 

“Sorry!” Sakurai squeaked.

 

“Hey, dude, he didn’t mean anything by it,” Fukuda said. “We make fun of Kiyoshi-senpai for having a type too.”

 

“He’s dating Captain and Coach at the same time, how are they anything alike?” Kawahara demanded.

 

“Angry, loud, and small.”

 

“Ooh,” Kawahara said, thinking it over for a minute. “Yeah, he kind of does have a type, huh?”

 

“Excuse me, but could we please stop talking about types?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Not until you answer one question,” Kawahara said. “Aomine or Kagami?”

 

“What?”

 

“If Kagami and Aomine marched up here right now to profess their undying and everlasting love to you, which one would you choose?”

 

“Neither of them would ever do that,” Kuroko deadpanned. “Taking their interest for granted, which I do not, we would die of old age before either of them remained in contact with their feelings for long enough to march up here and confess anything. Both Kagami and Aomine are much better at showing their feelings through actions.”

 

“So your relationship is purely physical?” Sakurai asked.

 

Kuroko, who had already been annoyed, was beginning to pass into the arena of fully pissed off.

 

“I don’t have any relationship with either of them!” Kuroko insisted.

 

“Kuroko, I’m really really sorry to say this to your face, but you’ve been calling Aomine your light since you were fourteen,” Sakurai said. “You either have deeply internalized homophobia preventing you from recognizing what that means or you’re lying to our faces.”

 

“And I know you’re lying, because you have the same expression you did half the time when you told Coach you’d been standing in the same spot since the beginning of practice!”

 

Furihata interjected very excitedly with this comment, visibly wilting a little under Kuroko’s dead-eyed glare. Kuroko was marginally glad that his low levels of power made it so difficult for him to use his magic in a directly violent way. In that moment, he might have murdered his roommate out of pure embarrassment.

 

“Plus, nobody in this room is going to deny they’re hot,” Furihata said reasonably, trying to recover from his earlier blunder, blushing bright red. “If you’re into that.”

 

“You want Akashi Seijuro to step on you, I’m not sure what you’re into should matter in this discussion,” Kawahara said. “But he makes a good point. Nevertheless, you haven’t answered the question.”

 

Kuroko was alarmed to be addressed again, having prayed that the focus would land on another of his roommates. He wondered if he could use his misdirection to leave and just sleep in the common room or something.

 

“Wand to your head: if you had to choose, who would it be? Kagami or Aomine?”

 

“That would never happen,” Kuroko said blankly.

 

“Come on!”

 

“Yeah, choose!”

 

Kuroko sighed. He swung his legs up and over onto his bed and closed the blinds with a snap.

 

There was a long silence before Kuroko heard a light knock on his bedpost.

 

“We didn’t mean to push so hard,” Furihata said. “We’re sorry.”

 

Kuroko didn’t open his curtains. He stared up at the top of his canopy, mind racing.

 

He couldn’t deny his attraction to either of his lights. Kuroko was not nearly delusional enough to believe that the way his stomach flipped pleasantly upon seeing Aomine smile in the heat of battle or the warmth in his heart when he fought side by side with Kagami was anything other than attraction.

 

The unfortunate reality was that Kagami and Aomine were both significantly better suited for each other than Kuroko. They were perfect foils and not just in the sense that they looked physically similar. Aomine’s lightning and Kagami’s fire were perfect fits. Their magic even felt similar – wild and untamed, like the wizards themselves. They were both loud and passionate. And more importantly, they challenged each other in ways Kuroko couldn’t ever challenge them. Aomine Daiki was one of the few wizards who could fully draw out the still developing potential that lay dormant in Kagami and Kagami was likewise one of the only wizards who could light the spark in Aomine’s eyes and heart again.

 

Kuroko had seen it during the match against Aomine, when the teams had cleared back and their aces had clashed. Neither of them had been happier than they had been in that moment.

 

No, if either of Kuroko’s lights were indeed interested in men, they had much more cause to be attracted to one another than to their shadow: the barely there presence of a wizard who simply did not have the capacity to feel as deeply as either of them.

 

What Kuroko could not bring himself to say to his roommates, because it felt far too much like self-pity, was that he simply was not enough to compare to either of the men he was in love with.

 

Kuroko punched his pillow absently. That knowledge left him feeling numb, and not the overwhelming devastation he knew was supposed to be associated with heartache. It was just one more reason why Kuroko wouldn’t ever be good enough, whole enough, to pursue a relationship with either of them. To muse and imagine one would only be an unproductive waste of time, which is why he’d withdrawn from the conversation taking place in his dorm room.

 

Kuroko knew when his roommates went to sleep, because he heard the low murmuring outside his closed curtains cease. Slowly, he heard each of his roommates get into their own beds and pull their curtains closed. Kuroko peeked out of his curtains as the last of his housemates got into their beds. On the other side of the room, only one set of drapes was still open.

 

Sakurai extinguished the candles in the room with a gentle gust of wind that circled around the room, taking the smoke of the blown out candles with it.

 

…

 

Midorima turned on his lights only to find the last thing he had expected to see this late in the evening after a long day of research in the local library.

 

“What in the name of Hecate, Heka, and the Horned God are you doing in my house?”

 

“You know that last one was cheating, right?” Takao asked. “The Horned God isn’t actually the name of a god, it’s a placeholder male half of a pair in duotheistic theological systems and sometimes associated with horned celtic gods. So including it in a threesome with two other named gods isn’t accurate.”  
  
“...what?”

 

“I research too!” Takao grinned as though he had won a particularly awesome prize. Midorima’s scowl deepened, if that was possible, and he looked like he was resisting blowing the Gryffindor out of his house by explosive force.

 

“Shut up and tell me why I shouldn’t curse you straight out my door right now.”

 

“Because you’re supposed to find this romantic! This is a dramatic, romantic gesture! Now, draw me like one of your French gi-ahhhhhhH!”

 

Midorima turned his wand on his former teammate with an annoyed narrowing of his eyes. Takao jumped off his couch, rubbing his arm where Midorima had cursed him.

 

“Hey, come on, I went through a lot of shit to come find you after you sent me one goddamn line of crap about not coming to school this year. I think I deserve a little more than you cursing me the second you see me!” Takao yelped. “If anything, shouldn’t I be the one cursing you for being such an ass?”

 

“You are more than welcome to make an attempt.”

 

“Yeah well, thanks to your skiving ass our old dueling team isn’t nearly as interesting anymore.”

 

“If you were being truthful with yourself you would know that I cannot skive classes or practices when I no longer attend Hogwarts as a student.”

 

“And about that!” Takao raged. “I can’t believe you just up and took your exams without telling me what you were doing! You suck man, I’ve been pining after you for _half a damn decade._ I’ve been doing everything I’m supposed to to make you realize it and you’re still making me chase you-”

 

Midorima’s eyes widened as Takao was cut off by a sharp knock at the door.

 

“Hide!” he hissed.

 

“What, is that your girlfriend?” Takao demanded, though his tone and expression clearly conveyed that he didn’t actually think that the knocking at the door was a romantic paramour of Midorima’s.

 

“Are you drunk?” Midorima demanded. “Nevermind, go hide, right now. That is Akashi Seijuro. You remember the former captain of the Generation of Miracles?”

 

Takao snorted. The very notion that anyone could forget Akashi Seijuro, especially one of his classmates, was laughable.

 

“Just tell me you’re not dating the red haired psychopath, because that would be too much,” Takao insisted.

 

The knock sounded again.

 

Midorima rolled his eyes.

 

“I am not dating Akashi Seijuro, now will you hide so that you can live to receive a lecture regarding your obviously out of control drinking habits?”

 

“I’m not drunk, you-”

 

“Get down you fool or Akashi is going to murder you!” Midorima snarled, shoving Takao towards a closet before going to answer the door.

 

“Akashi, hello,” Midorima said, praying that his friend had the good sense to make himself scarce in the presence of Akashi Seijuro.

 

“Shintarou, it is good to see you,” Akashi said, stepping into the living room. He looked around thoughtfully, his eyebrows knitting together in the center of his forehead.

 

“Has someone been here?”

 

“I would never compromise such a delicate location,” Midorima glowered at Akashi, hoping that his penchant for being a horrible liar didn’t give him away now.  

 

“I apologize if this is a bad time, but you said you have something for me? This was the only time I could get away from my other responsibilities."

 

Midorima nodded sharply. Of course it was. Between working for a foreign diplomat full time, helping his father draft and introduce bills, and taking on the research for a mastery, Akashi was spread thin as it was. He had contacted the redhead a week ago inviting him to drop by whenever the timing was convenient, so he supposed he couldn't be that put out by Akashi following up on his invitation.

 

He gestured for Akashi to follow him out of the living room, internally breathing a sigh of relief when Takao was no longer a single door away from revealing his presence to Akashi. Down a long hallway towards the back of the house, Midorima keyed them passed the thick layer of runes protecting his workroom, before ushering his friend inside. Once they were there, he nodded to the leather journals that filled the room.

 

Akashi raised an eyebrow.

 

“Impressive.”

 

“I worried that eventually Nash Gold, Jr. would catch on,” Midorima said. “Were I to die in pursuit of avoiding the terrible future I have seen, my knowledge would die with me. So far, we are on track, but if things go south, you will know what to do.”

 

“I pray that we never reach that day,” Akashi said. “Shintarou, if we lose you, we lose the world.”

 

Midorima huffed and refused to respond to that line directly. It was hardly true, anymore anyway, thanks to the steps that Midorima had taken to protect this knowledge of the future. If Nash Gold Jr. sent assassins after him, they would find a hard target to kill. If they got lucky, Akashi would know what to do with this cache of information.

 

“Kise’s actions were actually effective in protecting the timeline, it seems,” Midorima allowed. “As ill advised as they were.”

 

“Astounding,” Akashi said, rubbing his forehead. “I had to go after a team of aurors and have them dismissed. The Minister is hailing Ryouta as a champion of the people and now they’re funding the rest of his studies under a new ward master on a scholarship.”

 

“His success bothers you?”

 

Akashi laughed.

 

“He’s as good a figurehead as any,” Akashi said. “But in all honesty, I had intended for it to be you.”

 

“Me?” Midorima asked, looking even more confused than he had a moment ago.

 

“The face of our new world,” Akashi said. “The smartest man I know, the most practical.”

 

“The Minister of Magic is an _elected office,_ ” Midorima chided his friend in disbelief. “Are you serious? That would be a monumentally terrible idea.”

 

Akashi paced away from Midorima, surveying the spines of the worn leather journals around him.

 

“I trust few people to do the right thing and get the job done. I had considered Satsuki, but-”

 

“She isn’t a leader,” Midorima agreed. “But she’s a better one than I. Certainly she is one who would actually win the vote of wizards and witches in this country. I’m more than aware of how popular I am not, Akashi.”

 

“Perhaps,” Akashi said loftily. “Though all of that is moot anyway. Fate and the people have made the decision about whom they will follow. And now, what does the future tell you about Ryouta?”

 

“He has the ears of the world,” Midorima said. “When he speaks, they will listen. It is unlikely that will ever stop being true.”

 

“But will he break under the pressure? Is he strong enough? He’s had to gracefully manage fans forever, but those are the kind of people who appreciate his face and his smile. These fringe radicals he is leading in a revolution may just as quickly turn on him as they started to follow him. If he loses control of them now we will have a disaster on our hands that I cannot afford to waste time cleaning up.”

 

Midorima didn’t answer for a long time. He looked lost in thought. Akashi was sure he’d spent much of this year in the same way, lost in his head as he tried to navigate the clearest, safest path forward for all of them, double and triple checking at each event to make sure they hadn’t messed up.

 

“After all this time, you worry about his will?” Midorima asked at last. “Concerns about his _power_ I might understand, but his will is more than adequate. He will be capable.”

 

Akashi sighed.

 

“I suppose,” he said. “Shintarou, I appreciate everything you have done. Without your work, we would have been doomed already. You have borne the heaviest brunt of this burden in trying to protect our world and I will make sure that the world knows what you have done.”

 

“I will be content knowing that the world will not be overrun with demons,” Midorima said stiffly. “I require neither accolades nor respect for that. I am fundamentally self interested in this work, seeing as how in preventing the apocalypse I protect my own life as well.”

 

Akashi smiled knowingly.

 

“Of course,” he allowed. “I won’t disagree with you then. Is there anything else?”

 

Midorima gestured to the delicate metal instrument on the shelf next to his desk.

 

“I have set this device to monitor the progress of the timeline. Should we come close to an event that will cause us to veer nearer to the destruction, it will sound the alarm so that we may have an opportunity to stop it.”

 

Akashi leaned close to the machine, obviously interested in it’s inner workings. Midorima allowed himsef just the slightest bit of smugness, knowing that he’d created something that awed even Akashi Seijuro.

 

“Astounding,” he said simply. “How does it work?”

 

“It does,” Midorima said sharply, and Akashi cast him an amused glance at the challenge. “That is all you need to know. Should the worst happen to me, if this alarm sounds, you will know that you must take immediate action.”

 

Akashi straightened after a moment, his eyes still fixed on the genius instrument Midorima had created to aid him in his work.

 

“I appreciate the forewarning,” he said. “Hopefully, it will not come to that.”

 

“Hopefully it will not come to anything I have seen,” Midorima replied. “For your sake.”

 

Akashi nodded absently.

 

They returned to the main room of the house.

 

“This is impressive work,” Akashi said. “Well done, Shintarou. I will come by soon, but I am glad you are making such extensive progress on your own.”

 

As soon as the redhead was gone, Midorima turned to the closet to see that Takao had let the door swing open as soon as Akashi left. He was staring at Midorima with a look of shock and fear on his face.

 

“What did you hear?” Midorima demanded.

 

“Something about the end of the world, but you were in the room down the hall for most of it, so I swear I don’t know any specifics!” Takao said at once.

 

Midorima rolled his eyes.

 

“Do you have a death wish?” he demanded.

 

“What?”

 

“What do you think would have happened if you had been caught spying on that meeting, huh? You could have been _killed!_ ”

 

“Aw, you were worried about me!”

 

“BE SERIOUS!” Midorima roared. “For once in your life, could you please treat anything with an appropriate level of gravity? How did you even get this address, anyway?”

 

“Momoi Satsuki was moved by my plight and weak to my flattery,” Takao said.

 

“You can’t be serious,” Midorima said flatly. With the immediate danger to Takao’s person past, the Ravenclaw allowed himself to go back to being annoyed by the smaller man, instead of worried about him. Takao fluttered his lashes at Midorima.

 

“Don’t worry, my love, I only have eyes for you-”

 

“I should have known in school that partnering with a Scorpio would bring me no end of trouble,” Midorima groaned, mostly to himself. He rubbed his face in his hands. He didn’t know when he had last slept, but this entire situation was giving him a headache.

 

“Listen, Shin-chan, I didn’t come here to cause more problems for you,” Takao said.

 

“You stay right the hell where you are,” Midorima snapped. “I must take a moment to reduce my heart rate to something moderately approaching human again, and then I will address what is happening right now. Shouldn’t you be in class, anyway?”

 

“It’s still Christmas break, at least for a few more days,” Takao supplied. “I snuck out of my parents house and got on a ferry across the Channel. Once I was in France I found somewhere secluded and apparated to a beach nearby that I went to when I was a kid. I hiked the rest of the way.”

 

“That was reckless and dangerous,” Midorima said seriously. “I cannot allow you to return unescorted.”

 

“You gonna kick me out?” Takao asked, tilting his head to the side.

 

Midorima pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and moved to stand directly in front of Takao.

 

“Not immediately,” he said finally. “Obviously you had a long journey and you should rest and have some food before I take you back home. Not that I care. Obviously.”

 

The lie was one of the worst and most transparent that Midorima had ever told in his entire life, and his face had turned bright red with the attempt to conceal the fact that he actually cared about his former classmate. Takao was clearly holding back laughter as he responded.

 

“Oh, obviously,” Takao said. Midorima moved away towards the kitchen, using the activity to disguise his apparent emotional discomfort.

 

“Does this mean you’re not going to draw me like one of your French girls?” Takao shouted after Midorima as the green haired wizard disappeared into the kitchen.

 

He had plenty of time to duck as a spell came whizzing out of the kitchen directly at his face and it struck harmlessly against the far wall.

 

“Aw Shin-chan, you _did_ miss me!”

 

“I did not, you idiot!”

 

…

 

Aside from almost singlehandedly making sure that the world did not plummet into the apocalypse by monitoring the time line, Midorima was also securing his mastery in Runes under a prestigious French warder. Midorima’s research into the use of runes was already proving to be interesting and semi-fruitful.

 

About a month ago Midorima had taken a few moments to write a heartfelt letter to Momoi Satsuki, having gained a new appreciation for her capacity to multitask in the face of a seemingly insurmountable and never ending load of work. She had sent back a letter sealed with a kiss telling him to hang in there and do his best.

 

His best was all Midorima could do.

 

The truth was that Midorima’s work was going to change the world. He’d seen it in his visions. The inspiration for this research had come too late in the previous timeline, but here in the real world, Midorima had more than enough time to explore and plan and shape the development of research that would change everything.

 

The study of Alchemy was pure light magic and it was concerned with the nature of things. While the primary focus of the subject was the production of the Elixir of Life, Midorima had nowhere near such lofty goals. While Alchemy was traditionally a potions based field, Midorima’s interest lay purely in the runic expression of magical transfiguration.

 

Midorima was developing new ways of fighting demons. His research was concerned with the veil between worlds and the runic structure of the magic that flowed along the ley lines to allow portals to the shadow realm to be opened.

 

Put more simply, Midorima was researching the nature of raw, natural magic.

 

To the board of Ward Masters, Midorima’s thesis was almost too cerebral and theoretical to be allowed. To Midorima, the practical implications of his research might spell the difference between life and death, not that he was ever going to explain that to his master.

 

Midorima’s time passed in a rush of busy activity. He spent more time pouring over scrolls than he ever had as a student, but this was different. His research and experimentation were groundbreaking.

 

Midorima’s research was going to leave a mark on the world.

 

At least once a week, and usually much more frequently, he would receive a letter from Takao.

 

 **Dearest Darlingest Shin-Chan** _,_ all of these letters started. **I pine for you** _._

 

Somewhere in between the fluffy accolades and flowery prose, Takao would provide some amusing anecdote or interesting factoid. Midorima responded to every one, despite the fact that he wasn’t entirely sure why. He told himself it was only polite to respond to communications sent to him, even if it was just the _Go Die!_ He scrawled on the back of envelopes he returned to Kise.

 

 _Today I have discovered the significance of a rune that has been out of common usage for over a thousand years in an old Babylonian text,_ he wrote in response to one letter from Takao.

 

 **Is it as pretty as my Shin-chan?** Takao had asked.

 

Midoria had sputtered and ran through an entire inkwell trying to compose an adequate response. _I have no idea what that means. Runes don’t look like people, you fool, and their aesthetic properties are purely magical in nature._

 

 **Figure of speech, Shin-chan, we should work on your command of simile,** Takao had brushed off the flustered reply easily. Midorima had set that letter on fire before ordering the Gryffindor a book on basic English grammar.

 

_My command of simile is appropriately developed, and I encourage you to improve your own to avoid further misunderstandings while communicating with others._

 

 **Thanks for the book Shin-chan,** Takao had sent him about a week later. **Don’t worry, I’ll work extra hard to develop a talent of tongue before we meet again.**

 

 _I have been sitting at my desk for twenty-seven hours and the results of my latest experiments persist in being irritatingly illogical,_ read Midorima’s response, in part, to that letter.

 

 **GO TO BED SHIN-CHAN** _,_ Takao had written on the back of that particular letter. He’d underlined it twice and circled it in red ink with so much vigour he had slightly torn the page where his quill had met it with too much force.

 

 _The flowers in the field outside my study window are in bloom,_ Midorima wrote in a fit of what had to be insanity when he was stuck on one of his research binges and couldn’t think of another angle from which to pursue his problem. _P.S. if you were going to test the conductivity of magic along a closed circuit, under what circumstances would you do so?_

 

 **IT IS STILL SNOWING IN SCOTLAND, SHIN-CHAN, WHAT THE HELL? I WANT TO BE ON A BEACH IN THE SOUTH OF FRANCE YOU BASTARD** _,_ Takao had replied. Midorima mused that the Gryffindor must truly have been jealous to put the effort into writing the letter in all capital letters. He mused that the Hogwarts students must be swamped with preparation for exams and Takao would be in particular focused on his N.E.W.T.s.

 

 **P.S.** Takao wrote at the bottom of the page, **I would use that handy rune sight of yours and run a magical current along a copper wire held between two clay blocks to stop the current at either end. Let me know if you find out anything interesting!**

 

 _I learned that third degree burns can also be treated with Essence of Murtlap when no burn supplies are on hand,_ Midorima wrote back with his left hand, nursing his right. _Thank you for the suggestion. Do you have any others? Not that your communication would affect my research in any way._

 

 **Oops** _,_ Takao had written back in a particularly long and apologetic missive. **I guess magical currents don’t work the same as electrical ones. Though I wonder if they have the same magnetic sources! Does water conduct magic? Do the lights at the north pole have any magical significance? Did muggles accidently harness magic when using electricity? And don’t be such a Tsundere.**

 

 _I do not know,_ Midorima had replied. _Please explain in more detail what this muggle field of science is and perhaps I will be able to confirm or deny a connection. Only if you want to, of course._

 

After a moment of resentful pondering, Midorima dipped his quill back in the inkwell and scrawled a moody post-script: _I am not a tsundere._

 

Takao had sent Midorima a college textbook about electrical engineering. **You light my spark,** he wrote inside the cover, where Midorima would have to cause serious damage to the text to remove. The green haired wizard told himself it was easier to keep the silly inscription than to find a way to get rid of it.  After all, any chemicals he used to avoid extensive damage to the book itself would take time to research and brew.

 

Midorima was fascinated with the book, but ultimately did not think there were direct connections to his alchemical research, at least as far as he could tell. He kept it on his shelf for reference anyway.

 

Finally, one sunny Friday sometime in March, Midorima wrote to Takao without having first received a letter from the other boy.

 

_The movement of magic along the ley lines mirrors electromagnetic activity under the Earth’s crust known to muggles as Telluric Currents. The topic is unrelated to my current research, but I would welcome your insight should I pursue an interest in the future. Do you intend to secure a mastery in Warding after all? I ask only out of professional courtesy, so please do not read any emotional attachment into the question._

 

Takao’s reply had been unusually short, even shorter than the ones where he chided Midorima for failing to take proper care of his health. It contained only one word:

 

**YES.**

 

…

 

Akashi showed up on a grey morning during the second to last week of March with a satisfied smile playing at the edges of his lips. Whatever he was there to say, Midorima presumed that his plans were going well.

 

How wonderful for him. Midorima was still at a road block with the research he was doing for his mastery and was constantly on edge in fear of hearing the alarm he’d rigged inside his workroom in case the worst should happen.

 

“Hello, Shintarou,” Akashi said cheerfully. “I hope you wouldn’t mind accompanying me on a bit of a trip today. There is something I desperately hope to get your opinion on.”

 

“I am busy,” Midorima said hesitantly, gesturing to the piles of notes he was surrounded with.

 

For once, he was actually making progress on his Mastery instead of tracking their timeline, since things had remained relatively quiet thus far.

 

“I promise it will not take over much of your time and unfortunately, if you will forgive the colloquialism, this is one of those situations where Mohammed is easier brought to the mountain than the other way around.”

 

“I see,” Midorima said, sitting up. “Well, if it will not take very much time I suppose I could lend my expertise to you. But I have a question for you first, if I may.”

 

Akashi nodded, placing his hand in his pockets.

 

“What do you want to know?”

 

“Why is it that you chose this role for me?”

 

“Role?” Akashi asked.

 

“You have placed our friends on the front lines calming riots and bringing down heavy warding. I could be taking on an active role as well and yet you have me here, investigating research developments and watching the progress of the timeline.”

 

Akashi smiled a little and the line in his shoulders relaxed.

 

“Midorima Shintarou, you are a genius,” Akashi said, and as far as Midorima could tell, he meant every word. “Your mind itself is a Miracle. I believe that if you had been born a muggle you would be no less extraordinary than you are now.”

 

Midorima was unmoved by this flattery. It was mere truth, after all.

 

“You are correct,” he said shortly. “Why then would you not place the brilliance of my mind _and_ the strength of my magic where they can be utilized fighting demons or protecting the people?”

 

“You are the only person who can track the timeline effectively and sort that information in a meaningful manner. Your mind is the only one that can truly grapple with the research being conducted here. You must have recognized this already.”

 

“There is truly no other reason you have?” Midorima asked. “Aside from your genuine feeling that none are better suited to this role?”

 

“Should I have?” Akashi asked.

 

“I wondered if you doubted my capacity for combat,” Midorima admitted. “I was taken down in a duel by Kuroko when all logic said I should have won.”

 

Akashi chuckled.

 

“There is no accounting for the tricks Tetsuya can pull out of his sleeves at the very last moment,” he said. “I couldn’t hold that against you if I wanted to. It wouldn’t be logical, knowing that we may have only scratched the surface in regards to understanding Tetsuya’s abilities. Rest assured, I believe you are as suited for combat as I find Daiki, Atsushi, Ryouta, and myself. However, I invite you to speculate on the possibility of placing any of our three friends in your role, and understand the driving motivation behind my decision.”

 

Understanding shone in Midorima’s eyes.

 

“Ah,” he said, after a moment. Murasakibara, Aomine, and Kise, while powerful, were hardly diligent when it came to their studies, which was the main quality tracking these minute changes required. Kise might ironically have been the best suited of the three to replace Midorima, given how hard he had worked to maintain his place in the Generation of Miracles - but he hardly had Midorima’s formidable analytical mind or penchant for paying attention to fine detail.

 

“I do see what you mean,” Midorima allowed. “You wanted this done correctly and without careless error.”

 

Akashi inclined his head with a small, secretive smile.

 

“Shintarou, you know that my faith is with you,” he said. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t be preparing to go to war on your word alone.”

 

Midorima blushed furiously and looked down.

 

“You said you had something you wanted me to look at?” he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

 

“Ah, yes,” Akashi said, all business. “We will be taking a bit of a trip to the site where I have set up my masterpiece. Would you indulge me in just the slightest bit of drama and close your eyes so that I can appropriately impress you?”

 

Midorima tsked impatiently.

 

“I doubt I will be surprised to your satisfaction,” he said. Akashi smiled a little wider.

 

“Would you indulge my sense of drama anyway?”

 

Midorima nodded sharply, closing his eyes as requested.

 

“Very well, for your sense of… drama.”

 

He heard Akashi chuckle from a few feet away, and then Akashi took Midorima’s hand in his own. Against the warmth of the other wizard’s skin, Midorima could feel something cold and metal. A metal disk of some kind, perhaps a coin, was placed between their conjoined hands.

 

That was all the warning Midorima got before he felt the unpleasant jerking sensation of being transported by Portkey.

 

The world lurched around him, spinning uncontrollably. Midorima braced himself for landing and, even with his eyes closed, managed to keep his balance.

 

He shivered as the air stilled around them. Wherever he and Akashi had come, it was cold. The air felt thinner too  - which told Midorima without the use of his eyes that they had come somewhere at an altitude. They were high up, wherever they were.

 

“You may open your eyes.”

 

Midorima obeyed Akashi’s direction.

 

Genuine surprise overcame his features. His green eyes widened and his breath hitched in his throat.

 

“This is… a work of art,” he whispered. Then he turned to Akashi, determination in his features.

 

“What is this?” Midorima demanded.

 

“And you said you wouldn’t be surprised,” Akashi smiled smugly. “I am glad that even after all this time, I can still surprise you, my old friend.”

 

“But what _is it_?”

 

“Can’t you tell?”

 

From Midorima’s narrowed glare, Akashi must have deduced that the green haired wizard had some idea, but was not willing to make any assumptions about what he was looking at just yet. At the very least, he deigned to satisfy Midorima’s curiosity.

 

“My…. insurance, if you would like to call it that,” Akashi said when Midorima wasn’t forthcoming with a response. “Take a look. It would please me very much to hear your thoughts on what I have done.”

 

“This is… Akashi, I can already tell you that this is amazing.”

 

“Yes, it is quite magnificent.”

 

Akashi sounded extraordinarily pleased and smug as he said this.

 

“I can see that.”

 

“You are my last line of defense, Shintarou,” Akashi said softly. “That is why I have chosen this role for you, so that you would be able to give me adequate warning if my final plan need be put into action.”

 

“But why is this necessary?” Midorima asked, bothered by the possibility that any of of them could have missed something. “We have stopped every major event in my visions thus far. Your plan is proceeding exactly as you thought it would.”

 

Akashi smiled.

 

“Shintarou, I am absolute,” he said simply. “And the reason I am absolute is that I take into account even the unlikely events that may occur and I have a plan to address those contingencies. The worst scenario is yet possible. If we have only bought ourselves time, I intended to use that time to the best of our abilities. Furthermore, only a fool would begin powering a rune sequence of this magnitude and importance without the eyes of another master to make sure that it was free of even the tiniest flaw or miscalculation.

 

“I am no master,” Midorima said flatly. Akashi smiled.

 

“I trust your opinion more than I trust that of any guild approved master in runes or warding that you could find me,” he said. “You are a master in all but literal title.”

 

Midorima exhaled through his teeth.

 

“I must be back by midnight tonight,” he said. “I have a delicate experiment that requires tending on the night of the New Moon at midnight precisely. I may have to return to continue my survey.”

 

“I will leave you a portkey, should you need more time to examine my work,” Akashi replied swiftly. “That way you can finish examining the runes in your own time. I would like a thorough opinion of this set. I had Satsuki do the mathematical calculations to expedite the process and set the runes myself so I doubt that you will find anything… but as I said, better an absolute genius with a drop of caution than a fool without.”

 

Midorima chuckled.

 

“You really have thought of everything,” he said ruefully, shaking his head as he looked back out over the extensive field of runes laid out in front of him. “I was right to come to you.”

 

Akashi simply nodded. He passed over an amulet that Midorima could immediately determine was the portkey. His hands itched to analyze the runes covering it, to determine exactly where he was. Akashi likely expected he would do exactly that, however, so he refrained from so obviously attempting to undermine Akashi while the other man was still right there.

 

But wow.

 

Akashi turned away, clearly intending to leave, but Midorima stopped him, his eyes narrowed as he noticed something.

 

“Akashi,” he said sharply.

 

“Yes, Shintarou?”

 

“The last sequence, you can’t mean what I think you do.”

 

“I wouldn’t deign to imagine what you are thinking,” Akashi said innocently.

 

“You won’t be able to do it.”

 

When Akashi finally met Midorima’s eyes, his gold eye was burning more brightly than usual. Midorima fought the urge to step back and held his ground against his former captain.

 

“Shintarou, you have so little faith,” Akashi said. “Didn’t you just say that you were right to trust me? Let me make myself clear, in case I have not in the seven years that we have been friends. I am absolute. I can do anything. If I have to move the heavens and the earth to save our kind, I will. If I have to singlehandedly fight every demon in the shadow realms, I will do so. My will is absolute and my will is that we survive. If I need the power, I will find it.”

 

“You’re going to kill yourself failing to do this,” Midorima said. “Even if you found extra sources of magic to extend your magical core, _power_ is not the problem you will have with the final set of wards. You have the wrong _kind_ of magic.”

 

“If I don’t do this, my own oath will kill me,” Akashi said dismissively. “Don’t worry about the power. I just need to know if it will _work._ ”

 

With that, Midorima was left staring at the single most impressive piece of magic he had ever seen, wondering if his approval was going to send one of his few friends to their deaths.

 

…

 

Midorima returned to his home in the south of France a long time later, feeling emboldened.

 

Nothing had happened that would substantially alter the timeline. They were still on track to block almost all of the major events that had lead to the first catastrophe in the timeline Midorima had seen.

 

Hopefully, they would not have to implement Akashi’s insane plan.

 

For the first time, Midorima was feeling pretty confident that they might actually manage to survive the coming storm.

 

Midorima unlocked his door with one hand, a pile of notes on Akashi’s project under his left arm. He pushed the door open and headed towards his study.

 

As he entered the house, Midorima became aware of something that was extremely wrong. Something was very, very not right, and he dropped the bundle he was carrying as he realized what it was.

 

An alarm was sounding in his workroom.

 

Midorima started running.

 

The green haired Miracle pushed open the door, breaking through the wards without care for the protections he had left there. He could fix it later, but he had to know.

 

There was only one item rigged to sound an alarm in his workshop and it was the most precious of the many valuable artifacts there.

 

Midorima stood in his workroom, a scowl covering every feature of his face as he looked down at the device he had created where it sat in a position of distinction on an open shelf at eye level next to his desk.

 

This was the device meant to track developments in the timeline.

 

The one meant to sound the alarm if ever they were thrown straight into the path of inconvertible disaster.

 

Somehow they had missed something. The timeline was about to cross into chaos.

 

While Midorima had been uselessly cataloguing runes for a contingency he had hoped they would never need, something absolutely terrible had happened that was going to throw open the doors to the apocalypse.

 

All Midorima could do for a moment was stare in shock as the blood drained from his face.

 

They had failed. Somehow, somewhere, they had messed up and the single misstep had been enough to tilt them towards oblivion. After every single turning point they had managed to salvage, it didn’t matter.

 

They were going to have to get ready to face the end of the world.

 

Midorima’s hands shook as he frantically searched through his pockets for the communication mirror Akashi had given him. Only Akashi Seijuro could save them now. It looked like they were going to need the redhead’s impossible contingency to work much sooner than previously anticipated.

 

In the dark of Midorima’s workroom, the alarm continued to blare, drowning out any other thoughts he had on the topic.

 

This was not good.

 

…

 

 


	39. IT'S ARTISTIC, DAMN IT!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know its pretty early, but here we are on Thursday, at the stunning, almost 16k conclusion of Arc II! Your captain would like to remind you to buckle your seatbelts and make sure that your tray tables are in the upright and locked position. Please remain continually advised to the M rating for graphic descriptions of violence that this fic contains, and brace for takeoff.
> 
> This chapter should answer most of the lingering questions from the earlier arcs, and wrap up some of our first mysteries neatly for everyone, but there's plenty more to chat about so I'll see you in the comments or [on tumblr.](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) In the meantime, I very much hope you enjoy our latest update, with which we will be almost hitting our 2/3 of the way mark!

 

**** …

 

“What the hell!”

 

Kagami’s shout sent birds in the nearby tree line flying for cover as he was rudely awoken.

 

With the last exams of his academic career out of the way, Kagami had come down to the banks of the Great Lake to take a nap in the golden summer sunlight. He had been enjoying an extremely restful doze when he’d gotten a face full of ice cold water.

 

Kagami came up throwing fireballs, all of which were dodged skillfully by the wizard who had so rudely woken him.

 

“Sup, roomie?”

 

“Takao! What the hell!” Kagami shouted, wiping icy water off his face.

 

“I need to talk to you,” Takao said, tilting his head to the side with the fakest smile Kagami had ever seen.

 

“You couldn’t have tapped me on the shoulder like a normal person?” Kagami demanded.

 

“This was more fun,” Takao said. “Now come on, we have business to discuss.”

 

Kagami huffed, but obediently sat in the sand next to Takao, who had made himself comfortable looking out over the surface of the sparkling water.

 

“I’ve noticed our phantom is a little distracted of late,” Takao commented.

 

“Kuroko? He’s fine.”

 

Takao exhaled deeply.

 

“This was funny like two years ago, but now it’s just sad,” Takao said. “What is the issue? Am I completely reading the situation wrong? I know he’s gayer than the fourth of July for you, but are you not into him?”

 

“For fuck’s sake, is that what you’ve been making snide remarks about this whole damn time?”

 

“Holy shit, you’re an idiot,” Takao said, rubbing his face with his hand. “Yes, that’s what I’m talking about!”

 

“First of all, what the hell? Second, why do you care at  _ all  _ about who or what I’m into?”

 

Takao tilted his head to the side, smiling maliciously.

 

“Maybe I’m just that good of a guy,” he said.

 

“Not buying it,” Kagami said, hands on his hips, anger keeping him focused on the other Gryffindor.

 

“Fine,” Takao said. “You wanna know the truth?”

 

“After two years of your stupid comments, yeah! Yeah, I wanna know the truth you cretin!”

 

“I don’t like competition,” he said. “And Shin-chan can pretend all he wants, but I know how he looked at Kuroko the first time he saw him – like he wanted to  _ solve  _ him. And while I’m quite secure in my capacity to maintain the  _ interest  _ of the same sex, I admit… I don’t like it. Shin-chan likes puzzles and Kuroko is the ultimate puzzle to him, do you get what I’m saying?”

 

“You think your boyfriend wants to date Kuroko.”

 

“I’m not sure  _ what _ Shin-chan wants from Kuroko and that’s what pisses me off,” Takao admitted. “And while I think he’s a hell of a guy and I love dueling against him and, shadow to shadow, he and I are gonna be lifelong rivals pushing each other to do awesome things…”

 

He trailed off.

 

“You wanna make him unavailable,” Kagami said. He paused for a second before he started laughing.

 

“I will fucking cut you, this is a favor to you too!” Takao snapped.

 

“No no, I’m not laughing at you just… this whole thing is insane. Those Miracles are insane. This whole school is insane.”

 

“You got that right,” Takao said. “So if you’re into Kuroko, which you obviously are, and he’s into you, which I know for a fact is true, then  _ what's the issue _ ?”

 

“Aomine.”

 

“What about him? Are you into him instead? Cuz like, damn the boy has issues, but I could totally see wanting a piece of that ass. I guess it’s inconvenient for me, but…”

 

“ _ I’m  _ not the problem, idiot!”

 

Takao paused.

 

“Ooooh,” he said softly. “Oh. Well you’re right about that. I’m pretty sure Kuroko used to be really into Aomine too.”

 

“There it is,” Kagami said, laying back down grumpily. “And I’m not putting myself in between them. Can I go back to my nap now?”

 

“Have you considered Kuroko might want to put himself between the two of you?” Takao asked with a raised eyebrow, entirely ignoring Kagami’s sputtering.

 

Kagami turned bright red as that image appeared in his mind’s eye. He shook his head to clear it of the steamy fantasy. There was no way in hell he was going to entertain even the slightest idea of jumping into bed with that bastard Aomine, especially not with Kuroko.

 

“Kagami Taiga, please  _ please  _ act on this unrequited pining of yours,” Takao said. “If you’re worried about who Kuroko should choose, then maybe you should let it be his choice? Because if he doesn’t know one of his choices is an option, he won’t do anything about it. And I  _ vastly  _ underestimated how stubborn that guy can get, so it’s going to have to be you who has to make the first move.”

 

“You want me to go ask him out?”

 

“For the love of Circe, please. I’m in pain watching this happen.”

 

“I’ll think about it,” Kagami said, standing up. “I’ll see you later, anyway. Congratulations on finishing exams.”

 

Kagami left Takao by the lake, and headed back up to the castle.

 

He was too busy thinking to really enjoy his freedom and the nice weather now.

 

…

 

Kuroko found him on the astronomy tower much later that evening. The sun had already set and the wide expanse of stars shone like a river of light in the sky overhead. The surface of the lake was so calm that Kagami could see the reflections of the stars and full moon in it.

 

Kagami jumped when Kuroko finally made his presence known, screeching as the other wizard seemed to appear out of nowhere.

 

“We have  _ got  _ to stop meeting like this,” Kagami said when he finally got his breath back.

 

“I like that I can still surprise you,” Kuroko said, sounding just a little smug. You wouldn’t know it from his expression though: the blue haired wizard was as expressive as ever - which is to say, not at all.

 

“I knew you do it on purpose!” Kagami exclaimed.

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

 

“Of course you don’t.”

 

Kagami chuckled, looking back out at the incredible view in front of them. It was quite a sight.

 

“I need to talk to you about something,” Kagami said. “I guess this is as good a time as any.”

 

“All right, what do you want to talk about?” Kuroko asked, wide eyes fixed on Kagami’s face. Kagami looked away, blushing.

 

“I’ve been thinking about the future,” he said.

 

“Always dangerous where Kagami is concerned,” Kuroko said. Kagami barked out a sardonic laugh.

 

“Kuroko,” Kagami said seriously.

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko replied, equally as seriously.

 

“You’re amazing,” Kagami said. “You are an absolutely incredible wizard and you have a kind, amazing heart.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Kuroko asked.

 

Kagami sighed. He realized that Kuroko wasn’t going to make this any easier on him and resolved himself to having to walk out of his comfort zone entirely if he wanted to push forward with his request.

 

Screwing his courage to the sticking place, Kagami exhaled.

 

“Would you please do the honor of dating me? Romantically. Not as a friend.”

 

Kagami shut his eyes. There, he’d set it. It was out there in the world, and now Kuroko knew and there was no taking it back.

 

The silence that fell after he spoke seemed to stretch on forever. Kagami could feel his stomach rolling unpleasantly and he was pretty sure he stopped breathing as Kuroko’s light eyes fixed on him with their penetrating stare.

 

“No,” Kuroko said. His voice was frigid. He sounded almost angry, which threw Kagami for a loop.

 

“What?” Kagami asked. “Damn I knew it, I told Takao that this wasn’t going to work, you’re not interested-”

 

“First of all, Takao shouldn’t be talking about my romantic life at all,” Kuroko said. “But no, that’s not the case. This isn’t an issue of interest.”

 

“Then what is the problem?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Kagami, you are a kind, passionate person.”

 

“Okay, so?”

 

“You need someone who can commit to you with everything that they are, because you commit to people with your entire heart. You give and you give and you need someone who can share that equally with you and I can’t. I don’t have that kind of heart.”

 

“Kuroko, I’m going to need you to stop talking in riddles and actually tell me what is going on inside your head.”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“I… cannot feel the same way you do,” he said. “I am physically incapable of having feelings at the same intensity as you. I would not be able to reciprocate the depth of your feelings whether or not I wanted to.”

 

“I’m still not getting what you’re saying, really.”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“There was a point before I met you,” he said. “In fifth year, when my misdirection began to fail me. I tried everything I could think of, but nothing stopped it from decaying even faster. I was on the verge of becoming nothing more than a weaker than average wizard with nothing else to show for it. I was desperate to save my skills and the friendships I had built around the use of my misdirection.”

 

“I don’t know what that has to do with dating,” Kagami said.

 

“Please just listen,” Kuroko said. “In my desperation, I allowed Akashi to perform illegal dark magic on me. It was a simple spell – one that would cause me progressive pain every time I reacted emotionally to a situation. The spell caused me to first lock away my emotional reactions and then, eventually, to stop having them at all. It helped slow the decay of my misdirection so that I could find a real solution… but I do not believe, even now, that I could have the same emotional reaction that you do.”

 

Kagami sighed.

 

“I know you feel that way, but you’re wrong,” he said. “You’re plenty emotional. I’ve seen you in the dueling arena. I saw you right when you jumped in the way of Midorima’s tornado thing – you were more alive in that moment than anyone I know has ever been.”

 

Without warning Kagami kissed Kuroko.

 

Caught by surprise, Kuroko had no objections. He felt the warmth of Kagami’s lips, the strong grip of his arms, and against his own instincts he clutched back at the other man, holding onto him like he was a life raft in a vast ocean.

 

“You can’t tell me you didn’t feel anything,” Kagami said after they had broken apart, still holding on to his shadow. “I apologize for not asking first, but look me in the eye and tell me you don’t have feelings for me after that, because I sure as hell have feelings for you.”

 

“I can’t be the person that lights you on fire,” Kuroko protested weakly. “I’m just a shadow.”

 

“Kuroko-”

 

“I can’t change,” Kuroko said. “I don’t know how. I don’t know how. Kagami, I don’t know how.”

 

Kagami pulled the smaller wizard deeper into his arms.

 

“Let me get this straight,” Kagami said. “Your objection to us being together is that you think you’re not good enough for me?”

 

Kuroko nodded against Kagami’s shirt.

 

“Jesus, isn’t that my job to decide?” Kagami asked, his tone carefully light. “I mean come on, I have good taste.”

 

“Your judgement is faulty,” Kuroko said. “You blew off your own legs.”

 

“Well fine, yeah I was wrong then, but I’m not wrong now. Listen, I’m not going to bother asking if you trust me, because I know you do. You trusted me to help beat off your friends when I came to join you at Hogwarts and that was pretty much the most important thing going on in your life.”

 

Kuroko looked up at his friend.

 

“I know you trust me, and I trust you, so this is a lot simpler than we’re pretending it is,” Kagami said. “You like me, right?”

 

Kuroko hid his face back in Kagami’s shirt.

 

“Yes.”

 

“And you’re into me?”

 

“Kagami’s muscles are extremely attractive.”

 

From his position, Kagami could see the back of Kuroko’s neck turn bright red as the Hufflepuff flushed with embarrassment.

 

“Uh huh,” Kagami said.

 

“And his smile.”

 

“Uh huh,” Kagami raised his eyebrows. “That’s pretty gay man.”

 

“I knew I was homosexual the first time I saw you playing basketball shirtless.”

 

Kagami couldn’t help but preen a little at that extremely gratifying piece of information. 

 

“So what’s the problem?”

 

“Because one day you’re going to realize that I’m just a shadow.”

 

Kagami tightened his grip on Kuroko. He closed his eyes against that sentiment.

 

“Who the hell are you?” he asked, letting anger overtake the bitter sadness at hearing how little his friend thought of himself. “Seriously? Am I talking to the same guy who told me that he was going to bring down the Generation of Miracles, no matter what? Where did all that determination go?”

 

“I don’t know,” Kuroko whispered into Kagami’s shirt.

 

“Come on, you’ve taken plenty of risks with me before,” Kagami said. “Trust me again. If it doesn’t work out it doesn’t work out, but you and I are more than compatible everywhere it matters. And sure there’s a chance it won’t work, but I don’t wanna look back on this twenty years from now and realize that we could have had something amazing if we weren’t too scared to try.”

 

“I’m not scared of anything,” Kuroko said.

 

“That’s right,” Kagami said. “You and I have faced down the entire world, you think there’s anything you’ve got to hide from me at this point? You know everything awful about my history. If this is the worst you’ve got, we’ll be fine.”

 

“What about Aomine?” Kuroko asked.

 

“What  _ about  _ the blue asshole?” Kagami grumbled. “He was your first light, plus I’m pretty sure Takao thinks you had a thing going.”

 

“Nothing ever happened between me and Aomine,” Kuroko said. “And nothing ever will.”

 

“Not even if he gets back the less shitty part of his personality?”

 

Kuroko rested his chin on Kagami’s chest, looking up at the redhead.

 

“I don’t know if I could ever trust him with my heart like that again,” he said. “Not after everything that has happened.”

 

“But you trust me.”

 

“Kagami has never let me down.”

 

“Well then that’s that,” Kagami said, being irrationally pleased. “Do you mind if I kiss you again? Because I really want to kiss you again.”

 

“I would like that too.”

 

…

 

“I would like to know what happened.”

 

Akashi called his Miracles to his family mansion, his eyes burning with fury, his heart pounding with what he refused to call panic.

 

He was not panicking, because panic meant that he was no longer in control of the situation.

 

And Akashi was absolutely still in control of what was happening here.

 

The end of the world wasn’t going to happen on his watch. If he couldn’t stop the apocalypse with the ample gifts his Miracles possessed in addition to the extensive forewarning Midorima had gotten him, then what the hell use was he? Why have such incredible talents if this was not the time when he was meant to use them?

 

“I want to know that too,” Aomine said sleepily. “It’s like, three am in Boston, I want to be asleep right now.”

 

“Which one of you messed up?” Akashi asked. “Did any of you fail a task that I have set you?”

 

He looked around the circle of Miracles, all of whom were shaking their heads.

 

The only Miracle not present was Midorima, who was pouring over the notes from his workroom, desperate to find a solution to what was happening.

 

“Ryouta, have any of the protestors shown signs of breaking ranks?”

 

Kise shook his head.

 

“Last I knew they were all on board, talking about pro early education centers for wizarding children. When you propose the bill extending early magical education to muggle borns, they’ll be more than happy to go along with it. One of them even took point on organizing community rallies and writing pamphlets about it.”

 

“Good,” Akashi said. “Daiki?”

 

“I don’t know man, don’t look at me,” Aomine said.

 

“Atsushi?”

 

“Aside from getting run out of L.A. by Silver, I don’t know,” Murasakibara said. “That could be it, right?”

 

Akashi frowned.

 

“There are no other turning points in Los Angeles that I needed you to address at this time,” Akashi said. “That can’t be it, in and of itself. You should have been done, aside from getting your master, so I don’t understand how that could be responsible for throwing off the timeline.”

 

“It isn’t.”

 

Midorima had arrived, carrying a large bag of scrolls over one shoulder.

 

“Akashi, where is the grimoire you used to study ley lines?”

 

Akashi’s mouth moved in a soundless series of swear words before he reeled to face Aomine, who quailed in the face of pure wrath.

 

“The grimoire,” Akashi snapped, stepping towards Aomine. The ground under his feet turned to ice with every step. Over the dark red carpet, the ice looked blood red, leaving a jagged and threatening trail in Akashi’s wake as he stalked towards the blue haired Miracle. “What did you do with it?”

 

Aomine raised both his hands in surrender.

 

“I read it, I didn’t  _ do  _ anything else with it, I swear!” he shouted.

 

“Where is it, Daiki?”

 

“Oi oi, calm down, it’s somewhere,” Aomine growled back. “What are we talking about, anyway?”

 

“The book I gave you from my family’s collection of grimoires,” Akashi snapped. “The notes taken by my eight times great grandfather about his research into the shadow realms.”

 

It took several moments before comprehension dawned on Aomine’s face. Akashi was on the verge of attacking his friend as the Gryffindor’s face narrowed in thought as he tried to backtrack his steps and figure out where he’d last seen the book that extensively chronicled some of the only contacts with demons wizards had ever had.

 

Surprisingly, it was Murasakibara who spoke up.

 

“Oh that book? Mine-chin said I could borrow it.”

 

Akashi’s eyes gleamed with rage. Already so close to the edge, his temper was threatening to boil over. The ice was reaching out towards the edges of the walls and the Miracles were eyeing their footing with trepidation.

 

“Atsushi. I will ask you only once. Where. Is. The. Book.”

 

Murasakibara thought for a moment.

 

“Aka-chin, I’m sorry.”

 

“Where is it?”

 

“It got left behind while I was fighting Silver.”

 

The room fell silent.

 

“We don’t know he has it,” Midorima said after a long moment, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “We must make recovering the book a priority. We must get back to America and conduct a thorough search for the book.”

 

“They’ll be looking for us,” Kise said. “Why is that book so important?”

 

“Psh, it just is,” Aomine said. “Don’t poke your nose where it doesn’t belong, weakling.”

 

Kise would have cursed Aomine then and there if Akashi had not taken action.

 

“Tetsuya could get in and out of the country without so much as a second glance,” he said. “But I suppose we are not beyond our resources yet, should he refuse to help us. Satsuki can find a way into the country and retrieve the book, or report its absence if it is no longer there.”

 

“Fine with me,” Momoi said. “But I’m going to talk to Tetsu-kun first and see if he’ll agree to help us. He has the best chance of succeeding. If Gold has the book by now, he might be the only one of us who can get it back.”

 

Akashi nodded.

 

This was a sensible plan. It might even work. Send Satsuki to get his Phantom back, and if Satsuki couldn’t do that, at the very least she could secure their knowledge of the book’s absence or presence.

 

“Hold on, how come we’re sending Satsuki to get Tetsu?” Aomine asked. “It should be me.”

 

“Dai-kun, you know I love you, but Tetsu-kun isn’t going to let you within ten feet of him,” Momoi said disapprovingly “I said I’ll go, which means  _ I’m  _ going.”

 

“What the hell makes you say that?” Aomine demanded.

 

“Call it a woman’s intuition,” Momoi said, rolling her eyes. She loved Aomine like a brother, but he could be extremely dense when it came to matters of the heart. 

 

“Mido-kun, can you come up with two plans, one incorporating Tetsu-kun, to go retrieve the book? I’ll be back tonight.”

 

Midorima nodded sharply.

 

“I’m so excited we’re finally going to work with Kurokocchi again!” Kise chirped happily. “Do you think he’s going to be happy to work with us again?”

 

Momoi raised an eyebrow at the effervescent blond.

 

“No,” she said, watching Kise deflate. “We’ll be lucky if he helps us at all.”

 

“We may have to impart at least some information about how critical this task is if he is to be convinced,” Midorima said. “Certainly, if we are going to ask him to risk his life to get the book back, he should know in general terms why it is significant. He is bound by the logic of duty and honor, and if he believes that getting the book will help other people, he will be more inclined to align himself with us.”

 

“Shouldn’t it be enough that it’s us?” Aomine demanded. “Why does he have to be so stubborn about fighting with us?”

 

Momoi rolled her eyes at the other wizard again and huffed, this time unable to keep her opinion to herself.

 

“It’s like you live in another reality,” Midorima said, peering at Aomine as though he were examining a rare, but unpleasant species of bug. “In case you haven’t been paying attention, Kuroko is an extremely stubborn wizard who has aligned himself in direct opposition to everything about the Generation of Miracles because he dislikes your attitude towards victory.”

 

“Which is of course entirely nonsensical, but I believe that you are right that appealing to his sense of justice and fairness will be the way to bring him back into the fold once again,” Akashi cut in. “Satsuki, when you see Tetsuya, let him know that we truly are the good guys in this scenario, and that this book is critical to avoiding a mass calamity.”

 

Momoi nodded.

 

Akashi turned away, looking out the large windows of his study.

 

“This is a disaster,” he muttered. “This is exactly what I have been hoping to avoid from the very beginning, and the smallest of errors, the  _ tiniest  _ of  _ stupid,  _ careless mistakes has thrown all of that work away-”

 

“Akashi, we don’t know Gold has the book,” Midorima repeated. “If he uses it to calculate the ley lines of the portals as we did, even if he could somehow do it in half the time, we have six months before he makes his way through them. And all the portals are closed.”

 

Akashi turned back to the Miracles, nodding in agreement.

 

“By the time he determines that, he will already know that opening a portal of his own will be beyond him without extensive work,” Akashi said with grim satisfaction. His fury was already turning to determination. “It is lucky that Junior’s only true rival is me. And I am  _ absolute. _ ”

 

“We have a year to stop him and do damage control, and unlike before we know he only has one plan,” Midorima said, trying to sound positive.

 

Akashi nodded. That was the best case scenario. They could have as much as a year, maybe a little bit more, depending on Nash Gold, Jr’s resources and how quickly he decided to act on the information contained in the book. If it had in fact gone missing the night that Murasakibara had been run out of Los Angeles, Gold had already had it for several months, which meant he’d had plenty of time to figure out its potential. If he had other sources of the ingredients for the ritual that Akashi didn’t know about...

  
Quickly, Akashi came to the conclusion that in the worst case scenario, Nash Gold jr. could be ready to open a portal in a matter of weeks. 

 

He turned to fix bright, heterochromatic eyes on his general, Aomine Daiki.

 

“All of the portals are closed, correct?” he asked.

 

Aomine’s face gave away the answer to that in an instant.

 

“Daiki,” Akashi snapped. “If you have any information to the contrary, I need to know immediately. If there is anything less than one hundred percent certainty that you have closed down every portal I have sent you to since the beginning of summer, I need to hear it now, rather than find out in six months when Nash Gold, Jr. starts summoning demons.”

 

“Demons?” Kise yelped. “Akashicchi, what the hell are we involved in?”

 

Akashi whirled on the blonde.

 

“We have a right to know what’s going on,” Kise said, stepping forward. “Akashicchi, please! I’ve done everything you’ve asked, I have trusted you at your word that I was acting for the best, but now it looks like we might be in trouble and I’m asking you to trust  _ me.  _ I can help you, but only if I know what we’re facing.”

 

Akashi exhaled audibly in the suddenly silent room.

 

“Two Halloweens ago, Shintarou requested the use of my family grimoire,” Akashi said. “He’d had a vision that led him to believe that in our lifetimes, we would find ourselves facing the end of the world.”

 

“The end of the world!”

 

“Shut up, Ki-chin, and let him talk,” Murasakibara complained. Kise glared at him, but subsided.

 

“I have set each of you to helping stop the major events Shintarou believes led up to the apocalypse. Essentially, Nash Gold coalesces the American magical community. He will use this position of power to reveal the existence of magic in the world and incite the muggles to attack. This was to be his call to arms and the excuse for the genocide that would follow.”

 

“You’re having us do all this for  _ muggles _ ?” Murasakibara asked, his tone bitter.

 

“Oi, my dad’s a muggle, you wanna fight me?” Kise demanded.

 

“Ki-chin, nothing would make me happier than crushing you into a pancake right now, but it would be really tiresome.”

 

“Shut up, both of you,” Midorima snapped. “This isn’t just about muggles!”

 

“Shintarou is right,” Akashi said. “In the future, Nash Gold, Jr. is going to summon demons from the shadow realms to carry out his genocide. Real, terrifying creatures of darkness that eat magic and cannot be destroyed by normal means.”

 

“But you sent that one packing just by talking to it!” Aomine insisted. “I couldn’t even do that!”

 

Akashi smirked.

 

“It is more complicated than a few words, as I told you then,” Akashi said. “And your lack of capacity to do more  _ research  _ when  _ I handed you the answers you needed  _ was responsible for your near death at the hands of another demon. Furthermore, your failure to keep track of my grimoire is going to be responsible for Nash Gold, Jr. bringing demons into the world!”

 

“Sei-kun-”

 

“Don’t defend him,” Akashi snapped. “You’ve let him act like a child for years, and it’s time someone held him responsible for his actions.”

 

“Yeah, you wanna fight me, big man?” Aomine demanded, his eyes narrowing in anger as he crowded against the Slytherin. “I’ll beat your ass into next week!”

 

Akashi didn’t even move. One second Aomine’s hands were sparking with blue lightning and the next he’d been thrown to the other side of the room, sprawled out on the floor.

 

“Mine-chin is an idiot,” Murasakibara said, rolling his eyes.

 

“Hey hey, can we all just calm down?” Momoi demanded. “Tensions are high and this is a tough situation, but we’ll get through it. Come on, we have a plan, we’re going to be fine!”

 

Akashi stared at Momoi for a moment before turning away, gazing back out the windows of his study. His mind was racing as he thought through the next steps they needed to take.

 

Satsuki could go after Tetsuya. Ideally, the Phantom would be able to go to Los Angeles, find out if the book was gone, and either bring it back or steal it from Nash Gold, Jr.

 

If she couldn’t convince the stubborn Hufflepuff…

 

Akashi could feel a headache coming on.

 

It was time that Tetsuya return to his rightful place with the Generation of Miracles. His disobedience was becoming an inconvenience to Akashi’s plans. If he didn’t prove more tractable now, then things could go south very quickly.

 

Akashi wasn’t going to send Satsuki to try and get the book back. Nash Gold, Jr. was too smart for that and she’d just end up getting arrested. She could confirm for him whether the book was gone or not, but Akashi was almost certain that the alarms wouldn’t be ringing if the book was still sitting on Atsushi’s bedroom floor.

 

Merlin, this was a mess.

 

If Tetsuya could not be enticed to work peaceably with them, then perhaps it was time to accept that the plans Akashi had made  _ just in case  _ would now be their best bet at survival.

 

“Shintarou,” Akashi said. “You’ve had the chance to review my work. What is your professional opinion?”

 

“I would feel comfortable with more time-”

 

“We do not have time,” Akashi said. “We might, as you said, have a year before he manages to figure out what is in the book, manages to calculate the next erupting ley line, and executes the ritual. We might also have as little as two weeks if he has an arithmancer with half of Satsuki’s skills and a string of incredibly good luck. As it is, if I set my contingency plan in motion tonight, we might complete it in a year without raising suspicion. It will take me over a week just to get the basic rune structure laid. Now, give me your assessment. Will it work?”

 

“It could kill you!”

 

“That is not what I asked.”

 

Momoi inhaled sharply, both at watching Akashi corner Midorima the way he was and at Akashi’s blatant disregard for his own well being.

 

“It will work,” Midorima said. “As far as I can tell I noted only one or two minor errors, mostly with the protection sequence, but I wrote out my observations. You will not be able to empower the last protective runes, but if you were to do everything else-”

 

“-then we could buy ourselves more time to do the rest,” Akashi finished, nodding. “Good. Give your notes to me.”

 

“I won’t let you kill yourself,” Midorima snapped, stepping back from Akashi’s outstretched hand. “This is stupid!”

 

“What is it tonight with all of you believing you can just argue with and defy me?” Akashi snapped, clearly losing his temper. The floor underneath him iced over, and Midorima took another step back in alarm.

 

“I am the most powerful wizard in the world,” Akashi said. “I am absolute, Shintarou. If I say it will be, it will be. Now  _ give me your notes. _ ”

 

Midorima pulled a leather journal from the inside of his robes and handed it over without another word. Akashi took it and pocketed it.

 

“I must go,” Akashi said.

 

“What? Now?” Momoi demanded. “Sei-kun, this is a  _ disaster,  _ we need you here!”

 

“No,” Akashi shook his head. “I will return in a few days, in the best case scenario. It is time for us to begin to prepare for the worst. If Nash Gold, Jr. uses that book to bring demons pouring into our world, we must be prepared to fight. I have passed several bills in the Wizengamot that will help with my plan. Shinatrou knows the details should the worst occur. In the meantime, Satsuki,  _ find the book  _ or  _ find Tetsuya.  _ It will take several months to fully implement my contingency plan; by the time Nash Gold, Jr. has the capacity to do real harm, we will have a way of defending ourselves.”

 

And then Akashi was gone.

 

“What the hell?” Aomine demanded.

 

“Aka-chin swore on his magic that he wouldn’t let the wizarding population of the world die,” Murasakibara supplied lazily.

 

“How did you know that?” Momoi asked.

 

“Because Aka-chin is as transparent as glass,” Murasakibara said lazily. “And he wasn’t telling the truth about what you saw, Mido-chin, was he?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

 

“Sure. It’s an accident that Aka-chin just happens to keep bringing up Kuro-chin when he alludes to the future without saying anything that actually means something.”

 

Midorima glared in silence at his fellow Miracle.

 

“I will share no more than I must,” Midorima said. “Please do not ask more of me.”

 

“Okay,” Murasakibara said. “I won’t. But will you tell us what his plan is?”

 

Midorima nodded.

 

“It’s going to get him killed is what it is,” he said contemptuously. “Not that I’m worried about him, obviously. But we should prepare for the worst.”

 

“I agree,” Momoi said, flouncing her hair behind one shoulder. With a wave of her wand, the pink haired witch apparated away as well, heading for parts unknown to track down their wayward phantom. She had her work cut out for her.

 

…

 

Akashi stood in the center of his massive runic configuration. If everything went well, this would take no more than a few days.

 

If their only two options were assassinating the son of the president and this, Akashi wasn’t leaving anything to chance.

 

He had spent his year as productively as he could. He’d been trying to influence foreign policy, suggesting bills to his father and other key members of the Wizengamot and managing the team of elite wizards he had scattered across the globe to try and stop the worst crisis the world had ever seen.

 

He had spent time studying runes and summoning. It was different than the transmutational and alchemical research that Midorima was focused on, but that only made Midorima’s opinions about what Akashi was doing here all the more effective.

Akashi had been working himself to the bone to carry out his plan, creating backup upon backup, but this truly was his only recourse. If Nash Gold, Jr. used the stolen Akashi family grimoire to summon a demon then the world was doomed unless Akashi carried out this project.

 

Taking a deep breath, Akashi brought every ounce of his considerable power to bear. 

 

This was going to be a long couple of days.

 

“I am absolute,” he whispered, his breath rising in a visible mist in front of his face. He didn’t know if he was telling the world or himself.

 

This could not fail.

 

He could not fail.

 

He was Akashi Seijuro, the most powerful wizard the world had ever seen. He had sworn on his honor and magic that the future Midorima Shintarou had seen would not come to pass. He had poured every ounce of power and intelligence he had into this plan.

 

He had accounted for every contingency, every potential flaw.

 

He wouldn’t fail.

 

He was absolute.

 

Akashi had spent months carving the runes into the glacial valley around him. He was going to do something no wizard had ever done before.

 

He was going to be remembered forever, not just as a Miracle of magic or the savior of wizardkind, but as one of the most brilliant magical inventors and artists of their age.

 

Akashi stepped into the center circle of his rune arrangement. He pulled the necessary ingredients from the satchel he had brought with him, and made quick but precise work of setting up.

 

With the ritual ingredients ready, Akashi settled himself to sit on the cold floor of the glacial valley. The ground underneath him was already icy, but as his power came in contact with it, the ice thickened and grew stronger.

 

_ Protect us. Guard us. _

 

Akashi cut his hand and let his blood run into the bowl in front of him. He stirred in phoenix ash, blessed soil, a vial’s worth of giant blood, the tears of a siren, and the corporeal wing of a thunderbird.

 

The mixture was a potent representation of the four base elements of the earth. Akashi felt the air around him vibrating with power taking on a specific resonance.

 

To change the very nature of what was into what could never be without the assistance of magic was an incredibly difficult endeavor.

 

Akashi stretched his magic out along the runes, setting each one with his magic.

 

The runes, set across several square miles of valley floor, began to shine red.

 

This was a promising start.

 

Akashi poured more power into the runic sequence, pumping everything he had into the endeavor.

 

Slowly, he connected his magical core to the runes underneath him, using the burning mixture in the bowl in front of him as a conduit. Breathing deeply, he slowly and carefully fed his power into the spell.

 

Rune after rune lit up in intersecting and circling lines. Over a hundred thousand runes and months of work had been painstakingly carved into the earth, lined in blood, salted, and preserved by Akashi’s magic, one line of runes at a time.

 

Akashi worked methodically. As his power reached them, the runes began to burn.

 

He’d been there for several long hours. He was shivering from the cold as his warming charms had started to fail after his fourth or fifth hour focusing on another magical endeavor entirely. His attire wasn’t exactly meant to protect him from the winter cold this far up north.

 

Still, he persevered.

 

Slowly, the sun peeked out over the jagged mountains to the East and Akashi sighed, stretching his shoulders as he continued to pour magic into the runes. If all went well, by nighttime, he would be able to reach a point at which he could take a break and rest. With one hand, Akashi dug a blanket out of his bag and wrapped it around his shoulders.

 

Akashi was just assessing how far he’d managed to get with the spell when he realized that something was very wrong.

 

The initial surge of power Akashi had used was stronger than he had anticipated and his magical core was depleting at a much faster rate than he was able to sustain. By the time he managed to finish half the rune configuration, his magical core would be completely depleted.

 

Soon he would be out of power, and he wasn’t even a quarter of the way done with the runes.

 

Grimacing, Akashi downed a pepperup potion from his supplies and pressed on.

 

The first set of runs would be the hardest, because these were the transmutation elements of the ritual. 

 

But Akashi was running out of power.

 

With one hand on the runes underneath him, Akashi used the other hand to reach into his satchel again. He uncorked several vials of restorative potions and quickly drank them. He was approaching the limit of how many of such potions he could use in such a short period of time, but if he was able to finish this first stage, he would be able to rest, only having to wake up every few hours to maintain the ritual.

 

He was almost there. He could feel the ground beginning to shake and hope burst in his heart.

 

Perhaps despite his magical shortcomings, he would still be successful.

 

He was halfway there. If he could extend the reach of his magic to the edge of the circle, he could rest.

 

Akashi concentrated as hard as he could, stretching out his magic as far as he could go.

 

This was insane.

 

Akashi was stronger than any wizard in the world, this should have been child’s play.

 

Akashi grit his teeth, his hands clenching in the icy dirt underneath him.

 

Just a little farther.

 

If he could push himself just a little farther, he could rest.

 

Akashi’s vision was starting to grey out.

 

He couldn’t tell if the shaking underneath him was the result of his transfiguration taking effect or because he was suffering from magical shock and the oncoming stages of hypothermia.

 

No.

 

He wouldn’t let this happen.

 

Through sheer stubbornness, Akashi forced his eyes open again and snarled against his own weakness.

 

Nothing would stand in his way. Nothing, not even himself or his physical limitations.

 

If it killed him, he would make this happen.

 

With a roar of frustration, Akashi poured the rest of his power into the spell. 

 

The sun was high in the sky and it was almost afternoon. Time was slipping by too fast, faster than his power was getting away from him.

 

And then all the lights in the runes went out.

 

Akashi felt his power dissipate from them like wisps of wind, vanishing into the sky and burning away all of the prep work he had done.

 

Not only had the time and magic he’d just spent been wasted, he would have to start over, almost from scratch.

 

He had no idea if Nash Gold, Jr. had the book. Depending on how lucky Jr. was, the asinine blond could be summoning demons as early as next week. 

 

Akashi screamed, slamming a fist into the icy earth. Jagged spikes of ice radiated out from where his fist hit.

 

He tried to spark the runes to life again and again.

 

Nothing worked.

 

He tried again and only the weakest flare of his magic came.

 

As astounding as it was, the continuous and powerful drain on Akashi’s magic had sucked him dry in a matter of hours.

 

He wasn’t strong enough. 

 

Now the world really was greying out at the edges and spinning under Akashi’s shaking hands.

 

Rage and fear were the only things keeping the redhead upright.

 

Akashi was angry at the world, angry at Nash Gold and his repulsive little shit of a son, but most of all he was angry at himself.

 

He didn’t have the power he needed to save the world.

 

After everything, he couldn’t do it.

 

_ You’re not strong enough. _

 

_ They’re all going to die, and it’s your fault. _

 

_ Everything that happens next, all of that suffering, that's all going to be because of you. _

 

Akashi fell to his knees, drained. He’d used everything he had, and it hadn’t been enough.

 

“No.”

 

He couldn’t do it alone. That thought burned at Akashi and his pride more than he even wanted to contemplate. He was shaking, his eyes closed against the knowledge that as strong as he was, he couldn’t save them.

 

He couldn’t save Tetsuya.

 

He couldn't save anyone.

 

Akashi's hands curled into fists in the snow, bare skin not even registering the burn of the cold.

 

He had sworn to Midorima that the future the other boy had seen would not come to pass.

 

He would not allow it to. He would die before he let that happen.

 

If the only barrier between the survival and destruction of the world was power, Akashi would find a way to get more of it. He would find a way to power the spell he needed and he knew exactly how to do it.

 

Akashi was going to save the world. He had to.

 

The Slytherin gripped the portkey inside his bag. If he was going to do this, what he needed to do was rest _ ,  _ for now. His plan to make up for the deficiencies in his power could wait twenty four hours, but no longer.

 

With the end of the world on his heels, Akashi vanished.

 

…

 

“So what are you going to do?” Kagami asked. They were sitting in the sun outside Florean Fortescue’s ice cream parlor.

 

Kuroko shrugged, licking his vanilla ice cream thoughtfully. Nigou was laying on the table between them. Kagami looked visibly uncomfortable with how close the dog was, but his bowl with five extra large scoops of ice cream, perched comically and precariously on top of each other, was taking up significantly more of his attention.

 

“I don’t know,” Kuroko said. “I didn’t get accepted as an apprentice by any masters. The only witch I ever worked for is in jail, so I doubt I will be able to continue that work in any capacity.”

 

“Bummer,” Kagami said, scooping a giant bite out of his ice cream.

 

“What about you?” Kuroko asked. “Are you going back to Los Angeles?”

 

Kagami shook his head.

 

“Politics aside, I don’t have a life for me there,” he said. “My dad’s gone, my brother’s gone, even Alex isn’t there any more. I guess I just don’t really have anywhere to go  _ back  _ to at this point.”

 

“Do you intend to get a mastery?” Kuroko asked.

 

Kagami sighed, digging unnecessarily forcefully into his tower of frozen sweets.

 

“I’d thought about it,” he said evasively. “Always thought it would be from Alex though.”

 

“And she’s missing.”

 

Kagami nodded.

 

“Off the grid somewhere in China,” he confirmed. “If she wasn't lying to throw off anyone who might have intercepted her letter to me, but even she's not that paranoid. I guess I could go looking for her, that is if the Guild hasn’t revoked her credentials.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“She is a Ward master,” Kagami said. “And she has an appreciation for unique talents. She might even be able to teach you to use your misdirection more fully.”

 

Kuroko paused.

 

Perhaps it was too much to hope for that anyone might find him worthy of being taught.

 

Kuroko didn’t have the power to take on warding as a specialty. He knew that. But this was his chance to really find out the truth about his own powers and maybe reach over the plateau in his skills. Perhaps this could be the way in which he finally found the ability to match the Generation of Miracles.

 

“Do you think she would want to?”

 

Kagami smiled.

 

“Well, she’s been over the moon for an opportunity to teach  _ me,  _ and since that’s only going to happen if she also agrees to take you on as an apprentice, I think hell yeah she’ll agree,” he said.

 

“You’re going to blackmail the instructor you hope to call your Ward Master?” Kuroko asked, raising both eyebrows. He felt a wave of warmth in his stomach from the thought that Kagami was willing to go so far to secure Kuroko a place by his side, regardless of what Alex thought about Kuroko’s unique use of magic.

 

“Listen it sounds really bad when you call it blackmail,” Kagami complained. “It’s really more of a positive incentive.”

 

Nigou yawned and Kuroko gave the redhead a small smile.

 

“Okay,” he said. “I guess we’re going to go try and track down a ward master in China.”

 

“Alright!” Kagami shouted, pumping the air with his fist. “This is going to be an awesome adventure!”

 

Kuroko couldn’t help but feel that Kagami’s excitement was infectious. Surely, this would be an incredible experience. It would be an adventure he would be pleased to share with Kagami.

 

“We can check out all the cool sights in China too, they have some of the oldest, coolest magical communities in the world!” Kagami said. “Some of the most interesting branches of magic come from that area!”

 

Kuroko smiled at Kagami’s more than obvious excitement about their coming trip.

 

“Obviously, we’ll need supplies; we should figure out what we need for tents and stuff,” Kagami said. “We could always go magical, but it is much more fun to do it the old fashioned way.”   
  


“The old fashioned way meaning freezing in muggle sleeping bags.”   
  


“Where’s your sense of wonder?” Kagami asked.

 

“Hanging out somewhere with my burning desire to catch pneumonia.”

 

Kagami paused at the very serious expression on his boyfriend's face and burst out laughing.

 

“Okay, I get it,” he said. “We’ll table the camping discussion. We should get field guides to Chinese phrases. And tour books.”

 

They talked for a while after that, laughing and eating ice cream in the sun as they planned their upcoming trip to search for Alex somewhere in the north of what was, admittedly, an extremely large country with a pronounced portion that could be considered ‘north.’

 

“There’s just one thing,” Kuroko said as they were finishing up. “Before I leave this country again, I have an old score I need to settle.”

 

“Score?” Kagami asked.

 

“I told you about my friend Shige, right?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Yeah, the one who got hurt and left Hogwarts,” Kagami said.

 

“Nobody knows who hurt him and he won’t talk to me,” Kuroko said. “Whatever happened that night when he was attacked, he definitely hasn’t said a word to anyone about it, because they never caught who did it.”

 

“And you want to find out how it happened.”

 

Kuroko looked up at Kagami with steel in his eyes and nodded.

 

“Yes.”

 

“How on Earth are you going to manage that? You want to break down his door and shake him ‘til the answer falls out? Because I can help with that.”

 

“That wasn’t what I was planning,” Kuroko chided. “I was there. I saw who attacked him too.”

 

“Okay, clearly I’m missing something. If you know, why don’t  _ you  _ just say anything?”

 

“Because I don’t remember,” Kuroko said. “The Healer at Hogwarts said he thinks I might have blocked it out because of the trauma, but the more I’ve thought about it, the more I think someone erased my memories.”

 

“So you were with your friend, someone attacked both of you, only hurting your friend, and then erased your memories?” Kagami asked.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Sounds like we need to track down a mind healer,” Kagami said. “A really, really good one who can recover magically destroyed memories.”

 

Kuroko hummed a quiet agreement to this assessment of the situation.

 

“So why now?” Kagami asked. “Why did you wait this whole time to try and figure out what happened? If that was me I’d be frothing at the teeth ready to set someone on fire.”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“I did not want to feel that kind of anger,” Kuroko said. “I told you, I’m not certain I can. But after it happened I was convinced that Shige did not wish to speak to me. He’d… avoided me, for some time. Although we had reconciled, I thought perhaps this had somehow changed his mind. When my misdirection wasn’t functional I was a target and that made others targets. It simply made sense to abide by his clear wish to no longer be associated with me.”

 

Kagami stared at Kuroko.

 

“Bull!” he shouted, drawing the concerned and shocked attention of several patrons of the ice cream parlor, who all looked scandalized at the loud American. He looked around sheepishly before leaning in, lowering his voice.

 

“If he decided he didn’t want to stay your friend and drop kick whoever was bothering you he never deserved to be your friend at all,” Kagami said vehemently. Kuroko smiled sadly.

 

Trust Kagami to see it so simply.

 

“I distanced myself from what happened and hoped that it would not overwhelm me,” he said instead. “I focused on my misdirection, on my team, on the Miracles - and then I became obsessed with saving them. But I cannot start out on a new adventure without cleaning up the mess I left behind.”

 

“You wanna leave on a clean slate,” Kagami summarized. Kuroko was relieved that the redhead understood him so well. In general, he disliked bringing up his own feelings, and he liked that the redhead could follow what he meant with so little elaboration when he did.

 

“Yes,” he said.

 

“Well, I can get that,” Kagami replied. “Okay. But if we find out this kid really was ignoring you on purpose, I’m going to drop kick him anyway.”

 

Kuroko smiled, genuinely this time, and leaned across the table to kiss Kagami on the cheek. 

 

“Thank you for defending me, even when I have done nothing worth defending,” he said. Kagami turned bright red; Kuroko thought it was adorable. Certainly, his own actions prevented Kagami from coming up with a retort that would have left them arguing back and forth until the sun went down.

 

They sat in silence in the sun, finishing their ice cream for a while before Kagami stood.

 

“So, we find you a healer, we track down this attacker, we deal some old school style vengeance on your behalf, and then we go find Alex.”

 

“That sounds good,” Kuroko said, rising as Kagami did. Nigou opened one eye to glare at the two wizards as Kuroko transferred him to his shoulder bag so that they could head back towards the Leaky Cauldron and the exit into muggle London.

 

“You know what,” Kagami said as they walked. “Coach is all into the development of magical abilities, I bet she knows plenty of healers. She could probably help us find a mind healer!”

 

“She isn’t our coach anymore,” Kuroko said, but he considered the idea. It certainly wouldn’t hurt to try.

 

“What is she up to these days?”

 

“Aside from having a great deal of sex with Captain and Kiyoshi?”

 

Kagami turned bright red and wheezed, clutching at his throat in alarm in the middle of the street.

 

“No!” he gasped out. “You’re not serious?”

 

“I am absolutely serious,” Kuroko said, standing over Kagami’s bent in half form. “You’re kind of oblivious, Kagami.”

 

Kagami laughed with what little breath he had left after all the air had been stolen from his lungs in shock.

 

“Well, it’s a good thing you like me anyway,” he said. Kuroko nodded, showing no expression.

 

“I do,” he confirmed without so much as a second of hesitation. “We can write to Coach and see what she says.”

 

Kagami nodded, getting a hold of himself.

 

“You li-ike me,” he said in a lilting sing-song voice.

 

“Quite a bit,” Kuroko admitted without even the slightest chance in expression, taking Kagami’s hand and threading his fingers through his Light’s much larger ones.

 

“You are ridiculous,” Kuroko told the other man sternly. Kagami beamed back, kissing Kuroko as they once again began moving towards the exit of Diagon Alley.

 

Neither of them saw Momoi Satsuki striding down the street about a minute later, looking around frantically at the place where they had just been.

 

She’d missed them entirely.

 

…

 

Riko said that it would take her some time to create a thorough list of mind healers who might be able to repair any damage that might have been done to Kuroko’s memory. In the meantime she invited Kuroko and Kagami over to her apartment the next day for tea to catch up.

 

Kagami had grinned and hugged their three senpais when they had come in, and Kuroko had nodded to them, answering their greetings with fist bumps.

 

Kiyoshi poured out tea for them and Riko smiled at two of her favorite juniors from their old dueling team.

 

“It’s good to see both of you,” she said. “Congratulations on graduating!”

 

Settled around the coffee table, Riko finally got down to business.

 

“What’s going on?” she asked them. “Aside from the dating, which we’ll get to after we sort out what you need.”   
  


Both boys turned bright red.

 

Kuroko explained what he wanted from the older girl, who tapped her chin thoughtfully.

 

“I know a mind healer,” Riko said. “They might be able to do something about your memory problem. She graduated a few years ahead of me and is based here in London, but she’s very exclusive. She finished her mastery last year and has been seeing patients concentrated on memory issues related to obliviation. I’ll see if she would be willing to clear some time in her schedule for a very important memory problem.”

 

“I would be very grateful if you could contact them on my behalf,” Kuroko said politely. “I need to know what happened.”

 

Riko nodded, watching Kuroko carefully. She bit her lip.

 

“Kuroko, what if it turns out that there is no magical damage to your memory?” she asked.

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“Then I’m repressing what happened in a desperate attempt to forget and I will accept that short of convincing Shige to talk to me again, the person who attacked my friend will go unpunished forever.”

 

Riko nodded sharply.

 

“It’s such a shame about what happened to him,” Kiyoshi said, with a serious intensity that Kuroko wasn’t used to seeing in the cheerful older student. “I hope you do figure out how he got hurt.”

 

“That little shit had almost less respect for his senpais than the brats in front of us,” Hyuuga huffed fondly from the other side of the room, delivering the insult without any heat behind it.

 

After a moment, he sighed.

 

“I still can’t believe someone attacked a student like that and nobody was able to figure out what happened.”

 

“I hope that soon that will be rectified,” Kuroko said.

 

“Well, it’s good to see that you haven’t stopped doing what’s right,” Kiyoshi said encouragingly. “I’m sure you and Shigehiro will be up to your usual pranks in no time!”

 

Oh no.

 

Kuroko realized that Kagami didn’t know about his personal pranking history at the same second that Kagami processed exactly what Kiyoshi had said.

 

“Wait, I wanna hear about these pranks!”

 

“We need to go,” Kuroko said very quickly. “Thank you senpais!”

 

“No, wait, I want to hear this!”

 

“No way!” Riko and Hyuuga said at the exact same time, realization dawning on them.

 

“No way what?” Kagami asked.

 

“Well, if Shige was always causing trouble and our friend Kuroko was stuck to his side like glue…” Kiyoshi said, wiggling his eyebrows.

 

“You’re a little hellion!” Hyuuga shouted. “YOU RUINED THE PREFECTS’ SHOWER!”

 

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kuroko said. He didn’t even flinch – it was almost a perfect lie.

 

“I think we should start with the post-it notes,” Kiyoshi said conversationally.

 

“Post it notes?” Kagami asked, looking at Kuroko in shock.

 

Kuroko hid his face behind his hands as Kiyoshi launched into sordid descriptions of the most memorable pranks that had targeted the student body during the prime pranking reign of Kuroko, Ogiwara, and Momoi.

 

They leaned back against the wall, breathless and laughing, after about an hour of these stories. 

 

“I can’t believe you!” Kagami laughed, gasping for breath. “And here I thought I was corrupting this innocent flower and it turns out you’re the one who corrupted  _ me! _ ”

 

“Is Kagami suggesting that I tempted him into sin?” Kuroko asked innocently.

 

“Captain is right, you  _ are  _ a hellion, whatever the heck that is,” Kagami replied. “Come on, we can’t do anything for now. But let’s see if we can fix your head soon, because I really wanna meet the kid that helped my boyfriend blow up a toilet.”

 

They hugged their senpais and Riko gave them both thumbs up as they left.

 

“Stay in touch or I’ll come after you!” she called cheerfully as they left her apartment.

 

“What a kind lady,” Kagami said. Kuroko giggled. A very, very small giggle.

 

Kagami thought he would melt.

 

…

 

Riko had sent them news by owl later that very same evening. The healer friend she knew was more than happy to meet with Kuroko the next day to assess whether or not there was anything she could do to help recover the memories. She had cautioned Kuroko, through Riko, that sometimes memories could be destroyed by magic so thoroughly there might be no chance of recovery, but if there were even the barest shards left, she would do her best to put them back together.

 

Kuroko’s thanks to the older witch ran deeper than he could ever tell her.

 

What Kuroko didn’t tell Kagami, or Riko, or anyone else, was that he had a sinking, horrible suspicion about what had happened to Ogiwara. So when Momoi Satsuki showed up at the door of his and Kagami’s apartment in London, sobbing hysterically in the rain, Kuroko’s urge to slam the door on her warred with his urge to comfort his old friend.

 

“Tetsu-kun, thank Hecate, I’ve been looking for you everywhere!”

 

Momoi Satsuki had been crying hysterically. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were wet. Her hair did not have the level of flounce Kuroko was used to seeing in it.

 

“Please, it’s a matter of life or death!” Momoi begged. “Just… let me come in so we can talk?”

 

Kuroko opened the door a little wider, allowing Momoi into the apartment.

 

“Oh hey, it’s the hot chick,” Kagami said.

 

“Call me hot chick one more time and I’ll make you a chick,” Momoi told the large Gryffindor overly sweetly.

 

“Noted,” Kagami said. “What’s up? Momoi, right? Want a drink?”   
  


Momoi shook her head. She huffed in anger, and looked back at Kuroko.

 

“Can we talk?” she asked.

 

“Anything I need to hear, Kagami should hear too,” Kuroko said. Momoi looked between them, eyes widening a little.

 

“Okay, fine,” she said, sitting down heavily on their couch. “Then let’s talk.”

 

Kuroko sat down next to her, with Kagami on Kuroko’s other side.

 

“Sei-kun sent me,” Momoi said. Kuroko’s jaw tightened.

 

“That was the wrong way to start. I’m sorry, can we start over?” Momoi asked. “We lost something and we need your help to get it back or a lot of people are going to die.”

 

“Is this serious or is this just that red haired psychopath’s idea of drama?” Kagami demanded.

 

“He’s not a psychopath,” Kuroko and Momoi intoned at the same time.

 

“Probably,” Kuroko added, getting a glare from Momoi.

 

“Mu-kun lost a really dangerous book and Sei-kun thinks that the enemy now has it.”

 

“What is this book, exactly?” Kagami demanded.

 

"What enemy?" Kuroko asked at the same time.

 

“It has some very risky magical rituals in it,” Momoi told them, answering Kagami's question because it was likely the only one she had heard. “Rituals that could be extremely dangerous in the wrong hands and that’s all that I can say right now.”

 

“No matter what, I can’t help you. I have an appointment with a healer tomorrow,” Kuroko said, when she turned back to look at him expectantly.

 

“So, skip it!” Momoi snapped. “Wait, why are you going to a healer? Are you dying? Damn it, these are things I expect you to tell me!”

 

Kuroko put his hands on both of Momoi’s shoulders, gently calming her down.

 

“I am not dying,” he said.

 

“Then why can’t you skip it?” Momoi demanded. “People could die if you don’t help us!”

 

Kuroko exchanged a look with Kagami before fixing his gaze on Momoi again.

 

“You’ve already said that, but I’m meeting with a mind healer who may be able to repair a magically removed memory,” Kuroko told her. “A memory of Shige getting attacked.”

 

Momoi’s eyes widened.

 

“You’re going to try and find out who attacked Shige-kun?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said. “I was there, but I think whoever did it obliviated me. If that is correct, I could know tomorrow who hurt him.”

 

Momoi bit her lip. This news clearly had derailed her from her original intentions in coming to their apartment, and she was conflicted.

 

“I could go tonight,” she said to herself. “If I find the book is missing and you have your memories back tomorrow night, would you agree to work with me to get the book back after you meet with the healer?”

 

Kuroko sighed. This much, he could do. For the friendship they once had, and for everything he still owed to Momoi Satsuki, he would help them even if everything in his very being told him to just turn around and leave it be. 

 

“Yes,” he said. “I will help you. Where is the book anyway?”

 

“We think Nash Gold, Jr. may have taken it.”

 

“Oh so that’s no problem,” Kagami spoke up from the other side of the room. “He’ll just have someone pry around in his brain for a few hours and then he’ll pop halfway across the world and sneak into  _ the damn white house  _ to steal shit. That’s safe!”

 

“Aren’t you from America?” Momoi snapped. “You should know that the President of Magic doesn’t live in the White House. He has an unplottable townhouse off J Street.”

 

“Oh,” Kagami said. “You know, I didn’t know that.”

 

“What  _ do  _ they teach in schools in that country?” Momoi asked. She turned to Kuroko.

 

“The book is probably still in Murasakibara’s apartment anyway. It’s not like we would definitely have to go after it.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Kagami and I will come and help if you need us,” he promised, taking her hand. Kagami yelped in alarm.

 

“Oi, you bastard! Don’t volunteer me for shit like this without asking me first!”

 

“We’ll help,” Kuroko said. “But I do have to see the mind-healer tomorrow. Coach worked very hard to get this appointment so that I could find out who hurt our friend.”

 

Momoi looked down, sniffing a little.

 

“It’s been a long time since I’ve been a really good friend to him,” she said. “I haven’t been there since before he got attacked.”

 

“You don’t just stop being friends with someone just like that.”

 

Momoi sniffed again, holding back more tears.

 

“I wish things could go back to the way they were,” she whispered. “When everything was just fun and the worst thing we had to worry about was making sure we didn’t get caught carrying out our next prank. I never wanted to have to do this, any of this.”

 

“I know,” Kuroko said calmingly. “Come on, I’ll walk you home.”

 

Momoi nodded, letting Kuroko usher her outside.

 

“See you in a little bit Kagami,” Kuroko said to his boyfriend, running back to kiss him on the cheek before joining Momoi at the door.

 

Kagami turned bright red and sputtered, unable to come up with a response before the door was closed. Kuroko and Momoi disappeared into the summer night.

 

“I am whipped,” he muttered into the empty apartment.

 

Outside, Kuroko walked side by side down the London street with Momoi.

 

“What have you been doing these days?” Kuroko asked.

 

“I finished the work for my mastery in Arithmancy,” Momoi said.

 

“That is very impressive.”

 

The pink haired witch threw her hair over her left shoulder, smiling serenely.

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

“And you?”

 

“I’m going to find out what happened to Shige and then Kagami and I are going to find his old Ward Master and force her to take us on as students,” Kuroko said. There was steel in his eyes as he said this, looking out to the horizon and the possibilities of the future. He was determined to follow this path to the end, wherever that might take him.

 

Momoi huffed.

 

“I see even that American fool managed to bring out what little ambition you have in that tiny frame of yours,” she said. “I’m happy to see you finding your place in the world, Tetsu-kun.”

 

“And you, yours,” Kuroko told her. “You will be one of the youngest recognized Masters by any guild of any discipline.”

 

“ _ The youngest,  _ don’t minimize my achievements,” Momoi said, shoving Kuroko lightly with her shoulder.

 

“Then congratulations,” Kuroko said.

 

“How is Aomine?” he asked after a few moments.

 

“What makes you think I know how Dai-kun is?” Momoi asked defensively. Kuroko just fixed her with his determined stare, and she sighed.

 

“He’s the same,” she said. “He always has to prove how smart and powerful and good at magic he is and he still thinks that he’s invincible. He’s going to get himself killed one of these days.”

 

Kuroko flinched.

 

“I’m sorry,” he told her. “I thought I could bring him back for you.”

 

“Just for me?” Momoi asked with a sly smile.

 

“What else would I mean?”

 

“I mean, he broke your heart,” Momoi said gently. “And he’s still deeply in love with you.”

 

“That doesn’t matter anymore,” Kuroko said flatly. “Whatever happened in the past is going to stay there.”

 

Momoi sighed.

 

“Things used to be so simple,” she told the concrete again.

 

“Yes. But it’s still going to be okay, no matter how complicated and terrible things may become” Kuroko said. Momoi nodded, laughing a little.

 

“I don’t know how you Hufflepuffs do it,” she said, pasting a transparent smile onto her features. “That optimism never fails to amaze me.”

 

Kuroko gave her the ghost of a smile. They walked for a while longer in silence before Momoi pointed out a townhouse a little ways down the road. 

 

“Well, we’re here,” she said. “This is me.”

 

Without warning, Momoi jumped forward, throwing her arms around the blue haired wizard.

 

“I miss you so much!” Momoi whispered into Kuroko’s ear.

 

“I miss you too Momoi,” Kuroko said, patting her back.

 

“Well from now on we won’t be such strangers,” Momoi said. “I’ll come get you tomorrow so that we can start planning the heist of the century, if we have to.”

 

“And what if you find the book where Murasakibara left it and we don’t have to plan a heist?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Well then I’ll bring over a bottle of wine, we’ll kick the transfer kid out of your apartment, and you and I can gossip about boys,” Momoi smiled.

 

Kuroko froze.

 

“How did you know?” he asked.

 

“Aside from the fact that you are incredibly obvious?” Momoi asked. “I’m a woman, Kuroko. I have a sense of intuition that you men can only dream of.”

 

“I think you’re just making that up,” Kuroko said blankly.

 

Momoi giggled and tapped him on the nose.

 

“Prove it,” she told him, before turning to head up the stairs to her front door. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Tetsu-kun! And I really do hope you find what you’re looking for!”

 

Kuroko stood on the sidewalk until he saw Momoi get into the house safely. Once the door shut behind her he turned to head back to his own apartment and the man waiting there for him.

 

He hoped he found what he was looking for too. Maybe, after all this time, it would mean that he and Shige could reconcile. He wasn’t naïve enough to believe that things could go back to exactly the way that they had been before, but he harbored some hope that he could at least retain a friendship with his first friend.

 

This was the kid who had befriended Kuroko not despite everything that he was, but because of it. The same kid who looked at the weaknesses repudiated by others and smiled and came up with plans upon plans to prank the student body. The kid that had run, shirtless and suffering from a terrible bout of Dragon Pox, the entire way through the castle just to find a teacher so they would know that the mediwitch working for the school had forgotten to treat Kuroko to.

 

Ogiwara Shigehiro was a unique person, and Kuroko was going to find out who hurt him.

 

And when he did, he was going to find a way to destroy them.

 

…

 

Kuroko woke early the next morning, unable to sit still. Kagami found him in the kitchen drinking coffee, one leg twitching energetically.

 

“Want to go for a run with me?” Kagami asked. “We still have a few hours before we go meet the mind healer.”

 

Kuroko nodded and within short order they were both dressed in muggle workout gear.

 

They set off down the street in the dark in silence. It was a foggy night and the blurred illumination from the street lamps didn’t do much to help light the way.

 

Kagami set a fairly easy pace. It was much less rigorous than the one Coach or Captain might have set when they were running around the lake, for which Kuroko was grateful. He wanted to clear his mind, not collapse from exhaustion.

 

They raced down the bank of the Thames for some time. In the distance, Kuroko could see the light of the London Eye rising high into the skyline.

 

As the sun started to rise, Kagami turned them around and started them on a wordless path back towards their apartment.

 

Despite the easy pace, Kuroko was still pretty wiped out when they made it back. He was dragging a little as he showered and then set up making breakfast while Kagami used the bathroom.

 

Kagami’s timing was impeccable – he got out of the shower just as Kuroko was pulling the bacon off the stove - and Kagami kissed him full on the mouth before thanking him for the meat.

 

Kuroko sipped a vanilla flavored coffee and looked out the window at the rising sun.

 

Soon he would have his answers.

 

In short order, the two of them set off for the mind healer who could help solve the mystery of Kuroko’s missing memories.

 

The healer’s office was quite pleasant. It was calm and inviting, with light yellow wallpaper and an off white carpet that made Kuroko think of warmth and comfort, rather than the ordinary sterility of a hospital. Kagami held Kuroko’s hand as they entered and checked in with the young man sitting at a desk at the front of the waiting room. A stack of pop magazines were floating in the air around him, but he was happy to let the healer know that her morning patient had arrived. The couple did not have to wait long before being called into the healer’s office.

 

“What seems to be the problem?” the mind healer asked after pleasantries were exchanged. 

 

“I have missing memories,” Kuroko said. “A friend of mine was attacked two years ago and I witnessed the incident. I don’t remember, and I believe that my friend’s attacker obliviated the memories.”

 

The mind healer hummed.

 

“Well, depending on how powerful the wizard or witch who cast the spell is, as I told Riko, if the memories were obliviated by someone particularly powerful, it may not be possible to recover them. And if the memories were suppressed by natural means, only time may aid you. Before we get started, I want to make sure that you know there is by no means an absolute shot at making sure your memories come back.”

 

“Then what the hell good are you?” Kagami demanded before Kuroko could stop him.

 

“The mind is a delicate instrument and the work I do is not an exact science,” the mind healer frowned. “Would you allow me to take a look into your mind and see what we’re working with?”

 

Kuroko nodded and made solid eye contact with the healer. After a few moments she withdrew. “Well, you definitely show traces of mind magic,” she sighed. “It’s faint, but I can still tell. These certainly were not removed naturally.”

 

“Can the memories be recovered?” Kuroko asked hopefully.

 

“I can try,” the mind healer said. “In general, the procedure has varying levels of success with random memories. In your case, as unfortunate as it is, the event will, I assume, be tied to extremely strong underlying emotions. Because of this I may be able to pull the memories back and gather whatever pieces remain tied to those extremely strong emotions, even if there are missing chunks.”

 

“Then let’s do it,” Kagami said. “Right, Kuroko?”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“You’re okay with this, right?” Kagami asked. “If this isn’t what you want, we don’t have to do it.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He knew that. But he couldn’t let go of a chance to get justice for his friend, and find out what really happened. He supposed when he came down to it, he was a Hufflepuff through and through, and there was no substitute for that kind of loyalty.

 

“Okay, well I’m gonna be right here the whole time,” Kagami said. “If you need me, I’m holding your hand.”

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said sincerely. He kissed Kagami and turned to the mind healer.

 

“I am ready,” he said.

 

“Please, sit,” the mind healer said. “I will see what I can do. When obliviated, memories are not destroyed, merely fractured and displaced. If I am able to locate the memories I will tie them back together around the locus formed by your emotions associated with the events.”

 

Kuroko nodded stiffly and took a seat on the chair.

 

He hoped he was wrong. He was praying that he was wrong. He didn’t want to be correct about this and he certainly didn’t want to believe the worst of the boys who had once been his best friends.

 

But it was time to learn the truth.

 

“Do whatever you can to help me recover these memories,” he said. “I just want to know the truth about what happened.”

 

“I’ll do my best,” she promised. “Now close your eyes and let me do my work.”

 

He lay back and let the healer place her hand on his forehead.

 

Kuroko could feel himself drifting into a light doze as he felt the healer’s gentle power probing at his memories. He brought to the forefront his memories from that night.

 

He remembered slipping in the pool of blood that resulted from Ogiwara’s injuries, waking up cold and shivering in the dark hallway where he and Ogiwara had been left.

 

Who could have hurt a school child like that?

 

And why didn’t they hurt Kuroko too?

 

Finally,  _ finally,  _ he was going to have some answers.

 

The healer reached back in Kuroko’s memories, latching on to his intact memories from right before the accident.

 

Kuroko felt a jerk of magic and then he was experiencing the eerie sensation of watching himself running down the corridors of Hogwarts, making a beeline for the common room. A moment later, Kuroko was watching the stone walls of the Hogwarts foundation pass by from the first person eyes of his younger self.

 

Kuroko remembered this. He’d been walking back from the greenhouses, heading towards the Hufflepuff common room. The hallway had been deserted and then he had heard a scream. He knew it was Ogiwara’s. He’d immediately reacted, speeding up to try to reach his friend.

 

Just as Kuroko thought this, he heard the shout and flinched. That was definitely Ogiwara’s voice.

 

He remembered the panic, the spike in his heartbeat from the first time this had happened. What he didn’t remember was the voice that came echoing down the corridor towards him, the voice that made the younger version of Kuroko stop. Kuroko could feel his eyes widening with terror and didn’t know whether the reaction was that of his younger or current self.

 

Kuroko had waited so long to hear the voice of Ogiwara’s attacker. He’d waited so long to find out what happened and figure out how to make amends between himself and his once best friend.

 

Now that he did he was paralyzed with shock.

 

Because the voice talking over Ogiwara’s pained whimpering was one Kuroko could have identified anywhere. It was a voice he knew extremely well.

 

It was Kise.

 

_ “Do us a favor and stay down, won't you?” _

 

_ “No, Mine-chin let him get back up again,” another voice – Murasakibara’s whining drone – cut in. “I want to keep cursing him.” _

 

_ Murasakibara too? _

 

_ A harsh, ragged moan made Kuroko freeze in fear. What was going on? _

 

_ “That’s a good boy,” Aomine mocked, his voice unlike Kuroko had ever heard it, dark and menacing and unfriendly. He sounded almost… bored. _

 

_ “Expelliarmus!” _

 

_ The voice was shaking with effort and choked with tears, but Kuroko recognized Ogiwara’s voice again, cutting through the din. The spell didn’t seem to hit his target. More mocking laughter accompanied the spell. Kuroko heard the sound of a soft thud – a body hitting stone, perhaps – and another curse, this time from Kise. _

 

_ “We told you to stay away from Tetsuya.” _

 

_ That was Akashi. His tone was arrogant, detached. A king dictating law to his subjects – no, an Emperor. _

 

_ What the fuck what the fuck what the fuck what the fuck- _

 

_ Kuroko couldn’t move, couldn’t think, could barely breathe. He couldn’t find any strength in his limbs to move forward and stop whatever was happening. _

 

_ He knew that his former teammates were assholes, but this wasn’t them being awful, this was downright evil. _

 

_ Kuroko’s mind was processing information like slow moving molasses, but he was putting together the pieces. Every time he looked at the picture they made, Kuroko could only deny the truth in front of him. It didn’t make any sense, it couldn’t be. _

 

_ Somehow, this had to make sense. There had to be some kind of explanation that would make this okay.  _

 

_ Because how could it be true that Akashi was beating up Ogiwara because of the boy’s friendship with Kuroko? There had to be some other explanation for what was going on. This had to be some sort of illusion, because the Akashi Kuroko knew never would have done anything like this. Kuroko was sure that he couldn’t trust the evidence of his own ears and eyes. He felt like he was in a dream, unable to connect what was physically happening to reality. _

 

_ “We made it perfectly clear to you at the end of last year,” Akashi continued harshly. “You were not to associate with Kuroko Tetsuya any longer. We taught you what I thought at the time was an acceptably complete lesson that any association with members of my team would bring you only pain, and I had Haizaki provide you a refresher course on that only our second week back. Do you need to learn that lesson a third time?” _

 

_ “Tetsu chooses his friends, not you,” Ogiwara spat. Kuroko heard the thud of a foot hitting flesh. _

 

_ “I don’t like repeating myself,” Akashi snarled, his voice as frightening as Kuroko had ever heard it. “I’m going to be very clear: If I hear of you trying to speak to Kuroko or trying contact him in any way, I will ensure that you are never found, do you understand me?” _

 

_ When Ogiwara didn’t reply Akashi spat out another curse. Ogiwara screamed. _

 

_ It lasted a second, but Kuroko was finally running towards the noise. He’d been paralyzed with shock, but Ogiwara’s scream pushed him into action. He didn’t know what he was going to do when he got there, but he had to do something. _

 

_ Kuroko sped around the corner, nearly losing his balance as he completed the turn, his shoes squeaking against the flagstones in the too-quiet corridor. _

 

_ “Shige-chan!” Kuroko shouted. His muscles were flaring with pain and his balance was off, but the only thing he could see was his best friend, lying on the ground.  _

 

_ Ogiwara didn’t answer.                                                             _

 

_ Kuroko fell to his knees by his friend and frantically turned him over. His movements were jerky and panicked. He didn’t feel the pain from coming in rapid contact with the flagstones, only gut wrenching fear. _

 

_ It was obvious that the other boy needed help. Now. _

 

_ “What did you do?” he looked up, hands shaking in pain, eyes burning with tears. The faces of his former teammates were blurred out of focus and all he could see were five silent blotches of color, unmoving. He was in so much pain. He couldn’t tell where the anger and guilt bled into the physical pain of the spell and he didn’t even care, his hands clutching the front of Ogiwara’s robes in a white knuckled and painful grip. _

 

_ “He needs help, please! Do something, don’t just stand there! Help him! This is your fault!” _

 

_ “Tetsuya, you need to calm down.” _

 

_ That just made Kuroko angrier, that Akashi could possibly think of Kuroko’s anger and fear as inappropriate right now. _

 

_ “Shut up, just shut up-” _

 

_ A stab of pain ran through him and he screamed through it, clutching to his best friend with all his might. _

 

_ “What’s wrong with Kurokocchi?” _

 

_ Even Kise’s voice made Kuroko angrier and he completely lost control of himself. He was in so much pain he’d forgotten how to breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t think past the horrific scene he’d just borne witness to- _

 

_ “Imperio.” _

 

_ And then it was all gone. Kuroko felt an odd calm settle over him. _

 

Calm down _. _

 

_ Yes that sounded like an attractive idea, calming down. Right now his emotions were doing nothing but hurting him, ripping through his misdirection and causing him physical agony. He should let go of them and allow himself to calm down. _

 

_ But why? Wasn’t his friend hurt? Wasn’t this the wrong time to be calm? Shouldn’t he be raising the alarm, screaming to high heaven for someone to come find them and bring help? _

 

Calm down right now _. _

 

_ Kuroko’s breathing evened out. Yes, if he just calmed down, it would be okay. _

 

_ “That spell has become more problematic than anything else,” Akashi murmured. “I think it has more than done the job I needed it to do.” _

 

_ Kuroko could see magic sparking along his arms as the sickly red of Akashi’s spell burned into visible light and then faded away into smoke. Even in his impaired state, Kuroko still felt the relief of being released from the weight of the magic that had been crushing him.  _

 

_ “Aka-chin, he’s still going to remember we were here.” _

 

_ Akashi smiled thinly. _

 

_ “No,” he said calmly. “He won’t.” _

 

_ Akashi’s wand was still pointed at Kuroko. _

 

_ Kuroko had no way to move, and in this state of dulled emotion, couldn’t even come up with a reason why he would want to. _

 

_ “Obliviate.” _

 

_ The world went black. _

 

Kuroko opened his eyes.

 

He felt like he couldn’t breathe. His eyes were wet with tears. His throat burned. He felt a stabbing pain in his chest like his heart was trying to claw it’s way out from underneath his ribs. He wanted to run. He needed to get out of here as fast as humanly possible.

 

“Kuroko-”                                 

 

Kuroko flinched away from the healer’s touch, still trying to process the truth of what had happened.

 

“I’m sorry,” the healer said softly. She had apparently experienced the horrifically traumatic event along with Kuroko, and was clearly shaken by such a gratuitous display of violence by children against another child.

 

For a long time, Kuroko didn’t say anything at all.

 

They had been lying to him for years. All of them. Akashi had led him on with a wisp of a dream, by cursing him to try and maintain his misdirection, and the whole time, they knew exactly who had been responsible for Ogiwara being so badly injured.

 

At least Kuroko had learned something useful. The spell that had caused him pain every time he’d reacted emotionally to something was gone. Akashi had lifted it years ago, when Kuroko had nearly died from its effects after watching his best friend become so seriously injured.

 

No wonder he hadn’t had to worry about that since then. Not only had he gotten used to controlling his emotions, the spell wasn’t there anymore.

 

Still, whatever Akashi was doing now could wait. Whatever book Momoi had asked him to help steal, Kuroko wasn’t going to do it. He was more likely to punch any of the Miracles in the face if he saw them than help them, no matter how critical a project they were working on.

 

“Kuroko?” Kagami asked quietly.

 

“It was them,” Kuroko said numbly. “It was them this whole time. I can’t believe they would hurt Shige like that.”

 

He felt lost.

 

Kagami gripped his hand, taking Kuroko’s shaking fingers into his own.

 

“It’s going to be okay,” he said. “We’ll get back home and I’m just gonna punch them all in the face, screw magic.”

 

Kuroko smiled, even as he felt fury grip his heart like a vice.

 

Kuroko was pissed the fuck off and he was ready to let them know.

 

“I think we need to get back home,” he said instead. His expression was completely blank, but inside, all he could fee was pure, untempered, undistilled rage. It was alien, unlike any feeling Kuroko had ever had in his life. It was dark, almost primal, and Kuroko was fully prepared to unleash it on the Generation of Miracles. Kagami nodded.

 

“Okay,” he said.

 

…

 

The fire burned red and hot, blazing into the sky. Akashi Seijuro raised bloodied hands out in front of him, undisturbed by the licking heat of the flames. By the flickering warm light, his heterochromatic eyes shone more clearly than ever. The blood on his face, dripping down his shirt, across the front of his robes, and down his hands to the wrists, were a testament to the dark magic he was dealing in. It gleamed wetly, almost black.

 

“I am the Speaker,” he said into the night, his voice hazy. He was tired. He had screamed. He had cried. He hadn’t slept in three days, but he had finally come up with a solution to his problem. Potions had helped replenish his magical core and he was ready to try another ritual. If he couldn’t do it by himself, he would find another way. Power burned around him in an aura of red.

 

He didn’t have the power to save the world, but he had strength enough for this.

 

And when he was done, he would at last be able to do what he needed to.

 

He would lead his generals into victorious battle.

 

The future foreseen by Midorima Shintarou could never be allowed to come to pass, not by Akashi’s life or death.

 

And in his desperation, in the depths of the darkness of despair, he smiled, because he could see the only way forward. He only had one way out of this disaster.

 

This was the only way to save the world.

 

He grasped at the single lifeline with all his might, and committed himself to the dangerous path he had chosen. 

 

The circle was drawn in blood. His clothes were stained with blood. There was so much blood. The ground was wet with it. His skin was wet with it. Akashi was covered in blood and he would never be free of the slick, sticky feel of viscous red all over.

 

The shape of the carved runes formed a circle around him. The sigil he needed was in the center, directly in front of Akashi. It was a complicated, complex design. On one side of a line, two crosses rose up away from the summoner. A line extended between them to the elevated point of a triangle, which sat upside down at the top of the sigil. On the other side, a half circle bent towards Akashi, with three crosses upside down. A curved line drew away from where the half circle met the line that split the sigil in half.

 

Akashi’s hands had been shaking when he started, but they had stopped now. Now he could feel nothing but a numb, detached need to finish the ritual and gain the power he needed to help him finish the job he had started.

 

“I am the Speaker and my will is absolute,” he said into the circle. “I name you: Vepar, lord of the reaching river between the realms. Come through. You will heed and obey.”

 

The fire burned green. 

 

For a long time, the only sound was the wind whistling over the tops of the trees and the sound of the crackling fire.

 

Akashi didn’t worry. He knew he had gotten the spell precisely correct. Even though he was working from a mere memory, his memory was quite excellent. He was more than confident in his ability to reproduce the summoning ritual.

 

“Bold move,” came a voice from directly behind Akashi. The redhead continued to stare ahead, even as a very human looking hand was placed on his shoulder. It was cold, devoid of any human warmth. Akashi had the distinct impression that he was being examined very much the same way a human might view an interesting looking insect - with only a passing interest and the absolute knowledge that one could crush it if they wanted. He knew from the feel of the power creeping into the grove that this was no ordinary being. This creature alone might destroy the entire world if left unchecked and would laugh as it burned.

 

Akashi didn’t flinch.

 

“Hello, Vepar,” Akashi said.

 

A face with pointed, almost pleasant features appeared out of the dark behind Akashi, glowing green in the light of the fire. Artfully windswept brown hair, ending in a pair of furry, pointed ears that graced the top of the demon’s head brushed against the side of Akashi’s face as bright green eyes fixed on him.

 

“You’re better looking than the other members of your kind I’ve seen,” Akashi commented.

 

The demon chuckled. The animalistic features of the demons face seemed canine in origin, though it was hard to tell with so little to go on. The most prominent physical feature of the demon was it’s face; it was almost painfully beautiful, even as Akashi knew that the monster that wore it was dangerous. 

 

“Those lower order monsters are so inelegant,” the demon said, stretching out long fingers on the hand not clutching hard at Akashi’s shoulder. 

 

Without warning, the demon’s nails dug deep into his skin, drawing blood. When it spoke, it was in a low threatening growl. It sounded like gravel being moved at the bottom of a river, low and rough and violent.

 

“Now give me one good reason not to tear you open and strangle you with your own intestines right here.”

 

Akashi didn’t flinch at the threat. In fact, he smiled. His gold eye burned and the temperature around him dropped another few degrees, making the air even colder.

 

“You were summoned here under my will,” Akashi said. “You will not harm me.”

 

“Yes, yes I heard: your will is absolute, you call me by my true name to do your bidding, you made the pretty art to pull me here, yada yada… Fine.”

 

The demon breathed out heavily, pouting. 

 

“What do you want?”

 

The demon's voice was resigned, almost petulant.

 

“I need power,” Akashi said. “And you’re going to help me get it.”

 

“Alright I’ll bite,” the demon said, releasing the redhead’s shoulder and coming around into the light of the fire. A fox’s tail brushed lightly at Akashi’s face as the creature turned, folding its arms as it faced the redhead. Akashi's blood from the deep cuts made by the demon seeped out to join the dark substance already staining the cloth of his shirt.

 

The demon beamed, as though he found something extremely funny and opened its mouth once again, showing off pointed teeth. 

 

“So what’s the plan, Shrimpy-chan? How are you and I going to shape history?”

 

…

 

...

 

END ARC TWO

 


	40. Dicks Out For Kuroko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaand we're back! We have officially hit 400k!! Be my valentine, dear readers?

**...**

 

**ARC III: THE ANGER OF A GENTLE MAN**

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

 

_ “This bill rings the death knell for freedom in America.” _

 

_ The impassioned words rang out in the halls of Magical Congress. The senator speaking was from New York, a black witch in her late fifties with a scarf wrapped artfully around her hair. The headpiece was bright blue, matching the blouse under her smartly tailored pantsuit. _

 

_ “Since wizards have arrived on the shores of this land, we have had an uneasy relationship with the magical communities who had already lived here. We have strived to be better than our mundane counterparts and accept, rather than stamp out, the differences between us. Our land is one of many traditions, cultures, and magical practices. This bill is a blatant attack on the diversity of thought and magic in this country and I strenuously object to its passage. Wizards from all walks of life call this place their home. Robbing America of the colorful traditions that make up our history is nothing short of an atrocity and a direct attack on the personal freedom of every wizard and witch in this nation. Do not allow yourselves to be fooled. Make no mistake: this bill is nothing short of cultural genocide, a tool by which the President seeks to monitor and imprison his political and magical opponents if they practice magic in a way he cannot control. That is all. I implore you to keep your sanity, as the House below us clearly has lost their own.” _

 

_ The senator sat down. _

 

_ “Thank you, Senator, for your opposition,” the presiding Vice President intoned, sounding extremely bored and not at all grateful for the passionate speech against the bill under discussion. “Do we have any motions on the floor?” _

 

_ One of the two Senators from Texas stood. _

 

_ “We do, Vice President Silver,” he said. “I move to bring Senate Bill 902-114 to a vote.” _

 

_ “All in favor?” _

 

_ There was enough for a majority. Many of the senators looked like they were praying for a miracle of some kind. Any miracle would do that could save them from the nightmare that they were in. _

 

_ “We call the matter of Senate Bill 902-114 to a vote,” the Vice President said. “Will the senators from Alabama rise. How do you vote?” _

 

_ “I vote in favor.” _

 

_ “I vote in favor.” _

 

_ Both sat smoothly as Silver noted the votes. In pink, the tally appeared glowing at the front of the room. _

 

_ “Alaska.” _

 

_ “I oppose.” _

 

_ “I vote in favor.” _

 

_ The split between the two senators caused several double takes in the Senate, but Silver was already moving on to the next names on his list. _

 

_ “Arkansas.” _

 

_ “I vote in favor.” _

 

_ “I vote in favor.” _

 

_ The numbers at the front continued to rise as the senators opposed or voted in favor of the bill. It was clear that those in favor were quickly pushing the number extremely high - higher than anyone had expected. Aside from the split along the Alaskan senators, for the most part, the state senators were voting in tandem, their joint votes supporting the passage of the bill.  _

 

_ “California.” _

 

_ There was a pause. One of the senators from California was over a hundred and twenty six. She had held her position for longer than any senator in the history of Magical Congress, though it took her longer to rise to her feet than her significantly younger counterpart, a Hispanic wizard in his thirties. _

 

_ “I vehemently oppose,” the older senator said, fixing a hawk-eyed glare on the senators who had voted before her. “You should be ashamed of yourselves that this has even come to a vote.” _

 

_ The Vice President had to bang on the podium in front of him until order was restored to the senate at this bold proclamation.  _

 

_ “I join my fellow senator in opposition,” the other Californian senator said, glaring at Vice President Silver. _

 

_ And so it went. Silver ran down the list alphabetically, tallying up the votes. It was obvious, as it had been from the very beginning, what the fate of this bill would be. It didn’t stop Silver’s smile from growing more and more smug as the proceedings continued. _

 

_ Two senators abstained from voting – one each from Georgia and Alabama. Each of them received death glares from their counterparts. The issue had been taken to the state legislatures some time ago, and many felt that they had a mandate to follow the will of the people of their state. Had they voted against the bill, the abstaining senators might well have been cut down by the other senators from their state where they sat, if those glares were any indication. _

 

_ “Wyoming,” Silver called out at last, reaching the final state. _

 

_ “I am in favor,” both senators said in unison. It didn’t matter. The bill had more than enough votes to pass as it was. _

 

_ “The voting has closed,” Silver said with a smirk. _

 

_ “With twenty-one votes against, two abstentions, and seventy-seven votes in favor, the bill passes,” the Vice President said smoothly. “Thank you all for your careful deliberation and hard work. President Gold will have the bill on his desk as his first order of business tomorrow. With this legislation, we will usher in a new phase of unity and peace. History has been made here tonight, gentlemen, ladies of the Senate, and I’m proud to be here to see it develop in front of us.” _

 

_ In the back of the room, sitting in the galley, Nash Gold, Jr. was smiling. He adjusted his gold tie and turned to leave. He’d seen what he needed to. He knew which Senators would cause problems and which had remained loyal. He would remember them.  _

 

_ For now, he could bring the happily anticipated news to his father that the lynchpin of their plan, the cornerstone of everything they had worked for, had just been set. _

 

_ They had what they needed. _

 

_ Now that Nash Gold, Jr. knew exactly where and who his enemies were, he could begin to work on his plans to cut them off at the knees. _

 

_ The disobedient senators here would not stop him. If they were going to stand in the way of his father’s legislation, they would have done so today. That told Nash Gold, Jr. that no matter what opposition he faced here, he was going to come out on top in the end anyway. The old windbags from California and New York would be no obstacle, despite remaining the joint cornerstones of the opposition parties,  but their much younger, fiery counterparts might stir the youth of his country to revolution. So long as he maintained his father's status quo for now, he would have what he wanted. _

 

_ And Jonathan Silver, the father of his good friend Jason, was doing an exemplary job pushing forward both Golds’ agendas in his role as Vice President and the leader of the Senate. _

 

_ After over a year of helping his father and laying the careful seeds of his plots, Nash Gold, Jr. was finally beginning to see the results he wanted. Akashi Seijuro and his oversold Miracles could do what they wanted. They had handed Nash Gold, Jr. the tool with which he would orchestrate their demise, when the time came. _

 

_ Everything was coming up Gold, that was certain. _

 

…

 

Night had fallen by the time Kuroko and Kagami returned to the apartment they shared in London.

 

Kuroko had been even more quiet than usual as they walked through the busy streets. Kagami was scared by how little emotion Kuroko was showing in response to the newly discovered knowledge that the people Kuroko had once considered to be like brothers to him had attacked his best friend.

 

Kagami had never met Ogiwara Shigehiro, but he knew how important the other boy was to Kuroko. It was obvious in how Kuroko had emotionally shut down, trying to process what he now knew without giving into the devastation. 

 

They took the long way around the city, letting the sun set around them. Kuroko moved through the crowds like a ghost, barely even processing that anyone else was there.

 

Kagami was more than worried about his boyfriend. Kuroko was not an outwardly emotional guy, but this was scary.

 

When they got home, Nigou was whining and pawing at the door. It was a sign of how grave the situation was that Kagami didn’t even let his fear cause him to make a run for it as the dog jumped at them. Nigou barked happily to see his human come home.

 

Absently, Kuroko patted his head.

 

“Come on,” Kagami said. “I’m going to make you some hot chocolate, and we’re going to sit here, and we’re going to figure out what we need to do now.”

 

Kuroko nodded wordlessly, but Kagami didn’t get the impression that his boyfriend had really heard him.

 

Kagami set the smaller boy up on the couch, where Nigou promptly jumped up and curled close to the blue haired wizard.

 

“Aw shit,” Kagami cursed to himself as he knocked over a line of mugs on the counter. Kuroko didn’t even look up. Using magic, Kagami fixed the mugs he’d broken and lined them back up on the counter in front of him before taking a deep, calming breath over the sink.

 

“Those bastards,” he said.

 

Kuroko didn’t respond.

 

Kagami hissed under his breath and started mixing milk and chocolate together. Once he’d stopped shaking for long enough to handle the cooking supplies without knocking them over, he let his magic fade.

 

In a few minutes, he had two mugs full of steaming hot cocoa, one of which was flavored with vanilla. He brought them back into the living room and set one down in front of Kuroko.

 

“Hey, it’s going to be okay,” he said, sitting down next to Kuroko.

 

Kuroko didn’t move and Kagami found himself getting more disconcerted and scared by the moment. Kuroko had just entirely shut down and Kagami didn’t know what to do or how to help.

 

Even though they were both adults by the standard of any wizarding culture, Kagami felt very young and inexperienced at the moment.

 

Whatever else he might have tried to do to draw Kuroko out of the shell he was in was cut off by the sound of knocking at the door.

 

“Aw shit, what now?” Kagami asked, looking towards the door. He decided whoever it was could just go away.

 

Whoever it was knocked again, more frantically this time.

 

“Tetsu-kun, I know you’re in there!”

 

The distinct voice of a distressed and angry Momoi Satsuki came piercing through the door.

 

Oh boy. That was a can of worms neither of them were up to dealing with. Kagami rose to tell the pink haired witch to bug off when Kuroko stood sharply and cut Kagami off on the way to the door.

 

He opened it in a sharp, fast movement.

 

“Go away,” he said.

 

This time, unlike when Momoi had shown up yesterday, Kuroko did not stop himself from closing the door on the pink haired witch.

 

Momoi was immediately banging on the door again, shouting for Kuroko as the blue haired wizard stared in the opposite direction of the door. Deliberately, he walked into the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

 

“Aw shit,” Kagami said, rubbing his forehead. “She won’t leave!” he shouted after Kuroko.

 

There was no sound from Kuroko or his bedroom. Despite the fact that they were dating and living together, they’d maintained two bedrooms. It maintained open options, in case they needed space.

 

And it seemed like right now Kuroko was determined to claim his space.

 

Kagami sighed again.

 

“I’m letting her in,” he shouted to Kuroko. “I don’t want to replace the door!”

 

A muffled voice that sounded a lot like ‘do what you want’ came from the other side of the door. It was almost drowned out by a fresh series of banging.

 

Kagami cursed and opened the door. Momoi almost fell into him as it opened inwards, but caught her balance just in time.

 

“Where’s Tetsu-kun?” she demanded.

 

Kagami folded his arms and used every inch of his height to tower over the witch.

 

“He doesn’t want to talk to you right now,” he said. “I don’t think he’s going to help you find your book.”

 

“What is going on?” Momoi said, utterly failing to be intimidated by the much larger wizard. “If I don’t see Tetsu-kun right now I’m going to start cursing you and-”

 

“Excuse me.”

 

Momoi jumped as Kuroko appeared right next to her.

 

Even Kagami hadn’t seen Kuroko coming out of his bedroom. He was concerned by how blank Kuroko’s expression was as the blue haired wizard looked at his old friend.

 

“Tetsu-kun!” Momoi shouted, throwing her arms around Kuroko. “What happened? Did you get your memories back?”

 

Kuroko nodded sharply.

 

There was only one piece of information he wanted from Momoi.

 

“Did you know?” Kuroko asked calmly.

 

“Know what?” Momoi asked, drawing back.

 

“I need to know if you knew,” Kuroko said in that terrifyingly blank tone.

 

“Tetsu-kun-”

 

“All this time they lied to me,” Kuroko said. “I just want to know if you did too.”

 

Momoi’s expression faltered, and then her eyes widened.

 

“Shige,” she said.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“He wouldn’t have,” Momoi said. She didn’t need to use names for Kuroko to know which  _ he  _ she was referring to.

 

“They nearly killed him and then hid it from me,” Kuroko said. “They almost murdered him in a hallway and then Akashi took away my memories so that I would not be able to remember it.”

 

Momoi lifted her hand to her mouth just in time to stifle a sob.

 

“No,” she whispered. “It’s not possible.”

 

“That is what happened,” Kuroko said. His voice was gentle, but firm.

 

Momoi shook her head, but tears were spilling over her eyes.

 

“How could that have happened?”

 

“I was running to catch up with him and I heard him screaming,” Kuroko said flatly. “I heard the Miracles cursing him and ran to catch up. When I put myself between them and Shige to make them stop, Akash obliviated me.”

 

“Oh Merlin,” Momoi whispered. “How could they?”

 

If anything convinced Kuroko that Momoi had no knowledge of what the Miracles had done to Ogiwara, it was her reaction now. The pink haired witch was transparent to Kuroko and had always worn her emotions on her sleeve. The persona of the flirty hot girl she portrayed to the rest of the world was as clear as glass to Kuroko, who had known her since he was twelve years old.

 

He thought of the stubborn girl who had cornered him and Shige on the banks of the Great Lake and threatened to turn them in for their pranking if they didn’t let her in on it. They’d been so young then, and Kuroko felt like the intervening years had passed by so quickly.

 

“I know,” he said at last. “I know.”

 

They hugged each other in his living room. Kuroko cried for everything they had lost, for the pain his friends had caused Ogiwara, for the betrayal that had stabbed them all in the back.

 

“I’m going to kick Dai-kun’s ass for this,” Momoi said stubbornly.

 

“You’re still going to help that dick?” Kagami demanded. “You can’t be serious?”

 

Momoi broke away from Kuroko, her eyes still streaming tears.

 

“If anyone can make him see how stupid he’s been, it’s me,” she said. “And even if I was going to abandon Dai-kun, what they’re all doing is important. I wasn’t lying when I said that getting that book back could be the only way we have to save a lot of lives.”

 

“Momoi,” Kuroko asked. “What’s going on? Can’t you tell us anything?”

 

Momoi shook her head.

 

“I don’t even know that much myself,” she said. “I know  _ why  _ they’re doing what they’re doing now, but I can’t tell you that.”

 

“You can’t tell us anything?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Sei-kun made them all agree to join another dueling tournament,” Momoi said, wiping at her eyes. “He said that he wanted them to get stronger.”

 

“They’re dueling again?” Kuroko asked. That didn’t make any sense.

 

Momoi bit her lip, clearly torn between her loyalties.

 

“I don’t know what they’re thinking,” she said. “I know that Sei-kun came back from a trip abroad, and he was… he showed up and something was wrong.”

 

“What do you mean something was wrong?” Kagami asked.

 

Momoi glanced at him before looking back at Kuroko.

 

“I just knew he was different,” she said. “He  _ felt  _ different. He’s been getting all of us to work on little projects to try and stop something really bad. The book has a lot of dark magic in it, dark magic that Sei-kun thinks Nash Gold is going to use to kill a lot of people.”

 

“That doesn’t change what he’s done,” Kuroko said in a low voice.

 

“No,” Momoi said, her voice wavering. “It doesn’t.”

 

“Can’t you tell us any more than that?” Kagami asked again.

 

“No,” Kuroko answered for his friend. “She’s sworn to secrecy. If she says much more, her oath will hurt her.”

 

Momoi smiled gratefully.

 

“You always were so perceptive,” she said warmly.

 

“I just know Akashi,” Kuroko replied evasively. “So if he’s trying to fight Nash Gold, what is he doing in a dueling tournament?”

 

Momoi shrugged.

 

“He has a plan that requires a lot of power and magic,” she said. “I don’t know what it is. Only Mido-kun does, but from what he said, I think it’s probably very dangerous. My best guess is that he needs us to help him, but he needs to know how much power he has to work with.”

 

Kuroko and Kagami exchanged a glance.

 

“What does that mean?” Kagami demanded.

 

“He has all of them competing on their own teams in the Winter Cup,” Momoi said. “I don’t know what he expects this to tell him, but I think he wants to see which of them are the strongest after everything that’s happened.”

 

Kuroko and Kagami exchanged glances. This was completely out of left field, and didn’t seem consistent with anything else Akashi was doing. Kuroko really couldn’t understand what was going through the redhead’s head. Akashi had been so eager to remove the Generation of Miracles from school so that they could develop professional reputations, but returning to essentially sophomoric and esoteric fields of competition didn’t sound like it fit in with what he was saying.

 

“I don’t know anything else,” Momoi insisted. “I really don’t.”

 

“It’s okay,” Kuroko said softly. Momoi pulled him into a hug again.

 

“I didn’t know about Shige-kun either,” she said. “I promise I had no idea.”

 

Kuroko accepted this at face value. Momoi Satsuki had never lied, not to him, and he doubted she would start now.

 

“I should go,” she said. “I guess I need to figure out how we’re going to break into Nash Gold, Jr’s. House and get that book back. It’s probably too late to do damage control if he has it, but we might as well try.”

 

Not long after that, she showed herself out. Kagami collapsed on the couch, looking up at Kuroko.  At least it seemed that the other boy had been drawn out of the terrifying shell of shock and silence he had been in before Momoi showed up on their doorstep.

 

“So what do you want to do?” Kagami asked.

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“I don’t know.”

 

“I think we should fight them,” Kagami said. His eyes burned with the challenge. “I for one have some shit I wanna say to those assholes, especially the blue one.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“It would be extremely satisfying to bring them down in the arena,” he agreed pleasantly.

 

This was his opportunity to finish the job he had started when they were still in school. This might be the only way to get through to his former friends and make them realize how shitty they were being. He would extract his apologies from them when he had handed them their asses on the court with Kagami’s help, and  _ make  _ them feel the remorse they so obviously lacked right now. 

 

Kuroko clenched his hand into a tight fist at his side.

 

It would also be incredibly satisfying to punch them all across the face, at least once, for what they had done to Ogiwara.

 

If he was going to enter this fight of his own volition, Kuroko was going to need his light, and a team. Kagami’s support he knew he had, unconditionally. As for the rest...

 

It was lucky that they knew just the group of people who could help them with that.

 

“Do you think Coach and Captain will fight with us again?” Kagami asked.

 

“I think Coach spends a great deal of her time wishing she could find a way to give us a second crack at dueling, especially against a Miracle,” Kuroko said. “Kiyoshi-senpai is always ready to duel and his leg will have healed well enough to come back to the court this time. That will already give us a leg up we did not have before.”

 

“We should go talk to them again,” Kagami said, Kuroko nodded. They would gather their team together and they would find a way to make it work.

 

He had his light by his side. Together, they could do anything.

 

Kuroko didn’t go to sleep for a long time. Around one in the morning, he got out of bed and sat at the dining room table with a roll of parchment and a pen.

 

He didn’t know how to write this letter. He had tried, before, but Ogiwara had never opened them.

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

_ Shige,  _ he wrote.  _ I found my missing memories and I know who hurt you. I’m going to take them down. I’m so sorry I didn’t figure out how to find out before. _

 

He couldn’t make any excuse. Ogiwara probably thought Kuroko hadn’t bothered to find out who had hurt him. He didn’t know for sure if Ogiwara had seen him coming, had heard him yelling at the Generation of Miracles to stop, but if he had, what must the other Hufflepuff have thought? That after bringing him to the Hospital Wing, Kuroko had just declined to rat out his teammates?

 

No wonder the other boy had decided to leave Hogwarts.

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

Ogiwara was just as likely to return this letter unopened as he had every other letter Kuroko sent him. Kuroko clenched his hand around the letter, crumpling it into a ball.

 

Maybe when he beat the Generation of Miracles, Ogiwara would be more willing to listen to him.

 

With all his heart, all Kuroko wanted was for things to go back to the way they had been before. As childish as it sounded, Kuroko missed his best friend.

 

…

Several days later, Kuroko and Kagami met their former teammates in Riko’s apartment.

Time had soothed the immediate trauma and horror of Kuroko’s memories and he had found himself much more willing to pick a fight he didn’t have a very good chance of winning. Standing amid his friends, Kuroko felt no less angry, but much more confident, about declaring war on the Generation of Miracles.

Kuroko looked around the room.

These were his friends, the teammates that had walked onto the field of battle with him to take down the Generation of Miracles once before. They would support him and help him get through this. He was going to be okay.

On the far side of the room, Hyuuga and Kiyoshi were standing like guardian sentinels. The sight of Hyuuga’s scowling face would be intimidating to anyone who saw it, but Kuroko knew the truly good heart that hid behind the stern expression. Kiyoshi was wearing as cheerful a smile as ever, but that told Kuroko nothing about how his senior from Hufflepuff was really feeling. Kiyoshi almost never stopped smiling.

Kuroko was reminded of how much he’d looked up to them in school – they were powerful and intimidating wizards on their own, and so was Riko, who stood between them with her arms crossed, her mouth in a straight line of concentration. All three of them looked ready for a fight.

On the other side of the room, a familiar group was assembled. Izuki, the only former Ravenclaw aside from Riko, was joking loudly with Koganei. Mitobe was sipping juice beside them, following the conversation with a pleased smile.

Fukuda, Kawahara, and Furihata were gathered in a circle with Kuroko and Kagami. Despite the fact that everyone on the team was now a graduate, the year mates still felt the need to stick together. Tsuchida had joined them, preferring to hang out with the younger Hufflepuffs than join whatever conversation the older graduates were having.

“Hyuuga has a plan,” Furihata said quietly. Kuroko nodded. “Well, it’s probably Riko with the plan, but we’re not leaving you alone. We’re going to help you fix this, okay? We’re going to make it right.”

Kuroko couldn’t help but smile.

“Okay,” he said.

“Don’t worry, Kuroko, we may not be strong enough to fight off the Generation of Miracles on our own, but we won’t let them hurt you. So long as we stay together, we’re unstoppable.”

It was the mantra of Hufflepuff.  _ We’re invincible so long as we stand together.  _ The weight he could not bear alone could be taken on with many hands helping him carry it.

He was going to make every one of the Miracles pay for what they had done and his friends were going to help him. With the dedication of his Hufflepuff friends and the rest of their dueling team, they were going to fight back.

 

As it turned out, all Riko had needed to hear was that the Generation of Miracles would be competing in the Winter Cup. Hyuuga had almost immediately gone into clutch mode when he realized he could have a second shot at winning the fight they had started while they were still in school.

 

“Sounds like fun,” Kiyoshi had said when Kagami and Kuroko had shown up on their doorstep the day after Kuroko’s revelation, looking worse for the wear. “Don’t worry a bit, your senpais will take care of everything!”

 

Within short order, they had tracked down the entirety of their former team. They were perhaps not in the best shape they had ever been, but they had five months to prepare for the cup at the beginning of November. That was more than enough time to get the team back into fighting shape.

 

“Where is Sakurai?” Fukuda asked. “I know he didn’t compete with us before, but I sent him a letter telling him how important this was.”

 

Furihata sighed.

 

“Sorry,” he said. “I went to his house yesterday and tried talking some sense into him. He said that childhood grudges weren’t worth it.”

 

“By ‘it’ the little miserable jerk means he won’t fight against Imayoshit or the blue haired asshole,” Kawahara elaborated unnecessarily for the group. “I told all of you we should have done something about that creepy guy a long time ago. Now he’s apparently rotted away the part of Sakurai’s brain he uses to think for himself!”

 

“I thought you Hufflepuffs were supposed to be loyal,” Kagami complained.

 

Kiyoshi interrupted their conversation, throwing a long arm around Kagami’s shoulders and another around Fukuda’s.

 

“Hey now,” he said. “Loyalty doesn’t always look the same. What’s Sakurai doing now that doesn’t seem loyal to you? Or are you just angry that he didn’t put his loyalty where you wanted him to?”

 

Silence greeted this proclamation.

 

“You know, you’re smarter than you like to pretend,” Kagami said. Kiyoshi tilted his head to the side.

 

“Am I?” he asked. “I sound so mysterious when you say it that way!”

 

Kagami snorted. After all this time, he had no idea if Kiyoshi was a genius or a moron. He doubted he would ever be certain of which one it was.

 

“I don’t want to duel against Sakurai,” Furihata said stubbornly. “I hate that he chose another team after everything we’ve been through together.”

 

“You’re treating this like if you’re not teammates in the arena, you can’t ever talk to each other!” Kiyoshi exclaimed. “You’re adults playing a game, we should all take ourselves less seriously and just have fun.”

 

“What about Kuroko?” Kawahara said. “I get the feeling he’s not playing a game.”

 

Kiyoshi’s smile didn’t waver.

 

“What’s between Kuroko and the Generation of Miracles is probably best left between them,” he said finally. “But you don’t see Kuroko rallying against Sakurai or Takao or any of our former schoolmates who are fighting with them, either.”

 

“He doesn’t let grudges get in the way of his friendships,” Kagami supplied. “He can be okay with Sakurai, even if the kid is competing on the same team as that blue bastard.”

 

“Good morning, slackers!”

 

The voice came from the other side of the room, where Riko and Hyuuga were standing. Riko was wearing a short summer dress, but Hyuuga was in athletic clothes, clearly ready to do heavy training.

 

“Oh god,” Furihata whimpered. “I forgot just how intense that expression is.”

 

“We’re going to die,” Kawahara predicted grimly.

 

“I’m so excited for this,” Kagami capped off these reactions, cracking his knuckles together and grinning widely.

 

…

 

The end result of the full team meeting was that Riko invited the entire team to join her at a training facility owned by her father. It was somewhere in Italy, up in the mountains where walking anywhere meant a long trek through wild woods with a steep incline.

 

Most of them were able to get the time off to do it. Tsuchida and Kawahara were both working in family shops. Fukuda was seeking a mastery in Herbology and Furihata was now waiting for Quidditch training season. He’d been selected as a chaser for the Applebee Arrows in one of the first rounds of draft picks. His contract didn’t start until January, which meant that he was free until then.

 

Hyuuga had congratulated him cheerfully. He’d been taken on as Keeper on the Tutshill Tornados, and was on break for the rest of the month. The physical training he did for them had kept him in excellent shape.

 

The two professional Quidditch players were at each other’s throats the entire way up the hill, arguing about which team was better.

 

“You’re both wrong, you idiots.” Riko had told them flatly, walking side by side with them. “The Hollyhead Harpies are the best professional team in the league, bar none. And if you have the breath to have shitty opinions about Quidditch teams, you have the breath to run the rest of the way up the mountain.”

 

Furihata sputtered, but Hyuuga didn’t even bother trying to argue with his girlfriend when she got that look in her eyes. He took off sprinting, a determined look on his face.

 

Riko, who was studying to receive her teaching credentials, had all the time in the world, as did Kiyoshi, who was the only one of the three actively trying to get a mastery. Kiyoshi had chosen Transfiguration as his field of study, which made sense for the powerful duelist. He chuckled as he kept pace with the weakest members of the team, cheering them on.

 

In short order, the group found themselves at the top of the mountain. Hyuuga and Furihata were already there, lying on the ground looking up at the sky and panting for every bit of breath they could spare.

 

“Well done,” Riko said. She didn’t even seem to be sweating from the incredible physical exertion as she led the way into the huge building. “Welcome to my father’s dueling facility!”

 

The building was a little old fashioned, but everything was clean and the layout was extremely open and comfortable. The wizards rushed to claim bedrooms to put their stuff down, and ran around exploring as though they were half their age.

 

Riko smiled serenely to herself. She would let them have their fun now, because in a few hours they were going back to work.

 

And she was going to drive them harder than they ever had been before.

 

True to her word, directly after lunch – provided by the staff of house elves that maintained the huge building – Riko assembled the team in one of the many dueling practice rooms. This time, her father was standing next to her, assessing the wizards in front of him with an even more critical eye than his daughter.

 

“Alright, assholes,” Aida Kagetora said and half the assembled former students lost their shit. “Since I’m not your headmaster anymore, let me get a few things straight.”

 

The man whipped his sunglasses off and hung them from the v of his shirt. The collar was popped up around his neck, revealing bright pink silk lining. 

 

“If any of you so much as look twice at my daughter, I will murder you in your sleep,” he said. “And I will do it joyfully.”

 

At least one member of the team let off a painful hacking sound.

 

“Second, I’m here because my daughter asked me to be, so I have no incentive to be kind to any of you or go easy on your training menus,” the Headmaster continued. “I’m here to help you fucking train, so we’re going to do this the right way, and anyone who has a problem with that can leave.”

 

“Yes that was very frightening,” Riko rolled her eyes. “And that’s enough sass from all of you. Let’s get started!”

 

Kagetora, somewhat mollified, smiled and placed his hands on his hips.

 

“Alright, shirts off!”

 

The entire team sweatdropped as they remembered this process from the first time they had met Riko. Obviously, her father wanted to take a look at their progress.

 

“Well, I’ve seen worse,” he said at last. “You’ve got more than enough to work with and the time to get them all up to speed. We need to focus on increasing your individual potential as wizards. I’ve seen this team working together and they’re more than capable, but without more power on each of their parts, you’re going to lose.”

 

Having known this already, nobody on the team was particularly surprised to hear that they would be put through the ringer.

 

Kagetora set the team to working on building their individual skills and shoring up where they were weakest.

 

Kawahara got sent on a run through the woods on moving target practice. Hyuuga, whose long distance spell work was his strongest ability, was sent with him both to oversee the other boy and to build up his skill to an even stronger level.

 

Koganei and Fukuda, both of whom were average in power, were sent on strength drills. For Fukuda, who was a backup, being able to deliver one or two meaningful blows at a critical juncture of the duel could win or lose them a fight and their jack of all trades was seeking to round out his skill set a little more thoroughly. Furihata was sent with them.

 

Tsuchida was on speed drills with Izuki, whose quick wand work was one of his strongest skills.

 

Kiyoshi and Mitobe would be practicing shields.

 

All of them would be switching up their drills regularly, building on the skills they already had.

 

Riko would be spending most of her time researching new spells or watching her duelists, when her father wasn’t able to.

 

“And kid who thinks I dress like a pimp,” Kagetora added as the team started moving out.  “Muscles.”

 

Kagami snickered, before realizing that the Headmaster was talking about him.

 

“Ten laps around the entire facility and then you’re going to do wandless shielding for the rest of today.”

 

“Well shit.”

 

Kagami scowled, but he obediently took off running. Even the angry redhead recognized when someone else was right and in this case Kagami’s biggest weakness was his defense. He was a powerful duelist, but if carelessness allowed him to be taken out of the fight early on, they would be helpless. Their last duel against Aomine proved that.

 

With most of the team set to their drills, Riko turned her father’s attention to Kuroko. The man jumped when he realized that the phantom was still there.

 

“There’s honestly not a lot I can do to help you,” Kagetora said, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. “Your abilities are so unique that I have no idea where you would expand them from here. All I know is that you’ve currently run up against a wall, and if you want to become strong enough to fight your Miracles on even ground, you’re going to have to break through it.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He’d almost expected this. He needed to come up with some new, unique tricks to apply his misdirection to.

 

Honestly, drilling strength and speed would be useless, because he couldn’t cast spells normally anyway. Doing simple magic drained him quickly, and he needed to be able to make the most of his misdirection if they were going to have any chance of fighting the Generation of Miracles, let alone beating them.

 

It was time to get to work.

  
…


	41. The Daddest Dad to Ever Dad

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know we didn't get a chapter up last week but I wanted to be sure there was plenty of buffer. As of this week, we are back to weekly postings through the end of the arc - and this fan fiction. Buckle in my lovely readers, because this is the final (Two hundred thousand word) stretch. I'd like to thank all of you for your warm welcomes back after taking such a long hiatus, and for your continued support in the face of how long this story has gotten. <3 <3 <3 you're all the best.

...

 

Riko was a harder taskmaster than Kuroko remembered. She was more ruthless than Kuroko had known that she could be, freed from the constraints of deferring to their status or schedules as students.

 

Everything was different.

 

All of them were older and more serious. They were focused in a way they had not been while they were in school. But with the distractions of Quidditch and teenage hormones gone, Kuroko’s team applied a razor sharp and almost single minded focus towards training themselves to become better duelists.

 

He was comforted seeing how far they had all come, and how much farther they were willing to go. They had all come back because they loved dueling too, even Kuroko’s roommates who had spent many of their official duels on the bench.

 

There was only one member of their team who was unchanged from Kuroko’s memories of their Hogwarts days. Even years later Kiyoshi Teppei remained friendly, cheerful, and even keeled, and just a little bit odd.

 

Kuroko busied himself on his own, joining his team only for stamina exercises in the morning and evening. They ran themselves into exhaustion across the steep hills that surrounded the training facility by the light of day and cursed at dummies across a yard until they could no longer summon the magic to cast a spell. Always under the ever watchful eyes of Riko and her partner, Kagetora.

 

The first sign that something was not going well was Kagami. He had taken to training with even more gravity than his teammates - Kuroko suspected in part because the other boy had taken the offense committed by the Miracles against Kuroko extremely personally.

 

That, plus Kuroko was pretty sure that the redhead’s pride was still burning from how badly they had all been crushed during their last match against Aomine.

 

Whatever the cause, he was casting fire curses left and right, forcing Furihata and Kawahara to retreat in fear as the wizard in front of them attacked.

 

When Furihata was sent sprawling across the court, crying out from burn injuries, Kiyoshi deemed that it was his moment to step in and cool things down before anyone else got seriously hurt.

 

“Hey now, that’s pretty aggressive,” Kiyoshi said, stepping in front of Kagami to break the flow of his spellcasting. “It’s okay to relax a little bit.”

 

“I am relaxed!” Kagami shouted back. He winced, obviously noticing how clearly he had lied, but refused to back down.

 

“I get it,” Kiyoshi said. “You’ve competed with everyone else here before, but I’m an unknown quantity to you. You’ve never seen me duel, but you know that we have similar styles and you’re worried about your own place on the team.”

 

“No, I’m not!” Kagami responded childishly. Kiyoshi gripped the other boy’s shoulder.

 

“Well, how about we leave the other guys out of it and you and me just go one on one?” he suggested. “Winner gets a starting spot on the team.”

 

“This is ridiculous,” Hyuuga said. “Riko-”

 

“Just let it happen,” Riko said, watching the two men intently.

 

Kagami rolled his shoulders and smiled with the promise of a challenge.

 

“I’m fine with that,” he said. “If it hasn’t been so long that you’ve forgotten how to duel, that is!”

 

“It hasn’t been that long,” Kiyoshi said with a reassuring smile. The set of his jaw and the glint in his eyes belied the casual attitude he was trying to give off - Kiyoshi was just as ready to test his power against Kagamis' as Kagami was to test himself against the strength of the Iron Heart.

 

“Come on then, let’s go have fun!”

 

“I’m going to beat your ass!” Kagami shouted back.

 

“Sure, sure,” Kiyoshi said agreeably and the two of them set up opposite each other, ready to duel. "If you can, go for it."

 

Kagami already seemed to have calmed down, which was ironic given that he was facing his most powerful teammate. Kuroko felt a little bit of fond exasperation edging to the front of his consciousness.

 

His boyfriend was a dueling headed idiot.

 

He sighed as he realized that probably made him a dueling headed idiot too.

 

Kagami shouted and ran at Kiyoshi, who met the powerful attack with a shield of his own. While Kagami staggered back, getting ready for his next strike, Kiyoshi moved swiftly. He jerked his wand in a triangle motion. Kagami dodged, rolling away just in time.

 

“Wow, you have amazing reflexes!” Kiyoshi complemented Kagami cheerfully.

 

“Shut up and duel me!” Kagami shouted. He and Kiyoshi exchanged several more blows.

 

With a swift spell, Kagami disarmed Kiyoshi and pressed his advantage, exploding a fire spell in the other man’s face.

 

Kiyoshi went down.

 

The very large man was laid out on his back on the floor.

 

“Okay, I yield,” he said pleasantly, causing Kagami to huff in satisfaction. He summoned Kiyoshi’s wand and returned it to him before turning to cast more curses at the line of dummies on the other side of the room.

 

Kuroko stayed to watch the fallout from the duel.

 

“Did you let him win?” Hyuuga demanded, sounding more outraged than Kuroko thought he could remember. From the ground, Kiyoshi smiled again.

 

The tall man pulled himself, a little shakily to his feet.

 

“Actually no,” he said. “I guess I’m more out of shape than I realized, huh?”

 

“You haven’t been dueling in three years,” Riko said, sounding a little pained. “How’s the leg?”

 

“My leg is fine,” Kiyoshi said, waving away her concerns.

 

Kuroko frowned to himself. The older Hufflepuff certainly didn’t _look_ fine and his tone was too light. He was trying very hard to shift the focus of the two people he was living with and Kuroko didn’t like where that picture led him.

 

“You know, we still haven’t figured out a name for our team,” Riko said, watching her wizards going through the motions of stretching.”

 

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Hyuuga chimed in. “I think the iron heart should still be our mascot, but we should call ourselves Seirin, the rising star of the dueling circuit.”

 

“I don’t have an objection,” Riko said, looking at Kiyoshi. “We just have to let the tournament at the winter cup know.”

 

Kiyoshi nodded.

 

“Seirin it is,” he agreed affably. “We’ll make sure they remember that name for a long time. You sure I can't convince you to leave aside the iron heart nonsense?”

 

Hyuuga just smiled back at the taller wizard and Kiyoshi sighed.

 

"I hate that stupid nickname," he said.

 

Hyuuga sighed as though he was annoyed, but he couldn’t hold back the vicious smile that tugged at his lips.

 

“I know," he said agreeably. "And nope, it's staying. Seirin will fight until the end, and we'll give our audience something to remember, no matter how far we go.”

 

Kiyoshi chuckled, his eyes scanning the crowd of Hogwarts graduate warming up before practice. His gaze fell on Kagami, the blazing redhead with so much to prove.

 

“That guy is something else,” Kiyoshi said, tilting his head towards Kagami.

 

“I thought you might find him interesting,” Riko said smugly. That was odd too. Kuroko took a few steps closer, letting his misdirection cloak him as he listened.

 

“What does that mean?” Kiyoshi asked.

 

“That you’re an impossible dunderhead,” Riko said, punching him on the shoulder. The tension in the room immediately dissolved.

 

“What are we all standing around for?” Riko demanded, turning to the rest of the team. “Suicide drills with ten spells at the end of each set. Go!”

 

The team groaned and reluctantly started to run.

 

Kuroko saw his life flash in front of his eyes.

 

The truth was that by the time a wizard reached their adult majority, there was even less they could do to increase the size of their magical core outright than there was in childhood. But physical training could aid in evading spells and dodging attacks in a high paced sport like dueling and magical training allowed wizards and witches to become more efficient at casting spells, and create a more powerful effect for the same amount of magic.

 

Kuroko, whose stamina had never been strong to begin with, felt kind of like this entire training camp was a personal attack.

 

In between trying to design a new use for his misdirection, Kuroko devoted a small amount of time to thinking about what had happened the last time he had dueled Midorima.

 

 _I am a shadow,_ he had thought, pulling his misdirection around him like a protective shield and preparing to endure the powerful blow. What was it that he had thought, so uncharacteristically like himself? _I am a void, where the sun does not shine, where the wind will not blow._

 

Whatever it was had not worked on Aomine and Kuroko knew that there was no use researching it.

 

After all, he thought grumpily as he rolled over in his bed sometime during their second week of training, this quirk of his misdirection was not something that was widely written about. 

 

He’d spoken before to his mother and grandmother. Misdirection, while rare, was a trait that had appeared in his family line on a number of occasions, but there wasn’t exactly a textbook written about it. It hadn’t been common or remarkable enough to comment on in the Kuroko family history. As Akashi had so obnoxiously noted during their fourth year, Kuroko's power was unique. It was quite possible that no other wizard had magic that worked quite like his own.

 

Knowing that he couldn’t rely on a miracle, all Kuroko could do was train and keep thinking. Aida Kagetora was right: Kuroko had hit a wall. If he attempted to fight the Generation of Miracles with his misdirection the way it was now, he had no chance of being a useful opponent.

 

That cheerful thought lulled him into sleep.

 

The next morning, Kuroko rolled out of bed and met Kagami in the hallway, proceeding to the communal bathroom where they silently brushed their teeth and showered, moving gingerly.

Both of them were sore from the constant training, but it was paying off. Kuroko glanced slyly at Kagami’s muscles as he brushed his teeth.

 

It was absolutely paying off.

 

“Oi, Shin-chan, I heard the local town has – oh hello there!”

 

Kagami and Kuroko whirled around, fire already gathering around Kagami’s hands. Kuroko’s wand was gripped in a white knuckled fist as they rounded on the last two people they had ever expected to see walking into the men’s room of a training facility out in the middle of nowhere.

 

Midorima, looking as contemptuous as ever and wearing a ridiculous wide brimmed hat, glared at them through the square lenses of his glasses. Takao screeched in joy, catapulting himself past the Ravenclaw to greet the other two duelists.

 

“Oh man, this is already way more fun than I thought it would be!”

 

…

 

As it turned out, they were not the only team scheduled to be spending their time at the facility. Kagetora had left the day before, without so much as a single hint to suggest that another dueling team – one that they would be competing against in the Winter Cup, no less – had contacted him to use the facility.

 

While it was certainly large enough to share between easily three or four times the number of wizards and witches present, it had been an unpleasant shock.

 

Riko wasted no time in contacting the coach working with Midorima’s team and setting up a mutually beneficial arrangement that she laid out in front of the assembled crowds of both teams.

 

“From now on, we’ll be training with Shutoku,” Riko said. “Us coaches have come up with a regimen to keep all of you working hard!”

 

Both teams eyed each other speculatively at this.

 

Kuroko could tell that the reactions across the board were pretty fired up. Shutoku and Seirin were almost exactly evenly matched. Every time they clashed, it was a violent fight for dominance with no clear sign of a victor.

 

They were going to be spending this break doing a lot of work.

 

Kuroko was fired up to face off against one of the Miracles, and his nemesis, but even the thought of facing Midorima in a duel left a bad taste in his mouth.

 

On the instruction of their coaches, the two teams broke off into pairs. Members of each team approached the other like cautious wolves sniffing out a new pack. They had all gone to school together, and they knew quite a bit about each other’s strengths and weaknesses, but none of them knew how much the others had grown since they’d left Hogwarts.

 

Takao, of course, made a beeline for Kuroko.

 

Kagami was about to come to his aid when Riko called him over.

 

“Kagami, be a dear and run down to the local store,” Riko said. “They’ll take galleons. We’re out of energy drinks already, and we could use some. One at a time, if you please.”

 

Kagami stared at her like she was crazy.

 

“That’s a mile and a half downhill on rough gravel one way and a mile and a half steep uphill back,” he said, disbelieving.

 

“Yes it is,” Riko said.

 

Kagami glared at her, his eyes level. She knew exactly what she was doing, snatching away an opportunity to face off against a Miracle from right under his nose.

 

What Kagami wanted to know was _why._

 

After several long moments in which he tried desperately to glean any bit of a clue from his coach about what she was planning, he looked down, breaking off their staring contest.

 

“Fine,” he said. “Keep your secrets.”

 

And he took off.

 

“Looks like it’s you and me facing off today,” Takao said to Kuroko happily. Midorima had immediately paired off with Hyuuga, which made sense; both of them were long distance offensive fighters and would have training regimens in common.

 

“It’s been a long time since you and I had the chance to go one on one,” Takao said. “Wanna fight me?”

 

Kuroko could feel the echo of an old thrill at the challenge. He acutely remembered being fourteen and facing off against his last opponent, thinking he was going to get his ass kicked and refusing to back down for anything.

 

Well, at least one thing hadn’t changed since then. Kuroko wasn’t going to back down from a challenge.

 

“Yes,” he agreed. “Should we let the coaches know we’re going to find a dueling ring?”

 

Takao grinned eagerly, and in short order the two had set up in a protected ring in preparation for their duel. It was about a quarter of the size of a standard dueling arena, but that didn’t bother Kuroko – it was just the right size for what the two wizards had in mind.

 

“Let’s see if you and I have improved any since the last time we fought,” Takao said. “Show me what cool magic you’ve learned since we left Hogwarts!”

 

This was going to be an interesting duel.

 

Takao snapped out the first spell of the duel, not wasting a second. Clearly, he’d been training too. Kuroko ducked, immediately on the defensive. He redirected another two spells away using his misdirection.

 

“Don’t you have anything new to show me?” Takao asked. “I’m so disappointed.”

 

Whatever Kuroko would have said to this was drowned out by the door slamming open. Furihata stuck his head into the room, looking sheepish.  

 

“Oh hey, Takao,” Furihata said. “I was looking for Kuroko and Coach said he’d gone off with you. Mind trading partners with me? Kuroko promised to work on shield charms with me.”

 

Takao sighed.

 

“I suppose,” he drawled. “I’m done here anyway.”

 

Takao turned to Kuroko, frowning.

 

“Get your shit together,” he said. “I haven’t wasted all this time and investment into you to let you just suck like this. Whatever is stopping you, get the hell over it.”

 

Takao stormed off past a blushing Furihata.

 

“Did I interrupt something?” Furihata asked.

 

“Only the slow shredding of my dignity,” Kuroko said blankly. Furihata laughed and patted him on the back.

 

“We’re all going to get stronger, don’t worry,” he said. “Your misdirection is pretty cool as it is.”

 

“But it’s not strong enough to face the Miracles or their teams with,” Kuroko said, almost glumly.

 

“Listen, I’ll write my muggle cousin,” Furihata said. “I know Takao gave you that book on magic tricks that gave you the idea to use your misdirection in a duel to begin with. Maybe a different muggle perspective will help you get some more ideas on how to face Takao.”

 

“I only managed it last time because he was so focused on Midorima,” Kuroko said.

 

“So he needs to be distracted,” Furihata said. “Your magic may not fool him, but you might get the job done another way.”

 

Kuroko nodded and they parried spells back and forth for the rest of the afternoon.

 

It wasn’t until much later that night, when the teams were eating dinner together, that they merged once again. After they had eaten, Kuroko went into the main living room of the facility and collapsed on the nearest most comfortable surface, which happened to be a bit of carpeted floor.

 

Kuroko was sitting sprawled on the floor, too drained to move. But he was suddenly on guard when he looked up and noticed Midorima scanning the room, Takao by his side. The dark haired Gryffindor pointed in Kuroko’s direction, and Midorima started walking towards the phantom.

 

Kuroko sat up, ignoring the burning pain in his body, and made it to his feet by the time Midorima crossed the room.

 

“Hello, Midorima.”

 

“Kuroko. I did not think you would want to speak with me.”

 

“I don’t particularly,” Kuroko said.

 

“Well neither do I,” Midorima scowled. “Momoi has explained our position to you and if you are still unwilling to help then that places us in direct opposition. That is all there is to say on the subject. We have larger concerns than a petty feud.”

 

After a long silence, Kuroko decided that he received no benefit from waiting to read Midorima the riot act.

 

“I have my memories back.”

 

Midorima paused.

 

“I have no idea what that is supposed to mean,” he said.

 

“From the night Shige was injured,” Kuroko elaborated, fixing Midorima with an intense expression. “I remember running around the corner and hearing the five of you torturing another kid for being friends with me,” Kuroko said. “You used dark magic on him and then you let Akashi wipe my memory so that I wouldn’t tell anyone.”

 

Midorima stared at Kuroko for a long time. The accusation hung in the air between them, Kuroko’s expression glaring defiantly up at the green haired wizard.

 

“This is neither an appropriate time nor place for this discussion,” he said finally. “Join me for a walk?”

 

“Not without your sworn oath that you won’t harm me.”

 

Midorima’s face looked almost… heartbroken at that. Like he’d never expected Kuroko to have to feel the need to protect himself from Midorima. It was like he hadn’t even considered the possibility. And yet, he nodded.

 

“My oath,” he said. “If you wish I could call over a witness for an unbreakable bond, but if the friendship we shared once means my word is worth anything to you, I swear I will not allow you to come to harm while you are with me this evening.”

 

Kuroko considered this, and decided that he didn’t need the unbreakable bond to assuage his fears. He followed Midorima out of the training room and onto the porch that wrapped around the building. Below them, the ground of the forest dropped steeply, giving them a view of the hills around them.

 

Midorima cast silencing wards around them and took a seat.

 

“Ogiwara Shigehiro is not the least of whom we hurt while we were in school,” Midorima said, with a great deal more self-awareness than Kuroko expected him to have. The realization shook loose some of the ice in his heart.

 

“But he is the only one you hurt purely due to his association with me.”

 

“I cannot defend or justify what I or anyone else did when we were sixteen,” Midorima said. “I will not apologize because what was done is done and I don’t expect any words to heal that.”

 

“Then why did you do it?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Because it was fun, and we were bored, and none of us thought of anything other than ourselves.”

 

Kuroko had known that was true. Hearing the words felt bitter, like tar on the back of his tongue. He wanted to curse Midorima, to start a fight he was destined to lose. He wanted to stand one on one with the green haired Miracle and tear him limb from limb.

 

His expression did not so much as twitch.

 

“You treated me like a toy you couldn’t stand to see anyone else playing with,” Kuroko said cooly. “You act like just because you’re powerful means you can step on whoever you want.”

 

“And you have placed that emotional harm over saving the lives of millions of people by choosing to align yourself against our efforts.”

 

“What does that mean?” Kuroko asked, but Midorima shook his head.

 

“I will not share information with those who chose to make themselves my enemy. I have told you what the stakes are and what dangers we will face in the coming months. I have not lied about that. I had hoped you would be more objective than to allow yourself to be strictly ruled by your emotions, but I see even now that isn’t true.”

 

“Then why are you wasting your time in a dueling tournament when you have such high stakes plans waiting for you?”

 

Midorima sighed.

  
“Because Akashi needs us to prove how powerful we are,” he said. “And you will find that none of us wish to be ranked on the bottom. His displeasure of late is unpleasant, to say the least. He needs our power more than ever now.”

 

“Why follow a man you so obviously dislike?” Kuroko asked.

 

Midorima chuckled.

 

“Because as I have been trying to tell you all night, it does not matter what I think of a man personally when the fate of the world rests on our collective shoulders.”

 

Midorima brought down the silencing wards with a jab of his wand.

 

“That wasn’t an apology,” Kuroko said.

 

“Would you like to hear that I am sorry?” Midorima asked again. “Your association with Ogiwara Shigehiro was a bother to all of us. He was a distraction to your progress and impediment both to the development of your misdirection and our personal feelings. Jealousy and petty self-interest mix dangerously with teenage hormones. To apologize as though mere words could sweep my actions under the rug would be an insult to the pain I know we caused. And frankly, to apologize for the things I am able to would demean the work I have done to protect everyone in the world since.”

 

Kuroko paused. It occurred to him what Midorima was trying to say, and he nodded.

 

“Come back,” Midorima said finally. “Whatever you have thought of me or anyone else in the past, this is a fight we truly cannot afford to lose. Cast aside this emotional tantrum and stand with us. Your lack of sense is what has always stood between the two of us.”

 

“I always thought it was Midorima’s sparkling personality,” Kuroko said.

 

Midorima huffed.

 

“There are more important things than saving the world,” Kuroko said, when Midorima seemed to coldly reject his bland sarcasm. “Protecting the spirit of the people in it is one of them.”

 

“You sound like Kise,” Midorima snapped.

 

“Maybe he’s right,” Kuroko said, filing away that piece of information for himself. Was there more dissention in Akashi’s ranks than he’d thought?

 

Midorima stood, towering over Kuroko.

 

“It wasn’t an empty offer,” Midorima said. “Akashi will have you by his side by whatever means he can. If his plan is to work, he needs you, and he will do anything to secure your loyalty. You may consider that a warning.”

 

Kuroko stood as well. It no longer galled him that he was so much shorter than the other man. He met him on an even field.

 

“If Akashi wants my loyalty back, he can find a way to repair the trust I no longer have,” Kuroko said. “I accept your explanation for your role in making my life miserable in fifth year, but you can tell Akashi that if he intends to have me by force, he will find that I will strenuously object, and I will defend myself.”

 

Midorima turned and stalked away, but even Kuroko caught the smile on his face as he left.

 

Perhaps as incompatible as they were, Midorima was the Miracle with his head the least far up his ass.

 

Kuroko didn’t know if he should be comforted by that thought or not.

 

…

 

It did not take long for Kuroko to realize that every time their teams were working together, Kagami was gone. He paid sharp attention to what Riko was doing and saying when she sent Kagami away, but came away with no more answers than anyone else.

 

That didn’t stop Takao from trying to wheedle any piece of information that he could out of Kuroko.

 

“Come on, just tell me something,” he panted, running after Kuroko during a magical game of paintball in the woods. Kuroko and Takao were searching out the high ground, looking for a place they could stake out and snipe anyone who came for them.

 

“I don’t know anything,” Kuroko said truthfully.

 

“Is this some sort of training? What’s our muscled friend hiding that none of us know about?”

 

Takao yelped then, as a paint spell caught him directly in the face.

 

Kuroko, who was prepared, managed to shield himself from a barrage of spells before one finally broke through, splattering bright yellow paint all over him.

 

“Sorry, Kuroko,” Furihata said. “See you at lunch!”

 

Takao sputtered, trying to get the paint out of his mouth.

 

“This is the worst,” he said.

 

…

 

“I want to show you something.”

 

Kuroko had cornered Kagami at dinner and invited him out to the practice field with him. Kagami, still sore from running laps for Riko all day, agreed under protest.

 

They walked in silence to the dueling court. Kuroko was still a little out of breath even from just this distance, but Kagami had grown more and more comfortable with the rough terrain with every trip down and back up these hills.

 

“Okay, what have you got for me?” Kagami asked.

 

“Please cast the strongest shield you can,” Kuroko said, taking up a dueling stance on one side of the court. Kagami grinned and the air in front of him shimmered.

 

“Alright, Kuroko, let’s do this!”

 

Kuroko nodded. Kagami kept his eyes on the other wizard, tense and waiting for whatever Kuroko was going to do.

 

He blinked.

 

Kuroko vanished.

 

“EH?” Kagami screeched.

 

“I’m right here,” Kuroko said, and Kagami looked down, finding himself facing Kuroko with the other wizard pointing his wand directly at Kagami’s chest.

 

“But my shield is still up! And I didn’t see you move!”

 

Kuroko smiled. It was a genuine, big smile too, of the rare variety Kagami almost never got to see on his boyfriend’s face.

 

He grinned down at the blue haired wizard.

 

“Holy shit,” Kagami said. “I had a shield up and I was looking directly at you, and you just – disappeared!”

 

“It seems that my misdirection can overcome shields,” Kuroko said. “I have been experimenting with that ever since, attempting to shape my misdirection so that I too can vanish with it.”

 

“That’s amazing!” Kagami said, his eyes bright with excitement. Then he frowned.

 

“We’re going to have to teach you how to cast spells,” Kagami said. “Otherwise there’s no point in getting you through the enemy line.”

 

“I can always misdirect their spells back at them,” Kuroko said.

 

“Smart money says they try something more subtle than spells, if it’s a Miracle,” Kagami said. “Even Aomine’s team knows better than to cast directly at you.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I’ve been working on a solution,” he said. “I think you can still get a spell to me through a shield, if I’m holding onto it when it goes through.”

 

Kagami frowned, envisioning the tactic Kuroko was describing.

 

“That’s going to be some fancy timing,” he said after a moment. “It would have to be exactly correct to get you both moving through at the same time.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I think so.”

 

“Any chance you could try just punching the spell through?”

 

Kuroko hummed in thought, taking a seat on the side of the court.

 

“I have successfully misdirected spells cast by specific wizards back through the caster’s own’ shield,” Kuroko said. “But perhaps if I use my own power to punch the spell through…”

 

Kagami patted Kuroko on the shoulder, sitting down next to him.

 

“We’ll figure something out,” he said, as Kuroko twirled his wand through his fingers thoughtfully. Kagami was suddenly distracted from their topic of conversation as he watched.

 

“What the hell happened to your wand?” Kagami demanded.

 

“I’ve been practicing,” Kuroko said, showing the redhead his wand.

 

Kagami examined the wand.

 

“You’ve practically worn the thing down,” he said. The edges were slightly burned and he could feel the core inside, ready to give up.

 

“But this isn’t yours,” Kagami said. “Yours is english oak, isn’t it?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said. “I thought practicing with a wand that had not chosen me would force me to get used to putting more power into my spells.”

 

“Hey, that’s pretty clever,” Kagami said. “Think you can use that neat drive of yours to actually pull out some offensive spells?”

 

“Perhaps,” Kuroko said. He wasn’t sure what he had done would be enough.

 

It had to be enough.

 

“Well, you better get used to casting spells because I won’t be able to pass you anything while you’re behind another team’s shield.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I am working on it,” he said.

 

Kagami clapped him on the back.

 

“Any progress on that spell eating thing you did to Midorima?” he asked. Kuroko shook his head.

 

“It’s not like misdirection is a common talent,” he said. “Even in my family line, it shows up only every few generations and it’s almost never like this. My grandmother is just unnoticeable, and that’s about the extent of the power we’ve had.”

 

“You sure it’s connected to your misdirection?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“That’s why I want to be a ward master,” he said finally. “I know that my misdirection works like a ward. If I can analyze it and understand it, then I could have the answer.”

 

Kagami nodded.

 

“Well then, we’ll get revenge for your friend and then we’ll find out what is going on with your misdirection,” he said, taking Kuroko’s hand in his own. The redhead interlocked their fingers, holding onto his phantom as though he was afraid that if he let go, Kuroko would slip away from him.

 

“Okay,” Kuroko said, nodding his head.   

 

...

 

It was one of their last nights at the training camp, and Kagami was doing some extra spell practice in the outdoor arena when Riko showed up.

 

“You should get to bed soon,” she told him.

 

Kagami glared at her.

 

“I have been running back and forth down this damn hill so goddamn much I barely have a chance to do magic, and you want me to sleep when I finally can?” he demanded.

 

Riko sighed.

 

“I was dumb to think you would get this on your own,” she sighed. “You’re a great duelist, but you don’t always think with all of your brain.”

 

“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Kagami demanded.

 

“The hell do you think I’ve been making you run laps up and down this mountain for?” Riko demanded. “A wizard’s magical development is tied to their emotional and physical well being. In particular, a wizard like you.”

 

Kagami froze.

 

“I have no idea what you mean.”

 

He tried to play off his surprise, but even he knew that Riko had him caught red handed.

 

“I know you reject one side of your family line, but we can’t help what we are,” she told him. “And you have an extraordinary gift, one that will be easier to tease out now that I know you are physically ready for it.”

 

Kagami stared at her.

 

“How do you even know about that?”

 

Riko hummed thoughtfully.

 

“I’ve known about _all_ of your potential since I looked at you with my Rune Sight for the first time,” she said. “I’ve been trying to draw out the fullest of your potential since then.”

 

Kagami sighed.

 

“I won’t use my mother’s family magic.”

 

“Even if it made the difference between winning or losing against Aomine?” Riko asked. “I don’t know what kind of issue you have preventing you from embracing every part of your core, but I can’t afford to ignore any magical power anyone on this team has. I’m not doing this because I hope we lose!”

 

“I hate you,” Kagami said.

 

“I know,” Riko replied. “But you’re not the only one. Kiyoshi’s magic is… similar.”

 

“No way,” Kagami immediately shook his head, refusing to believe it. “That guy is the most mild person I have ever met.”

 

“He’s not an Uncrowned King for nothing,” Riko said. “And you would do well not to forget that again. Now I want you to remember that if you don’t control your magic, it controls you. And that applies to every part of it – whether you’re creating a shield or casting a spell. If you don’t accept and learn to command this part of your magic just because you don’t like where it came from, then you will never be strong enough to win against the Generation of Miracles and they’ll just take Kuroko back.”

 

She’d hit a pretty heavily exposed nerve there. Riko knew it the second she saw the red fire in her duelists eyes, but she didn’t waver.

 

With a flick of her wand, she sent a magical measurer over to the other side of the court. In an instant, it was already set up and ready to use.

 

“Embrace it,” she told him. “Show me the true strength of a Berserker!”

 

Kagami roared a spell that shook the trees and sent birds roosting around the clearing flying.

 

A second later, the sphere exploded.

 

Riko shielded them both and dove for cover, laughing.

 

“I knew it,” she said, patting Kagami on the shoulder. The man had slid out of his rage as easily as it had come and stared at Riko as though he was seeing her for the first time.

 

“What was that?”

 

“A very expensive piece of magical equipment that just overloaded because you’re too powerful for it,” Riko said smugly. “Your physical endurance is coming along really well. In a fight, this could be our best chance at breaking the ranks of our enemies long enough for Kuroko to do some real damage. And with a Berserker on the loose-”

 

“Nobody cares about a phantom,” Kagami finished, sounding conflicted. “So I’m the distraction.”

 

“Well, you’re a lot less likely to get hurt than Furihata if I throw him out there,” Riko said practically. “Your strength will be the lynchpin of our attack, the centerpiece of our run and gun style – if, of course, you’re up for it.”

 

“Of course I can do it!” Kagami sputtered. Riko, at the very least, did him the favor of not rubbing it in his face when he realized what had just happened.

 

“Try not to stay out too late,” she suggested.

 

A cool night time breeze circled through the clearing as Riko left.

 

 _That woman is a danger to society,_ Kagami thought fondly.

 

He clenched a hand into a fist.

 

He’d never had this kind of control over his magic before. Riko had given him another weapon, for which he was grateful.

 

“Hello, Kagami.”

 

Kagami whirled around, and was suddenly face to face with one of the last people he wanted to see at the moment.

 

“Midorima,” he growled. The power Riko had forced out of him was bubbling just under the surface, and he forced himself to hold it back as he glared at the Miracle.

 

...

 

It was around that time of the night when Kuroko was taking a stroll down by the river. He figured he would head the way down to the dueling court and work on his next trick again.

 

He’d only started developing it on the advice of Aida Kagetora, but he knew that he would need a new trick if he was going to face Aomine.

 

As he approached the leveled off arena, Kuroko heard voices.

 

Recognizing Kagami’s loud angry tones and Midorima’s cool, contemptuous sneer, Kuroko sped up.

 

For a moment, he was struck by a flashback so violent he stumbled on the uneven terrain. Even if he told himself he’d made his peace with Midorima, and he objectively knew that this was nothing like what had happened before, something in Kuroko’s instincts sounded a warning.

 

He needed to go to his light, now.

 

Kuroko made it almost all the way to the court when a pair of hands reached out of a nearby bush and grabbed him.

 

Kuroko struggled against the sudden attack. Strong arms held him down, pressing him against his kidnapper. Kuroko took a deep breath to scream and was stopped by a hand held over his mouth.

 

“Hush, would you?” Takao asked. Kuroko immediately fell still in the other shadow’s arms. “Shin-chan is trying to help your new boyfriend beat your ex-boyfriend, so you might as well let him do it.”

 

Kuroko struggled again against Takao’s grip, with no luck. Takao was strong, and Kuroko sullenly let the scene in front of him play out.

 

At the very least, he doubted Takao would involve himself in a conspiracy to seriously harm Kuroko or Kagami. He was able to relax a little remembering that.

 

“You’ve been avoiding me,” Midorima said.

 

“My coach is making me avoid you, it’s not the same thing,” Kagami said. “Wanna duel right now? Because I’m ready to go, just say the word.”

 

Midorima chuckled.

 

“I don’t see why not,” he said, rolling up his sleeves to reveal the bandages running up his arms.

 

“Hit me with one spell,” Midorima challenged Kagami. “Just one, and you can take a victory.”

 

Kagami grinned.

 

“You sure you want to make it that easy for me?”

 

“That is what I said, isn’t it? I do not say things I don’t mean.”

 

Kagami laughed, but he fell into a dueling stance.

 

“Alright, you asked for it!”

 

Kagami dodged forward, magic lending preternatural speed to his movements. Midorima wasn’t fooled by the quick move – when Kagami jumped, landing on the other side of the Ravenclaw, Midorima threw up a shield just in time to avoid getting hit.

 

Kagami’s spell sparked red against the shield and he grinned.

 

“Nice reflexes,” he said. “How’s it hold up to my strength?”

 

Kagami slashed his wand across his chest, once, twice, three times. His wand sent out line after line of fire, burning against Midorima’s shield, but not making it through.

 

“You’ll have to be more creative than that,” Midorima told him contemptuously. “If that’s all you’ve got the Winter Cup will be much less exciting than I thought it would be.”

 

Kagami burst into a flurry of motion. Kuroko could feel the magic radiating from his attacks – the redhead was casting every spell he could think of.

 

He was angry and expending more magic than strictly necessary, but Midorima still stopped him at every turn. Midorima wasn’t even throwing any offensive spells at the redhead. He was hardly even moving much.

 

Wherever Kagami’s spells landed, that was where Midorima’s shields were always concentrated.

 

Kuroko’s eyes widened as he realized this and he looked up at Takao, questioning.

 

“Ah ah, now that would be telling and you would never give me the benefit of such an unfair advantage,” Takao said teasingly. Kuroko resigned himself to watching the duel play out, with Kagami growing increasingly more frustrated and exhausted at every turn.

 

“Tch,” Midorima sneered. “And Kuroko calls you his light. You haven’t changed at all, have you? You’re as dense as ever.”

 

Kagami roared in anger. Kuroko sensed the burning magic a moment before Kagami set it free. Kuroko made a fruitless attempt to free himself from Takao again to go to Kagami, but there was nothing for it – Takao was determined to force Kuroko to see this out to the end and let Kagami protect himself.

 

As it turned out, the redhead seemed more than prepared to take matters into his own hands. His eyes burned with fire that radiated from his face and there was a halo of fire surrounding him.

 

Kagami shouted again, running at Midorima. He threw the full weight of his power behind his attack.

 

Midorima stepped to the side and let his shield take the rest of the attack. Kagami hit the shield with a crack like thunder and was thrown all the way across the arena.

 

He stayed down.

 

Kuroko fought Takao again, wanting to go to his light, but Takao held him still.

 

“Your boyfriend is fine,” he said. “Don’t worry, Shin-chan didn’t come out here to hurt him. He just wanted to teach him a lesson.”

 

Kuroko watched as Midorima strode towards Kagami, who was still out flat on his back.

 

“One more.”

 

Kagami’s voice was hoarse and raspy. It was clear he was at the end of his endurance. He’d been training hard all day, and had thrown several powerful spells at Midorima, banking on the full might of his power to cut through the Ravenclaw’s shields, for all the good it had done him.

 

“No.”

 

In contrast, Midorima’s voice was sharp and controlled.

 

Kagami was staring at Midorima in confusion as the green haired wizard towered over him. He didn’t know what had just happened, but he did know it was an extremely bad sign for the coming tournament.

 

“You think strength is the be all end all of a battle,” Midorima sighed. “If I know where you are going to be, I can block you every time. This goes triply true for the Miracles with even more power to defend themselves.”

 

Kagami was still panting for breath, and he glared at Midorima.

 

“So what the hell do you want from me?”

 

“There are at least two members of the Generation of Miracles who will always know where you are going to strike,” Midorima said. “You will never break any of us by mere force alone. You have some talent for the use of runes in a fight. I would find a way to combine that with your new attacks and see where it gets you.”

 

Kagami’s strategic mind could already see the duel in his mind.

 

“I see that you understand,” Midorima said sharply. “If you want to go head to head with a Miracle, then you need to find a new trick. We already know how to beat you as you are.”

 

The green haired wizard stalked away.

 

Takao let go of Kuroko, letting the blue haired wizard stumble away from him.

 

“Shin-chan is right, you know,” Takao said. “You want to fight us? Then you better be in control of whatever it was that you pulled last time, because I won’t hand any victory over to you. You’ll have to take it out of my cold, dead hands.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I understand,” he told the other wizard very seriously. And he did; he was going to take on the Miracles with everything that he had.

 

He already had a few ideas.

 

…

  



	42. Hello My Naked Asshole Son, You Have Been Missed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy thursday my pals. Have another chapter!

…

 

They left the training facility after lunch on their last day. They cheerfully said goodbye to Shutoku, who would be staying to continue their training, and gathered together to take a portkey back home.

 

Once they had arrived in London Seirin was ready to head to their awaiting domiciles and beds. Riko, however, had other ideas.

 

“We’re going to go relax,” She told them. “My dad knows a wizard who runs an amazing bathhouse in the city and he got us a deal.”

 

Which is how Seirin found themselves lounging inside the steamy waters of a magically maintained hot spring, appreciating the break from non stop training that they’d been engaged in since they had brought their school dueling team back together.

 

The wizard who had designed the bathhouse had clearly attempted to model it in a traditional Japanese style, but here and there were flares of invention and wizarding ingenuity that belied the true source of its origin.

 

The large steam baths were magically heated and cleaned, maintained almost entirely by magic. The team walked right through a window display off of a side street, looking both ways to make sure there were no muggles lurking about, and found themselves in a wooden building illuminated by magical light. They were greeted by house elves who took them to the reception desk. Once Riko sorted them out, the team headed through the building towards the back.

 

Riko said farewell to head off to the changing room and the women’s pools. The wizards headed in the other direction, quickly stripping down and heading for the pool.

 

The outside of the building was even more impressive. The main pool was huge, taking up most of the space in front of them with a wide cobblestone walkway. They were standing on a terrace from which the wizards could see steps that led down to the lower levels of the terrace and smaller pools. The one they were next to was large, the water clear, but down below Kuroko could see that there were large, pink bubbles frothing up from one of the lower pools. There was another pool at the bottom that was shooting off streams of small, rainbow bubbles that popped cheerfully.

 

The water at the edge of each pool cascaded down into the next like a waterfall. Kuroko suspected that the edges were magically reinforced so that nobody would try to dive over and would have to use the stairs to go from one pool to another.

 

Above them, the night sky was entirely clear, displaying an entire range of stars and none of the light pollution that should have been present in the middle of London.

 

“This is amazing,” Koganei said, laying out his towel and heading for the water. “I love our coach!”

 

“Heh, she really outdid herself,” Hyuuga agreed, slipping into the pool.

 

The rest of the team followed suit. Kagami was the last wizard to slip into the water and Koganei quickly realized that the redhead had clearly missed something.

 

“Didn’t you listen to the house elf?” Koganei asked him as he splashed into the water. “You’re not supposed to wear trunks in the steam baths!”

 

“Where did you even _get_ swim trunks?” Tsuchida asked, frowning.

 

“I transfigured them because I didn’t have any!” Kagami protested. “I thought it’s what everyone was doing! And it’s totally not sanitary to just let all of that hang out in the open!”

 

“That’s bare-ly an argument!” Izuki said, giggling as he spoke.

 

“Oi, leave off!” Kagami shouted. “Kuroko’s wearing trunks too, right, Kuroko?”

 

Kuroko looked Kagami straight in the eye. His expression did not change in the slightest as he regarded his light.

 

“No, I’m not.”

 

Kagami turned bright red and just stood there twitching. A few aborted sounds came out of his mouth that sounded like the beginning of some kind of comment, but it was impossible to tie them to any known word or phrase.

 

“K-O!” Koganei shouted. “Kuroko took him out with just one hit!”

 

Kagami turned and sent a magically enhanced spray of water towards the other man, making Koganei shriek and dive below the water. Mitobe lazily sent it flying back to Kagami, who was entirely ready and sent it crashing down a few feet to his left, unfortunately dousing Hyuuga, who was walking along the cobblestone outside.

 

Hyuuga stood there for a few frighteningly quiet seconds.

 

“Why does this always end up happening?” he asked. “You all just have no respect!”

 

The entirely naked Hyuuga stood on the ledge of the hot spring, legs spread in a way that made it absolutely clear how ashamed he was not about his nudity, and proceeded to lecture his team about respect for their elders.

 

For obvious reasons, this image left more of the team laughing than actually paying attention to their dueling team captain.

 

Things quieted down after that, with the wizards settling into spots on the inner ledges of the pool so that they could sit in the hot spring. They talked quietly for a bit and Kagami napped, stretched out so that he was half in and half out of the pool.

 

Some time later, though Kagami wasn’t quite sure how long it was, he woke up. It couldn’t have been long because he caught the threads of some of the last conversations he remembered hearing. He stretched, exhaling deeply.

 

Riko really had made an amazing decision in bringing them here.

 

Kagami glanced over and noticed that Kuroko’s face was extremely red. He didn’t appear to be wholly coherent either, which concerned Kagami. He shook Kuroko by the shoulder, causing Kuroko to turn glazed eyes towards his Light. The lack of focus concerned Kagami all the more.

 

“Go inside before you get heatstroke already!” Kagami screeched, much louder than he had intended to, and Kuroko grinned sleepily up at the redhead.

 

“Okay.”

 

Kuroko gathered up his towel and headed inside. Kagami leaned back in the water, closing his eyes. His relaxation was unfortunately interrupted once again not a few minutes later.

 

“Oi, transfer kid.”

 

Whatever peace Kagami thought he would find was instantly shattered by the last voice he’d wanted to hear right now.

 

His worst fears were confirmed as the steam started to clear a little and revealed several naked male figures leaning against the far ledge of the steam pool.

 

Aomine, in his entire naked glory, was lounging in the steaming water, smirking at Kagami. In his peripheral vision, Kagami could see the rest of Aomine’s teammates sitting around him, but his attention narrowed down to the smirking blue haired wizard who was clearly ready to start a fight. The savage look in his eyes told Kagami everything he needed to know.

 

“Something you like, transfer kid?” Aomine asked, spreading his arms widely and displaying the fantastic line of muscle across his body. “Or just admiring how much more thoroughly I can satisfy Tetsu than you can?”

 

“You bastard!” Kagami leapt forward.

 

“Oi, oi!” Hyuuga intervened, grabbing Kagami by the back of the neck before the other wizard did something he would regret. At the very least, a fight would get them kicked out of what was left of the bathhouse once the two of them were through with it.

 

“Would you just chill out,” Hyuuga demanded, pushing Kagami back where the rest of his team could prevent him from causing any more problems.

 

“That was _exciting,”_ Imayoshi said, finally deigning to tune into the conversation. “Hello, again, all of you. It’s a pleasure.”

 

“Can’t say the same,” Kagami growled. Aomine’s smirk widened and Hyuuga twitched. If this broke out into a fight, he was going to end up being responsible for dealing with the fallout even if he hadn't been involved. He really hoped it wouldn’t come to that.

 

Thankfully, Imayoshi seemed to have a thought or two on more productively focusing the intensity of the energy in the wizards surrounding them.

 

“Since we’re all here and already so friendly, what say you to a friendly competition among wizards?”

 

“What are you thinking?” Hyuuga asked, leaning in competitively, already determined to win.

 

“Our two teams, one sauna, the first team to completely vacate the room loses,” Imayoshi said. “You up for it?”

 

“Hell yeah!” Kagami shouted. Hyuuga wandlessly raised a sphere of water from the spring and dumped it on Kagami’s head.

 

“Idiot, you wait for your Captain to agree to something before agreeing yourself!” he shouted. “Learn to respect your seniors already!”

 

“Oh no, he’s in clutch mode,” Koganei groaned, huddling towards Mitobe. “You’d think he wouldn’t do this in the middle of a steam bath!”

 

Mitobe nodded sagely.

 

“Alright, then let’s do this!” Imayoshi said. Somehow even the innocent line sounded sinister coming from the excessively creepy Hogwarts graduate. Maybe it was the glasses, but the wizard always looked like he was up to something.

 

Aomine stood up and stretched.

 

“Sorry, Captain, but I’m out,” he said. “I have better things to do.”

 

Imayoshi didn’t look particularly bothered by this. Maybe he’d expected it from the moment he issued the challenge, or maybe he'd just had far too much experience trying to get Aomine to do things that the blue haired wizard didn't want to do, but Imayoshi didn’t try to stop the other wizard from leaving. 

 

Kagami, however, did.

 

“You’re not man enough to fight me?” Kagami demanded loudly.

 

Aomine raised a lazy eyebrow and looked down the length of his body before grinning back up at the other wizard.

 

“I think you can see for yourself just how much man I am,” he said. “I don’t have anything to prove to you before we meet in the arena again.”

 

Aomine strutted off back into the building, leaving a line of wet footprints on the concrete. 

 

“I hate that bastard,” Kagami growled.

 

Imayoshi laughed.

 

“Well, you know what they say about pots and kettles,” he said pleasantly. “Gentlemen, shall we?”

 

In short order, the group of wizards were crowded into the large sauna. The steam surged up from the magically heated rocks in the center of the room.

 

The heat was pleasant, but after only a few minutes, some of them were really feeling the strain of it.

 

“Ugh, I’m sorry, no,” Sakurai said. “I’m really really sorry, Captain, but I can’t do this.”

 

He was the first to leave, but Furihata was only seconds behind him, diving for the door. Imayoshi chuckled, and Hyuuga rolled his eyes, but neither stopped the Hufflepuffs from leaving.

 

Kawahara and Tsuchida held out five minutes after that and dove out with three of Imayoshi’s team members, leaving the sauna much less crowded.

 

About ten minutes after they entered the sauna, Imayoshi started laughing.

 

“I think we broke him,” Kiyoshi said, sounding concerned.

 

“No no, I’m sorry, I just thought of something really funny,” Imayoshi said.

 

“Want to share with the class?” Hyuuga asked. “Since we’re all here and everything?”

 

“Well it’s just that I was thinking about how they just released the first round pairings for the Winter Cup,” Imayoshi said with a sadistic smile.

 

“But why is that funny?” Fukuda ventured, hiding behind Izuki when Imayoshi’s gaze landed on him.

 

“It’s funny because it’s just so  ironic,” Imayoshi said, wiping his eyes. “Sorry sorry, I didn’t mean to be a tease, I just didn’t realize you didn’t know.”

 

“Know what?” Hyuuga asked.

 

“Just that we’re going to be seeing each other much sooner than we all thought,” Imayoshi said lightly. “We’re facing each other in the very first round of the Winter Cup.”

 

“Oh, Merlin,” Koganei muttered and Imayoshi’s smirk widened.

 

“I’m so very glad that I had this opportunity to apologize to all of you,” he added.

 

“Apologize for what?” Hyuuga demanded, at the end of his patience.

 

“Because, losers, we’re going to kick your asses before you even get one round into the tournament!”

 

…

 

Riko was relaxing on her own on the women’s side of the steam bath. At the moment, she was grateful for the fact that her team was entirely made up of male wizards as it meant that she could take advantage of one of the few moments of serenity she’d had in the last few months.

 

Though on that note, Riko made a mental note to do something about the fact that dueling seemed to be such a wizard heavy activity. While the competition was open to any gender, the fact that mostly men availed themselves of the sport was disheartening. Clearly, Riko was going to have to mentor more witches with a lust for blood in the arena. Those plans, however, could wait until after nothing. 

 

After all, this was likely to be her last few moments of quiet before they got back to training, so she intended to make the most of the miniature vacation.

 

Riko laid back, breathing in the warm steam and watching it rise up into the night sky. It twisted and turned in unpredictable patterns. Riko enjoyed just watching it move, letting her mind clear.

 

“Oh, hello!”

 

The bright and cheerful voice was familiar, though Riko couldn’t place its owner. She turned, seeing a figure approaching through the hot steam.

 

“Funny seeing you here!” Momoi Satsuki said, emerging from the cloud of steam in her entirely undressed glory.

 

If there had ever been any question about how much of Momoi’s generous bosom was made up of padding, Riko could now honestly verify that the answer was none at all. The girl’s breasts were astounding.

 

Riko wondered if the girl ever had back problems, though she guessed that a combination of sticking and featherlight charms might help the situation.

 

“Hello,” Riko said, leaning back. “Didn’t think I would run into you here either.”

 

Momoi laughed, a high, pleasant sound.

 

“Do you mind if I join you?” she asked. Riko nodded to the space beside her.

 

“Go right ahead,” she said. “Nice to see you again.”

 

“God, you’re even still _nice_ too,” Momoi complained, leaning her head back to look at the sky. “You know I hated you when we were in school, right?”

 

“Huh?” Riko asked, perplexed. “We barely even spoke!”

 

Momoi smiled, but the rest of her expression looked pretty pained.

 

“It wasn’t _you personally_ so much as it was the idea of you,” she murmured. “You’re everything I am – you’re smart, ambitious, you like learning new things and cultivating talent, but you get to just be who you are. Nobody ever looked at you like you were just a piece of meat.”

 

“Heh,” Riko said, leaning back next to the pink haired witch. “I guess.”

 

“You know if I acted as rude as you do all the time I never would have gotten anywhere,” Momoi complained. “I had to simper and giggle and work around the gigantic breasts because if I didn’t, nobody would give me the time of day.”

 

“Anyone who knew you respected you though,” Riko said. “You have a skill no other wizard or witch I’ve ever met has and it’s entirely based on your own intelligence.”

 

“Only another woman would be able to see that,” Momoi said a little bitterly, but she seemed cheered by Riko’s vehement defense of her skills. “Most people just know that I’m hot. Which I am.”

 

Riko snorted.

 

“Listen, if other teams want to think I’m a dumb, hot bitch, that only helps me,” Momoi said with a shrug, and that time Riko laughed out loud.

 

“Meanwhile with those barely-b’s, everyone knows that you mean business right away.”

 

“Oh my god,” Riko choked on the air she was trying to breathe in. “First off, fuck you kindly, they’re not B’s, thanks!”

 

Momoi eyed Riko’s chest speculatively.

 

“Could have fooled me,” she said slyly, smiling when Riko laughed again.

 

“People think you’re a dumb broad, but they look at me and see a third year,” Riko said.

 

“No,” Momoi said, sounding scandalized.

 

“People have been looking at you like a mature adult forever, but because I’m a woman without assets they think I’m a child,” Riko complained. “When I was making scheduling plans for training, the guy who ran the place I was booking thought I was still in school!”

 

“Aren’t we a pair,” Momoi said, still breathing hard from laughing so much. “Men are so fucking dumb, I swear to Morgana.”

 

“Amen to that,” Riko said.

 

“You know, men might be dumb, but you’re dating _two_ of them,” Momoi commented slyly. Riko turned red, but didn’t look away.

 

“Yeah, they’re dumb and I love them,” she said.

 

“Hmpf. Well so long as they know how precious what they’ve got is.”

 

Momoi sounded so wistful. Riko wondered, for the first time, what it must have been like to be one of the only sane people hanging around with the Generation of Miracles, doing so much for them, and getting absolutely nothing back for it.

 

Riko also wondered, much later when she’d had time to replay this conversation in her head and think about that wistful look in Momoi Satsuki’s eyes, if there weren’t _two_ underappreciated and unacknowledged Miracles pining after the asshole with dark blue hair.

 

Honestly, he didn’t deserve either of them.

 

She admired Momoi’s tenacity, because it was obvious that sheer stubbornness was the only thing that had kept her moving forward. The girl had ambition in spades and more than enough cleverness to make the best use of it too. It was an especially dangerous combination when one factored in her disarming appearance.

 

They sat in silence, enjoying the warm water and thinking of nothing in particular when Riko spoke again.

 

“So, why _are_ you out here anyway?” Riko asked. “I brought my boys up to relax after a long training camp, but I didn’t expect to see you here.”

 

“Hm? Oh, what a coincidence,” Momoi said. “That’s exactly what I’m doing here too!”

 

“Your team?” Riko asked, sounding confused.

 

“Oh yeah, Sho-kun asked me to come help manage his team again and told me Dai-kun would be there.”

 

“You’re helping one of the Winter Cup teams?” Riko demanded.

 

“Of course,” Momoi said. “If Dai-kun was going to compete obviously I’d be there to help keep him out of trouble.”

 

Which actually made a great deal of sense, now that Riko thought about it.

 

Riko let her shock subside. She and the others had suspected that Aomine would be competing with his former team, especially since the younger Hufflepuff graduates had confirmed that Sakurai had teamed up with the blue haired wizard once again. Of course she should have known that meant Momoi would be by his side.

 

“It’s a shame,” Momoi said. “I had hoped Tetsu-kun would beat Dai-kun back in school, but that was just empty dreaming. I knew based on how far your team could have developed that there was no way they could beat us. And I was right.”

 

Well that just fucking stung. Riko frowned, and Momoi looked down at the water thoughtfully.

 

“The same way I know based on my own research that there’s no way you’re going to beat them now.”

 

She said this softly, almost forlornly.

 

Riko found that she had reached the end of her sympathy. She forgot that they were in a steam bath, she forgot that they had just spent the better part of half an hour bonding, she simply lost her temper.

 

“Stop underestimating them!” she shouted. Momoi started in surprise before smiling, drawing herself up to her full height.

 

“You’re smarter than this,” Momoi said, her voice thick with superiority. “Don’t yell and shout and make a scene when you know better. Sho-kun is a better captain than your Hyuuga, and he’s more powerful. Our long distance shooters are way better than yours. And when it comes down to power versus power, you think you can weigh your uncrowned king and the transfer kid against Dai-kun?”

 

Riko snarled.

 

“I think that ‘transfer kid’ is worth ten of your shitty blue Miracle!” she yelled back. “And in case you’ve all forgotten, we have Kuroko too. None of us are the same as we were back in school.”

 

“My wizards have gotten stronger too,” Momoi sniped back, towering over Riko. “Give up, barely-b, we both know how this ends. I don’t have to be Mido-kun to know that the immediate future is a no-brainer!”

 

Riko leaned in aggressively, smashing her chest against the other girl.

 

Naked boob pressed up against naked boob as Riko matched Momoi.

 

“We’re going to win!” both witches shouted at the same time, snarling in anger.

 

For a moment they stood like that, pressed together and red from fury, before they both, in unison, fell back laughing.

 

“Oh my god,” Riko said, covering her face. “I just realized that Kagami and Aomine are together in the next bath over.”

 

Momoi giggled.

 

“Should we run for it?” she suggested. “I don’t know if I want to be naked in a hot spring when one of them burns this place down.”

 

Riko snorted and pulled herself out of the spring, reaching out a hand to help Momoi.

 

“Well if they did, Kagami would be the one to beat Aomine’s ass.”

 

“Don’t you start that over! I have no problems hexing you!”

 

“I’d hex you, but I don’t know if they’d get through your giant breasts!”

 

“They wouldn’t. At least not when I’m dressed. My bra has built in shield charms!”

 

“Wait really?”

 

“Yeah, really.”

 

“You have to show me that one.”

 

“Anytime, barely-b. If there’s enough fabric in your bra to mark up with the runes.”

 

“GET BACK HERE!”

 

…

 

Kuroko had collapsed onto a bench inside the hot spring, relaxing in the cooler indoor environment. The warmth of the hot spring had been nice, but he definitely appreciated being out of the heat.

 

Kuroko was still resting when he heard footsteps approaching. Quickly he sat up, and was unprepared to come face to face with the very subject of his thoughts: Aomine.

 

He’d thought that Aomine would look different than before, now that Kuroko knew the truth. Even as Kuroko felt familiar rage rise in his chest, he also still felt fondness for the other wizard. He wondered if that part of his feelings would ever go away.

 

He doubted it.

 

“Hello.”

 

Aomine started and then smirked down at Kuroko.

 

“Yo, Tetsu,” he said.

 

Kuroko’s heart constricted painfully.

 

“Aomine.”

 

Aomine leaned against the wall next to Kuroko. His broad, tanned, shirtless chest gleamed with water from the onsen. His power crackled around him like a halo of magic. With Aomine filling up his entire vision, Kuroko could see nothing else. It was so hard to forget why he was mad at Aomine when they were like this.

 

“Why are you here?” Kuroko asked.

 

Aomine shrugged.

 

“Relaxing from training or something,” he said, not taking his eyes off Kuroko. Aomine’s gaze was intense, almost as much as Akashi’s was. "That's what Satsuki says, anyway."

 

“Oh. I should say that I’m sorry,” Aomine added, not looking particularly sorry about anything.

 

Kuroko froze. Was Aomine about to say what he hoped he would?

 

“They released the tournament pairings for the Winter Cup,” Aomine said lazily. Kuroko’s heart sunk. “And I’m sorry to say it, Tetsu, but you’re not getting any further than the first round.”

 

Kuroko’s eyes widened.

 

“Our duel is going to go exactly the same way the last one did,” Aomine drawled. “No one can beat me, but me, and I wish you would stop trying so I could stop having to beat your ass down. No offense, but throwing you into walls kind of loses its appeal after a while.”

 

“I don’t want to fight you,” Kuroko said. Aomine stared down at him.

 

“Then don’t!” he said. “Akashi wants us all competing in the Winter Cup to prove how strong we are. Come duel with me. We’re doing important stuff to help the world, or whatever, and you shouldn’t not help just because you’re pissed at us for whatever reason.”

 

Kuroko stared up at him.

 

For a moment, he considered confronting Aomine with the truth the way he had done with Midorima. Midorima’s blunt non-apology hadn't actually made Kuroko feel better about the green haired Miracle’s role in hurting Ogiwara. It had been informative, but ultimately unsatisfying. Kuroko didn’t think he had it in him to listen to Aomine make excuses for himself.

 

It probably made him a coward, but Kuroko did not want to have to hear Aomine try to defend himself and have every unkind thing he’d ever thought about the man who was once one of his closest friends be confirmed.

 

“I am content with the team I have,” Kuroko said instead. “And I have a promise to fulfill.”

 

Aomine’s expression went from desperate, to pissed off, to uncaring in the span of a few seconds. It would have been almost comic in another situation, between two different wizards.

 

“Heh, okay,” he said. “But just remember when I kick your ass that I gave you a chance to be on the winning team.”

 

Aomine slung an arm around the Hufflepuff in a mark of casual ownership that reminded Kuroko of every reason he had to want to fight the wizard next to him. The reality of what he had learned only a few short weeks ago was still ringing through his mind.

 

He could still hear the echo of Aomine’s awful laughter.

 

“I don’t want you to touch me,” Kuroko said. “And I have asked you before to stop calling me by such a familiar name.”

 

“What the hell happened that made you get so cold towards me, huh?” Aomine asked, showing no sign of agreeing to either of Kuroko’s two requests.

 

Pissed off, his earlier cowardice fading in the face of pure, righteous indication, Kuroko opened his mouth to tell Aomine exactly what he thought of what Aomine and the rest of the Miracles had done to Ogiwara. However, before he could get the words out, he heard a familiar voice echoing down the hall.

 

“Hey, Kuroko! Where did you get to?”

 

Aomine’s grip on Kuroko tightened.

 

“Is it him?” Aomine asked. “You’re choosing _him_ over me? What the hell does he have that I can’t do for you? I guarantee that in every way it matters, I can beat him.”

 

Thankfully, Kagami chose that exact moment to catch sight of Aomine. He quickly realized that Kuroko was at an immense physical and magical disadvantage.

 

“Oi, leave him alone!” Kagami snapped. Kuroko had never been this grateful for an intervention in his entire life.

 

“Not you again,” Aomine rolled his eyes, finally taking his arm from around Kuroko’s shoulders to stand face to face with Kagami. “You keep yapping like a small dog, but we all know you’re not bright enough to be Tetsu’s light.”

 

Aomine flicked Kagami on the nose.

 

Kagami growled, but before he could retaliate magically, Aomine threw him into the far wall and yawned.

 

Moving slowly and confidently, Aomine turned to smirk at Kuroko.

 

“Well, everyone except Tetsu seems to know, anyway,” he said, and stretched. “But he’ll figure it out one day when he stops being an idiot.”

 

“You bastard!” Kagami shouted, rising to his feet.

 

Aomine looked thoroughly unconcerned with the angry American stomping towards him.

 

“You can keep playing house for now,” Aomine said. “But Tetsu will come back to me eventually, and we all know it. You won’t ever be strong enough for him.”

 

Aomine turned around, slowly stalking back down the corridor. Kuroko and Kagami stared in shock at his retreating back.

 

Of course, Aomine couldn’t resist one last parting shot at the two of them.

 

“The only one who can beat me is me, morons.”

 

Kagami’s spell hit the far wall at the end of the hallway, missing its target entirely as Aomine apparated away.

 

“That guy,” Kagami growled.

 

“I know exactly what you mean,” Kuroko agreed vehemently, his eyes fixed on the spot where Aomine had vanished. The skin on his shoulders where Aomine had slung his arm around Kuroko prickled and burned, as though he could still feel Aomine's touch. 

 

…

 


	43. Not All Who Wander Are Lost But I Sure As Hell Am

 

…

 

GENERATION OF MIRACLES RETURN TO TAKE LONDON DUELING SCENE BY STORM

 

_The staff of the Winter Cup confirmed today the roster for participating teams in this year’s dueling tournament. Officials have informed us that there are currently five different teams competing whose rosters include one of the recent graduates of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry known as the Generation of Miracles._

 

_The famous duelists known as the “Generation of Miracles” made a name for themselves blasting through the competition during an interschool tournament four years ago involving twenty four international teams. Each of their unique and powerful styles of dueling has enthralled and captivated viewers. The staff of the Winter Cup say that this will be their most anticipated tournament ever and expect record attendance to watch the clash of such powerful wizards in their arena._

 

_The tournament staff tell us that Kaijou, Shutoku, Touou, Yosen, and Rakuzan are the teams to watch in this year’s tournament. Each team has taken on one of the five Miracles, with Rakuzan being the favorite to win. Captained by Akashi Seijuro, the former leader of the Generation of Miracles, and staffed by some of Hogwarts most powerful graduates, it certainly has the advantage in power to overwhelm any ordinary teams._

 

_For more on the Generation of Miracles and their respective accomplishments, turn to page 27._

 

“I’m insulted,” Kagami said, throwing the copy of Dauntless Duelist down on the breakfast table. “You know, we beat _two_ of them, and they still aren’t giving us the time of day? And _you’re_ as much a Miracle as any of them. They should have a whole damn spread dedicated to you too!”

 

“That is very kind of you,” Kuroko said, taking a sip of his coffee. “But especially when it comes to the Generation of Miracles, I prefer to be forgotten.”

 

That had always been how it went. No matter how famous the Miracles were, whoever came to interview them invariably always forgot about Kuroko. Kuroko had once been a little sad about it, but it honestly no longer bothered him. He was mature enough to recognize that the less people knew about him, the less likely it was that they would anticipate his misdirection.  


Additionally, as of late he’d found it more than distasteful to be counted among them. Once his heart had warmed at the very suggestion that he was one of the Miracles, but now he just felt hollow at the thought.

 

“My shadow,” Kagami beamed, and Kuroko felt the emptiness inside him shrink away from the warmth of the other mans’ smile, just for a bit.

 

“Only for my light to shine more brightly,” Kuroko replied serenely.

 

Kagami leaned over the table and kissed Kuroko on the forehead.

 

“You’re gonna give me a heart attack before I hit twenty.”

 

“You will be missed,” Kuroko said tonelessly, meeting Kagami’s eyes.

 

Nigou jumped on the table, barking in agreement. Kagami screamed and jumped back, flailing.

 

“Get him off the table!” he yelled.

 

Kuroko didn’t move. He took another dignified sip from his mug while Kagami screamed next to him and fell out of his chair.

 

“He lives here too,” Kuroko defended his dog calmly.

 

“He’s not supposed to be on the table!”

 

Kuroko smiled, but he agreeably picked the dog off the table and placed him on the chair beside him. Nigou yipped happily, front paws still on the table, but obediently staying in the chair.

 

“So I’ve been thinking,” Kagami said, sitting back with his cup of coffee. “We delayed going to look for Alex because we’ve got business to handle here with _them._ ”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“But training with Midorima and running into Aomine made me realize something,” Kagami said. “I need to get stronger if we’re going to beat that jerk.”

 

“You’re already stronger than you were the last time,” Kuroko said. “All of us are.”

 

“And so are they,” Kagami replied grimly. “What I really need is a Master.”

 

Kuroko hesitated.

 

“I can’t leave,” he said. “Professor Kagetora volunteered to work with me on my new technique while Hogwarts is still closed for the summer. I don’t know if I’ll ever have a chance like this when we return. What I need now is to invent new techniques, to come up with new ways of using my misdirection. I can’t just leave now.”

 

Kagami nodded.

 

“I know,” he said. “But you’re coming up with new, surprising ways to beat the Miracles, and I have to do the same thing. I need my old teacher. She’s the only one who can help me level the playing field.”

 

It made obvious sense. Kuroko knew that and he could immediately see the wisdom of what Kagami was proposing. Nobody could help Kagami overcome the wall he was standing in front of except a true master who knew his power better than anyone else could. They only had two months until the Winter Cup. They needed every advantage that they could get, especially since their very first opponent was one of the strongest teams competing.

 

“How will you find her?” Kuroko asked. “She hasn’t returned any of the letters that we have sent her asking if she will take us on as apprentices.”

 

Kagami grinned.

 

“She said she’s working on a historical dig or something,” he said. “How many historical digs can there be in China?”

 

Kuroko stared at Kagami.

 

“More than you could search in a few months,” Kuroko said flatly. “It isn’t a small country.”

 

Kagami chuckled.

 

“I guess not,” he admitted. “There’s got to be a better way to find Alex.”

 

“You could try asking at the Warders’ Guild,” Kuroko suggested. “Say you wish to petition her to be your master. They’re required to provide introductions if requested. The Master doesn’t have to respond, but they have to help you reach her to make the request.”

 

Kuroko had availed himself of this service in his last few months at Hogwarts. All of his introductions had taken him nowhere, but it might be one way to reach Alex. Certainly, it was more likely to succeed than wandering around China until Alex found out and took pity on Kagami.

 

“So what, you think I should send them a letter, see if they can tell me what dig Alex is at?” Kagami asked.

 

“At the very least you might get a more narrow suggestion than ‘the entire country of China,’” Kuroko said. “We definitely don’t have time for you to hack your way through every forest in the country to find her.”

 

Nigou barked in agreement.

 

Kagami sniggered at that, but he took Kuroko’s suggestion to heart. It was a good idea. If he was going to find his old mentor quickly, he’d be glad for the help.

 

About two days later, he received his response. Ward Master Garcia had left Shanghai with no indication of where she was going, aside from the fact that she was on a curse-breaking mission with a select team of experts. She had left word with a wizard there should any apprentices request to contact her while she was gone.

 

Kagami suspected that Alex was attempting to make sure that any law enforcement from America who decided to come after her would have just as much trouble locating her.

 

That was a pain, but Kagami could follow her tracks. Since the Guild had been kind enough to provide his information to Kagami, he decided that the information was worth a trip to Shanghai to visit the wizard Alex had last contacted,.

 

…

 

More quickly than either of them had anticipated, the day came when Kagami was going to leave. He’d booked a muggle flight to China, as it was much cheaper than getting an international portkey. He was packed for roughing it in the mountains, though Kuroko hoped that Kagami would reach Alex’s base camp before too long.

 

He was desperately worried about his light. Kagami was flying off into the night to some foreign country to go find an unknown stranger and then hike his way through the wilderness looking for ancient ruins that would interest a Master Warder.

 

Kuroko had faith in his light, but he was scared for Kagami.

 

“Don’t worry so much,” Kagami said, running a calloused, gentle hand down Kuroko’s face.

 

“I always worry about you, Kagami,” Kuroko said honestly. “On the court and off.”

 

Kagami smiled.

 

“Well, worry if it makes you happy, but I’m going to be okay,” he said. “And I’ll come back even stronger than ever!”

 

That, at least, Kuroko had no reason to doubt.

 

“I know,” Kuroko said emphatically.

 

“We will bring down the Generation of Miracles together.”

 

“Together,” Kagami agreed.

 

Swiftly, he leaned down and kissed Kuroko. They held onto each other for a long time, before the loudspeaker system started loudly calling for the passengers on Kagami’s flight to board.

 

“Ah shit,” he said, pulling away from Kuroko. “I have to go.”

 

“Be safe,” Kuroko said. Kagami chuckled.

 

“When am I not?” he asked the other man. Kuroko gently slapped his shoulder.

 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be back before you know it,” he said.

 

This time, Kuroko was the one who pulled his boyfriend towards him for a kiss.

 

Another loud announcement for Kagami’s flight came blaring through the airport, and Kagami sighed, pulling away again.

 

“I really should go,” he said. “If I don’t make it through security, they won’t let me on the plane.”

 

Kuroko nodded, but didn’t let go of Kagami’s coat, where his hand was clenched tightly.

 

“I told you, I’ll be home before you know it,” Kagami said, gently guiding Kuroko’s hand to let go of him. “I’m going to come back stronger than ever!”

 

Kagami grinned. Soon he was lost in the crowd, waving to his shadow.

 

It took a long time for Kuroko to leave the spot where he was standing and return to their apartment.

 

…

 

Kagami was seriously wishing he’d given more than thirty seconds of thought into deciding to head off into the wilds of China alone.

 

 _Stupid conniving bitch,_ Kagami swore inside his head as he hoisted his bag further up his shoulder and wiped sweat from his brow.

 

He had met with Alex’s contact in Shanghai a week ago and was still no closer to finding the blonde witch than he had been when he arrived in China. The woman simply did not want to be found.

 

It wasn’t that Kagami didn’t appreciate his mentors need for caution (though he was certain that this level of “caution” was quickly approaching inadvisable levels of paranoia). It was just that he was tired, hungry, and had been hunting through a jungle for the better part of six days chasing the wisps of rumors. Plus he missed his boyfriend like crazy. He wished Alex had found a way to at least clue _him_ in on where she was going before she vanished off the face of the goddamn Earth!

 

Alex’s contact in Shanghai had told Kagami only that his mentor had taken “off north,” and vanished into literal thin air when Kagami started shouting at him in response. The only thing left on the ground where the other wizard had been standing was a scroll of parchment.

 

Fighting the urge to keep screaming at the innocent piece of paper, Kagami exhaled deeply through his nose. When he was sure that he wasn’t going to set anything on fire out of frustration, he bent down to pick of the piece of paper.

 

He promptly yelped as the paper bit him.

 

Kagami reeled back, pulling his now bleeding hand with him. At his feet, the paper burned green for a moment and then returned to its normal looking state.

 

_I’m going to kill her._

 

Kagami reached back down to pick up the scroll with his uninjured hand. Before he touched the paper, he reached out with his magic to check if there were any more magical traps built into the scroll. Kagami couldn’t feel any malevolent magic, so he picked up the paper again.

 

This time nothing happened.

 

Kagami unrolled the scroll expectantly, laying it out flat on the bar.

 

At the bottom Alex had scrawled a single sentence in familiar handwriting.

 

_I expect you’ll know what to do with this._

 

Well that was useless.

 

Kagami turned the scrap of paper over and over, trying to find any other hint or clue of where Alex had gone. She’d left him nothing. Kagami was just about ready to let his already simmering temper boil all the way over and he had to physically force himself to calm down.

 

Obviously, Alex wouldn’t have expected him to solve any complicated riddles. She was a simple lady and he was a simple guy. It was one of the reasons why they worked so well together as teacher and student. Alex knew that the simplest explanation was always going to be the best way to approach her student and Kagami always knew that his teacher was looking for the most straightforward answer.

 

Well, what would Alex expect him to do with a piece of paper with some vague, nondescript words on it after he’d flown all the way to China to try and find her?

 

Kagami didn’t have to think very hard about that one. With a wide grin he set the piece of paper on fire.

 

It burned for a moment before Kagami’s fire sputtered out. This time, when Kagami picked up the paper, above Alex’s handwriting there was a set of coordinates burned into the paper.

 

“Neat trick,” Kagami said out loud. He wondered what kind of rune net had been used. He suspected that if anyone other than him had tried to magically burn the paper, it would have just burned. Only Kagami’s own magical fire could have revealed the clue to Alex whereabouts.

 

It looked like Kagami was going to have to take a hike in the woods and find out where his mentor had disappeared to.

 

At any rate, that was how he found himself here.

 

Using a combination of handy spells to guide him, Kagami was tracking down the set of coordinates Alex had left him to follow. He figured this must be where her dig site was, somewhere in the jungle far west of the urbanized metropolitan centers.

 

It was actually a pretty smart failsafe measure on Alex’s part – most wizards would never be able to find their way to a specific set of coordinates, no matter how good they were with a map. For most wizards, using such a method of communication would have been just as difficult to decipher as it would be to break the blood coded wards on Alex’s protections on the scroll that held the hint.

 

Kagami, raised with a foot in the muggle world and one in the magical one, didn’t have any trouble finding his way.

 

Well, to be more specific, Kagami had no trouble once he’d pulled up a map on his smartphone at the nearest McDonalds and took a screenshot of the location. Kagami was still amazed that there were wizards who managed to get by without the internet. He also bought a GPS device that would keep him vaguely on the right track and secured it inside his bag to make sure nothing would happen to it.

 

This was going to be a piece of cake.

 

He was more upset about trekking through shin deep mud to get there than anything. Surely Alex could have found an easier way to hide her tracks? Even with GPS coordinates, a good map, the aid of a compass, and a “point me” spell, Kagami had been walking for what felt like _forever._

 

It might have taken less time to fly, but Kagami wasn’t sure he could operate a broom between the thick trees and was worried about being seen if he flew overhead. The last thing Alex needed was for him to lead the American Aurors to her by doing something that stupid. Besides, it was still kind of fun to make the journey on foot.

 

Kagami swiped away at more sweat dripping from his forehead. Damn, it was _hot._ He was hacking his way through the jungle, fighting to stay standing in the wet and slippery muddy ground, and trying to avoid being eaten alive by every goddamn bug in the jungle at the same time. As with many things in his life, he was having only minor success at any one of those many things. The going was, needless to say, slow.

 

The redhead was fairly certain he should have reached his destination earlier that morning. He wasn’t _lost_ precisely, but he wasn’t absolutely sure of where he was in comparison to where he should be on his map.

 

He was not lost.

 

Kagami sighed, running a hand through his damp hair, and looked around the clearing. He’d been here before. He’d passed the same grove of trees twice already. Or maybe they all just looked the same.

 

It was probably the second one.

 

Kagami growled, deciding to take a break.

 

The wizard took off his pack and sat down with his back to one of the trees, guzzling down half the contents of his water bottle.

 

Kagami stared out at the trees, thinking. He hoped he would come across Alex sooner rather than later. Every second he spent out here wandering around like an idiot was one less second he had to train in order to beat Aomine.

 

Kagami groaned and pulled himself to his feet again.

 

He had to keep moving.

 

So intent was he on keeping one foot in front of the other that Kagami didn’t hear the approaching barks until the dog was right on top of him.

 

Kagami turned around in alarm, shouting as a huge beast barrelled out of the trees, coming straight for him. It was barking and howling angrily.

 

Kagami considered standing his ground for a solid second, but fear overcame everything else and he ran for it.

 

The dog right behind him, howling and snapping menacingly at his heels. Kagami closed his eyes and huffed, screaming his lungs out and cursing every god he could name.

 

This was the worst.

 

Kagami was so intent on getting away from the dog that he didn’t notice the cliff until he was already tumbling over it. The ridge was the steep bank of a river and Kagami hit the water hard. The last thing he saw was the dog, silhouetted against the sky, looking down on him.

 

Kagami could have sworn the beast vanished in a haze of golden smoke, but he was already going under the churning water, fighting to stay afloat.

 

Kagami pinwheeled his arms dramatically, fighting to keep his head above water. He took a few hard knocks against rocks in the river before he grabbed onto one for dear life and pulled himself up against it. Protected from the heavy currents, Kagami panted, looking around to see where he was.

 

He’d come quite a bit downstream in his relatively short struggle to keep breathing. His throat and nose burned from the inhalation of ice cold river water and Kagami found himself shivering as he clung to his one safe harbor.

 

Knowing the only way to truly get to safety was to get to shore, Kagami kicked off of the rock and angled himself towards the side of the river. Swimming with the currents and letting them carry him further downstream, the redhead was finally able to pull himself up onto the muddy bank of the wide river.

 

Kagami lay on his back, looking out at the sky.

  
It was only then that he realized his phone and GPS, both of which were electronic, were almost definitely toast. A quick check of both devices confirmed his worst fear - neither was working.

 

Kagami groaned and let a wet arm flop over his face.

 

This was so not good.

 

Kagami let himself dwell in self pity for a good minute before he decided he was done. He would find high ground and navigate by the sky. The sun set west. He knew where this river was, so he could vaguely tell based on his maps -

 

Kagami pulled the maps out of his bag. They were soaked through. Well, at least that was easier to fix. Kagami gently dried them with magic. The ink was smudged, but still readable, and the paper was in no danger of falling apart in his hands. So if the ridge was that landmass there, and he’d gone south, and the sun was setting in the East…

 

Kagami followed the line of the sun to where it was definitely setting (in the West), and looked back down at his map.

 

Okay, so he still had no idea where he was. Kagami quickly decided that his best bet was to follow the river until he managed to get somewhere civilized where he could get a map or maybe some directions. Or even, perish the thought, a functioning GPS.

 

Packing away his map and the ruined electronics, the redhead shouldered his bag and set off along the banks of the river. He’d only gone a few steps, however, when he noticed something quite odd.

 

On the ground in front of him was a set of tracks.

 

Kagami had no idea what they were, aside from the fact that these had obviously been made by an animal with paws (as opposed to feet or hooves). They were lightly set in the mud of the riverbank, as though whatever animal had left them had been there only recently.

 

The paw prints were relatively small. As he focused on them, he realized that they were faintly glowing. Now that he noticed it, the red haze around them was unmistakable.

 

They looked familiar too, though Kagami was hard pressed to place why that might be. He had no idea how to distinguish the footprints of one animal from another, but those were definitely paw prints, which meant whatever had been there likely had claws to match.

 

_What now?_

 

Kagami sighed.

 

They were heading off away from the river, but there was something about them… Kagami had the overwhelming need to follow them.

 

 _This is some bullshit I didn’t need,_ Kagami thought. He considered the issue for another few seconds before he shrugged.

 

Whatever magical creature wanted him to follow it, he would do that. He’d take care of it and then get back on his way. It wasn’t like he could say he was certainly heading in the right direction anyway. This delay might lead him to some kind of landmark or other that could serve as a point of navigation to find Alex’s coordinates anyway.

 

Kagami started walking.

 

The prints led the redhead wizard through the trees, moving in a relatively straight line. Kagami stayed on high alert, watching for any sign that this was a trap.

 

Kagami followed the prints for the better part of an hour. As he did, he realized that the line of tracks that he was following would vanish behind him.

 

He guessed that he really wouldn’t be able to get back to where he started.

 

Not that it mattered, because that wasn’t where he’d needed to be anyway.

 

He felt a headache coming on.

 

Kagami had the distinctly unpleasant feeling that he was being played.

 

“Alex, I swear to God you had better not have sent me on some fucking scavenger hunt in the woods!” he shouted into the trees. Predictably, Alex did not respond, but there were some extremely mocking calls from birds around him.

 

Kagami put his middle finger up at them.

 

There was a doglike bark that came out of the trees to his left.

 

Kagami flinched, whirling around with his hands already glowing with fire. Any dog that came out into the forest to try and mess with him was going to get toasted, American Style.

 

He stood there for a moment before deciding it must have been a figment of his imagination.

 

Maybe he _was_ overworking himself trying to get to Alex.

 

Not for the first time, he wished he had Kuroko along. The blue haired wizard was more used to dealing with this mysterious bullshit. The guy had put up with the asshole Miracles for long enough that he probably could have unlocked this riddle in seconds.

 

Kagami on the other hand, was lost at sea.

 

The sun was low in the sky, and Kagami decided to make camp before it got dark and try to figure out where to go from here. Without a connected GPS and having no good idea of where he was, Kagami was going to have to figure out a way to plot his camp on a map and try to locate the coordinates Alex had left him from there.

 

It was going to take a while.

 

Not for the first time, Kagami regretted ignoring the basic kinds of navigation spells that could have gotten him out of this mess much more quickly.

 

…

 

_Kagami turned a corner, the sound of baying hounds behind him making him tense with terror. The dogs were chasing him, howling with the excitement of the hunt._

 

_Kagami was running, his breath coming in short bursts as he tried to escape them. The dogs had been following him for at least a mile already and they seemed determined to hunt him down. Kagami had the unpleasant feeling that he was being chased for sport, like a rabbit fleeing a hunter’s dog._

 

_Kagami cut through an alley and threw himself over the chain link fence that blocked his path._

 

_He landed hard on his shoulder, but he laughed with gasping breath as the dogs threw themselves against the metal, snarling as they were denied access to their prey._

 

_“Yeah, suck on that!” Kagami grinned, punching a fist in the air._

 

_The dogs backed off, growling, but no longer attacking. Feeling smug, Kagami turned, and found himself facing the biggest of the dogs yet._

 

_Its eyes glowed red and Kagami had the distinct impression it was laughing at him._

 

_The dog lunged and Kagami yelled._

 

The sound of dogs barking made Kagami bolt upright in his conjured sleeping bag. His arm hurt with phantom pain, from an injury long enough ago that it couldn’t even be seen on his skin. The dog’s bite hadn’t scarred, but it had hurt like a bitch.

 

_Not again._

 

Kagami rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and glared around the clearing where he’d made camp. He didn’t see anything, but his senses were on high alert.

 

He had the feeling he needed to be moving again, and soon.

 

Kagami packed up by hand. He’d never gotten the hang of Alex’s neat swish of magic packing everything for them.

 

He figured he just didn’t have the same delicate touch.

 

At any rate, it was time to get moving again.

 

It wasn’t until he’d started walking that Kagami realized that he still had no idea where to go.

 

Well, anywhere was better than here if he was going to start getting harassed by dogs again. He stomped through the forest, taking no care to silence his footsteps or walk in any particular direction. In this case, the more lost he was, the better.

 

Kagami didn’t stop until he was out of breath. He put his hands on his hips, waiting out the silence.

 

Nighttime birds hooted and called to each other overhead while other creatures moved amongst the brush. Regardless of their noise, they left Kagami alone.

 

For a moment, Kagami thought he was safe.

 

The barking started behind him again and he couldn’t help but let out a groan.

 

_Oh man, fuck off._

 

He kept walking, blind and directionless in the dark.

 

He stopped when he saw the glow of footprints up ahead. He did not like dogs and he did not like having to deal with things that he knew nothing about and that pissed him off. He could barely even stand Kuroko’s dog and that fucking monster was adorable.

 

This entire situation was aggravating his very last nerve and he was running out of patience.

 

Maybe the dogs really were trying to help him. It wasn’t like Kagami didn’t need it. After all, he’d been lost in the jungle for a while, and it seemed unlikely that he was going to happen upon some kind of town or village to help him get oriented.

 

On the other hand, it was probably equally possible that these fucking monsters were luring him into a trap so that they could chase him around and sink their giant fucking teeth into his arm.

 

Kagami figured the odds on that one were about fifty-fifty.

 

Kagami glared at the glowing footprint. It glowed innocently back at him.

 

“I hate you,” he growled. “I really fucking hate you.”

 

He flinched at the sound of another dog like _yip._

 

It had started when Kagami was a teenager. Dogs would follow him around, harassing him even though he had never done anything to a dog, ever. As a kid, Kagami had liked dogs well enough.

 

As a teenanger and an adult, Kagami hated and feared them. Dogs always got weird and overexcited around him. After the massive dog had bit him when he was twelve, he’d hated every dog he’d encountered.

 

In this case, it seemed that whatever magical dog was following him around, they were trying to lead him somewhere.

 

So long as that somewhere led him towards wherever Alex was, Kagami figured he couldn’t afford to turn down the help.

 

That thought alone made him crazy, but he had no idea what else to do.

 

The master warder didn’t want to be found, that was for sure, but Kagami was tired of this cat and mouse game. He wanted to find Alex and get to training before the Winter Cup had come and gone.

 

Kagami sighed.

 

Following the magical dog prints and putting himself in danger of being mauled by yet another rabid canine it was.

 

_God damn you, Alex, when I find you, I might just murder you myself._

 

He walked as the sun began to rise overhead, pacing himself alongside the prints that had been left for him to follow. He ate breakfast as he did, finishing off the last of his dried jerky with no small amount of regret.

 

He had been following Alex’s clue for over a week - one week before falling into a river and then how many days after that - and he was in general just pissed off enough to get back on a plane and go home. The last twenty four hours had been downright hell, what with being lost and running from dogs and being constantly reminded of the trauma of his childhood misadventures with the four legged creatures.

 

Kagami was not convinced that he wasn’t being led into a trap. Worse, he didn’t know if he was just going fucking crazy.

 

There was no way he needed Alex as a teacher enough to justify this.

 

This was insane.

 

And yet, Kagami had already come this far, hiked all over and under this jungle. He’d eaten unspeakable things and been bitten by more kinds of bugs than he could identify. He wanted to go home, to the neat, little apartment he shared with Kuroko in London and to the arms of the man he loved.

 

He just had to hope that his journey would be over soon.

 

…

 

Kagami followed the line of dog prints for three days. He hiked by day and camped at night. Water was magically drawn from the wet earth, already clean. He ignored every sight of dogs he caught among the trees, determined not to give any ammunition to what was obviously an extremely involved hallucination brought on by wandering alone in the woods for far too long.

 

He practiced and strategized as he walked.

 

Kagami found that walking gave him the opportunity to do some valuable training. As he moved, he ducked and weaved, pretending to follow along with the fancy footwork he had seen from Aomine, albeit slower. In particular, and with great concentration, Kagami replayed Aomine’s duels in his head, studying his techniques. The other wizard was fast, and Kagami was going to have to be just as fast to beat him.

 

Kagami smiled as he hopped and turned in a complicated dodge pattern, taking himself over a line of rocks bridging a river.

 

On the afternoon of the third day after falling to the river, nine days after arriving in this jungle, he knew he was close. It turned out that after a few days of drying out, the GPS was working again, and he found that he was almost right on top of the coordinates Alex had left for him. The revelation left Kagami in a fantastic mood.

 

The line of paw prints led him to the entrance of a deep ravine that had probably been carved out by a river that had long since dried up. The bottom of the ravine was dotted with jagged boulders and scrubby plant life. High above, where the walls of the ravine rose into the air, trees towered, maintaining a green canopy over his path.

 

This certainly looked promising. The GPS confirmed that the coordinates would leave him somewhere in the middle of the ravine up ahead.

 

Maybe Alex had left him another clue here, or there was some sort of cave that he could enter at the midpoint of this ravine, but either way he would only find out when he was standing there between the stone walls.

 

Behind him, Kagami heard the faint sound of a dog barking. He winced and pushed his bag further up his shoulders.

 

Well, it was hang out here with the damn dogs, or head into the ravine and find Alex. Kagami was pretty sure that between those two options there wasn’t even a real choice.

 

Kagami walked forward.

 

It was cooler inside, hidden away from the direct light of the sun. Kagami had about three feet of room on either side, so he was quite comfortable. He could stretch out his arms and only just barely skim the stone.

 

Slowly, Kagami picked his way around the rocks and scrub, keeping an eye out for any burst of magic or a hidden clue.

 

And then suddenly, the trail ended. Kagami was standing at the exact spot where the dogs’ footprints ended. The GPS told him that this was the spot he needed to be, too.

 

Kagami looked around.

 

There was nothing here. He was standing in the middle of a ravine, with nothing above, below or around him.

 

High above him, a bird called out.

 

He was baffled.

 

Was there some kind of trap door or hidden clue here? Was there something that he was missing?

 

Or perhaps, Alex _had_ once intended to meet him here, but fate had intervened against their reconnection.

 

Kagami was pissed. He had come all this way, if there was any sign of a way forward from here, he would take it.

 

And just like that, as soon as he thought that there had to be some clue or piece of magic he was missing, he saw it. There was a plume of smoke up ahead, hidden by a large set of boulders farther up. The walls of the ravine continued to grow higher on either side farther down and they had been precipitously tall already.

 

Kagami took a deep breath and hiked his bag farther up onto his back. He set off towards the smoke, or steam, or whatever the grey cloud in front of him was.

 

It looked like a plume of smoke, but that wasn’t quite right. Kagami couldn’t smell anything burning, nor could he see any fire. The smoky substance was magical in nature, he was sure.

 

Kagami hiked the rest of the way through the ravine. As he walked closer and closer, the formless cloud seemed to take on a shape.

 

It was a person.

 

“Hey!” Kagami waved at the guy standing there. “What the hell are you doing out here?”

 

The shape didn’t answer, but it waved back.

 

Cautiously, Kagami crept forward. His magic hummed just within reach, ready to send off an offensive spell at the first sign that of trouble.

 

He was standing almost in front of it now, and the shadowy figure cleared in a wave of bright white light, revealing a perfect mirror image of Kagami, down to the confused expression on his face.

 

“Well, this is interesting,” he said, peering into the image and watching the lips of his reflection move in time with his own.

 

It certainly was not what he had been expecting.

 

Kagami’s reflection seemed silvered over, like he really was looking into a mirror. But that wasn’t right, because there was no way someone had just left a mirror lying out in the middle of the forest like this.

 

Kagami reached out with one hand, observing as his reflection did the same. His fingers stopped just short of touching those of his reflection, wondering what kind of weird magic he was looking at.

 

He touched it.

 

The shape rippled where his hand met it. Kagami couldn’t feel anything, but the invisible mirror glowed bright white where his wrist disappeared inside of it.

 

Kagami paused. He knew better than to just jump into weird portals. Kuroko would definitely advise him not to do what he was about to do.

 

But Alex would expect it of him. Every step of the way, she had counted on him to keep pushing forward. In fairness, she had probably intended for him to get here a lot sooner, and with many fewer struggles. After all, she couldn’t have known he would fall into a river and wind up lost.

 

Unless this wasn’t part of her test. This could be a trap set by an evil wizard. Hell, it might have been set up by American police, who had already found Alex and taken her into custody and had decided to leave behind a surprise for anyone else who came looking for the wanted fugitive.

 

The magic Kagami could feel in the portal wasn’t _bad,_ exactly. It wasn’t good either. But the longer he stood there the more Kagami got the impression that it had been here for a long time. This was old magic. The kind that had since passed away from the world. It was powerful and lasting – it had seen this entire forest die and grow a dozen times or more and it would be here for at least that much longer.

 

Kagami didn’t know if he should be comforted or concerned about that. He did know that there was only one way he would find out if he was going in the right direction or not.

 

 _Sorry, Kuroko,_ he thought apologetically. _I promise if I’m wrong I’ll find a way back, but this is the only way I can move forward. I have to become stronger, which means I have to find Alex._

 

With a determined expression, Kagami pushed the rest of his arm through. He wiggled his fingers. They were definitely still attached and didn’t feel any different, besides the fact that they had disappeared into the mirror image of himself.

 

“If I die, I’m so coming back to haunt Alex forever,” Kagami said, and stepped through to the other side.

 

For a moment, the world was entirely white, so bright that Kagami could barely see. But when the brightness cleared, Kagami could only stare, his mouth gaped open in awe.

 

It was beautiful.

 

He was standing at the end of a long, sweeping valley. In the distance, a line of mountains rose in a jagged line towards the sky, puncturing the cloud line. It hardly looked real. Kagami had seen mountains before, but this was something else entirely.

 

Settled in the closer foothills of the mountains was a line of mesas, rising up against the backdrop of the intimidating mountains.

 

Kagami squinted, shielding his eyes from the sun to try and get a better look.

 

Built into the stone, settled at the very top of the first foothill, there was a city overlooking the ancient valley.

 

Looking down, Kagami saw that the piece of paper with Alex’s coordinates had changed. The line of numbers was now a rough map, with a line that continued straight in front of him, along the winding river, and towards the mountains. The line seemed to end at the base of the mountain, so that was almost certainly what he was looking for. Certainly, if Kagami had to pick a single site in view that looked like it would be an archeological dig of some sort, he would have chosen that one.

 

Kagami rolled up his sleeves and smiled.

 

“Okay,” he said. “That looks about right.”

 

With the wide open expanse before him, Kagami pulled out his broom. He grinned at the sloping valley and took off with a whooping yell.

 

The redhead swooped high in the air before diving down, following the line of the valley as it dropped.

 

Staying low to the ground, Kagami flew. He passed over the cold river, skimming over the bright green landscape.

 

This was one of the most beautiful places Kagami had ever seen in his entire life. He wondered if one day he could come back and bring Kuroko with him.

 

Kagami’s heart hurt with how much he wished he could be sharing this with his boyfriend.

 

Kagami sped up, his agitation at missing Kuroko spurring him on to reach his destination sooner. The less time he took finding Alex, the more time he could spend training and the sooner he could get back to Kuroko.

 

It only took about twenty minutes for the heavy green growth to begin to thin. Kagami could tell that the valley was gaining altitude now, rising to a height too hostile for plant growth of this kind. By the time he had been flying for half an hour, all he could see underneath was grey rock.

 

Kagami had just reached the foothills of the mountain when he found himself dropping out of the sky.

 

“What the hell?” Kagami shouted. His broom was dipping downward and no amount of force or magic would keep it in the sky.

 

Just in time to avoid a disastrous collision, Kagami cast a feather light charm on his boots and leapt free of the now useless broom. He landed in a cloud of dust, light on his feet.

 

Kagami guessed he would be forced to go on foot from here in. He could sense, now that he was focusing on it, a web of wards protecting this entire mountain. It was impervious to magical attack by air.

 

Kagami supposed there were probably more dangerous traps waiting for a weary traveller like himself who was trying to make their way up the hill alone.

 

Well, he would be ready.

 

If Alex wasn’t on this mountain, Kagami was going to lose his fucking shit.

 

Kagami’s boots sent up clouds of dust as he climbed. He kept his guard up, waiting for something to come out from behind this outcropping or that copse of trees.

 

Kagami sensed the attack before he saw it. He whirled around, his shield completely formed just in time to block the giant stone fist of some kind of – golem, he guessed? It was made of stone and looked really angry, and that’s about all Kagami could process before he was fighting for his life.

 

He turned to run, and found himself facing two more of the stone soldiers.

 

Kagami sent a blast of fire at them, running forward and bending back to slide between their legs as gracefully as he could.

 

Kagami felt his knees tear on the hard earth but he stood and turned, ready for another offensive attack. A cutting curse sent one of the golems crumbling to dust.

 

Kagami sent a concussive burst of air at the other two golems, and they disintegrated from the powerful spell.

 

He heaved a sigh of relief.

 

So that was over and done with.

 

The redhead should have known better than to expect that that would be everything.

 

Kagami felt the ground shaking. Six much bigger golems came running up the hill at a fairly fast pace.

 

“Aw shit here we go.”

 

Kagami took off running up the hill. At the very least, he wanted to keep making progress if he was going to have to fight for every single step he won.

 

He transfigured the earth so that the ground rose up between him and the golems, creating a wall that would buy him some time in for a tactical retreat.

 

Behind him, he could hear the explosion of stone as the golems burst through his makeshift barrier as though it was tissue paper.

 

Kagami could hear the sound of the stone crumbling behind him, but he didn’t dare look back.

 

By instinct, he cast a spell over his shoulder, feeling rewarded by the sound of stone crunching. He’d hit, though he couldn’t tell if the golem was out of commission or just slightly hampered by the attack.

 

A rock exploded in front of Kagami and he staggered back and to the side, forcing himself forward again. He conjured a shield tightly around himself.

 

The wizard turned, magic rising to his fingertips like fire.

 

Kagami pulled the water from the earth below him, coating the steep, narrow pathway with liquid. He blew out a deep breath, letting it freeze over in an instant.

 

The six golems were stopped in their tracks as ice crawled up their legs. Kagami grinned and fired off six hexes that did away with them while they were trapped and immobile.

 

He turned and kept moving.

 

The sooner he made it to the top, the sooner he could rest. Kagami was in need of a good night’s sleep and a real shower after spending so long wandering around in the woods.

 

Fate definitively had different plans.

 

Kagami groaned as a giant golem rose out of the earth in front of him, forcing him to step back as the earth around him cracked and broke.

 

The golem was about four times as large as the bigger golems Kagami had left frozen in ice some ways down the path.

 

Well shit.

 

Kagami held up a shield as the giant brought down a fist on top of him. He wasn’t fast enough to stop it from swiping him to the side. Kagami caught the side of the giant’s hand right on his middle, and the breath was driven forcefully from his lungs. He didn’t have any left to shout in pain as he hit a tree and landed hard, ripping up his arms. His already injured knees burned.

 

The giant golem was coming for him.

 

Blindly, Kagami fired off curses, trying to aim without being able to see. His vision was a little hazy, and his legs were burning with the effort of supporting his own weight.

 

It was all he could do to keep running.

 

The giant closed a fist around him, picking Kagami off the path and holding on tight.

 

Kagami shouted as his injured ribs were pressed even harder.

 

He cursed the giant, gouging at where its eyes were carved into the clay. The golem roared, letting Kagami go. Kagami broke his fall with magic, thankfully landing lightly enough to avoid further injury. The golem was rampaging around, flattening the path and generally making a lot of angry noise.

 

It was going to bring more enemies to them, Kagami was pretty sure.

 

He was going to have to get his shit together.

 

The world tilted alarmingly. Kagami closed his eyes, using his magic to feel.

 

He jumped once, launching himself to the top of a nearby outcropping of rock. The giant roared again and Kagami sent a boulder flying at it from the opposite direction from where he was.

 

The giant turned on the perceived opponent, giving Kagami the chance he needed to jump, landing neatly on the branch of a tree. As the branch sprang back, Kagami took one last leap, grabbing for the giant’s neck.

 

If he couldn’t attack this thing from the outside, he would destroy it from the inside.

 

Kagami concentrated his magic in his hands before pouring it into the giant.

 

Heat and fire resonated from where his hands met the stone, burning and beginning to melt the outer layer of rock.

 

Kagami screamed from the strain as his magic was pulled out of him, trying to complete the task that he had started. He poured more and more power into the spell, determined to take down this stupid golem and get where he needed to go.

 

The golem started to glow. Heatwaves poured off of it as it glowed with the fire of Kagami’s magic.

 

Kagami roared, letting the power pour out of him as pure heat.

 

The golem started to melt.

 

The stone was turning to liquid, but it didn’t burn his hands. The golem’s head was beginning to cave in, the legs collapsing under weight they were no longer steady enough to hold.

 

The golem fell face down onto the path, beginning to melt.

 

Kagami gasped, breaking off the spell and scrambling back. The golem made a last valiant attempt to stand and attack, but it simply could not reconstitute itself enough to do so. It was actually kind of sad and pitiful, really.

 

Another spell dried the melting golem. Kagami raised his hand.

 

With a final blow, he brought his arm down, cracking the golem and the earth under it directly in half.

 

Kagami collapsed into a rock as the ground shook, settling itself. He was beginning to feel the wear of exhaustion after expending so much power to get this far.

 

The wizard heaved for breath, letting his heart rate settle and forcing his vision to stop spinning.

 

When he was sure he could keep moving, Kagami stood. He staggered forward. Step after step, he climbed up the mountain.

 

Out of nowhere, something giant, white, and furry came flying at him.

 

Kagami had the immediate and overpowering thought of _oh hell no_ and barely managed to hold up his hand before the thing was incinerated.

 

Whatever it was, he left it on the path in ashes and forced himself to keep walking.

 

As it grew later in the day Kagami found himself wondering where the rest of his opponents were. He hadn’t seen an enemy in some time and as the sun began to sink in the sky, Kagami could see that he was almost to the top of the mountain.

 

Unfortunately, it seemed as if the universe wasn’t done with him for today. Kagami braced himself as the ground shook under his feet.

 

Two giant lions emerged from the tree line.

 

Kagami groaned as he watched their red fur ruffle and shine in the light.

 

“Alright,” he said, backing up. “Alright fucking come on then, come fucking fight me!”

 

The lions roared in unison and charged.

 

Kagami jumped, using a feather light charm. He landed on the back of one of the lions.

 

Kagami jumped again, avoiding the snapping jaws of the other lion. This time he came down hard on top of one of their heads.

 

Kagami roared. He placed both hands on the soft red fur of the lion and exploded his magic down, directing a fireball directly through the head of the monster.

 

The creature didn’t even have time for a dying scream as it went down, brain matter and blood splattering everywhere.

 

Kagami jumped free, wiping thick, black blood away from his face. He desperately looked around for his second opponent. He was lucky enough to compose a shield just as it jumped at him.

 

Red fire flared where the lion hit, but the shield held.

 

The animal roared.

 

Kagami gasped for breath at the close call.

 

“You want what happened to your friend?” Kagami asked the lion rhetorically. He would rip down any barrier between him and Alex. He was done with bullshit and ready to be up this damn mountain already.

 

The lion roared again.

 

Kagami smiled and disabled the shield.

 

The lion surged forward. Kagami’s first two spells missed and he barely rolled away from the snapping jaws. His sleeve caught between the too-sharp teeth, but he cut the fabric with a quick spell before it could dislocate his arm.

 

Bleeding and ready to finish this, Kagami faced the lion.

 

Kagami charged.

 

The lion pounced forward.

 

Kagami aimed a cutting spell directly at the lion’s neck, pouring the rest of the power he had into the attack. He’d been running and fighting and running and fighting all this way, but he still had enough left to take out this ugly beast.

 

Then he could find Alex and pass out.

 

It was that thought that let Kagami hold onto consciousness as he hit the ground again. He barely felt the impact, his body growing numb as exhaustion took root.

 

The lion’s head separated from the body with a fell blow, sending it crashing into the trees as Kagami hit the dirt.

 

Kagami landed and rolled, continuing to move until a large boulder broke his path.

 

The creature hit the ground heavily sending up a cloud of dust.

 

Kagami was breathing heavily. He was covered in mud and a whole lot of fluids he didn’t want to think about. He probably stank to high hell and was tired as shit.

 

On guard, he stalked up the last few yards of the trail, keeping himself moving pretty much on pure momentum and nothing else.

 

There were still lines of fire glowing around him as he broke onto level ground, standing at the edge of the mesa and what looked like it had once been an old town square for a society long dead.

 

There was a blonde woman giving directions in fluent Chinese to a couple of younger students, seemingly supervising the excavation of the ruins around them.

 

“Oi!” Kagami shouted, his hoarse voice drawing quite a lot of attention. He supposed he probably looked like he was insane, standing here with his hair askew, body covered in grime and blood, and his magic gathered around him ready for war.

 

The blonde looked up. Her hair was tied back into a knot and her face and arms were covered in dirt and soot, but that face was unmistakable.

 

He had finally found his mentor.

 

Alex smiled and waved at Kagami.

 

“I have been looking for you everywhere,” Kagami shouted at the blonde witch.

 

He wavered unsteadily on his feet for a moment and then he was out cold.

 

When Kagami woke, the smiling face of his old mentor was hovering over him. She had a pair of knitting needles in her lap and had clearly been working on some kind of… misshapen something, anyway.

 

Kagami blinked away the cobwebs in his brain and sat up. That was a mistake as the entire room began spinning all around him. Kagami groaned, holding onto his head.

 

“I hate you so much,” he said. “What the hell, Alex!”

 

“Well, it took you long enough!” Alex said brightly.

 

Kagami snorted as the world righted itself around him.

 

“You are a goddamn bitch of a woman,” Kagami growled. “You did this to me on purpose!”

 

Alex just grinned cheerfully right back at her new apprentice.

 

“If you weren’t strong enough to find me, you wouldn’t be worth my time,” Alex said. “This was the most fun way of figuring that out from the start. But really, did you just hop off into the woods without supplies or anything? That was pretty reckless.”

 

Kagami glared at Alex without saying a word. It wasn’t like he’d had a choice about falling into the river, and he wasn’t going to admit to having lost almost everything he brought with him.

 

“Well?” Kagami demanded, his arms thrown wide. “Did I pass or not?”

 

“You’re here, aren’t you?” Alex asked. “If you couldn’t pass, you’d have been dead a long time ago. So let’s get started already.”

 

“Fucking finally,” Kagami heaved a sigh of relief and followed his teacher. “Where do we start?”

 

…

 

Alexandra Garcia was a demanding taskmaster and a sadist of the highest degree. Training with her was nothing short of brutal.

 

“You want to embrace the part of your magic that you’ve given up on,” she’d said, sounding amused when Kagami admitted that he was hoping to refine his use of the Berserker magic that was his birthright.

 

“It’s my father’s as much as my mother’s,” Kagami said uncomfortably. “He’s probably the reason why I still got it even when it’s so rare in both lines.”

 

Alex laughed.

 

“The gods were laughing the day you were born,” she said, when she finally calmed down. “Conquistador and Native magic coming together in the same bloodline? All of your ancestors must be turning in their graves.”

 

“Don’t remind me,” Kagami said roughly. “It just meant I never belonged anywhere.”

 

Alex put a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Well, I think I can tell you something that will make you feel better,” She said. “You are more your father’s son than your mother’s.”

 

Kagami’s head snapped up.

 

“How do you know?” he asked.

 

Alex smiled slyly and patted him on the head.

 

“Berserker state first, everything else comes after,” she said. “You still have plenty to learn about runes in the meantime and I have a few more tricks you could learn from me.”

 

That was Alex code for “I’m giving you homework” and Kagami wasn’t thrilled about that.

However, he recognized that it was necessary if he was going to get any stronger. He wanted to beat Aomine with Kuroko and he wasn’t going to slack on anything that would help him do that.

 

Even homework.

 

The mere thought made him cringe.

 

…

 

Kagami shouted, lunging to the side to avoid an explosive ball of green thunder. The magic harmlessly exploded into a rock behind him.

 

“STOP DODGING!” Alex roared.

 

“I’m sure as hell not just gonna stand still and let you hit me!” Kagami shouted back, panicked as he scrambled to his feet only to avoid yet another magical projectile.

 

“A berserker doesn’t need to flee his enemies!” Alex told him for what felt like the millionth time.

Alex had set Kagami up doing almost exactly what Riko had him doing for training. Kagami complained as his new master set up targets along a five-mile course up and down the mountain and forced him to run it again and again.

 

He was dripping with sweat and ready to drop almost every day when Alex would shove a textbook about rune traps and fire spells under his nose and tell him to read.

 

Kagami forced himself to pay attention – helped in part by Alex, who would send stinging hexes at him until he focused.

 

“What the hell!” Kagami complained regularly.

 

“You need to build up your body and magic if you’re going to support the Berserker state,” Alex reminded him critically.

 

Kagami found himself wishing for the days when he would only run obstacle courses when Alex set him to meditation exercises.

 

“You lack patience,” she snapped at him as he shuffled about, unable to keep still. He wasn’t built for sitting still for long periods of time. He tended to fidget for hours on end or just fall asleep.

 

“You must become one with yourself,” Alex continued crossly.

 

“What the fuck does that even mean?” Kagami demanded angrily. “There’s only one of me!”

 

Kagami gestured angrily to himself, as if to illustrate the obvious point that he was, physically, in one piece.

 

“We can try another way,” Alex decided critically. “But you’re going to like it a lot less.”

 

“I can’t like anything less than whatever crap meditation that was,” Kagami replied.

 

He thought he was right about that, until Alex set him on his current path of practice.

 

She would curse him, repeatedly, trying to provoke the Berserker state. However, unlike when he had been standing in front of Midorima with a stupid Miracle’s face right there for him to punch, or in fury at Riko, Kagami couldn’t bring himself back to the place he had unlocked twice before.

 

No matter how many times he let himself visualize punching Aomine in the face, nothing happened.

 

“This is crap,” Kagami muttered, gritting his teeth as Alex cursed him again.

 

“You want to beat the Miracles or you wanna complain?” Alex demanded. “Go do twenty laps around the campsite and then come back. We’ll work on something else for the night.”

 

Kagami sighed in relief and took off running.

 

In fairness to Alex’s training, Kagami was in the best shape of his entire life. Physically, he was more than a match for anyone who might try to take him on. Unlike other wizards, his magic was tied to his physical health and fitness. The true extent of his power was written in the lines of strong muscle he had built up in order to sustain the berserker state.

 

If only he could get into it.

 

…

 

When Kagami made it back to the campsite, it was already sunset. Kagami joined his mentor by the fire, where she was plating out two large bowls of rice and meat.

 

“If meditation and provocation can’t bring out the berserker state, there’s another way to get in touch with your inner self,” Alex commented, handing him the food. “I want you to cast your patronus.”

 

Kagami nodded sharply, inhaling the rest of the food.

 

After dinner, Alex retreated with her pupil behind the tents set up for the wizards working on the dig.

 

“Let’s see what you’ve got for me,” Alex said grimly. Kagami nodded, raising hand.

 

“ _Expecto Patronum!”_

 

The large cat burst out of the focus around his wrist with a majestic roar. It took shape on the ground in front of them. The lion glowed softly in the night, its gaze drawn to its master.

 

Kagami glared at the guardian, his mouth set in an angry line.

 

“A corporeal Patronus is no mean feat,” Alex said, running a hand over the soft mane of the lion. It shook its head, ruffling the silvery fur of its mane.

 

“You don’t look pleased,” Alex observed.

 

“Why should I be?” Kagami asked.

 

Alex left the lion and walked up to her apprentice.

 

“You are not your parents,” She told him. “You are not your father, you are not your mother. You are neither of the lines from which you come. You are your own person. Whatever gifts you may have inherited by right of blood, your choices are what make you who you are.”

 

Kagami didn’t look convinced.

 

“What are you talking about, damn it!”

 

Alex patted her apprentice on the head.

 

“You’ve always been torn so many ways,” she said. “You live in so many worlds and that is a good thing.”

 

“Then why is my Patronus a lion?” Kagami asked. “The conquerors of Spain wore them on their crests when they invaded the land of my people. It’s an insult.”

 

Alex sighed.

 

“I don’t know what to say,” she told him. “Only that a man’s Patronus may change, while the core of who he is may stay the same. I know who you are. It is time that you decided that you do as well. You will never access the Berserker state of your own will if you remain this conflicted.”

 

Kagami was left standing by the glowing lion as Alex turned away.

 

“Decide who you are going to be,” she told him. “And when you are ready, we’ll try again.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?” Kagami demanded angrily.

 

“That I refuse to teach you until you have resolved your inner turmoil,” Alex said. “Go take a walk in the woods or something. Come back when you are ready to fight with the single-minded determination I know you have.”

 

“I’m ready now!”

 

Alex just kept walking.

 

“You’re not,” she said, not looking back. “And next time you challenge me, if you are not prepared to fight with everything you have inside you, I’m sending you back home.”

 

Kagami swore wildly as his mentor left him behind.

 

“Resolve my inner turmoil my ass,” Kagami told the lion angrily. The lion growled back at him, and Kagami rolled his eyes. He let the guardian dissolve into silvery mist until the next time he had use of it.

 

Kagami kicked at a rock under him.

 

What the fuck did Alex even mean? Kagami didn’t have any inner turmoil or whatever. He was a pretty simple guy, all things said and done. He didn’t have any of that complicated angst.

 

Pissed off and confused, Kagami decided he would follow Alex’s advice and take a walk. If nothing else, it would help him control his overwhelming levels of aggravation.

 

All he knew was that he couldn’t waste any more time.

 

He didn’t know what day it was, or how much time he had left before he needed to go back home to compete in the Winter Cup. All he knew was that time was a precious commodity, one he could not afford to waste.

 

Alex told him to resolve his inner turmoil. He had no idea what that meant, or how to do that. He would always resent his mother and her family and the way they had just dismissed Kagami and his father because they weren’t seen as good enough.

 

Kagami resented his Berserker magic being a political tool. His mother wanted him to lead their family because he had the lion of her crest in his blood. His father was just happy that Kagami had been born into the world, but by virtue of who his mother was, Kagami had never truly belonged in his father’s world either.

 

There was no changing the facts. There was no changing history or repairing that broken bond. Kagami did not think he had it in him to forgive. His mother had chosen her legacy and her own ambitions over the love she had shared with his father. Knowing where he lay in her list of priorities had always made Kagami uncomfortable.

 

But there was one thing that Kagami could believe with his entire being.

 

If he didn’t embrace who he was, he would never beat Aomine. He would never fulfill the promise he had made to Kuroko.

 

Kagami sat down, looking up at the stars.

 

_Who was he?_

 

“Well you’re a piss poor Berserker, for starters. In my day you’d have been eaten alive by a bobcat before you managed to get your head out of the clouds.”

 

Kagami whirled around.

 

“Who the hell are you?” he demanded, getting to his feet.

 

The man standing at the other end of the clearing had bright gold eyes. His skin was dark and, upon closer inspection, appeared to be covered in what looked like a very fine fur. His hair was dark and messy.

 

“Hello, Kagami Taiga,” he said.

 

“Who are you?” Kagami repeated, angry and wary of the stranger.

 

The man grinned.

 

“I know you’ve never been terribly clever, but I’d like to think that even one of my own children could recognize me. We are both quite far from home, though.”

 

“What?”

 

“Surely you’ve seen my messengers?” the man asked. “They’ve been following you your entire life, watching out for you.”

 

Kagami was back on guard in an instant. Whatever this creature was, he didn’t like the idea of being followed or whatever.

 

The creature chuckled.

 

“Though I won’t deny, I was more amused than anything by your reaction to my friends,” he added.

 

“What are you talking about?” Kagami demanded.

 

There was a bark from the forest behind him. Kagami tensed as a pack of dogs came trotting out of the trees, forming a loose circle around them. Where they walked, Kagami could see the faint shine of red fire.

 

“YOU!” he shouted.

 

“Yes, it was me,” the creature agreed pleasantly. “You certainly are as thickheaded as your Berserker ancestors, it seems.”

 

Kagami glowered.

 

“Who are you?” he demanded.

 

The creature sighed.

 

It spread its arms, hands fully open.

 

“You should have been able to recognize me by now,” he said. “I am Coyote.”

 

Kagami snorted.

 

“Pull the other one.”

 

Coyote smirked.

 

In a puff of gold smoke, he vanished, appearing again as a dog much like the pack that was circling around them.

 

Kagami flinched, scooting back. The coyote laughed, yipping loudly, before vanishing in another puff of gold smoke.

 

The man reappeared.

 

“ _You’re_ Coyote?” Kagami asked again. He was frozen, unsure what to do or say.

 

“Yeah,” Coyote said. “I’m not gonna lie, one of my chief sources of entertainment has been watching you run from my messengers all these years.”

 

Kagami glared back.

 

“You’re a real dick,” he said. The creature shrugged.

 

“I’m only here because you need my help,” he said. “And you’re playing a pretty big prank on the world yourself.”

 

Kagami frowned.

 

“What prank?” he asked.

 

“Oh, you’re going to set the world on it’s head and watch chaos reign,” Coyote said. “It’s going to be such good fun and you’re going to be just the messenger I need to do it.”

 

Coyote clapped his hands in abject delight. Kagami felt cautious. He knew he was being played, but he couldn’t put his finger on exactly where or how.

 

“What’s the catch?”

 

“Oh, no catch,” Coyote said, sounding amused. “I just want you to succeed in doing what you were already planning to do – access your Berserker state and tear down those who would oppose you.”

 

“How do I do that?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Your mentor is right, to a point,” Coyote said. “To give up the control you have to the rage of a Berserker, you must have singular focus and intent. You must be able to see through every obstacle in your path, to the direct point of your ambition. You have to know what you want.”

 

“What the hell does that mean?” Kagami asked.

 

Coyote sighed.

 

“It’s like talking to a brick wall,” he complained to the sky. The dogs around them (Kagami was beginning to suspect they were coyotes as well), yipped in what sounded suspiciously like malicious laughter at his expense.

 

“You’re not making this easy for me,” Kagami complained loudly.

 

Coyote shrugged.

 

“You’ve got to focus less on what divides you,” he said finally. “Settle who you are and take what you want. Make a way, the straightest possible line to your goal, and focus only on the road ahead. That is what it means to be a Berserker.”

 

Kagami opened his mouth to argue, but then Coyote went up in a puff of gold smoke.

 

The dogs around him followed suit.

 

Soon, Kagami was left alone in the dark clearing again, without any more answers than he’d had a minute ago and significantly more questions.

 

_Settle who you are and then take what you want._

 

Who was he?

 

He was the son of two warring bloodlines, the stranger everywhere with no home anywhere. He was a refugee from his home country. He was a warrior and a Gryffindor.

 

He believed in freedom and he believed in hope.

 

He was a simple man with mostly simple needs, who believed that the straightest path forward was best, whatever obstacles lay between him and his goal. The crazier the goal, the better the opportunity for him to grow and show his strength. In part, it was that fundamental piece of his personality that had set him on a path to defeat the Generation of Miracles.

 

He was Kuroko’s friend and boyfriend. If Kuroko asked, Kagami would find a way to give him the sun. But all Kuroko had ever asked that Kagami stand by his side and be his light.

 

And Kagami would do that.

 

He was the light to Kuroko’s shadow, and he would burn as brightly as he had to in order to help Kuroko bring down the men who had betrayed him.

 

That was enough. As long as Kagami was more focused on his goal than his distractions, he would be able to find his Berserker state.

 

At least he hoped so, because he wasn’t going to get any more “at peace” or whatever than he already was. He could wait a month or a few hours, but nothing would change.

 

He would not change. Kagami was who he was and no amount of meditation or training would alter the fundamental characteristics that made him the person that he was, written deeper than his skin, deeper than his bones, deeper than his very DNA.

 

No, Kagami wouldn’t change. But he could see something else just as clearly:

 

He didn’t need to.

 

Kagami didn’t need to compromise who he was in order to access his Berserker state. He was already exactly everything he needed to be to do that. He would challenge Alex tomorrow.

 

…

 

The sun was only just peeking over the horizon when Kagami returned to the dig’s base camp.

 

Alex shielded her eyes against the rays of the sun with her hand and waved at her apprentice as she saw him approach.

 

“Are you ready to fight me?”

 

Kagami nodded.

 

“That’s right,” he said. “I’m going to beat you this time!”

 

Alex’s grin was wide.

 

“Then prove it!” she said, stepping forward to keep their fight away from her archeological treasures. “Show me what you’ve got!”

 

Kagami grinned, dropping into a fighting stance.

 

He wasn’t going to run. He would face this challenge head on, just as he had done with the Miracles, as he had done with Kuroko, and with every other fight he’d had in his life.

 

The straightest past forward was the best one, no matter what obstacles stood in his way.

 

Kagami felt an odd calm settle around him as he accepted this.

 

He just hoped it would be enough.

 

Alex seemed to sense that something was different, because she was grinning.

 

Then, without warning and without pause she threw a ball of green fire at him.

 

Kagami braced himself and held his ground.

 

The explosion hit.

 

Kagami grunted at the blunt force of power, but he did not move. His shield held, even as the spell destroyed the area around him and sent dust flying into the air.

 

When the air cleared, Alex was no longer smiling. Her face was serious, absorbed in the duel.

 

“Fight me!” She roared.

 

Kagami was more than happy to oblige her. He sent spell after spell towards his mentor, who cast them away as though they were nothing more than flies.

 

“You know what you have to do to beat me!” Alex shouted, sending another explosive spell at Kagami.

 

Kagami jumped, using magic to augment his movements. He managed to avoid the blunt force of the spell. He felt his legs grow hot as he hit the apex of his jump and grabbed onto a tall branch. With a forceful movement, he swung himself up into the tree.

 

Kagami was sent jumping again not a second later as another powerful spell targeted him in the trees.

 

Kagami jumped from branch to branch, trying to use the leaves as some sort of cover to come up with another angle of attack. Alex was fast and she wasn’t going to give him any ground from which to mount a counter attack.

 

This was the woman who had taken the American competitive dueling arenas by storm, one of the most powerful witches in the world.

 

In another era, she might have been the most powerful magical person in the world, period.

 

Mentally, Kagami wondered how Alex would fare if she were to face off against any of the Miracles.

 

Kagami wiped the sweat off his head, grinning.

 

This was going to be a tough fight.

 

“A Berserker doesn’t run or find a clever solution!” Alex shouted, far below him on the ground. “A Berserker cuts down every enemy in his path. Now face me, Kagami Taiga! Show me what you’ve got!”

 

Kagami felt that challenge in his blood, the answering thrum in his magic that was itching to reach out of his skin. He felt too small for the skin and bones that contained him and his vision was narrowed to the singular goal of taking down his enemy.

 

Black and white. There were those to protect and those to destroy and right now, Alex was one to be destroyed.

 

Kagami jumped off the roof of the building and landed in the middle of the street, the ground fracturing where he landed.

 

Kagami straightened up.

 

He was more still than he had been when Alex started attacking him. He was calm, but every movement thrummed with magical energy. Alex was grinning.

 

“Come on Taiga, come test your strength against mine,” she challenged him. “Unless you think you’re going to lose.”

 

Alex attacked without waiting for Kagami to respond, but Kagami threw off the attack.

 

“Still shielding yourself?” Alex taunted him. “You can do better!”

 

In that moment, something inside of Kagami flatlined.

 

He wasn’t thinking. His vision narrowed down to a single target. He could feel his blood thrumming in every vein of his body. He could feel the air swirling through his lungs, the rough ground below his feet. The only thing he could hear was the rush of his pulse and the pounding, throbbing beat of his heart.

 

There was nothing but this moment, this second. There was nothing but his target and the need to absolutely annihilate it. Whatever injury, whatever obstacle, he would bring down the witch challenging him.

 

Kagami roared, and his vision went red.

 

He ran at Alex.

 

The witch was shielding herself, but Kagami burst through the shield without problem, feeling it tear at the edges as he cut through it.

 

He could see where she was weakest, the pieces of her shield that were slightly less strong, the places where his blows would land with the highest amount of force.

 

Instinctively, he narrowed down on the single target waiting to be struck. Time seemed to slow down as he charged.

 

Alex was sending curses at him. Kagami was only vaguely aware of the flashes of bright light around him. He couldn’t be bothered to shield himself against them.

 

Alex dodged, running from the Berserker in full rage, but Kagami kept up the pursuit. He sent wave after wave of fire at the witch, overwhelming her defenses. She was on the run and Kagami would destroy his prey.

 

Kagami charged.

 

Alex turned to stand and fight. She threw curse after curse at Kagami.

 

If they hit, he couldn’t feel them. If they missed, he wouldn’t know.

 

All he knew was that one moment he was moving and the next he was standing over Alex.

 

His master was on the ground, hands raised in surrender.

 

She was disheveled and bleeding, her hair a dirty mess behind her. Despite her appearance, her eyes burned in victory and she was smiling.

 

Kagami was standing over her, breathing hard, glowing with red fire. He could feel the power reaching deep into his magical core, protecting him and pushing him onward and forward.

 

“WELL DONE!” Alex roared. “Remember this. This is your magic, this is your birthright!”

 

Kagami breathed deeply, registering how he felt in this moment. This was the purest expression of his magic. He had never been in his Berserker state for this long before and it was exhilarating.

 

“Now just breathe with me,” Alex said. “We’re gonna talk you out of this before you drain up the rest of your magic on the first go.”

 

She kept talking to him, her gentle voice calming the spread of his fire until Kagami could feel his own mind returning to him again.

 

He fell to his knees, his own magic no longer keeping him upright. Alex let him collapse, smiling sympathetically at her apprentice.

 

“I’m proud of you,” she told him. She raised her hand and summoned her wand to her from where it had been thrown. It came flying through the trees, landing securely in her palm.

 

“How do you feel?” Alex asked when she could see the flames around Kagami die down entirely. The young man was fully returned to his normal state of vulnerability. Remembering how many times she’d landed curses on the wizard, Alex would be surprised if he wasn’t in a world of pain at the moment.

 

“I hurt everywhere,” Kagami groaned, not moving.

 

“Yeah, taking about five overpowered stunning spells will do that to you,” Alex said lightly.

 

“You couldn’t have taken it easier on me?” Kagami whined.

 

“If I did, you wouldn’t learn,” Alex said. “Do you remember what you felt like, slipping into the Berserker state?”

 

Kagami pushed himself up into a sitting position. Every movement made his body hurt.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “I remember.”

 

He didn’t know how to describe the state he had been in a few moments ago, but he could remember that single-minded determination keenly.

 

“Good,” Alex said, still catching her breath. “That’s really good, but it’s only the first step.”

 

“What’s the next one then?” Kagami asked.

 

“Think you can do it again?” Alex asked. Kagami groaned, falling back into the dust.

 

“No fucking way,” he said in disbelief.

 

“Alright, mighty warrior, whatever you say,” Alex grinned. “Get up.”

 

Against his will, better judgment, and sense, to the extent that he had any of the above, Kagami followed his master’s orders.

 

It was going to be a long day.

 

…

 

The weather turned bitterly cold very quickly. Kagami’s internal monologue was a near constant stream of curses against the frigid temperatures.

 

Hogwarts had been one thing, but this was quite another entirely. Kagami swore that if the political situation in his home country ever cleared up, he was permanently moving back to Los Angeles.

 

He missed weather that wasn’t trying to kill him.

 

He missed Kuroko too.

 

Kagami worked hard. He tried to lose himself in his training, in forcing control over his Berserker state and learning new explosive tricks he could turn against their enemies.

 

He was determined. He Gryffindor would fight the entire world for Kuroko’s sake, if he had to. Whatever battles he had to win, he would find a way.

 

And then one day, Kagami woke to two feet of snow and his mentors manic grin as she peered into his tent.

 

“Get up, you lazy bastard!” she shouted cheerfully into his tent. “It’s time to get you back home, or you’ll miss the Winter Cup!”

 

Kagami’s heart skipped a beat.

 

The Winter Cup was finally here.

 

The wizard smiled widely.

 

“About time, you slave driving jerk!” he shouted back, jumping up and scrambling to find a pair of pants in the mess of his tent. “You should have said something earlier!”

 

_Kuroko, I’ll be home soon._

 

…

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta-da! Happy thursday folks! <3 We're one step closer!
> 
> It's been a while since I plugged my Tumblr but if you want to see the stuff I do over there [you can check me out here!](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) I sometimes post extra content and reblog fanart. You can find my stuff for this fic under #600korbust, and there's a link to that tag in my blog description.


	44. Oikawa Is The World’s Biggest Hoe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the late posting for anyone whose been waiting for the next chapter. This is one of my busiest days and it's been keeping me running since I got up. On another note, this chapter actually has one of the first scenes I ever wrote for this fan fiction, and is definitely one of my favorites. I hope y'all enjoy it too. Come say hi in the comments or [on tumblr!](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com)
> 
> Also hey guys! We're two days away from the ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY of this fanfiction. As it turns out in a year I have written over 430k in a year. I am... shocked and awed. And the response to this story has ben overwhelming in so many ways. Thanks for hanging with us for a whole year - we're heading straight to the top from here!

…

 

While they were training and waiting for summer to be over, it had seemed that time was passing like molasses – infuriatingly slowly and without any real progress being made. Every day that Kagami spent overseas felt like it lasted three, or maybe ten. 

 

Kuroko trained every day with Aida Kagetora, who was mostly used as a practice dummy to see if Kuroko’s theories panned out or not. Kuroko's dueling style had been built on experimentation and trial by error and he continued to develop it in the same way.

 

He took a smug kind of pride in knowing that even Momoi couldn’t foresee the future developments of his style. Nobody knew the full extent of his magic, not even Kuroko himself, and he was going to use that to his advantage. None of the Miracles would have any idea what to expect when they saw him next on the court.

 

But even when the days were full of work and his evenings spent at a part time job at the apothecary in Diagon Alley, Kuroko felt like time was dripping by all too slowly.

 

As the Winter Cup drew closer and no word came from Kagami, however, time seemed to collapse on itself. Kuroko felt like he blinked in August and then suddenly they were here. It was the day before their first round, standing in the arena in which the Winter Cup would be held, waiting for the opening ceremonies to begin.

 

And Kagami still wasn’t there.

 

Kuroko was terrified of what would happen if he ended up having to face Aomine without Kagami by his side. If that happened, fate really would repeat itself and there would be no hope for them. While he respected his mentors and his former classmates that he was competing with, Kuroko knew that only Kagami could really hold a handle to the sheer power of one of the Generation of Miracles.

 

For their part, Kuroko’s teammates seemed more awed by the setting than anything else, which added to the stress.

 

“I can’t believe we’re really here,” Furihata said reverently.

 

“This is so cool,” Tsuchida said. “These really are the big leagues.”

 

“Come on everyone, stay focused!” Riko yelled. “There will be plenty of time for you to waste staring at stuff later.”

 

The dueling arena was huge. It was bigger than any stadium Kuroko had ever seen and the bleachers rose even higher into the air around them.

 

The Winter Cup was probably the only major national dueling tournament that existed outside of school environments. Dueling was a fairly esoteric sport, as magical hobbies went. Excitement over the subject had surged with the appearance of the Generation of Miracles – wizards with flashy, exciting styles that made people want to come watch, but before that the sport was only slightly more commonly watched than the national Gobstones tournament. 

 

As a result, this was not only going to be the largest field of competition the Winter Cup had had in a long time, it also boosted record high levels of attendance. Bets soared on who would take the lead, with Akashi’s Rakuzan team being the odds on favorite. Kuroko knew he should have expected that, but it still grated on his last nerve.

 

Even though he knew he probably should have been offended by it, Kuroko was gratified by the fact that Seirin sat dead last and anonymously placed a ten-galleon bet on his own team. It felt like good luck, to place his faith in their chances even when nobody else thought that they would be able to win. It felt like good luck that nobody else seemed to think they had a ghost of a chance.

 

He wondered what Kagami would think of the odds that Seirin had been given. He would probably have been really angry at being underestimated, Kuroko thought. Aside from the Generation of Miracles and their teams – most of which Kuroko suspected would be very similar to the teams they had competed against in school – there were twenty one other teams in the league. A few were regulars who showed up to hurl curses at each other every year, but the vast majority were new teams looking for a second bite at the Generation of Miracles.

 

Most of them were people that the Seirin team or Kuroko had faced in one capacity or another while they were in Hogwarts together. In terms of pure power, Kuroko actually thought Seirin came out closer to the middle of the pack given the combination of their individual strengths. Strategy and creativity would have to make up the rest of the way to the top.

 

It was going to be an amazing tournament.

 

Kuroko’s blood was on fire with the knowledge that once again, they were going to face a hugely competitive field. This was the kind of challenge that Akashi and Momoi had so successfully dangled right in front of him when he was fourteen, the one he would have killed for a shot at before he knew it was his for the taking.

 

Kuroko was going to beat sense into his former teammates with his wand and then he was going to deck each of them in the face.

 

This was his chance to make everything right.

 

Of course, all of Kuroko’s lofty and ambitious goals were going to burn to ashes right in front of his eyes if Kagami didn’t show up.

 

Kuroko had not been concerned when he hadn’t heard from Kagami even as late as the night before the tournament. After all, he had faith that his light would come and he doubted that the redhead would be able to quickly and reliably send word to Kuroko from so far away. So no news of Kagami one way or the other was not necessarily bad news.

 

But now, with their first round happening tomorrow, Kuroko was feeling the strain in his faith.

 

Standing in the arena for the opening ceremony of the most important dueling competition he would ever partake in, Kuroko wanted his light. The opening ceremony came and went and the teams were sent home to get a night of rest before they started to beat each other into oblivion.

 

Kuroko tried as hard as he could not to worry about where Kagami might be.

 

Kagami would be there. He’d promised.

 

…

 

The morning of their first round came and yet there was still no sign of Kagami.

 

Kuroko allowed himself the first stirrings of concern.

 

His light was sure making him worry.

 

What if something had happened? What if Kagami had gotten hurt in China and hadn’t been able to make it back? What if he was lying dead in a ditch somewhere and nobody had known? What if he was praying for the return of someone who would never come home?

 

Kuroko forced these thoughts back from whence they came. He believed in Kagami. He believed in his light.

 

No matter what obstacles faced Kagami abroad, the redhead wizard would always come home to Kuroko. Kuroko believed that with the same ferocity and surety as he believed that the sun would rise in the East and that the sky was blue and that water was wet. It was the unrelenting truth of the universe.

 

Seirin’s captain did not share Kuroko’s implacable faith.

 

“Where the hell is that idiot?” Hyuuga raged to the assembled team.

 

“Now now, Captain, don’t you think that’s a little harsh?” Kiyoshi asked, placing a hand on Hyuuga’s shoulder in an attempt to calm down the angry man.

 

“Like hell!” Hyuuga shouted. “That bastard better show up. Because if he doesn’t, and I find out he just forgot what day the tournament was, I’ll kill him myself!”

 

“Man it really doesn’t sound like you missed me at all,” Kagami commented.

 

Hyuuga froze mid-rant and whirled around.

 

“Kagami!” the assembled team of wizards shouted in unison, mobbing the redhead. “You made it back!

 

“Of course,” Kagami laughed, holding the team at bay. “I just got in like an hour ago and I show up here to such a chilly reception!”

 

“You idiot, this is cutting it way too close!” Hyuuga yelled, rearing back. Kagami just kept smiling.

 

“Couldn’t be helped, Captain,” he said.

 

“You giving us a heart attack better have been worth it!” Riko shouted. “Or I’ll put you in the Boston Crab Hold for a week!”

 

Kagami laughed it off, his eyes scanning the assembled wizards.

 

“Hey, where’s-”

 

“Hello, Kagami.”

 

Kagami started in surprise, but his face melted into a wide smile as he saw Kuroko right in front of him.

 

Without warning, Kuroko lunged forward, wrapping his arms tightly around Kagami’s middle.

 

“I missed you,” Kuroko said into his light’s shirt. “I was so worried.”

 

“I didn’t mean to make you worry,” Kagami said apologetically. “I’m sorry. Alex kept me running the whole time.”

 

“What about making _us_ worry!” Hyuuga shouted, but Kiyoshi pulled him away.

 

“Captain, let them be,” he said, steering the other wizard with a large hand on his back. “They’re in a world of their own right now, anything you say to him isn’t going to get heard.”

 

Hyuuga sniffed, but let himself be dragged away from the two wizards reuniting. Slowly, the team dispersed, giving them their privacy.

 

“It’s good to see you,” Kagami said. “I missed you every day.”

 

Kuroko looked up at his light.

 

“Now it’s Kagami saying such embarrassing things,” he said seriously. “I’ve had a bad influence on you.”

 

“You’ve had a great influence on me,” Kagami said and kissed Kuroko.

 

When they finally broke apart, their entire team had moved off into a circle of their own, discussing the scheduling for the next few days.

 

“So we’re hitting Aomine in a few hours,” Kagami said, brushing his hair back. Kuroko found that the redhead had let his hair get a lot longer while he was in China. He also found that he liked it.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said. “It should be an amazing duel.”

 

With Kagami now certainly standing by their side, Kuroko was liking their chances. Even just by standing next to Kagami, Kuroko could tell that the wizard had grown stronger, sharper somehow, like he was far more in touch with his magic.

 

It was a depth of connection that only the Miracles could have boasted about as much as a year ago.

 

“Damn right,” Kagami said with a grin. “This is going to be one for the ages. I can’t wait to kick that smug bastard’s ass into next week.”

 

Kuroko laughed, a chuckle bubbling out of his mouth before he could help himself. Kagami looked surprised, but pleased, at having elicited such a reaction from the normally stoic phantom.

 

“Are you really ready?” Kuroko asked seriously. “This is going to be one of the hardest duels we have in the tournament.”

 

Kagami scoffed.

 

“I was born ready to face that bastard,” he said. “This is just the universe giving me a second chance to smash in his smug face.”

 

After that, they rejoined their team as Riko dictated their plans for the day. They only had one round today, which would be a relief. If they managed to edge out a win against Aomine and the powerful wizards on Touou’s team, they would be exhausted.

 

Kuroko was distracted by the conversation surrounding their team planning once again by the sound of paper shuffling. Kuroko looked up, trying to identify the source of the sound. He found it flapping in the air high above their heads.

 

A folded origami bird was flying towards their huddled group. Kuroko watched curiously as it sought him out, flying directly for him.

 

Kuroko reached out his hand and sure enough, the paper bird landed directly in his palm, looking up at him. Kuroko patted it with his free hand.

 

It fell still at Kuroko’s touch. Slowly, Kuroko pulled open the folds to reveal the neat scrawl inside.

 

He read the contents quickly and looked up. His face was unreadable, but there were clear lines of tension in his shoulders.

 

Kuroko tugged on Kagami’s sleeve, drawing his attention from exchanging jokes with Izuki.

 

“What’s up?” Kagami asked. Kuroko shoved the paper into Kagami’s hand. The redhead wizard quickly scanned the paper and looked up, his eyebrows knitted together in anger and confusion.

 

“Akashi is summoning me,” Kuroko said quietly.

 

“Are you going to go?”

 

Kuroko frowned at the missive in Kagami’s hands. He shouldn’t. He should just stay with his team and avoid further contact with the former captain of the Generation of Miracles. That was the smart thing to do.

 

He wasn’t one hundred percent confident that if he saw Akashi right now, he wouldn’t just deck him directly in the face for what the other man had done to Ogiwara. And given the fact that doing so would have extremely negative consequences that they did not have time to deal with before they had to be dueling Aomine, Kuroko should do the smart thing and walk away.

 

“This is the Winter Cup,” Kuroko reasoned, instead of making a smart decision. “It’s not like he could just attack me here, right?”

 

It was Kagami’s turn to frown. Even he knew that this was a bad idea.

 

“I want to come with you, just in case.”

 

“Kagami, what on Earth do you think you could do if Akashi does decide to attack me?” Kuroko asked, deadpan.

 

( _Hadn’t he said nearly exactly the same thing to Aomine the first time the Gryffindor had offered to defend him against Akashi’s wrath?_

 

_In one way or another, his Lights had been protecting him from the consequences of his decisions for a long time already. It was time for Kuroko to take responsibility for himself.)_

 

“You’ve fought Aomine, Kise, and Midorima before,” Kuroko blazed through the feeling of déjà vu. “You have been somewhat successful against each of them. But fighting all of the Generation of Miracles together? You wouldn’t stand a chance, not even now. How have you not gotten that?”

 

Kagami sputtered indignantly, but Kuroko stood, putting the letter in his pocket.

 

“I’ll be back in twenty minutes,” he said. “If I’m not, _then_ you can bring the cavalry, okay?”

 

The look on Kagami's promised destruction, but he nodded tersely.

 

“Okay,” he said. “Twenty minutes. That’s it. And then I’m coming after you.”

 

Kuroko nodded in agreement. He pecked Kagami on the cheek, to thank him for going along with what Kuroko had asked, and headed out towards the doors of the gym.

 

Kuroko hoped to god he was right, and that his former captain really wouldn’t try anything. If Akashi interfered with Kuroko’s last opportunity to face down his former teammates in the arena, Kuroko was positive that nothing could stop him from trying to attack the other wizard, consequences be damned.

 

…

 

Kuroko found his former team easily, gathered by the marble steps leading up to the side entrance of the dueling arena. Kise was leaning against a banister, face turned up towards the sun. He looked like an angel from an old painting, caught mid pose.

 

Midorima’s scowl was Kise’s inverse. He was leaning opposite Kise, against the low wall that ran next to the steps. He looked taller and more filled out than Kuroko had last seen him, like he’d put on quite a bit of muscle.

 

Murasakibara was flat on his back on top of the wall, directly behind the rune master. There was a bag of chips balanced precariously on his chest and Kuroko could hear a crunch as the huge wizard dropped another chip in his mouth and chewed. He seemed to have gotten taller too, though Kuroko could hardly accurately estimate that from this angle.

 

Aomine was standing near the top of the steps, his face unreadable as Kuroko walked towards the group.

 

“Tetsu,” Aomine said flatly once Kuroko was in hearing distance. “It’s good to see you.”

 

Kuroko nodded to the other boy, acknowledging his comment. He hid the rage that simmered just under the surface, ready to boil over at a second’s provocation.

 

Aomine’s betrayal had hurt him the most.

 

“Kurrokocchi! You came!”

 

Kise had heard Aomine’s greeting and opened his eyes to see the phantom member of the Generation of Miracles, a wide smile spread across his face. Kise was however prevented from any further reaction by the arrival of their final member.

 

“Ryouta. Daiki. Atsushi. Shintarou. And Tetsuya. It is good to see you all.”

 

Kuroko had forgotten in such a short time how overwhelming his former captain’s presence could be. It hit him like a cannon to the gut; the breathtaking, overwhelming power of the other wizard’s aura.

 

It was all Kuroko could do to remain standing.

 

Had Akashi gotten even _more_ powerful since the last time he had seen him? Or had Kuroko merely forgotten in the intervening time exactly how strong the other wizard was?

 

In that moment Kuroko was all too aware of the fact that the last time he had seen Akashi Seijuro, the domineering redhead had kissed him.

 

“I wanted to make sure you all remembered our agreement,” Akashi smirked from the top of the stairs. “And I can see from your faces that you do.”

 

Kuroko frowned in confusion.

 

“Ah, Tetsuya, I’ve forgotten you left us before then,” Akashi smirked, the smile betraying the false surprise in his words. “We agreed back in fifth year that whatever our previous associations and friendships, we will fight as hard as we can against one another when we had the opportunity to fight on even ground. That time has finally come today. I want to showcase the power of the Generation of Miracles.”

 

“I apologize,” Kuroko replied. “But it was already my intention to ensure that Seirin defeats all of you. Showcase whatever you want, but so long as Seirin can stand and fight, no team with a member of the Generation of Miracles on it will win this tournament.”

 

Aomine and Midorima huffed contemptuously at this declaration, but Akashi only laughed brightly.

 

“Tetsuya, don’t you understand?” he asked. “All I ask is that you do your best, so that the world may see how strong the sixth man of the Generation of Miracles is.”

 

Kuroko felt a sick, twisting, sinking feeling in his gut.

 

“Everyone knows that there are only five wizards who are part of the Generation of Miracles,” he objected. “And I am not one of them.”

 

Akashi’s smirk widened. He dug a hand into the duffle hanging off his shoulder and tossed something to Kuroko, who caught it out of pure reflex.

 

It was this month’s copy of Dauntless Duelist. The glossy cover was entirely filled by a shot of the six of them, captured mid-duel. Kuroko immediately recognized that the picture had to be from their Hogwarts days. He stared in shock at their faces – Aomine, wide-eyed and laughing, with Kuroko ducking under one of his arms with an intense expression on his face. As the photograph moved, Aomine’s image threw a curse at Kuroko, who punched into it, causing the spell to burn a bright blue and spin away from him, out of the frame.

 

Midorima was casting a spell, a circle of runes glowing in front of him, with Murasakibara looming behind him, probably maintaining the team’s shield. Akashi stood in the front, both eyes bright red, expression narrowed in determination. They looked so young, so happy. His heart ached for the days when their friendship had been so simple. He reminded himself that this was why he was fighting so hard to bring them back.

 

This had to have been from their last round of the interschool tournament. They had been barely fifteen and so young, drunk on the vitality of their friendships and high on the victory their combined power had brought them. Kuroko had thought that it would stay like that forever, that he would never find cause to step out of their light.

 

The emotion hit Kuroko so hard his throat closed up and he forgot to breathe.

 

And then Kuroko’s eyes travelled down to the title of the cover story of the magazine, the title that went with this incredible photograph.

 

_“The Six Miracles.”_

 

His lips moved with the words in shock. He felt like he had just been slapped in the face.

 

And yet there it was: the action shot that had captured Kuroko’s signature move, unaffected by the magical aspect of his misdirection, with the blazing title proclaiming him to be the unsung sixth member of the Generation of Miracles.

 

“This is a joke.”

 

He looked up at Akashi to confirm it, but he’d never seen the other boy so serious in his life. Pleased, but serious.

 

“I apologize for taking away your element of surprise,” Akashi replied, sounding entirely unapologetic. “It was not my original intention, despite the necessity. But I do wonder how your misdirection will fare against opponents that are expecting it. I have faith that I won’t be disappointed. You always were incredibly resourceful.”

 

The blood drained out of Kuroko’s face. He hadn’t even thought that far, but Akashi _had_ tipped his hand before he was ready. He’d be going to war with one hand tied behind his back.

 

He realized he’d played right into Akashi’s trap: even if Seirin won the whole damn tournament now, Akashi could and happily would claim him as one of the redhead’s own. If he lost, as his former teammates all so clearly expected him to, it would only serve to put him in his place and underline how strong they were, how inevitable it was that he would be brought to his knees before them.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes against the realization that even now, so far out of school, his former friends were still playing these shitty head games.

 

The only way he could win was by walking away, by refusing to compete at all, but he couldn’t do that, and Akashi knew that too. If Kuroko walked away, that meant surrendering any chance he had to bring his friends back.

 

And no matter what path he chose, Akashi had already stacked the deck against him by making sure that his usefulness as Seirin’s secret weapon was entirely diminished. The whole world now knew what to expect when Seirin took to the court.

 

Suddenly Kuroko wanted to scream. He wanted to rage and rant and yell because this wasn’t fucking fair, not in the slightest. He wanted to punch Akashi in his thrice damned, despicable, self-centered, self-assured, Merlin cursed smirking _face-_

 

“You fucking bastard,” Kuroko whispered hoarsely. He didn’t see Kise’s eyes widen in shock, or Midorima going for his wand, or Aomine, ready to spring into action at a moment’s notice. In the periphery of his vision, Kuroko did see Murasakibara sit up, ready to intervene if necessary, but he kept his light blue eyes trained on Akashi. The magazine was shaking in his hand. “You-”

 

“Careful, Tetsuya,” Akashi’s eyes narrowed. “I have afforded you a great deal of leniency already. That it is about to run out. Do not test me. I told you once that nobody will stand in my way, not even you. I will kill anyone who opposes me, and your defiance has worn me down to my last shred of patience and goodwill.”

 

“Go to hell,” Kuroko snarled. He was throwing himself forward – to curse Akashi, maybe just hit him, he had no idea – when a large hand wrapped around his arm.

 

“Let go of me!” he shouted, trying to jerk away from the person holding him. If Aomine thought he could just grab him and manhandle him whenever he wanted, Kuroko was going to misdirect his fist right into his smug insufferable tanned face.

 

“Hey, Kuroko, calm down before you get us kicked out of the tournament for brawling outside of a round!”

 

Kagami’s voice calmed Kuroko down immediately. Kuroko leaned back into the larger wizard, glaring up at Akashi.

 

“Get lost, asshole, nobody invited you,” Aomine snarled, on his feet and pissed off.

 

“Yeah well, Kuroko did, so suck it,” Kagami sneered back. “Kuroko, come on, Coach wants us. We’ve got to go. Let it go. Let it go, Kuroko, we’re leaving. Come on.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He was still shaking, his eyes wide and angry. He glared at Akashi one last time.

 

“If you think this will scare me into losing or giving up, you’re wrong,” he said venomously. “We are going to destroy you.”

 

“Oh I certainly hope you do your best to try,” Akashi agreed pleasantly, as if this whole thing was one giant joke to him.

 

It probably was.

 

Since Kuroko had lost his temper in an icy blaze, Akashi had looked as pleased as a cat that had just feasted on the most delicious canary.

 

Kuroko let Kagami steer him away from the steps. Neither spoke until they were far away, back inside the building.

 

“What the hell was that about?” Kagami asked finally. His face was wrinkled in concern and confusion. Kuroko was acting out of character, out of control and frantic. He’d never seen so much of the smaller boy’s emotions displayed so obviously.

 

Kuroko handed Kagami the magazine.

 

“We need to tell Coach that we need to be prepared for every single damn team on the court to be ready for my misdirection,” Kuroko said. “And then we need to find every copy of that thrice damned magazine and burn it. I’m not one of his ‘Miracles’.”

 

Kagami had frozen at the first curse word and only grown more alarmed the angrier the blue haired man became.

 

“Aw, fuck,” he said, looking down at the cover. “Yeah, let’s get Coach.”

 

Kuroko nodded, following Kagami back towards the building.

 

“Your friends are all dicks, you know that right?” Kagami asked.

 

“I am aware,” Kuroko said solemnly. “Trust me.”

 

…

 

Riko was not pleased. Not in the slightest.

 

Not that anyone else particularly was, but the coach of Seirin was the least pleased of them all.

 

“He’s such an asshole,” she snarled, snapping the article closed with enough force to make the pages audibly slap together. Kuroko caught a flash of fire at the magazine’s edge before Riko managed to control the accidental wandless magic and snuffed it out with a scowl. He felt vindicated and heartened by her reaction on his behalf and by the fact that she immediately understood the predicament Kuroko was in.

 

“Do I want to know what is in the article?” Kuroko asked. He’d managed to calm down since his altercation with Akashi and had restored his generally even-keeled demeanor for now. Riko shook her head.

 

“He explained the muggle aspect of your power and mentioned it was partially magical without going into details, that’s all,” she said. “And they all had some particularly glowing praise of you and condemnation for us. You can read it if you want but I don’t know if you wanna listen to what that snake or any of his minions have to say. It’s your call.”

 

Kuroko internally heaved a sigh. It was pretty much what he’d assumed it would be when he first saw the glossy cover.

 

“I doubt that he says anything he hasn’t said to my face before,” he said. “It’s fine. You’re right. I _don’t_ want to hear what he has to say.”

 

Riko nodded, shoving the magazine into a nearby trash can.

 

“Alright, let’s go,” she said. “We have a match today, let’s look alive people!”

 

There was an edge to her voice that promised homicide.

 

Kuroko wouldn’t have messed with the witch in this state. He almost pitied Akashi for bringing it out of her.

 

Their team knew that their first duel would be a difficult fight against six incredibly powerful wizards. Aomine might be the largest threat among them, but as they had learned the first time that they had dueled against this team, that didn’t mean the rest of them couldn’t hold their own too.

 

The atmosphere among the Seirin team was intense and focused.

 

If they won, they could stay on the court. If they didn’t, they were done. All that meant was that they had to win, no matter the cost.

 

“Alright, listen up!” Riko shouted. “These guys are going to get the surprise of their lives when we beat them down. We’ve been working as hard as we can for just as long as they have and we know we can do this. Just keep your eyes on the fight in front of you and stay in control!”

 

The team cheered loudly. Even Kuroko was cheering with all his heart, letting his feelings spill out of him with everything he had.

 

It was time.

 

…

 


	45. The Blue Asshole Gets Rejected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy thursday my lovelies! I come to you in the middle of my antitrust class with another chapter <3 Hope you love it!
> 
> ((also if you would like [please vote for my cat we want to make him president of DC](https://contests.washingtonian.com/contest/2017-cutest-cat-contest#/entries/1089) thank you))

 

…

 

Seirin spilled out into the dueling arena.

 

Huge magical balls of light floated overhead, illuminating the stone floor of the arena. The competitors shielded their eyes against being blinded.

 

The rush of cheers in the background was unmistakable though. Between the brilliant lights and the deafening noise, the wizards were disoriented as they stepped forward into the public view.

 

“Please welcome the duelists of Seirin!”

 

“There’s so many people here to watch us duel!” Kawahara said. “This is amazing!”

 

“I don’t think most of them are here to watch _us_ ,” Hyuuga said softly. Kuroko might have been the only one to hear him, but the Captains’ instincts were confirmed only a moment later.

 

The announcer’s voice came blaring through the loudspeakers to introduce their opponents.

 

“And now, the conquering tyrants of the dueling circuit – Touou!”

 

The crowd went wild. The noise level in the arena easily tripled. Furihata winced at the pure excitement the crowd had at the prospect of watching Seirin be destroyed by a set of powerful opponents.

 

With the crowd so definitively standing behind their opponents, this was going to be a tough duel, if only because of morale. No one in this arena expected or wanted them to win, except themselves.

 

“You’d think they could chill it with the stupid nicknames,” Kagami growled under his breath. “I’m really starting to get annoyed with this crap.”

 

“Let it out in the arena,” Hyuuga said, slamming a hand onto Kagami’s back.

 

The doors on the other side of the arena burst open dramatically. Imayoshi led the way, his usual smirk in place.

 

At his right shoulder, Sakurai looked determined, if more pale than usual. Kuroko saw Fukuda and Kawahara exchange dark glares from the bench at the sight of their old roommate.

 

Sakurai blushed a little, but otherwise didn’t react to the overt hostility.

 

He was here to prove himself too. Kuroko respected that. He could tell that Sakurai had been working hard to improve himself since the last time he had seen the timid Hufflepuff because of the way his team moved around him. Imayoshi had made a deliberate choice, putting Sakurai in a direct position to watch his back the second the duel started. 

 

Kuroko could feel the growth in Sakurai's magical control and he was proud of his friend for following his own dreams. It didn’t mean that Kuroko was going to be any less determined to beat Sakurai and his entire team.

 

Kuroko allowed himself to look only one at the tanned, muscled wizard guarding Imayoshi's left shoulder. Kuroko could barely stand to look Aomine in the eyes after everything. Whatever they had to settle with one another, Kuroko knew there was no point trying to settle it now; he would say whatever he needed to say to Aomine after he kicked his ass.

 

In short order, the Captains of each team were shaking hands. Imayoshi was smirking at Hyuuga who looked significantly more relaxed than the last time they had faced off together.

 

“Don’t let me crush you so easily this time, maybe,” Imayoshi said.

 

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Hyuuga said, almost nicely. The intensity of his power was coiled tightly around himself, making it obvious that he was ready for the fight. Imayoshi laughed, drawing back to huddle with his team.

 

And then they were standing across from each other, each line ready for the battle to begin. Kuroko’s eyes found Aomine’s, and across the dueling arena the tension was palpable.

 

Kuroko found himself wanting to win this duel more than any other he had ever participated in. This was about more than just chasing the high of a well-earned victory that he had learned at Aomine’s side. This was about friendship and morals and reminding Aomine that just because he was powerful didn’t mean that he could step on whoever he wanted. 

 

It was Hyuuga’s voice that broke through the quiet before the match, his expression narrowed and intense. Kuroko knew right away that Hyuuga intended to personally remove the other captain from the equation. 

 

He would clear the field so that Kuroko and Kagami could do what they had to in order to take down the biggest threat on an all around formidable team - Aomine.

 

In a roaring, booming voice, Hyuuga shouted.

 

“SEIRIN, FIGHT!”

 

The damn broke as a loud bell rang through the arena, signaling the start of the fight.

 

Imayoshi was the explosive front of his team’s attack, meeting Hyuuga head on in the middle of the arena.

 

“You’ve gotten stronger, Captain,” Imayoshi grinned, shielding himself from a curse and twisting to shoot an offensive spell at Kiyoshi.

 

“If that smiling idiot needed my help, he wouldn’t be in the arena,” Hyuuga grinned, unmoved by the sneak attack. He didn’t need to look to know that Imayoshi’s spell – intended as a distraction, not an offensive attack – sparked harmlessly against Kiyoshi’s shield without damaging it. It would take a lot more than that throwaway to take down the 

 

“You won’t get me to go down that easily!” Hyuuga shouted, and Imayoshi grinned.

 

Kuroko used the distraction to disappear, carefully surveying the field. Hyuuga had Imayoshi well in hand, but Mitobe and Koganei were defending themselves against a group of wizards, including Sakurai. Kuroko decided that he could best help in relieving the pressure on them and he headed that way.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Taking a deep, calming breath, Kuroko stepped into the competition. The other wizards started shouting as their spells started going haywire, seemingly without any cause or direction.

 

“It’s Kuroko!” Sakurai shouted. “Stop firing!”

 

One of Sakurai’s teammates summoned a cloud of smoke, and rose the ground up around them, giving them a chance to retreat.

 

“Thanks for the save,” Koganei said, and Mitobe nodded. Spells slammed into their shield as they looked past the thinning crowd of smoke. Hyuuga was now facing off against three duelists on his own, keeping Imayoshi from joining the fight between Kagami and Aomine. The group of wizards was halfway there when Hyuuga stopped, frozen by the sight of another battle happening during this duel.

 

“Holy shit.”

 

Imayoshi turned too, and his expression faltered for a moment.

 

Following Hyuuga’s stare to the other side of the arena, Kuroko paused, his eyes wide.

 

It was beautiful.

 

Aomine and Kagami. Pure untamed, uncontrolled, vicious power leaked out across the stadium. This fight was theirs – everyone knew it too. Seirin would win or lose based on how well their new sun could compete against the raw power of a man he’d already lost to once before.

 

Aomine’s thunder boomed and Kagami’s fire burned. Flashes of blue and red lit the arena.

 

“You want to fight?” Aomine shouted. “Then come on and fight me, you bastard!”

 

Anything else either of them would have said was drowned out by a loud, otherworldly screech.

 

Behind Aomine, a pair of deep blue wings expanded, and the thunderbird rose out of the ground behind him.

 

It screeched again, and thunder boomed so loudly the ground shook. The lights around them dimmed and blue lightning crackled along the thunderbird’s wings as it shifted and moved.

 

It hadn’t even been two minutes, and Aomine was ready to pull out his best tricks to put Seirin down hard.

 

Kuroko was flattered that Aomine thought so highly of them.

 

The bird screeched out a war cry, thunder and lightning crashing and flashing overwhelmingly in the close quarters of the arena.

 

“Shields up!” Kiyoshi yelled, his wand pointed to the sky, feet planted hard. He was ready to take the brunt of Aomine’s power, and Kuroko guessed they were about to see how well the older Hufflepuff graduate had really healed.

 

Mitobe added his wand to the shield, rushing to defend their time.

 

At the last second, the bird’s eyes moved, changing targets. The bird screamed out another war cry and dove, heading directly for Kagami. The redheaded wizard was trapped on the other side of the arena, unprotected by the shield erected by Kiyoshi and Mitobe.

 

Kuroko froze, fear paralyzing him as he watched the magical construction made purely out of lightning attacking his teammate.

 

He needn’t have worried. Kagami had the situation well in hand.

 

Laughing loudly, Kagami held a hand out to the bird, red fire blooming around his entire arm. The bird’s wings spanned out and caught the wind with a loud peal of thunder, stopping short just before it collided with Kagami.

 

Kagami’s expression remained fixed on the bird as it landed right in front of him.

 

“Hello there.”

 

The bird shifted, staring directly at Kagami, as though deciding whether or not to wipe him off the face of the earth.

 

“You don’t want to attack me,” Kagami said, rather calmly for a wizard staring down death on magical wings. “You might not know my tribe, but you know my people. You know my kind of magic, even if I’m a long way from home, but you’re a long way from home too, Cousin.”

 

Kuroko stared as Kagami reached out and ran a hand through the thunderbird’s feathers. Kuroko could see sparks of red magic as Kagami  _ pet  _ the creature that had, only a minute ago, been intent on destroying them all. It shook itself, sending sparks of electricity down its feathers and lightly shocking Kagami as they ran up along the red fire protecting his arm. The redhead’s hair stood straight up and he laughed. Even with Aomine’s blue lightning coursing up his arm, it didn’t look like he was being hurt.

 

“If you miss it so much, you should just go home,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

 

The bird screeched once more to the sky, and extended its wings. With a powerful flap that sent most of the duelists to their knees from the force of the wind, the bird took off, clipping Aomine in the shoulder with its wing as it vanished into the clouds above.

 

“What the fuck,” Aomine said flatly. “What the fuck was that?”

 

“ _ That  _ was an idiot trying to get a creature of Native American legend to attack a member of another Native tribe,” Kagami replied, sounding almost as angry as he was amused. Actually, he mostly just sounded offended.

 

“Don’t you know anything?”

 

The shield distorted the ability of the competitors to see what was going on outside the ring even though it allowed spectators to clearly view the arena from the other side. Kuroko didn’t know for a fact that Momoi had just slammed the palm of her hand into her forehead with an annoyed look on her face, but he was pretty sure that that’s exactly what the pink haired witch was doing as the two wizards argued in the middle of the arena. Her research had almost certainly uncovered that using the thunderbird against Kagami would be a bad idea, but Aomine hadn’t stopped to listen.

 

He probably hadn’t thought he had to. Aomine thought that no matter how little preparation or practice he had, he would always be able to walk into an arena and dominate everyone in it by virtue of his astounding magical gifts.

 

And man, Kuroko had been pissed off about that attitude since he was fifteen and he was still pissed off about it. Aomine Daiki was far too old to behave like a petulant teenager and he and Kagami were going to show him that.

 

Aomine’s surprise had faded and had turned into laughter.

 

“Alright Kagami,” he said. His voice was lighter than Kuroko could remember in recent memory. A feeling – hope, affection, pride, maybe – quivered in his heart, even as a deeper jealousy stirred in his gut.

 

He would never be the foil Aomine needed. That was imminently clear watching Aomine and Kagami facing off, their eyes literally burning with power. Red fire and blue lighting stormed around them, neither wizard reigning in the true force of their power.

 

He would never be the foil Kagami needed either.

 

“You want to fight me one on one? You got it. Let’s go, Transfer Kid, I’ll show you how dim your light really is compared to me!”

 

“Any time any day, Ahomine!” Kagami shouted. “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time!”

 

Aomine snarled, throwing himself forward.

 

The rest of their dueling teams were thrown backwards by the force of their magical collision.

 

Kuroko stared in awe.

 

Kagami was covered in red fire, his eyes burning with the ferocious power of a Berserker intent on destroying his enemy.

 

Aomine was laughing, dodging at top speed. The closer Kagami got to hitting him, the happier he looked.

 

The ground of the arena rolled and shook under the force of their spells.

 

Rubble was blasted free and Kuroko was forced to take shelter with Kiyoshi.

 

“That guy,” Kiyoshi said, shaking his head. “I guess he forgot that this was supposed to be fun.”

 

Kuroko followed the line of his mentor’s eyes.

 

“Yeah,” he agreed. A feeling of warm contentment grew in his heart as he watched his two lights duel each other. They were evenly matched in every way and their combined power sent shivers up Kuroko’s arms.

 

They were incredible, and it couldn’t be more obvious that both wizards were enjoying the one on one battle against each other. Kuroko, who knew Aomine and Kagami better than almost any other wizard in the room, definitely understood the significance of this fight. 

 

An explosion behind them rocked Kiyoshi’s shield and forced the two of them to turn around, wands at the ready to face Imayoshi and one of his teammates.

 

“You forgot about me again,” the Captain of Touou pouted. “Our Ace makes a pretty picture, but I don’t like being ignored.”

 

“You should have just said something,” Kiyoshi smiled pleasantly, tilting his head to the side. “I would have been happy to help.”

 

Two segments of the ground exploded out from either side of the huge wizard, blasting directly into Imayoshi and his teammate and throwing them backwards. Kiyoshi followed that up with a pair of stunning spells. One hit, taking out the teammate, but Imayoshi was just fast enough on his feet to land and avoid the other.

 

“Got some new tricks, huh?” he asked. “Well we’ve got some too!”

 

The Touou team regrouped, wands at the ready. Aomine’s face looked pleased, but every line of his body was taut and dangerous. The wizard was ready to tear them down.

 

Kuroko felt chills run up his spine as he felt Aomine’s overwhelming power extend over the arena.

 

The ground in front of them began to rise up. The wizards in black rose with it, giving themselves the high ground.

 

“Kiyoshi, Mitobe,” Hyuuga said calmly. “You’re about to take a battering.”

 

“Don’t worry so much,” Kiyoshi said. His tone was still light and airy, despite the serious situation.

 

“Idiot, worry more!” Hyuuga snapped back.

 

The ground stopped rising and Hyuuga braced himself. Their shield wasn’t going to hold out long and once it fell, they were going to get pummeled.

 

In an instant, the wizards of Touou attacked. They fell from the sky like dangerous birds swooping down on helpless prey.

 

A wave of fire rained down on them, the heated blast making the wizards of Seirin sweat heavily. The continuous blast hid their opponents from view, not giving them any warning before the next wave of attacks came upon them.

 

A series of cutting slashes aimed directly at their shield sent up sparks and made the wizards powering their shield grunt from the effort of holding it together. It looked like the second wave was primarily coming from Sakurai and Imayoshi, the wizards specializing in longer range attacks.

 

Kuroko could feel it when their shield sputtered and broke. His team dove for cover as Aomine’s lightning came thundering down. Kuroko managed to stay on his feet, still running, as Touou attacked as a cohesive unit.

 

Sakurai came running directly behind him, clearly having spotted Kuroko. Kuroko dodged a stunning spell and misdirected a hail of others before he heard Sakurai shout in alarm. Kagami sent a blast of fire bowling directly into him, sending Sakurai rolling across the arena.

 

“Your misdirection’s dropping,” Kagami said. Kuroko nodded. His power was beginning to wane as his stamina started to fail him. As much as Kuroko had improved his stamina since they were in school, his stamina and strength were still his biggest weaknesses in an extended knock-down drag-out fight like this.

 

“I’ll make it through the fight,” he replied.

 

“Well this is less than ideal,” Kagami huffed, “So whenever you’re ready, let’s go with one of our little tricks.”

 

Kuroko would have responded, but Imayoshi decided to make his appearance at that moment. Kagami shielded them from a blast of fire that sent up a shower of stone and dirt from the arena floor below the, and stood in front of Kuroko.

 

“Alright, come fight me!” he shouted, but Imayoshi rolled his eyes.

 

“I have better things to do,” he said, distracting Kagami just long enough that the redhead didn’t see Aomine’s lightning until it struck him squarely in the chest.

 

Aomine didn’t even look over at Kuroko as he ran after Kagami. Another curse made the ground around the downed wizard crack. Kagami found his feet quickly enough, swearing up a storm as he met Aomine blow for blow. Every time their attacks met halfway, a magical shockwave boomed across the arena.

 

It looked like neither of them were going to hold back.

 

“You know, someone with thinner skin would be offended by not getting an ounce of your attention,” Imayoshi said. “It’s a good thing I’m so secure.”

 

Kuroko turned to look back at the captain, who hadn’t moved.

 

“You could run off again, but it won’t help,” Imayoshi said casually, holding his wand in a loose grip. “You might as well just let me take you out like before.”

 

Kuroko just stared at the other wizard. Like hell he was going to do that.

 

“We’re getting used to it now and we know where to look for you,” Imayoshi bragged. “Give it up, kid.”

 

Kuroko didn’t react to that. He knew that the time would come when he would no longer be able to rely on his misdirection. Already, his magical stamina was fading and his opponents were getting used to him.

 

Right now, his team was being forced to retreat. They were losing.

 

Even Kagami was being driven back as he fought Aomine.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath. He wrapped his Misdirection around himself tightly, all but vanishing from the duel entirely.

 

It was time to use one of the aces he was hiding up his sleeves.

 

_ Silly wizards, that isn’t my team. They’re just shadows. _

 

Aomine tried following Kagami’s progress. Suddenly, the redhead vanished. Aomine glared, looking around.

 

And he came face to face with Kuroko.

 

Kuroko smiled.

 

“Hello, Aomine,” he said politely.

 

“Psh,” Aomine scoffed, looking annoyed. “You think you can use the tricks I helped you create against me? That worked out so well last time.”

 

Something like hatred burned in Kuroko’s heart at the casual dismissal.

 

“I believe it was Aomine who said that if we had anything to say, we could say it after we left the arena,” he said, still tonelessly calm. “Anything I have to say, I will show you.”

 

Aomine laughed haughtily.

 

“You have a new light, that’s no reason to get cocky,” he said. “Come on, Tetsu, you wanna go one on one?”

 

Kuroko smiled, stepping back with his arms wide.

 

“No,” he said honestly. “I’m just the distraction.”

 

If Aomine had been any slower, Kagami’s fireball would have hit him. As it was, Aomine only barely avoided being set on fire, reacting just in time to twist his body unnaturally away from the fireball. His movements were graceful and precise, sped up and stabilized by magic. He flipped his body into the air.

 

Kagami’s spell aimed straight for Kuroko, who redirected it towards Aomine. The blue haired wizard shielded himself.

 

The spell went right though.

 

Kuroko tried to avoid the feeling of enduring smugness that came at watching Aomine get blasted onto the other side of the court, but he couldn’t help it.

 

“All right!” Kagami shouted, high-fiving Kuroko. “Let’s kick some ass!”

 

Kuroko nodded determinedly.

 

_ They’re just shadows, nothing to worry about. _

 

Kuroko stood, face completely calm, in front of Imayoshi’s entire team.

 

“Hello,” he said.

 

And then his team attacked.

 

Two members of the Touou team went down as Kuroko dropped the misdirection on his team and ducked, falling flat to the floorto protect himself from the wave of curses.

 

It was one-on-one chaos as soon as he hit the ground. Kuroko looked up through the haze of spell fire. He’d given his team the advantage of surprise, but that had just put them on even ground. The battle was as fierce as ever.

 

Nearby, he could see Sakurai facing off against Hyuuga. That seemed like a good place to start helping his team tip the balance even farther.

 

_ Don’t worry about him, silly wizard. I’m your opponent, he’s just a shadow. _

 

Sakurai’s eyes went straight to Kuroko, entirely distracted by the other wizard’s sudden appearance.

 

“Hello, Sakurai,” Kuroko said blankly, looking directly into Sakurai’s eyes. “I’m sorry.”

 

“That’s my line!” Sakurai shouted.

 

But by then Kuroko was gone and he was whirling around, unable to defend himself as the captain of Seirin took him out with a stunning spell.

 

“So it works with any of your teammates,” Imayoshi said. “That’s a really clever trick, you little demon.”

 

Kuroko just nodded to the opposing captain.

 

“Thank you.”

 

“Oi, it wasn’t a compliment!” Imayoshi chuckled. “You’re a weird guy.”

 

“You said that to me before.”

 

Imayoshi glared and attacked, but Hyuuga shielded Kuroko.

 

“Go help, Kagami!” Hyuuga shouted. “End this already!”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

Kagami and Aomine were fighting one another, neither one slowing down. Kuroko could sense something changing about Kagami. There was a different kind of intensity surrounding him as he fell into the pattern of the battle against his opponent.

 

Blow for blow, they shielded and attacked, fire and lightning so evenly matched it was hard to see who might come out the winner.

 

Kuroko would take nothing short of the victory Aomine himself had introduced Kuroko to all those years ago. It was time to take what belonged to them, and remind Aomine that he wasn’t the most powerful wizard in the world.

 

“Kagami!” Kuroko shouted.

 

Kagami and Aomine noticed Kuroko at the exact same time. Kagami caught Kuroko’s meaning at once and grinned.

 

“You got it!” he shouted, throwing a fireball towards Kuroko. It burned with the familiar warmth of Kagami’s magic.

 

Aomine shouted in anger, throwing a bolt of lightning towards Kuroko.

 

It wasn’t the best idea he’d had, admittedly.

 

Kagami’s fire and Aomine’s lightning hit Kuroko at the same time. Kuroko grasped hold of the fire and the lightning, concentrating as the combined power burned his hands. He struggled to contain the wild, unpredictable magic in his hands.

 

He didn’t need to do so for long. With his misdirection, Kuroko divided the spells.

 

The blue haired wizard punched forward with his magic. A storm of fire and lightning exploded in every direction, leaving his teammates unharmed, but targeting the Touou team directly as it passed them.

 

The field cleared slowly.

 

Smoke and magical haze drifted slowly towards the slightly glowing ceiling of the arena.

 

“Is that it?” Kagami asked.

 

“In your dreams, transfer idiot! I’ll show you how dim your light is compared to mine!” Aomine shouted, bursting out of the haze. He seemed to have shielded himself just in time, and was really pissed off. As tired as he had to be, he didn’t let it deter him from the intensity of his attacks. His hands sparked with lightning that ran all the way up his arms towards his shoulders, burning dark blue.

 

Kagami roared.

 

Aomine stared in shock as the redhead threw off his attacks easily.

 

Kuroko felt the magic in the arena shift.

 

Kagami was glowing with the intense fire of a Berserker in a full rage.

 

The redhead had been on the cusp of his greatest power since the duel had started, but the confrontation with Aomine pushed him over the edge. He was in a place where no pain would reach him, and no level of exhaustion or magical attack could stop him.

 

Aomine’s lightning was absorbed by Kagami’s skin. He took the attack directly and was still moving.

 

With a wordless shout, Kagami let loose a billowing pillar of fire, shooting directly towards Aomine.

 

Aomine shielded himself.

 

Kagami screamed in exertion, still advancing. Kuroko staged backwards, unable to take the heat and might of Kagami’s power, condensed into a single attack.

 

Kuroko could feel it the moment Aomine’s shield broke.

 

The blue haired wizard was strong, but even he couldn’t hold off the direct and concentrated attack of a Berserker for as long as he had.

 

The resulting explosion sent the Kuroko to his knees, covering his ears. His eyes were still fixed on the spectacular match of power in front of him. 

 

Kuroko watched in awe as Aomine went down, overwhelmed by the force of spellpower Kagami had brought to bear.

 

The redhead wizard was panting, still glowing with the traces of Berkerser magic. Kuroko slowly made his way to Kagami.

 

Every part of him was in pain, but he ignored it and crossed the space between them anyway. Kuroko grabbed Kagami’s hand, startling him just enough that Kagami’s Berserker magic faded away.

 

Kagami swayed on his feet for a second before righting himself.

 

Then he smiled.

 

It was over.

 

Kuroko sagged against Kagami. The redhead looked like he was going to fall under the admittedly slight weight of his partner, but he stood firm, keeping a grip on Kuroko.

 

From Kuroko’s other side, Kiyoshi got a shoulder under his arm and helped hold him up.

 

“We did it!” Kagami roared, punching a fist into the air.

 

Kuroko’s eyes were wide and disbelieving for a moment before he gave into the truth of what 

had happened.

 

This was better than winning at the interschool tournament, better than every prank he’d ever pulled, better than his third year grades finally proving that there was potential hiding behind the perfectly average wizard he seemed destined to become.

 

This was better than every victory Kuroko had ever clawed his way towards.

 

“We did it,” he whispered, and then he was grinning just as widely as Kagami, his eyes shining.

 

They had beaten Aomine. They still had a chance to beat the other Miracles. Aomine, however, he was the one Kuroko had been most invested in taking down.

 

He gave in to the surge of happiness that flooded through him. It was an emotion he’d forgotten he could still feel, and he reveled in how it spread warmth all across his body.

 

Kiyoshi cheered, ruffling Kuroko’s mussed and sweaty hair. All he could think was that he wished this moment could last forever.

 

It wasn’t long before the mediwizards had the fighting members of Touou standing again. They lined up, shaking each other’s hands and thanking the other team for a most excellent duel.

 

And then Kuroko and Kagami were facing Aomine. Aomine’s face was almost unreadable.

 

“You wouldn’t know who won,” Aomine said, looking at Kagami, who was still mostly supporting Kuroko’s weight, but didn’t look like he minded in the slightest.

 

Kuroko looked up at him. Impetuously, he extended his fist.

 

“You left me hanging for so long,” he said reproachfully. “If we’ve won the least you can do is apologize.”

 

Aomine stared at Kuroko as though the other boy had grown a second head.

 

“You won,” he said dumbly. “How the hell are you trying to bump fists with a wizard you just beat in the arena?”

 

“You owe me,” Kuroko said sternly.

 

Aomine huffed.

 

Of course. Good old Tetsu, the man would never change.

 

“Fine,” he said. “But only this last time. The next time we face off on the court, our slate is clean.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

Aomine reached out with his hand. He clenched it into a fist, and bumped it against Kuroko’s.

 

Aomine’s heart twisted at the thought of how right that felt, like after all this time he and Kuroko were still supposed to be standing on the same side of the court.

 

Kuroko practically beamed.

 

He looked at peace.

 

Aomine looked away, blushing angrily.

 

Without another word, he stormed off the court.

 

…

 

Kuroko found Aomine later that night. The blue haired wizard had been wandering down Diagon Alley with a lost expression on his face.

 

Kuroko was sure that the other wizard had not faced a defeat like this one in a long time, perhaps ever. Aomine just wasn’t used to losing.

 

Kuroko waited next to Aomine, sure that the other wizard couldn’t see him.

 

“Hello,” he said.

 

Aomine jumped and screamed. He glared at Kuroko, fury sparking in his eyes.

 

“What the hell do you want?” he demanded.

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“You hurt my friend.”

 

Aomine deflated a little at that proclamation. Kuroko saw Aomine’s posture physically droop and the blue haired wizard hung his head.

 

“Yeah. I did. I’m sorry.”

 

“I’m not the one you need to apologize to,” Kuroko said. “I was hurt by your actions, but you almost killed Shige.”

 

“Is that why you came here?” Aomine asked. “To yell at me? Because you already kicked my ass and this feels like overkill.”

 

“No,” Kuroko agreed calmly. “It is not. The overkill is only a side benefit.”

 

Aomine let out an exasperated groan.

 

“Would you say what you mean for once in your damn life?” he demanded. “Seriously, it’s like talking to Akashi sometimes with you.”

 

Kuroko made eye contact with Aomine. He steeled his nerves, prepared for rejection, and took a deep breath.

 

“Please teach me how to cast offensive spells.”

 

Aomine gaped at Kuroko.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding,” Aomine said. “You’re a hard man Kuroko, asking someone you just beat to teach you how to duel!”

 

Kuroko just stared back at his former partner, waiting for Aomine to make a decision. Aomine scoffed, looking down at Kuroko.

 

“Why in the world should I help you?”

 

“Aomine is the best offensive spell caster I know.”

 

“Well that’s true,” Aomine grinned. “Including your transfer kid?”

 

“Please do not call him a transfer student, none of us are in school any more and it is extremely petty.”

 

“Tch,” Aomine replied.

 

“He did beat you,” Kuroko added. The look on Aomine’s face was almost worth it.

 

“Only because he had you,” Aomine said, sounding extremely petulant about that. Kuroko didn’t let himself get distracted or flattered by the pronouncement.

 

“If you want me to beat any of the rest of them, I’m going to need your help,” Kuroko said. "And you owe me, as I said."

 

“What makes you think I want you to beat them?” he asked.

 

Kuroko just stared at him.

 

Aomine made another pained face, before nodding.

 

“Fine, fine,” he said. “I’ll teach you. Now come on, there’s an empty court down Knockturn Alley we can use. I’ll meet you there in an hour. And  _ don’t  _ bring the redheaded idiot.”

 

When the time for their lesson, Aomine didn’t even know why he was surprised to see Kagami’s hulking figure standing over Kuroko.

 

“I told you to come alone,” he snapped without heat.

 

“You wanna make me leave?” Kagami demanded.

 

Aomine sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He flicked his hand at the redhead.

 

“Fine, but just don’t interfere,” Aomine said. “Tetsu, come on, let’s see what you’ve got.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He set his sight on the target in front of him,. leveling his wand.

 

The spell went wide, fizzling out by the wall behind the target.

 

Aomine clicked his tongue impatiently.

 

“Maybe if you demonstrated,” Kuroko suggested blankly. He had no idea what he needed to do differently.

 

Aomine shrugged, and waved a hand vaguely in the direction of the target, causing it to go up in flames. Aomine flicked his hand at it again, and water poured down, dousing the flames.

 

“Like that.”

 

Kuroko stared at Aomine, wondering if the blue haired wizard was really stupid enough to believe that that was a form that would work for him. The only magic Kuroko could use wandlessly was his misdirection. For even the simplest spells, he  needed his wand.

 

“I can’t cast spells like you,” Kuroko said, holding down his impatience.

 

Kagami snorted from the sidelines.

 

“Obviously,” he chimed in.

 

Aomine ran a hand through his hair, looking visibly perplexed.

 

“You’ve cast spells before,” Aomine said. “I know you have. Why not just do it like that?”

 

Kuroko made a face. He had only ever used minor spells during a duel, usually ones to send up clouds of smoke or another form of distraction. They were petty illusions and small transfigurations. Kuroko had stopped trying to use the stunning spell at all after their fourth year. He could never put enough strength behind it to knock wizards out on a regular basis, plus it just left him drained of stamina more quickly and open for an attack.

 

Aomine was looking at him with an expression that wavered between anger and curiosity. Kuroko wasn’t sure which one of those would be ultimately preferable, but he didn’t like being examined like some sort of particularly interesting trinket.

 

_ Surely, Akashi should have seen this gap in his abilities,  _ Aomine mused to himself, watching Kuroko cast repeatedly.

 

He’d been so busy running drills with Kuroko that he’d never gotten the chance to observe his form from the outside. He didn’t plan their attacks, Akashi scripted them out and told them how they would move within his grander plan. Occasionally, Aomine ignored the plan and just did what he wanted to, relying on his shadow to cover his back on the dueling court. Never had Aomine paid much attention to the bigger picture of the duel. That had always been Akashi.

 

Akashi had to have known. He had to have  _ seen  _ it.

 

And if Akashi had seen it, he would have  _done_ something about it years ago, unless doing something didn't fit into his plans. 

 

Was this purposeful, then? Aomine had to assume so. Did Akashi deliberately hinder the development of a wizard that might be able to overcome his own abilities? For if Akashi Seijuro had any weakness at all, it was in the kind of magic that Kuroko Tetsuya used so effortlessly and easily.

 

Seeing that, had Akashi deliberately bound Tetsuya to him, taken him under his wing, and shaped his development so that the young wizard would never think to use that skill to oppose him?

 

He didn’t like where that train of thought took him, but he had to go there. Akashi might be bent on saving the world, but he had done more than enough wrong by Tetsu that Aomine wasn’t sure he would ever forgive the redhead. Aomine started to feel a headache coming on. Trying to guess at what Akashi really intended and wanted was difficult and confusing, a game of shadows he was ill suited to play. 

 

“It must have been on purpose,” he mused quietly. 

 

Kuroko turned.

 

“Did you say something Aomine?” Kuroko asked.

 

Aomine shook his head.

 

“Try firing the spell the same way you misdirect it?” he asked, scratching his head. “You’ve got plenty of good aim when you do it like that.”

 

Kuroko nodded. He conjured a spell, holding it between his hands, and punched out forward, like he was misdirecting any other spell.

 

It flew slightly too wide, but it came much closer to the target than any of the others, clipping the edge.

 

“Good,” Aomine grunted. “Keep going.”

 

Kuroko did it again.

 

This time it hit towards the side of the target, lighting it up and careening off to the side at an angle. Aomine winced as the spell ricochetted off a roof with a metallic bang. 

 

“Hey, that’s the highest power level you’ve gotten so far!” Kagami cheered from the sidelines. Kuroko blushed and smiled happily.

 

“Not good enough,” Aomine snapped. “If that were me, I’d have been gone by the spell hit me. Keep going.”

 

Kuroko’s expression flattened out and he nodded.

 

This was no time to skimp on training. He would get it right. 

 

 

Kuroko breathed deeply, finding his center.

 

Kuroko punched forward with his spell. It burned white-blue, with a heat Kuroko had not anticipated.

 

Kagami whooped as Kuroko fell backwards.

 

The spell hit dead on in the center of the target.

 

Aomine was smiling when he helped Kuroko get off the ground.

 

“Got it now?” he asked.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Thank you,” he said sincerely.

 

“Just make sure you win,” Aomine growled. “Nobody’s gonna say you walked into a duel after I showed you how to fight and lost.”

 

Kuroko smiled. It was wide and bright, the way he’d used to smile, before. Back when it was so easy for them.

 

Aomine sighed. It was so easy for Kuroko to forgive and move on. Aomine didn’t deserve that after everything that had happened, after everything he’d done. He didn't know how to make things right between them, but he vowed there and then that he would find a way to. He would heal his relationship with Tetsu. He'd so carelessly thrown away the most valuable relationship he had with another wizard, and he didn't know how he could repair it, but he had to try. If that meant giving up Kuroko to this... redheaded barbarian from America, for now, then he would do it. Kagami could claim his place as Kuroko's partner, but Aomine could never lose Kuroko's heart. If he did, he had no idea what he would do.

 

“I will,” Kuroko promised seriously. “I’ll show everyone what Kagami and I can do.”

 

“Good,” Aomine grunted, ignoring the tug at his heart. Once it had been all about what  _ he  _ and Kuroko could do, but he no longer had the right to be sad about the loss.

 

“Now show me one more time and you can go.”

 

Kuroko nodded, turning back to his target.

 

“I have something I want to try,” he said, concentrating hard.This was clutch time, where he had to do or die. He would be facing Murasakibara and Kuroko  _had_ to be able to use his misdirection to get through his shields. Otherwise, Seirin would have no way to win. That was a fact. 

 

_ I’m a shadow. I’m not even here. Neither is my magic. Shadows don’t have magic, so why would there be anything to see? _

 

The target exploded.

 

No light, no words, no movement. There had been no warning at all, no way to see the spell whatsoever.

 

Aomine hadn’t even felt the aura of the spell. He hadn’t spotted the distortion in the air, or seen any of the other telltale signs of magic. As magically sensitive as he was, Aomine had not felt the spell until it was already exploding on the other side of the practice court. He hadn’t even known Kuroko had successfully cast the spell until the target was blowing up.

 

Holy shit.

 

What the hell was that? What had Kuroko just done? Aomine had never seen Kuroko do anything like that. None of Kuroko's tricks had ever shown themselves so spectacularly. 

 

He’d helped to create a deadly, dangerous weapon.

 

Aomine hoped it would be enough to bring down the last of the Generation of Miracles.

 

If ever anything could pierce the shield of Yosen, or escape the Emperor Eye of Akashi and Rakuzan, this would be it.

 

"Holy fuck, Tetsu," Aomine whispered.

 

He and Kuroko parted ways long after the sun had set. The snow had started up again and was slowly drifting down into the streets, illuminated by the line of lamps along the sidewalk.

 

There was no guarantee that this skill would be enough to save Seirin, but it was one hell of an ace for the former Hufflepuff to have hiding up his sleeve. Aomine hoped that at the very least, even if Seirin didn’t win, that the next time Akashi came for Kuroko, it would allow Kuroko a fighting chance.

 

Because even Aomine knew that Akashi wouldn’t simply leave Kuroko alone even if he  _ did  _ manage to win this tournament. Hell,  _ especially  _ if he won, Akashi would be after him, and maybe even that stupid asshole Kagami too.

 

Aomine huffed contemptuously at the thought of the redhead with the power to meet Aomine on the court head to head. He’d finally found his rival, just as Kuroko had predicted, and the match had been everything he’d ever hoped for it to be. It had been  _ fun.  _ Even if Aomine  _ did  _ hate Kagami for being Kuroko’s light the way Aomine himself had utterly failed to, he was looking forward to their next match.

 

_Damn you Tetsu, for always being right_. In his head, Aomine could still hear Kuroko calling him a moron for thinking he was the strongest wizard in the world all those years ago, and here the kid was, proving it all over again.

 

…

 

Aomine opened his door and made for the couch ready to collapse. It had been a hell of a few days, and he hadn’t been home, hadn’t eaten, hadn’t  _ slept  _ since his own defeat. He was looking forward to changing that. He was sure now, having talked with Tetsu and mended the bridges between them, that he would be able to. His conscience felt clear for the first time in years. He fell into the couch more than lay down on it, not even bothering to remove his shoes.

 

“Get up, Daiki.”

 

Aomine shot up, wand at the ready, pointed steadily right into the middle of Midorima’s face.

 

“WHAT THE HELL!”

 

“What a curious way to greet a friend,” Midorima said casually, his own wand trained on Aomine’s chest.

 

“Friends don’t sneak into each other’s apartments to lay in wait only to attack them when their eyes are closed,” Aomine said evenly, recovering from the shock quickly. “I thought you were trying to kill me!”

 

Midorima pushed up his glasses with the middle finger of his free left hand.

 

“It’s worryingly telling that’s what your first instinct upon seeing me was that I was a hostile invader,” he replied. “I haven’t attacked you.”

 

“Yet,” Aomine said, not lowering his wand either.

 

“I came here to talk,” Midorima said. “Can we put away the wands and discuss things like adults, or will we end up fighting?”

 

Aomine lowered his wand cautiously, feeling a hint of relief as Midorima did the same. He  _really_ didn't want to get into a fight with Midorima this evening, not as tired and frustrated as he was. Aomine's brain was already fried from spending all evening with Tetsu, and trying to unknot the unknowable gorgon that represented Akashi's motivations in training Tetsuya. Mostly

 

“How strange, that two vassals of the same Lord could hold such enmity. Should I be worried about your loyalty, if one of Akashi’s inner circle appearing in your apartment is cause for alarm?”

 

Aomine’s heart beat wildly in its cage.

 

He didn’t want to fight Midorima. Not now, not ever. Midorima was an asshole and a tsundere of the highest degree, but he was Aomine’s friend. Or he had been, once. And he was more powerful than his understated demeanor would suggest. Aomine had seen the man destroy entire arena’s with those configurations of his. Not to mention Midorima knew everything his opponents were going to do before they knew it themselves.

 

“I’ll be fighting Akashi in the semi-finals,” Midorima continued before Aomine could try and defend himself. “I will do whatever I can to bring him down.”

 

“You will lose,” Aomine said, turning his back on his former teammate. “His will is  _ absolute.” _

 

The words were so bitter in his mouth.

 

“His will is absolute, but I follow Fate,” Midorima replied. “I will not lose to Akashi this time. But if I do – “

 

“Then Tetsu will finish the job,” Aomine said quietly.

 

Midorima tilted his head to the side. Aomine knew he’d fucked up. He’d played his hand too early. He should have just kept his mouth shut until Midorima left, but his pride in Tetsu had his mouth moving before his brain could catch up. 

 

“Not Kise? Not Atsushi? To face Akashi, Kuroko would need to go through both of them and their teams first, but you seem to be implying that you assume he will do so successfully.”

 

Aomine said nothing, determined not to damn himself further.

 

Midorima wrinkled his brow in thought, staring at the former Gryffindor like a puzzle he needed to solve.

 

“What do you know that I don’t?” Midorima asked. “Any one of them could take that side of the bracket, and most would put their money on the impenetrable shield of Yosen.”

 

Aomine frowned, looking out the window.

 

“I have faith in Tetsu.”           

 

“He’s stupid,” Midorima said dismissively. “He agreed to fight with a bunch of weaklings, people who could never deserve him. If he were smart, he’d have jumped at the chance to stay with those who could truly utilize him. If he were smart, he would have taken Akashi’s offer on any of the half dozen times Akashi has made it.”

 

“And yet you still believe he can help bring Akashi back.”

 

Midorima made a derisive noise somewhere in the back of his throat.

 

“I’ll follow Akashi to the end of the earth,” he said. “And I’m not against his platform or his politics. I believe he is the only wizard that can save us, which is why I accepted the oath he made to me to change the future. That doesn’t mean I won’t thrash his ass when we face each other in the semifinals.”

 

“So you don’t think there’s anything wrong with the way Akashi is now?” Aomine asked, turning to face his longtime friend and sometime teammate. “You don’t have a single problem with what he’s going to make us do? What he’s already asked of us?”

 

“Do you?”

 

The silence that stretched between them was telling. The longer it stretched on, the more Aomine could feel the gap between them growing, their sides chosen and proclaimed. He was going to stand with Kuroko. Midorima would always choose Akashi. They were, for the first time, on opposite sides of the war that was about to be declared. Midorima sighed and Aomine fought the urge to flinch at the moment.

 

Midorima’s mind was a dangerous, sharp machine, and he’d picked up on the smallest of details. Maybe he’d already at least suspected that Aomine’s loyalty to Akashi was wavering, maybe that was even why he was in Aomine’s apartment, but now the green haired wizard knew for sure.

 

“You fool,” he whispered, before collecting himself. “I knew you would follow Kuroko, no matter what Akashi said. I think there are too many who forget that a shadow can be cast in front of a light just as easily as behind. You were always going to be wherever he was, weren’t you?”

 

Aomine didn’t say anything. He stood rooted to the spot. He braced himself for the first blow. 

 

“You did believe in our goals once, Daiki,” Midorima said. His tone was flat, but he looked sad. Or maybe that was just Aomine hoping that Midorima felt at least some grief at being forced to fight his friend. “You swore to fight with us then. What happened?”

 

“Maybe I grew up,” Aomine said softly. “Maybe I decided that surviving the end of the world wouldn’t be worth it if I had to pay too high a price. Maybe I realized there was more to life than power.”

 

“There is nothing more important than power,” Midorima snapped, and there was real annoyance in his voice this time.

 

“Isn’t there?”

 

Midorima scowled.

 

“After our duel, I will inform Akashi of your disobedience,” he said at last. “Out of service to the friendship we have carried for the last seven years, I will give you that much time to try and flee Akashi’s wrath. Take the opportunity to see how outclassed you truly are, since fleeing will be useless to you. If you defy Akashi, you will lose everything.”

 

Aomine  _ already _ knew how outclassed he was.

 

He’d fought alongside these monsters for years, hadn’t he? He knew of Kise’s still unlocked potential, growing every single day. His feel for magic was instinctive and beyond compare. Aomine was sure that Kise could not yet overcome him, but the others almost certainly could, especially if they were working together. Midorima’s accuracy and power were incredible, and his command of rune magic was second to almost none (except maybe Momoi and Akashi). Murasakibara simply could not be hit with a spell; his shields were immovable, his attacks falling like the hammer of Thor. His magical aura had only grown stronger since they’d left school.

 

And Akashi – the most terrifying of all – could know exactly where you would be, what you would plan. He knew everything. He was absolute. He won the same way he breathed –by nature. He possessed a well of power that made even Atsushi look like an only slightly more powerful than average wizard.

 

They were the most powerful people in the country, possibly in the world. They terrified the fuck out of him. And Aomine didn’t want to fight them.

 

He thought of Tetsuya.

 

Tetsuya, who could cast a spell wandlessly and wordlessly, who could make an attack appear and disappear like nothing at all, beyond defense of the Shield of Aegis, and beyond the sight of the hawk-eyed Copycat. Who could cast spells even Akashi’s Emperor Eye might not be able to follow.

 

If anyone could bring down the budding dark lord that was Akashi Seijuro, it was Tetsuya.

 

“I have faith in Tetsuya,” he said again. He spoke with absolute conviction there, at least. He believed Kuroko had the best chance of any of them, believed it with his entire soul, believed it more than he’d ever believed in Akashi, even. “Tell Akashi whatever you want, whenever you want. Now get the fuck out of my apartment, or you can see if you are enough to overcome me all on your own.”

 

Midorima just smirked.

 

“Goodbye, brother,” he said mockingly. “Tomorrow Kuroko will face Yosen. We’ll see then if your faith is warranted.”

 

Midorima apparated away.

 

For a long moment, Aomine stood, tense and on guard, convinced he was about to get a knife in his back. When he couldn’t sense any other presences in his apartment, he sagged back onto the couch.

 

Fucking hell, he was screwed.

 

…

 


	46. The Purple Asshole Gets Rejected (aka Murasakibara's Going Down And Yelling Timber)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry we're a day late - yesterday was pretty busy and I didn't get back until it was really too late for me to look at my betas comments on the last few pages of the chapter, so I finished it this morning.
> 
> Anyway - Seirin vs. Yosen, plus a hint that we're getting back to the main plot soon XD

 

 

…

 

The sky the morning Kuroko was to face Murasakibara was dark grey and threatened storms. There was an electric tension in the air from the excitement for the coming duel. 

 

Kuroko and Kagami suited up for their duel without speaking. They were both intensely aware of the fact that they were going to be facing one of the most difficult fights they had ever had.

 

Neither of them had ever had to match their power against that of Murasakibara Atsushi, but if they had, Kuroko was sure that they would find themselves wanting.

 

Kagami had been up most of the night, pacing in the living room and then, when Kuroko insisted he return to bed, staring up at the ceiling with bloodshot eyes.

 

“I can’t believe you still can’t sleep before competitions,” Kuroko commented affectionately. “It’s cute, like a kid on a school trip.”

 

From his place concealed in Kuroko's duffel, Nigou barked in agreement. He popped his fluffy head out of the bag to grin up at Kuroko and Kagami, the latter of whom took a step back, scowling.

 

“Bite me,” Kagami grumbled, rubbing at his eyes. “And watch who you call a kid.”

 

Kuroko just smiled back up at Kagami, his expression eerily similar to the dog beside him. 

 

They had gathered in Riko, Hyuuga, and Kiyoshi’s apartment the night before. With a stern face, Riko laid out everything they knew about the competitors on Murasakibara’s team.

 

“Masako is coaching them,” Riko started. “She isn’t competing again though.”

 

“I think she heard Hanamiya was going to, and backed out,” Hyuuga said.

 

“We’re going to face off against Makoto?” Kiyoshi asked. He sounded delighted – far too delighted for someone who had been nearly permanently maimed by the other wizard in a duel.

 

“Haven’t you been paying attention, you idiot?” Hyuuga exploded. “He’s competing, but he’s in the other bracket.”

 

“And Masako assumed that the snake would what, beat Akashi, and that’s who they would be facing in the finals?” Koganei snorted. “We already know who’s taking the other side of the bracket.”

 

“Midorima is competing on that side too,” Furihata pointed out. “Maybe he could beat Akashi.”

“Be that as it may,” Riko interrupted before the debate could go any farther. “We need to focus on the duel in front of us. Masako is a competent strategist, but she always goes for simple, strong configurations.”

 

“No point in getting fancy if nobody can land a hit on you,” Kawahara chimed in. Riko grimaced.

 

“So their captain is Okamura Kenichi,” Riko continued. “He graduated two years ahead of us. He finished the auror training academy about a year ago, and he’s active duty.”

 

“Didn’t he used to help tutor some of the first years in history?” Izuki asked, raising his hand. “He was kind of a goofy guy way back when.”

 

“Look who’s calling another guy goofy,” Hyuuga complained, rubbing his face in his hands. “But yeah, I think he considered teaching or something? He’s no joke though. He doesn’t have any really fancy moves, but his fundamentals are fantastic. Most of his spells are concentrated enough to break an average shield.”

 

Furihata winced, looking around at the other former Hufflepuffs.

 

“Right,” Riko said. “But keep in mind, if he doesn’t use any fancy attacks, it probably means he’ll be more vulnerable to  _ ours. _ ”

 

Riko looked meaningfully at Kiyoshi, Kagami, and then Kuroko.

 

“Same story goes for Fukui Kensuke,” she said. “Simple player, simple style. He was a Ravenclaw in Kenichi’s year, and he’s a jack of all trades kind of player. He’s strong, but Yosen isn’t advancing on the strength of its offensive team.”

 

“Who else have they got on offense?” Kagami asked.

 

“Some foreigners,” Riko said, scratching her head. “Nobody I asked knew about them or what their strengths are. One’s from China, his name’s Liu Wei; I think the other one is from America.”

 

“America?” Kagami asked, tilting his head to the side. “Where from?”

 

“I think he went to Salem,” Riko said. Kagami exchanged a meaningful look with Kuroko.

 

Kuroko was intrigued by Murasakibara’s apparent interest in the other wizard. Apparently Murasakibara hadn’t been kidding about liking the American, if he was still dueling with him.

 

“Tatsuya,” Kagami said. Riko looked down at her notes.

 

“Yeah, Himuro Tatsuya,” she said. “You know him?”

 

Kagami nodded.

 

“I did, yeah,” he said. “His big strength is illusions, but he’s been studying under an abjurer.”

 

“So illusions and blowing things up, perfect,” Riko said. “Okay, well good to know they have an illusionist, even if he’s not formally trained. Their defensive team consists of two wizards we know all too well. Tsugawa and Murasakibara.”

 

The rest of the team nodded.

 

“From what I’ve seen, the American guy on offense and Murasakibara on defense are the lynch pins of Yosen’s strategy,” Riko said. “They have an unbeatable defense. No team has managed to land a hit on anyone on this team the entire tournament. We are going to have our work cut out for us getting through that shield.”

 

“No, we won’t,” Kagami grinned, unable to stop the smile spreading across his face. His eyes went to his boyfriend.

 

“We’ve got Kuroko.” 

 

Riko nodded.

 

“So we attack as hard and as fast as we can,” Hyuuga said. “Kuroko, you think you can do this?”

 

Kuroko nodded. Under the cover of his team, he would take down his former teammate. He just hoped Murasakibara wouldn’t take it too personally.

 

Now, in the light of day, walking towards the arena, Kuroko wondered if he hadn’t reached too far. Was he expecting too much? Did he really have a right to hope that his team would be able to overcome one of the strongest wizards in the world?

 

In the end, what other hope did he have?

 

The team arrived at the arena and began stretching, all of them with wary looks in their eyes. There was a nervous energy sparking among all of the members of Seirin’s dueling team, a heightened intensity to every single movement. Kuroko handed Nigou off to his teammates to watch from the side of the arena, patting his head affectionately and instructing the dog to be good.

 

Yosen arrived halfway through their practice time. Kuroko and Kagami had been working together when the doors on the other side of the stadium burst open.

 

Kagami looked up and stopped short.

 

“Tatsuya.”

 

The name escaped his mouth in a breathy exhale.

 

Kuroko followed Kagami’s line of sight to where Murasakibara was standing, talking to a wizard with long black hair. Half of the other man’s face was obscured, but Kuroko recognized him well enough.

 

Himuro Tatsuya had not changed very much since the last time Kuroko and Kagami had seen him during the giant outbreak in Los Angeles last summer.

 

They had known Tatsuya would be there, of course, but it was one thing to know that, and another thing entirely to see him there. Kuroko knew that, because he didn’t have any control over the roaring in his ears as he looked at Murasakibara.

 

The next thing Kuroko knew, Kagami was storming towards the two other wizards. He chased after him, just too late to stop his light from doing anything too stupid.

 

“OI! TATSUYA!”

 

The pretty duelist turned towards Kagami, his expression pleasant enough.

 

“Taiga,” Himuro said. “It’s good to see you.”

 

“I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were going to compete in the Winter Cup!” Kagami groused. “We could have been practicing together!”

 

Kuroko felt the shift in Himuro’s attitude seconds before the other man grabbed Kagami by the arm, swinging him up against the side of the dueling arena.

 

“I told you once already,” Himuro said, his tone still pleasant. “We were going to settle this eventually.”

 

Kagami bared his teeth at his brother, refusing to back down.

 

“I’m more than happy to end this here,” he said.

 

“I don’t think you get this,” Tatsuya said. “I’m not playing around here. However this ends, however we settle this, I won’t be your brother anymore. I won’t hang on to whatever childish dream you want to keep alive. You better be ready to fight me with everything you have.”

 

“That shouldn’t be hard,” Kagami snarled, and stormed off.

 

_ Nobody I know has any chill whatsoever,  _ Kuroko bemoaned quietly to himself. He wondered if he should make better friends.

 

Well, if he did that, life would be a lot more boring.

 

Kuroko could see past the smile on Kagami’s face to the hurt that Tatsuya was causing him, and he knew that he would do whatever he had to in order to help his light.

 

This duel wasn’t just personal for Kuroko. Kagami had his own demons to put to rest here too.

 

Kuroko caught up to Kagami, grabbing his wrist. Kagami stopped, looking down at the blue haired wizard beside him.

 

“Let’s kick their asses,” Kuroko said very seriously. “They’re both starting to piss me off.”

 

Kagami’s expression cleared a little, and the smile he gave his shadow was more genuine.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “Let’s do it. These two have had it coming since that street duel anyway.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

It was well past time that the couple settle their outstanding issues with the opposing pair.

 

…

 

Aomine showed up at the arena despite his general instincts telling him to run. The longer he waited before fleeing, the more likely it was that he would be caught and murdered horrifically.

 

Akashi did not take well to disloyalty and Aomine had committed the ultimate act of treason against the redhead by helping Kuroko. Akashi wanted Kuroko by his side, and anything Aomine did to undermine that would see him facing serious consequences.

 

When Kuroko started using his spectacular new spell casting to take down Murasakibara, Akashi would know  _ someone  _ had intervened, and it wouldn’t take him very long to piece together the fact that that someone was Aomine.

 

That, combined with the fact that Aomine had all but admitted to Midorima the night before that he didn’t want to continue serving someone as batshit crazy as Akashi had become, was going to have serious consequences.

 

Aomine grimaced to himself.

 

If he was being honest, he knew that he could run to the ends of the Earth and still not get far enough to escape the wrath of Akashi Seijuro, dark lord in the making.

 

So he guessed it didn’t really matter if he tried to flee or not. He might as well watch Akashi’s crazy idea play itself out in the most public eye imaginable, and hope that Kuroko lived up to the promise Aomine could see in him.

 

The only way Aomine would make it out of this unscathed would be if Kuroko managed to defeat Akashi. Which meant that he might as well stay and get the benefit of seeing Akashi and Murasakibara’s faces when Kuroko beat Yosen.

 

Aomine coolly surveyed the gathering crowd, wondering if anyone he knew had shown up to watch Tetsu face down one of the most powerful wizards in the Generation of Miracles.

 

Akashi was there, of course. He was sitting on the opposite side of the arena, his shockingly magenta hair visible from where Aomine was standing. Midorima sat next to him, face unreadable from this distance.

 

Kise was sitting with his team, somewhere off in the stands. Aomine swore he could  _ hear  _ the blond from this distance, but that might have been his own imagination.

 

Aomine watched calmly from the balcony as Seirin emerged onto the field. His eyes immediately found the large, muscled figure of Kagami, and then fell to the blue haired specialist in misdirection.

 

_ Kick his ass, Tetsu,  _ Aomine thought viciously, letting one hand curl into a fist.  _ Show them all what you’re made of. _

 

…

 

Within moments of the duel starting, Yosen’s strategy became clear.

 

Murasakibara had taken up the ultimate defensive position. There were two duelists in front of him and all three of them were powering the shimmering, fully visible purple shield that Murasakibara had cast. So far, they had not needed to do anything other than let their competitors throw themselves at the impressive barrier. Only an overwhelming amount of power or an incredibly fast expert in runes could tear down that barrier and by the time they managed to, the offensive wing of Yosen’s team would have already cut them down. 

 

Okamura was the point man of this offense – obviously, as captain, he would be calling the shots of their strategies. Himuro was standing behind him to the right, and the Chinese wizard on his left.

 

Hyuuga chuckled, holding up his arm to signal to his team not to waste their breath attacking. There would be no point while the offensive force of Yosen was still behind their shield.

 

“Mitobe, Kagami, you stay on defense for now,” Hyuuga said. “I don’t want any surprises hitting us from behind that shield.”

 

The two wizards nodded.

 

The standoff lasted for a moment, both teams heavily shielding themselves.

 

Okamura sent out a blasting curse. Seirin’s shield didn’t wave where it hit, and the opposing captain smiled.

 

“Feel like testing the waters on our end?” he called over to Hyuuga.

 

Seirin’s captain outright laughed.

 

“No need,” he said. “Do you intend to attack, or are we going to stand off until they call it a draw and make it a loss for both of us?”

 

“No need,” Okamura replied, folding his arms. “You don’t have the patience to wait.”

 

“Heh, well that’s certainly true,” Hyuuga admitted.

 

With a burst of explosive movement, Seirin scattered.

 

The ground shook as Kagami and Kiyoshi lifted up segments of the ground, forming barriers to hide behind and create cover. The shield Kagami and Mitobe were conjuring held out for another moment before it flickered and died.

 

“You want to win this duel, you’re gonna have to come to us!” Hyuuga shouted, his back to one of the stone walls shielding him from the offensive power of Okamura and the two foreign duelists.

 

Hyuuga was already in clutch mode. It was pretty obvious he was ready to start a fight, and he looked downright gleeful about it.

 

Kuroko was hiding behind another wall with Kagami and Kiyoshi. Distraction was one of the critical keys to his misdirection, and they were going to need a little more chaos before Kuroko attempted a shot at the other team.

 

He did not want to get cornered in the middle of the field by Murasakibara.

 

“Good to see the captain having fun again,” Kiyoshi said, shaking his head with a chuckle. His wand was in his hand and he looked just as excited as Hyuuga did. “I think he really missed this.”

 

Kagami scoffed, but he was buzzing with excitement, waiting for Yosen to make their move.

 

“Do you think this will draw them out?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Come on, Okamura!” Hyuuga roared. “You want to say you lost to a bunch of kids just a year out of Hogwarts? That’s pretty embarrassing since you’re an auror and everything.”

 

“Oh yeah,” Kiyoshi said, looking at Okamura’s face. The other man was definitely irritated. 

 

A second later, his prediction came true.

 

A wave of spells hammered on their improvised and transfigured cover. Dust filled the air as stone gave way to magic, crumbling away at the heavy assault.

 

One by one, Seirin pulled up their own shields again. Mitobe was covering Izuki and Hyuuga, and Kagami had Kuroko and Kiyoshi.

 

With the air full of dust, it was hard to see where any spells were coming from or who was casting them, and Kuroko found his moment to jump into the fray.

 

Kagami abandoned defense. Side by side with Kiyoshi, they charged the now exposed offensive prong of Yosen’s team, and ran directly into just the duelist he was looking for.

 

Himuro smirked as Kagami barreled into him before backing up, ready to fight.

 

“I hope you’re ready for this,” Himuro sneered.

 

“I was born ready,” Kagami assured him, fireballs appearing in his hands. He threw them at Himuro one after the other, but the smaller American dodged the first and shielded himself from the second one.

 

“We have two Aces, one on each side of the court,” Himuro bragged. “Nobody can get past Murasakibara’s defense, and I’m more than enough to handle the rest. Try all you want, but I’m stronger than you, Taiga.”

 

Kagami laughed.

 

“We’ll see,” he said.

 

Himuro cursed Kagami. Kagami conjured a shield, ready to fight, but the spell passed directly through.

 

Just as it had done when Kagami and Himuro had faced off in Los Angeles, Himuro’s spell appeared to simply bypass the shield Kagami had created and slammed directly into the wizard behind it. Kagami was thrown back a few feet, grunting as he hit the ground hard.

 

“Still haven’t found a way around that, have you?” Himuro taunted him. “You had a whole year, and you still couldn’t figure it out.”

 

He sounded just delighted.

 

“I don’t need to,” Kagami growled, pulling himself to his feet. “Whatever fancy tricks you have, we’re still going to win!”

 

Not far away, Kuroko was taking stock of the field. They would have to take down the three attacking duelists to face off with Murasakibara. The purple haired duelist clearly had no intention of moving from his side of the court unless forced.

 

Kuroko found himself a lot more irritated than he thought he would be. He’d known that this was Yosen’s strategy, but he was angry about it.

 

Hyuuga and Izuki were holding off Okamura, and Kiyoshi and Mitobe were fighting Liu Wei.

 

Kagami was facing off with Tatsuya and he looked like he was in trouble.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Kuroko strayed as close to Kagami as he dared, ready to throw one of Himuro’s own spells right back into his mostly obscured face.

 

It didn’t take long for a stray spell to come close enough to work.

 

Kuroko reached for Himuro’s magic, but he  _ just  _ couldn’t quite grab it.

 

He went diving for cover as the spell slammed over his head, harmlessly hitting the ground in a cloud of sparks and smoke.

 

Holy shit.

 

Kuroko had never met someone whose magic he couldn’t misdirect before.

 

Forget Murasakibara, Seirin was going to be in very serious trouble if they couldn’t take down Himuro Tatsuya.

 

Kagami grunted as Tatsuya’s mirage spell went through his shield again, throwing him to his knees. Izuki, having seen his teammate in trouble on the other side of the court, had taken off running, covering his retreat from his fight with Okamura with an illusion of himself still dueling. He cast a blasting spell at the ground in front of Kagami, pulling up a shield with Mitobe as Kagami coughed and got back to his feet.

 

“You alright?” Izuki asked. Kagami nodded, but he was glaring at Himuro.

 

Eyes overly bright under the spotlight of the arena, faces scraped up by passing debris, and his hair wild and untamed, Kagami looked dangerous.

 

Himuro glared down the other wizard without even hesitating.

 

“Why don’t you just flame up and charge him?” Izuki asked quietly.

 

“I _can’t,_ okay?” Kagami snapped. “I’m trying over here, but his stupid spells keep hitting me before I can focus.”

 

“Normally I know Kuroko’s the one who thinks you’re a  _ hot duelist,  _ but-”

 

“Izuki Shun if you finish that sentence I am going to punch your throat shut,” Kagami snarled.

 

Izuki, who to date had received an estimated two thousand credible death threats from their captain during the seven years they had attended school together at Hogwarts, did not find this intimidating, and merely smiled.

 

“Go punch  _ his  _ throat,” Izuki advised.

 

Kagami huffed.

 

“Believe me, I’m about ready to if he doesn’t stop mouthing off,” Kagami growled.

 

The honest truth was that Kagami  _ didn’t  _ want to fight his brother, and he was pissed off about it. He didn’t want their friendship to end, even if it had been a long time since they had really been brothers anyway.

 

He was also angry at himself, because he wanted to want to fight Himuro, and he knew that conflict was what was preventing him from being able to get into his Berserker state.

 

Kagami let off a growl of frustration.

 

“You going to hide from me all day, or do you want to fight?” Himuro taunted Kagami from the other side of the shield.

 

“Go get ‘em, tiger,” Izuki said. Kagami gave the wizard a dark look.

 

“Fine, you wanna beat the shit out of each other, I’m fine with that, let’s go,” Kagami said, looking up at Izuki through the shimmering magic of the shield.

 

Exhaling, trying to find some measure of inner piece, Kagami took a running jump. He got two spells off before moving into a graceful roll, letting Himuro’s counter attack harmlessly hit the air where he had been standing. He came up, ready to fire off another attack, but Himuro got to him first.

 

Kagami’s entire arm went numb with the force with which Himuro’s spell hit his shield. He soot out his hand, letting his shield dissipate for a moment.

 

“This isn’t your best effort,” Himuro said, looking just as furious as Kagami. “I told you, we’re not brothers! Stop holding on to this stupid idea of us having any kind of bond!”

 

Kagami’s face contorted in what looked like real, physical pain, as he looked at Himuro.

 

The intensity of his magic increased, coming off him in waves of heat.

 

“You and I are enemies now,” Tatsuya said. “So treat me as if you are trying to kill me!”

 

Tatsuya turned and whirled around, his hair practically flipping as he did.

 

Privately, Kuroko thought this high drama was a bit much.

 

Of course, his light was obviously no less prone to the dramatic than his professed brother. Kagami turned around, stalking back towards his team, scanning the duelists until he found Kuroko. In a single gesture, Kagami yanked the necklace that had hung comfortably around his neck for as long as Kuroko had known him. He threw the broken chain and ring at Kuroko, who caught it.

 

“Throw that away,” Kagami ordered. “Get rid of it.”

 

Kuroko found himself mentally rolling his eyes, forcing his expression to remain blank. He would do no such thing. Indulging in Kagami’s temporary emotional pain would only cause the redhead more pain after this match, when he realized what he had lost in his desire to win.

 

That said, if Kagami needed to distance himself from his brother and temporarily forget their connection in order to put himself back into this fight, Kuroko would absolutely let the redhead  _ pretend. _

 

And so Kuroko quietly pocketed the chain and ring, sure to ask Riko or one of his former roommates to fix it before he returned the necklace, and watched the look in Kagami’s eyes shift.

 

Finally, the Ace of Seirin was ready to duel for real.

 

Kagami and Kiyoshi squared off, their eyes burning with intent. 

 

“They might have two aces, but so do we,” Hyuuga said, his voice intense with pressure from the match. “For now, we’re lucky Murasakibara is staying on that side of the court, but we need that to change if our attack will work. Teppei?”

 

Kiyoshi smiled.

 

“I’m happy to show him how to have some fun in a duel,” he replied.

 

“Perfect. And Kagami?”

 

Kagami turned towards his captain. Anger and determination had overtaken the sadness that had been dragging him down towards defeat during this entire duel.

 

“I’ll take out Tatsuya and then help this loser with the giant,” Kagami confirmed. “If he doesn’t want us to be brothers anymore no matter how this ends, then there’s really only one thing for me to do.”

 

Hyuuga nodded, moving back into position as they got ready to start the duel again.

 

“Kiyoshi-senpai, Kagami,” Kuroko said quietly. The two powerful wizards turned.

 

“Murasakibara and Himuro are both strong,” Kuroko said, extending both of his fists. “Go beat them up!”

 

Kagami huffed, his expression narrowing into a look of dangerous concentration.

 

“Of course we will,” he scoffed contemptuously. “I’m gonna blow both of them halfway to the goddamn moon. If Tatsuya wants me to treat him like I’m going to kill him, then I’m happy to. We won’t be brothers no matter how this ends, especially not if he’s taking  _ his  _ side, so trust me.”

 

Kuroko smiled.

 

“Besides,” Kagami added, red fire beginning to burn at the edges of his hands, “I know how to stop that trick of his now.”

 

“Beat them up, huh?” Kiyoshi asked. “Sounds good to me!”

 

Both of the taller wizards bumped fists with Kuroko, and turned to face their opponents, magic burning around them.

 

With all of them finally ready to go, it was time for the duel to really start.

 

…

 

Aomine watched Kagami and Kiyoshi regain the offensive with narrowed eyes.

 

If Kagami’s personal drama became an obstacle to Kuroko proving himself here, Aomine was going to kill the other wizard himself. Kagami was better than that. It should take more than some second rate wizard from America to take him down.

 

This was not the time for the redhead to lose focus and concentration to some petty feud.

 

And where was Kuroko, anyway? The blue haired wizard had yet to make a move. Aomine wondered exactly what opening the other wizard was waiting for.

 

Was he so uncertain in his own skills that he was wary of pulling them out in the middle of a duel? Aomine hoped not. You couldn’t duel with anything less than a hundred per cent confidence in your own abilities and still fight with all your heart.

 

He’d never known Kuroko to be trepidatious, and he hoped the blue haired wizard wouldn’t start now.

 

Kagami was facing off with the dark haired American wizard again. Aomine narrowed his eyes, wondering why the pair of Seirin’s star duelists were wasting time like this.

 

Even from this distance, he could tell that something was different now. The American kid Murasakibara had apparently befriended was smiling confidently, but this time, so was Kagami.

 

Aomine watched as another one of those barely-there spells slammed towards Kagami’s shield, but this time with a triumphant yell, Kagami shielded himself.

 

Himuro looked shocked.

 

Aomine watched as Kagami taunted Himuro. He gestured to his chest, saying something. The more he talked, the more pissed off the other American looked.

 

Aomine could understand the feeling.

 

The discussion between the two duelists was interrupted rudely by an explosive spell landing right between them, letting off a cloud of foul grey smoke that forced both men to cover their faces and run.

 

Through the clearing smoke, Aomine caught a glance of Kagami, arm around Kuroko’s neck, leaning in so close that his face was practically pressed into pale blue hair.

 

There was a moment of pure, painful fury in which Aomine considered leaping down into the arena to make the redhead go one on one with him all over again. The metal rail under his hands began to bend under the strength of his grip.

 

Aomine exhaled. This wasn’t the time or the place. He smoothed his hands over the twisted metal, straightening it out with a few quick brushes of his fingers.

 

The dark haired wizard scanned the dueling field again as the fight took back up. One of Murasakibara’s teammates was shouting at another one, probably about the spell that had flown wide and subjected everyone to the terrible smelling cloud of gas. Kagami and Kiyoshi, the brute force of Seirin’s run and gun attack were launching an attack against the three offensive duelists on Yosen’s team.

 

Aomine stared intently, looking for the wizard that appeared to have vanished into thin air. He caught just a feeling of Kuroko’s power on the other side of the arena from Kiyoshi and Kagami. He watched eagerly as he found Kuroko, following the movements of the nearly invisible wizard out of the periphery of his vision. If he hadn’t known exactly what Kuroko’s power felt like, Aomine was sure he never would have seen the other wizard at all.

 

But there he was.

 

Aomine watched, eyes narrowed. He saw Tetsuya duck, and then –

 

An explosion erupted behind the Yosen team, right next to Murasakibara. It happened out of nowhere, without a single spell or shouted curse.

 

“Where did that spell come from?” Himuro yelled, already moving towards Murasakibara. Aomine could hear the American’s voice all the way from the balcony, and the level of anger and desperation in the words filled him with glee.

 

Aomine grinned despite himself.

 

It was chaos.

 

It was beautiful.

 

_ The Shield of Aegis indeed,  _ he thought. Murasakibara had built himself and his team a reputation for being untouchable. No team had ever laid a single curse on the inside of Murasakibara’s incredible shields. Aomine wondered very seriously if he and Imayoshi could have breached the shield that was the cornerstone of Yosen’s strategy.

 

And yet Kuroko had sent his own magic directly through those shields as though they didn’t exist at all.

 

Seirin had pulled themselves together and laid their first successful offensive. If they kept that up, they would walk out of here with a ticket to their next round.

 

And in the center of it all was Kuroko Tetsuya, his face completely blank, revealing none of the terrific concentration necessary to achieve this trick.

 

“Tetsu, you’re so amazing,” Aomine whispered. His face was fixed in an astonished smile as he watched the man he’d been in love with for so long show the true extent of his powers in the arena.

 

_ I always knew you were special. _

 

Maybe he hadn’t known as long as Akashi, and maybe he hadn’t seen it right away, but from the first time they had fought side by side as real partners, Aomine had known that Kuroko was incredible. He’d been ready to tear Nash Gold Jr.’s head off for thinking otherwise, for calling Kuroko a squib.

 

It had been Aomine who pushed Kuroko every time they met together in practice. Aomine had seen the burgeoning potential and threw caution to the wind whereas Akashi forbade experimentation and exploration. Even now, thinking about how many times Akashi had forcefully redirected their line of practice activities, Aomine could not deny that Akashi had likely known what he was doing.

 

Akashi had been too busy building his own personal, invisible weapon, that he wouldn’t let Kuroko be who he was.

 

Had this been what the redhead wizard was afraid of?

 

The chaos down below gave Aomine the answer he didn’t want to have to demand from his former captain.

 

…

 

Down in the arena, Yosen found themselves fighting to remain on the offensive.

 

Atsushi stared in utter disbelief as Seirin found themselves finally able to break through the impenetrable defense Yosen had crafted out of runes and Murasakibara’s sheer expanse of power.

 

Kuroko met his eyes. Behind the façade of calm that had hidden Kuroko all his life, burned a fire of determination so intense, Murasakibara took a step back.

 

“Kuro-chin,” he whined. “You’ve been holding out on me.”

 

“No,” Kuroko corrected him. “I just got pissed off enough to figure out how to fight you on your own terms.”

 

Murasakibara’s eyes widened. 

 

“So if you keep hiding, I’m going to beat you,” Kuroko said politely, his tone still controlled.

 

He could tell the exact moment Murasakibara decided that this was just too much to tolerate.

 

Murasakibara knew that his shield would do nothing to protect himself or his team against a Kuroko armed with offensive spells for the first time in his life. There was only one way to put an end to this duel the way Akashi had ordered him to.

 

Akashi had told him to put Kuro-chin down hard, and Murasakibara was going to do just that.

 

It had been more than three years since Kuroko had fought side by side with Murasakibara where the purple haired giant actually cared to try to attack his opponents. This being the case, Kuroko was almost caught off guard when Murasakibara dropped his shield.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Kuroko only just managed to get out of the way and behind Seirin’s shield when hell started raining down on them.

 

Murasakibara was attacking.

 

The first spell fell with a sound like thunder, shuddering the floor and walls. Seirin’s shield buckled and collapsed.

 

“Well this isn’t ideal,” Izuki panted as they scattered for cover.

 

The ground started to rumble again, and huge chunks of the stone started to rise out of it, pitting the ground with massive holes where they had been removed. They started to move high into the sky, floating over their heads.

 

“This was the plan!” Hyuuga shouted back, dodging as a huge boulder came crashing down where he had been standing.

 

“This was a shitty plan!” Izuki said. “We need a new planner!”

 

“You wanna tell Coach that yourself?”

 

This question was punctuated by another rock slamming down, rising up a cloud of dust.

 

“Naw, you can do it!” Izuki yelled back. “I don’t wanna get slapped again!”

 

“That’s what I thought!” Hyuuga shouted, blasting another boulder to dust as it came crashing towards him. “Teppei, you gonna do something?”

 

“On it, Captain!”

 

Kiyoshi’s spellfire did its job distracting Murasakibara, and he stood facing the powerful wizard one on one.

 

“Hey, Atsushi,” Kiyoshi smiled. “This is familiar.”

 

“Eh, is it?” Murasakibara asked. “I don’t remember you.”

 

Kiyoshi’s smile faltered a little, but didn’t fall.

 

“We’ve dueled before,” he reminded the purple haired wizard. “Way back when, anyway.”

 

“Oh,” Murasakibara shrugged. “Guess you just weren’t all that memorable.”

 

“Guess I’ll just have to make myself more memorable now,” Kiyoshi said. “Let’s have some fun.”

 

Murasakibara glared down at the other wizard, and said nothing. With a determined movement, he tried to reach around Kiyoshi to curse the rest of the other eam, but Kiyoshi knocked away his hand, absorbing the hit. His skin was becoming surrounded by bronze fire, a wild look in his eyes. 

 

Murasakibara growled, trying again, only to find himself facing off with an even more determined Kiyoshi. When his spell hit the other wizard, the fire burned higher. In this state, any harm Kiyoshi took was just going to fuel his own strength.

 

“You wanna get to my team, you’re going to have to go through me,” Kiyoshi told him. “When they’re in trouble, I am their shield.”

 

“Some shield,” Murasakibara snorted. 

 

In truth, there was no comparison between the kind of shield Kiyoshi could produce and the ones Murasakibara regularly did. Kiyoshi was a Crownless King, one of the strongest wizards of his year, and a miracle of magic all on his own. But Murasakibara Atsushi so thoroughly outclassed him that in comparison, Kiyoshi was practically an average wizard.

 

And that kind of pissed Kiyoshi off. He was determined not to let his own frailties be responsible for his failure to defend his teammates. He’d had more than enough of being sidelined during the entire year he’d spent unable to duel. 

 

“It’s enough of a shield,” Kiyoshi replied pleasantly.

 

“You know, I do remember you,” Murasakibara admitted, pulling back and facing off with Kiyoshi. “I crushed you back when we were in school. It was easy. You said the same stupid stuff then about wanting to protect your team, and wanting to be a shield from harm. 

 

Kiyoshi didn’t know if he was supposed to be flattered or insulted, but as long as Murasakibara was talking, he wasn’t attacking Seirin or shielding his own team. In the background, the duel went on. It was anyone’s game now, anyone’s victory to take.

 

Kiyoshi was determined that it would be his team standing on the field when the time was called.

 

“I’m going to crush you again,” Murasakibara said.  “You can’t protect anyone. You can’t even protect yourself.”

 

Kiyoshi was still smiling. If his smile looked strained, that was his own business. It was painfully close to what Murasakibara had told him years ago.

 

“I don’t need to protect them,” he said. “They can handle themselves. All I’m here to do is handle you.”

 

Every time Murasakibara moved, Kiyoshi was there. Every time the other man tried to attack, he was faced with a stinging job. Kiyoshi’s job was to keep Murasakibara fixated on him long enough for Kagami to handle Himuro.

 

This was destined to be a failure. 

 

Murasakibara finally got annoyed enough to throw Kiyoshi across the entire arena, his spell punching right through Kagami’s shield as though nothing was there.

 

Kagami had run to Kiyoshi’s aid, but found himself running right into a boulder thrown in his direction.

 

Murasakibara stood in the middle of the arena, glaring. For a moment, Seirin braced themselves to be wiped out.

 

Murasakibara roared in frustration, throwing his arms up in the air.

 

The giant wizard stomped across the arena, sitting down on the ground and crossing his arms petulantly.

 

“I’m not dueling anymore,” he whined. “This is stupid and bothersome. And I’m not going to do it. I’m done.”

 

Kuroko had one second to register the look of absolute rage on Himuro’s face before the American wizard was moving, running across the arena like a bat out of hell.

 

Himuro didn’t even bother coming to a stop when he reached Murasakibara. He pulled back his arm, and the momentum from his run and the force of his own arm swung the fist in a perfect downward arc.

 

Murasakibara had not moved in time to respond to the immediate threat unfolding in front of him, and was caught completely off guard at this attack from his teammate.

 

Himuro slammed his fist into the side of Murasakibara’s face.

 

The large, purple haired wizard went down, and went down  _ hard.  _ He stared up at Himuro like he was seeing the wizard for the first time, like he could hardly believe that Himuro had touched him in so aggressive a manner.

 

Himuro stood over Murasakibara, tears running down his face, heaving for breath.

 

“You goddamn, lazy bastard!” Himuro shouted. “I would have given  _ anything  _ to be as powerful as you. I would have traded  _ anything I had  _ to be able to mow down my opponents and not to have to watch everyone I love outpace and outpower me in the arena! I’ve been fighting against the odds every day of my life and now that it gets a little bit hard you want to walk away? Huh?”

 

Murasakibara seemed struck speechless.

 

For all the times Kuroko had given him this speech in a calm, disappointed tone, for every time Akashi had ordered in his imperious voice, for every student and teacher that had cajoled, threatened, and depreciated him for not doing his best, Himuro’s absolute betrayal and anger hit him harder than every single time he’d had to hear this.

 

“So what, you were always just going to abandon me when things got hard?” Himuro asked, still crying. “You’re the worst.”

 

Both teams remained frozen at this blatant display of emotion.

 

…

 

On the balcony, Aomine found himself kind of hoping that one of Seirin’s competitors would take this opportunity to put a stunning spell right between the pretty duelist’s streaming eyes so they could get back to the duel. Of course, most of them were busy getting Kiyoshi, who had been knocked unconscious, and Kagami, who had taken a pretty bad beating, back on their feet. 

 

And then Murasakibara wiped at his eyes and took the hand the American had offered to him. Aomine wondered exactly  _ how close  _ these two had gotten when Murasakibara had been sent to Los Angeles. Clearly, half a year of living together had left them closer than Aomine had assumed. But then again, Murasakibara never talked about his feelings, unless the feeling was either boredom or hunger.

 

To date, Aomine was aware of only two people who could motivate Murasakibara Atsushi into fighting in a duel. One of them was Akashi Seijuro, the man who nobody disobeyed (except Kuroko, and now, apparently, Aomine), and Kuroko himself. And even then, Murasakibara had become more immune to Kuroko’s blank glare over time.

 

Who was this man that had such influence over his former comrade?

 

Murasakibara brushed dust off his pants and held a hand out to Himuro, who smiled tightly, procuring a hair tie from his wrist.

 

Aomine watched in disbelief as Murasakibara tied back his hair, an intense expression coming across his face. 

 

“Oh fuck,” Aomine whispered.

 

Murasakibara was shining with purple fire, and he didn’t look happy.

 

Aomine took a step back from the railing. He hadn’t known. How could he, when the other wizard had refused to use the majority of his magical power for so long? It had been years since Murasakibara had entirely unleashed his power, and he looked ready to trample every one of his enemies on the field. Aomine could  _feel_ his power from here. 

 

Aomine had a sudden premonition of his near future if he persisted in annoying Akashi. He’d done a really poor job trying to engage in self-preservation.

 

But Murasakibara wasn’t the only one taking this duel seriously. 

 

And Yosen wasn’t the only team with two Aces.

 

Kagami and Kiyoshi, the Berserkers of Seirin, were already in full form. Aomine watched with a dry throat as Kagami charged Himuro. The other boy tried to curse him, backing up in alarm as he realized that he couldn’t land a single meaningful blow on his one time brother. Kagami roared, a sound that drew goosebumps from Aomine’s arms.

 

This was the full strength that Kagami was capable of, the power that had taken Aomine down, with Kuroko’s help.

 

Aomine let himself hope that it was the same power that could take down Akashi too.

 

The crowd was screaming. Who they were cheering for now, Aomine couldn’t make out. It was all just a rush of sound.

 

It was an incredible duel.

 

Aomine watched as Kagami became a streak of red fire on the field, taking down the other American. Himuro Tatsuya folded to the sheer strength of a Berserker in a full rage, and Kagami turned, looking for his next foe.   
  


Around him, his teammates were fighting. Yosen was putting up as much of a fight as they could. The arena was full of spellfire and magic, neither side clearly discernable in the fray.

 

Aomine whispered a prayer, watching as Murasakibara charged down Kagami.

 

Unstoppable force met immovable object in a clash that made the entire stadium shake. Aomine grabbed the railing in front of him, scared for a moment that the two wizards were about to bring down the entire room.

 

Kagami’s magic burned dark red against Murasakibara’s bright purple. 

 

Aomine had a sudden, vivid flashback to the last time he had seen Murasakibara wield every ounce of his power against another wizard, and shivered. It seemed the transfer student had finally come into his own. He could feel it.

 

The two broke apart, but almost immediately ended up locked in another standoff.

 

The spell exploded out of Kagami’s wand, but Murasakibara had a shield up before it could make contact. Spell met shield with a shower of magical sparks, sending a burning smell of ozone into the air. With a scream of determination, Kagami slammed even more power into the spell. The light grew to an intensity so bright that up in the stadium, viewers were shielding their eyes.

 

Kuroko watched, eyes wide in utter shock.

 

Kagami Taiga was matching power with Murasakibara. Both were pouring every inch of power they had into their spells, and one to one, they were perfectly, evenly matched.

 

Three years ago, sitting together on the astronomy tower, Kuroko had told Kagami that if he went up against the Generation of Miracles, he would be crushed without a second thought. He’d seen the other wizard’s  _ potential,  _ of course, but this was far beyond anything he’d ever dreamed. His Light  _ burned  _ with the intensity of his own power, and it left Kuroko awed and humbled to be his shadow.

 

But then Kagami’s spell began to give.

 

“NO!”

 

A second wand joined Kagami’s and Kuroko watched in awe as the two Aces slammed into his former teammate. Kagami himself had not been enough to overcome Murasakibara, but combined with Kiyoshi’s power, he was more than enough.

 

Murasakibara fell to his knees, but he couldn’t maintain his spell against the power of both wizards. His spell failed, and a wave of magic slammed into him.

 

By brute force, Seirin took back the fight.

 

There was a second flash of white hot, light blue power.

 

Murasakibara’s shield shattered.

 

And then it was over.

 

…

 

A quiet hush fell over the stadium.

 

Smoke rose in a small column, and as it cleared, the scorch marks and broken ground of the arena became visible.

 

Seirin stood, bowed with exhaustion, but they somehow managed to stand. Yosen had been soundly defeated.

 

The announcer's voice came rumbling through the crowd, bringing with it a wave of cheers and shouts as the audience realized that the match had been decided.

 

“Seirin wins!”

 

Kuroko, blood dripping down the middle of his face, body covered in sweat and soot, and wand gripped tightly in one hand, held a fist high in the air.

 

The crowd went wild.

 

“SEIRIN HAS PIERCED THE SHIELD OF AEGIS!”

 

Aomine didn’t see who yelled it. More cheering erupted around the crowd at that announcement, however.

 

The entire stadium was on their feet, wizards roaring their approval at the underdogs that had come this far, that had dared to challenge such a strong team and come out the victor. Aomine was shocked – every cheering witch and wizard was another witch or wizard voicing at least tacit approval of a team that had declared themselves in open opposition to Akashi’s regime.

 

“Tsk. What a fickle crowd.”

 

Aomine forced himself not to jump at the sound of Akashi’s voice. 

 

“Akashi,” he said, turning his head slightly to meet the eyes of the redhead next to him. He could feel Midorima’s presence behind him and it made him nervous to be outnumbered.

 

He didn’t know when Akashi had gotten up and left his seat. It felt like not nearly enough time since the duel had ended for Akashi’s attention to have lapsed enough to think to look for Aomine. However the redhead had done it, he was here now, and Aomine was instantly on guard.

 

“It was quite an impressive match,” Akashi said mildly. “Tetsuya seems to have learned a new trick.”

 

“Has he?” Aomine asked, feigning disinterest and glaring down at the arena. Akashi smiled. It wasn’t a nice smile.

 

“Come now, Daiki, I thought being tsundere was Shintarou’s job,” he smiled gently. In his peripheral vision, Aomine could see Midorima tense, and felt almost gratified.

 

When he looked up, Akashi was smiling. It would have been called a kind smile on anyone else’s face, but Aomine was aware of the barbs hiding behind it.

 

“You don’t wear it as well. There’s no point pretending you weren’t watching just as closely as we were. Of course all of us are interested in seeing exactly how much our Phantom has developed since he left us.”

 

Aomine shrugged, uncomfortable with his proximity to the wizard boxing him against the railing. Presumably, Akashi didn’t  _ know  _ that Aomine had betrayed him by helping Kuroko, at least if Midorima had kept his word. Regardless, Aomine still had the sinking feeling that Akashi was trying to catch him in a lie. 

 

“It’s impressive magic,” he said honestly. He felt a pang in his heart as he watched Kuroko embrace Kagami down below. He carefully watched Akashi out of the corner of his eye, trying to gauge his reactions. “Besides, you already knew how I feel about Tetsu, and that hasn’t changed, no matter what side I’m on. Were you able to keep track of his spells?”

 

The answer to Aomine’s impetuous question was clearly visible in Akashi’s face. He hadn’t, and he was pissed about it. Aomine felt a thrill of recklessness run through him. If he was already a dead man walking, he might as well gain at least some satisfaction out of the crimes he’d committed.

 

“Wordless, wandless, invisible in every regard. It doesn’t even give off a magical signature,” Aomine all but bragged. 

 

“Impressive indeed,” Akashi murmured in agreement, leaning over the railing to watch as the captain of Seirin ruffled Kuroko’s hair and the small wizard was lifted onto the shoulders of Seirin’s Uncrowned King.

 

The entire team was reveling in their seemingly impossible victory.

 

Tetsuya looked shocked, but he was smiling widely. Aomine wasn’t sure when he’d last seen that smile, and that fact alone broke his heart. It was the most open he had seen Kuroko’s expression in a long time. He’d seen something like it at the end of his own match with Kuroko, when the other man had extended his closed fist to Aomine, expecting Aomine to join him in a show of solidarity. Now, as then, that look was directed not at Aomine, as it should have been, but Kagami. The transfer kid. Tetsu’s new Light.

 

Understanding dawned on Aomine like a stab wound to the gut.

 

Kuroko had not just proclaimed Kagami to be his Light, his partner in the arena. Kuroko had fallen in love with the damn transfer student! Aomine warred with his jealousy and anger for only a moment before he helplessly accepted the truth.

 

He knew – had known since he had taught Kuroko his delightful new way of casting spells, maybe even before – that he didn’t deserve Kuroko’s respect, let alone his heart. He knew Kuroko would never be able to trust him the way he could wholeheartedly trust Kagami.

 

And yet, Aomine still loved him. Aomine knew that, at least. He’d probably been in love with Tetsu from the first time Kuroko had used his misdirection as Aomine’s partner. When he had seen the boy covered in dust and soot, his eyes wide with excitement and high off of his own newly discovered talents.

 

Kuroko  _ loved  _ dueling, Aomine had fallen in love with that passion and joy. He’d fallen in love with Tetsu as he was now, with the thrill of hard won victory thrumming in his veins, and that quiet intensity that pushed him to new heights every time Kuroko stepped into the arena. 

 

Akashi wanted to quash it, and Aomine didn’t need another reason to defy the redhead. He’d let himself get led around blindly for a long time, but he was going to protect Tetsu for as long as he could.

 

Akashi smiled thoughtfully, his eyes still fixed on Kuroko. Aomine wondered if Akashi had drawn the same conclusions he had. He had to assume the redhead had, but if that was true, Aomine was almost sure Kagami would be dead.

 

When Akashi spoke, his voice was still pleasantly controlled and quiet.

 

“I wonder where he learned it.”

 

“I think the better question is, why he never unleashed that potential before now,” Aomine replied, and this time he didn’t look away when Akashi met his eyes. Impulsive anger rose in his chest, and before he could stop himself, he was doing an excellent impression of someone who wanted to die.

 

“Perhaps because his best and favorite teacher specifically pushed him in certain directions so he would never cultivate a talent that might overcome his own? Perhaps his mentor truly was that much of a coward-”

 

In a flash, Aomine found himself on his knees, Akashi’s wand poking into his throat. To be honest, he was surprised that he’d gotten as far as he had before Akashi put him in his place. The shorter boy’s face remained neutral, with no sign of the fury that had lent even more preternatural speed to his movements.

 

The wand against Aomine’s throat was a promise, not a threat.

 

“I suppose it’s true, the guilty will out themselves,” Akashi said quietly. I didn’t want to believe it. Aomine Daiki, my best and greatest general, the Ace of my team, and one of the brightest crown jewels of the Generation of Miracles, a traitor.”

 

Aomine glared up at the wizard in front of him.

 

“I won’t let you hurt Tetsu,” he said, his voice low and dangerous. “You wanna kill him? Then you’ll have to destroy me first.”

 

“Ah, Daiki,” Akashi brought a hand up to cup the side of his face that wasn’t being threatened with a wand. His voice and touch were gentle, the opposite of what Aomine had expected. “You seem to fundamentally misunderstand my intentions towards Tetsuya. I have no desire to hurt him, not in the slightest. Not when he is so useful to me alive and unharmed. It is precisely because I do  _ not  _ want him harmed that I have gone to such lengths to secure his place at my side.”

 

“The last time you saw him, you told him that if he refused you, you would kill him,” Aomine argued back.

 

Akashi’s smirk faded a little.

 

“I lost my temper,” he admitted. “Tetsuya’s stubbornness can be rather trying, can’t it?”

 

Aomine stared at the other wizard, trying to discern whether or not the other man was telling the truth. Akashi’s gold eye gleamed unpleasantly down at him. 

 

“Rest assured, I have never wanted any harm to come to my Phantom,” Akashi was looking away now, out at the arena where the Seirin team was celebrating. Shifting his head slightly, Aomine could still see Tetsu, who was being handed off from Kiyoshi to Kagami almost seamlessly. “His loss would be… regrettable. Especially now, when I have invested so much time in assisting the development of his skills.”

 

“You won’t hurt Tetsu?”

 

“No more than it takes to bring him into line and convince him to accept his place,” Akashi replied. “Rejoin me, Aomine. Return your heart to where it belongs and we will bring Tetsuya to our side. You seem to think standing against me will guarantee that you will be able to stand next to Tetsuya, but you need not choose between your Lord and your Love.”

 

Aomine didn’t want to believe the words, because they felt like a betrayal. The conflict must have shown in his face, because Akashi’s smile widened. He looked significantly more dangerous now than he had a moment ago.

 

“Daiki, let me make one thing extraordinarily clear,” Akashi said softly. “Tetsuya is a valuable asset to me, and I have no intention of hurting him. You are a valuable asset to me as well, and I would not harm you without  _ substantial _ provocation. But I’ve been waiting for a good reason to squash that transfer student like a bug. You should be extremely careful not to give me one.”

 

Aomine’s entire world flipped upside down.

 

The immediate response on his tongue should have been ‘do whatever the hell you want to with him, I hate that guy,’ especially in the light of Aomine’s recent revelations. He hadn’t expected the pain that accompanied the threat to squeeze his heart like a vice. Kagami Taiga, stamped out like a bug? Aomine would sooner lose an arm.

 

And that didn’t make any sense at all. Aomine had been feuding with the man since the day they had met. The thought of Kagami being hurt shouldn’t have caused him as much pain as the thought of Kuroko being harmed, but there it was.

 

And yet…

 

It did.

 

Kagami Taiga was the rival Kuroko had sworn would show up one day, the man who had made him fall in love with dueling again. Kagami Taiga, for all that he was abrasive and angry and  _ Tetsu’s, when Aomine should have been,  _ had given Aomine something that the blue haired wizard thought he had lost forever a very long time ago. 

 

Holy fuck, Aomine realized, staring up into the red and gold eyes of his leader.

 

_ I’m in love with  _ both _ of them. _

 

This was followed by another, heavier realization. His eyes darted to the side, where he could see Kuroko cradled in his Light’s arms, practically glowing with joy and victory.

 

_ I can never tell either of them. _

 

“Daiki,” Akashi sighed. “I know you’re emotionally stunted, but really? Did you only just realize the extent of your own feelings? We’ve been out of school long enough, and this is practically juvenile.”

 

Aomine felt like he couldn’t breathe.

 

Kagami Taiga, rough around the edges, but full of a fire that sang out to an answering spark inside of Aomine. Kagami Taiga, who was beautiful and powerful, yes, but who had the spirit of competition burning inside him so brightly he had rekindled the dying embers of life inside of Aomine when he had thought himself beyond all hope of finding an equal on the court.

 

Kagami Taiga, the miraculous rival that Kuroko had promised that he would find one day. The wizard Had been worth every second of the wait for their exhilarating duel.

 

Kagami Taiga, who was in love with and dating another man who Aomine loved.

 

_ How the hell did this happen? _

 

Akashi was absolute, and if he wanted Kuroko Tetsuya on his side, he would get him. As far as history could tell, Akashi had never been denied something he truly wanted, and it wasn’t just because people wanted to spoil or curry favor with him. What Akashi wanted, he took. By charm if he could, by force if he necessary.

 

What if the best way to protect Kuroko  _ was  _ to bring him over to the side of the Generation of Miracles without a fight? If Aomine rejoined Akashi, he could convince Kuroko to protect himself and Kagami by complying with Akashi’s demands.

 

“I see I have given you more to think about than I intended,” Akashi said, sounding amused. Aomine forced himself to focus on where he was, on the moment in front of him right now. He needed a drink. A lot of drinks, and time. He didn’t know what to do.

 

Akashi seemed to sense this.

 

“I will give you one day,” he continued in that soft, alluring voice. “I will have your answer after my duel with Shintarou. I will give you the opportunity to see the true power against which you have attempted to stand your ground, and then decide on which side of our coming war you will fight on. It is more mercy than I have provided anyone who has stood against me except Tetsuya, and I advise you to take advantage of that mercy to do the right thing. Too much is at stake for me to allow you to tear apart my plans for your petty feelings.”

 

Aomine nodded.

 

A moment later, Akashi was gone, and Aomine leaned back against the railing, heaving for air.

 

Holy fucking shit, this was going to be a serious problem.

 

Maybe Aomine should have taken off running last night after all. He doubted he could ever have run far enough to make a difference, but his very skin prickled from the desire to at least try to flee, no matter how futile it would have been.

 

Aomine closed his eyes. On the shadowed balcony overlooking the objects of his affections, he prayed that he would have the strength to do the right thing.

 

If he managed to figure out what that was, anyway.

 

…

 


	47. Who Cares About Being The Best We All Embrace The Eternal Void Eventually

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey friends! Sorry about the lack of an update last week - with my semester wrapping up and law school finals closing in I've been super busy. I'm going to do my best to keep updating weekly, but that may be a bit spotty through the end of exams. At any rate, please enjoy chapter 47!

 

**…**

 

Kuroko was leaning against Kagami, the other wizard almost carrying his entire weight, when he remembered the ring that was still on a chain in his pocket.

 

Kuroko tugged on Kagami’s sleeve, making his boyfriend slow down enough that they fell behind the rest of their team.

 

“I think you should have this back,” Kuroko told his Light, handing the necklace off.

 

“I thought I told you that you should destroy this?” Kagami demanded. He wasn’t mad – in all honesty, he was too tired to be mad. Matching his power against Murasakibara while he was in the Berserker state while Murasakibara had unleashed the full strength of his own power had left him with almost no energy left. He’d fallen asleep twice in the changing room after the duel, and was only on his feet now because of pepper-up potions. He looked down at the gleaming ring, now far too small to fit his finger. He could have resized it with magic probably, but that felt wrong.

 

It was the symbol of one child’s promise to another.

 

His hand closed around the ring, feeling conflicted.

 

“I don’t think that you really want to end your relationship with Himuro Tatsuya,” Kuroko said. “You would have regretted it if I had actually done what you asked. You should go talk to him.”

 

Kagami stared down at Kuroko for a while.

 

“I’m not making up with him,” he said.

 

He should have known that Kuroko was not going to take no for an answer. In a swift movement that spoke of actual practice, Kuroko reached into the duffel at his side and pulled out Nigou.

 

The soft, fluffy puppy barked happily.

 

Kagami backed up a few steps, eyeing the dog warily.

 

“Nigou wants you to go,” Kuroko said blankly, and Kagami sighed. He finally realized that he wasn’t going to win this debate and resigned himself to having a long, difficult discussion with his brother.

 

“Fine,” he said. “Fine, fine, just put the dog away!”

 

Kuroko slipped Nigou back into the bag gently. The dog popped his head of out the bag and rested it on the side, looking up at Kagami with those eyes that were eerily like Kuroko’s.

 

“I am going to get over this fear of dogs and then you’re gonna be stuck whenever you try and blackmail me into doing stuff,” Kagami grumbled. Kuroko’s expression did not change. They both knew absolutely well that Kuroko’s ability to convince Kagami to do things had nothing to do with Nigou.

 

“You gonna be okay?”

 

Kuroko nodded. “I’ll catch up to the team,” he said.

 

Kagami leaned down and kissed Kuroko, holding the blue haired wizard to him tightly.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “You’re right, I need to go find him.”

 

Kagami felt a surge of energy, knowing his day wasn’t over just yet. Kuroko waved goodbye to him as he dashed off down the hallway, back towards the arena.

 

It took Kagami about twenty minutes, but he found Tatsuya outside on the back steps of the arena, along with someone he hadn’t expected to see.

 

Alex was leaning casually against the side of the building, arms folded. She looked annoyed.

Tatusya’s face still had a bandage over one side of his cheek, where Kagami’s fire had burned him. He looked up when he heard Kagami’s footsteps.

 

“Hey, Alex,” Kagami said, because that was definitely the easier greeting. “You didn’t say you were going to come watch the duel.”

 

Alex grinned at him.

 

“My two favorite apprentices are facing off against each other in some epic showdown, and you think I’d give it a pass? My team can handle the dig for a little while. Most of them are smart enough not to lose any limbs poking around wards too complicated for them.”

 

Kagami huffed at the dig, but didn’t say anything else. He looked down, trying to find the words for what he wanted to say to the man who had been his best friend and brother for so long.

 

“Listen, Tatsuya-”

 

“Shut up.”

 

Tatusya sounded angry, and Kagami closed his mouth, not wanting to make this even more confrontational than it already was.

 

“You piss me off so much, you know that?” Tatsuya demanded. He still wasn’t looking at Kagami.

 

“I kind of got that,” Kagami said.

 

Tatsuya laughed.

 

“You were supposed to be my little brother and let me teach you things, and then it turns out you’re a magical prodigy. You know how awful it is knowing that you’ve reached the limit of your potential? It sucks.”

 

Kagami nodded. He sat down on the steps. After a long pause, Tatsuya joined him.

 

“I tried so hard to be stronger than I was, but there was only so far I could go. And you’re _still_ getting stronger. It’s just not fair.”

 

“Well that’s bullshit,” Kagami said when he decided Tatsuya was done. Tatsuya looked at Kagami like he was going to punch right through his face, so Kagami raised his hands, ready to defend his statement.

 

“Don’t be an asshole. My boyfriend is the weakest guy on our team, but he uses his magic completely differently than the rest of us, and _that_ makes him one of the strongest people here,” Kagami said proudly. “Just because you’re not a walking nuclear bomb doesn’t mean you can’t be the best at something. You could start by specializing in what your power is actually good at, for starters.”

 

“And what if I don’t want to?” Tatsuya asked. “What’s even the point if the only thing I’m good at is something I don’t want to do?”

 

Kagami patted Tatsuya on the shoulder.

 

“You wanna feel sorry for yourself or you wanna figure your shit out?” Kagami asked. Tatsuya snorted.

 

“ _I_ was supposed to be _your_ big brother,” he said under his breath.

 

“And I was supposed to join you in Salem, but that didn’t change anything for either of us,” Kagami said. “All we’ve got is what we have, so make it work.”

 

“Easy for you to say,” Tatsuya muttered rebelliously. “You’ve got plenty of power to work with.”

 

“I keep telling you Tatsuya, it’s not about power, it’s about your choices,” Kagami said. “Choose to not be an asshole or choose to whine about it, but that’s on you. All I wanted to tell you is that you’re still my brother. You always will be, even if you don’t think I’m yours.”

 

Kagami pulled the chain with the ring on it around his head, and stood up, stretching.

 

“Hey, Taiga?”

 

Tatsuya stood and Kagami turned to face him.

 

Without warning or the slightest hesitation, Tatsuya punched Kagami in the face. Kagami staggered back, falling on his ass.

 

“Now we’re even,” Tatsuya said, shaking out his hand.

 

“OI NO WE’RE NOT!” Kagami roared, jumping to his feet. “THAT WAS SO UNCALLED FOR!”

 

Tatsuya grinned and ran for it.

 

“If you say so!” he yelled merrily. “Anyway I think I can hear my coach calling!”

 

“COME BACK HERE SO I CAN KILL YOU!” Kagami shouted back. “GET SOME ANGER MANAGEMENT THERAPY!”

 

A few moments later, they were both gone.

 

Not long after that, a tall purple haired wizard wandered by the front steps.

 

“Muro-chin, I found chocolate, we can go-”

 

Murasakibara looked up, realizing that the person he thought he was talking to was no longer sitting on the steps as he had expected them to be.

 

“Muro-chin?” Murasakibara asked, looking around. After a moment he sighed, and sat down on the steps. Moodily, he unwrapped the chocolate bunny he had stolen from Midorima. He took a large bite out of the chocolate ears. It was actually pretty good, for a lucky item. It was lucky for Murasakibara, anyway, since he had run out of candy and there was no other place to get snacks that would still be open by now.

 

Muro-chin would come back for him eventually, so he might as well stay here and have a snack instead of running around trying to find him.

 

It had already been a very long day. Murasakibara didn’t want to have to dwell on losing any more than he already had.

 

“Atsushi.”

 

Murasakibara tilted his head back, letting Akashi come into his field of vision.

 

“Hi Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said around a mouthful of chocolate.

 

“We need to talk,” Akashi said seriously.

 

…

 

“You ready to go, Shin-chan?”

 

Takao was grinning up at Midorima. He was excited. He was nervous.

 

They were about to face off against Akashi Seijuro, one of the most powerful wizards in the country.

 

Takao was really looking forward to helping Midorima kick that guy’s ass.

 

“Cancer is ranked first. I have my lucky item,” Midorima said sagely by way of a response.

 

Takao grinned at that. The cheap, pink, plastic bracelet was hidden under the sleeve of Midorima’s dueling robes, but it was still there, hidden so that it couldn’t go missing like his lucky item from yesterday. (And really, how _had_ a chocolate bunny just gone missing like that?)

 

Midorima had ranted for at least an hour about attempted sabotage and foul play. Takao figured someone just wanted chocolate, but wasn’t about to correct him). Takao knew that Midorima’s lofty proclamation was a statement of intent; he was no less ready than Takao to take this duel as seriously as he possibly could.

 

Takao knew a little bit about Midorima’s relationship with Akashi. He knew that Midorima had given Akashi a warning, and that Akashi had heeded that warning to the best of his ability. He knew, because Midorima had given him a terse explanation when he asked Takao to duel with him again, that Akashi had asked (ordered) the Generation of Miracles to compete in the Winter Cup with everything they had, and to show their true strength.

 

Takao found himself almost buzzing with the opportunity to see Midorima unleash the full fury of his magic.

 

“Are you ready?” Midorima asked, looking at Takao. Takao nodded, smiling widely.

 

“I was born ready.”

 

“That statement is logically fallacious.”

 

“I’ll show you something else that’s fallacious,” Takao let his grin widen. “Come on, let’s go show your emperor what losing feels like. I want a second chance to wipe the floor with Kuroko.”

 

Midorima agreed.

 

With Ootsubo in the lead, their team headed into the arena. Midorima checked that his lucky item was still tightly secured, and Takao followed behind him, a dutiful shadow.

 

They were going to surprise the world with what they could do together, that was for sure. Takao found himself grinning.

 

Hell, they might even get the better of the Red Emperor himself, if they were lucky. If Midorima could be believed, they almost certainly would be.

 

Speaking of Akashi, Midorima made a beeline to speak with him before the duel started. Akashi seemed to greet Midorima pleasantly enough, but Takao kept his hawk eyes on the two of them. He was determined to not let Akashi mess with Midorima.

 

Midorima nodded to something the other man said. Akashi placed a hand on Midorima’s shoulder, and leaned in close. They spoke for a moment, their voices so low that Takao couldn’t pick up anything they were saying.

 

Takao just knew that he really didn’t like the look that put on Midorima’s face.

 

“What did he say?” Takao asked when Midorima came back. Midorima shook his head.

 

“Later,” he said tersely. “We have a duel to win first.”

 

“All right!” Takao pumped his fist in the air. “Let’s do this, Shin-chan!”

 

Nebuya came after Takao as soon as the round began. Takao found himself running from explosive spells blowing up the ground a he ran.

 

“At least get more creative!” Takao shouted. “Anyone can fucking blow shit up!”

 

Nebuya laughed loudly.

 

“Why fix what isn’t broken?” he demanded, firing off spell after spell. Takao swore, shielding himself and returning fire.

 

Takao transfigured a line of swords behind him and magically hurled them at Nebuya.

 

The much larger wizard was forced onto the defensive as Takao pressed his advantage, looking for Midorima.

 

He needn’t have worried.

 

The green haired wizard was facing off with Hayama pretty handily. Takao could see the placement of runes Midorima had used to speed up his spell casting. He was matching Hayama blow for blow, blurs of green and white moving around the arena too fast for the eye to follow.

 

Takao was thrown to the ground by an explosion.

 

Given the power of the magic, this intervention could only be the work of one wizard.

 

It looked like Akashi had held back initially, waiting for Midorima to show his own power in the arena, but now he was stepping into the fray, and he wasn’t limiting himself anymore.

 

As the smoke cleared, the red haze dissipated, and Takao could see that Midorima had found himself a new opponent.

 

To his credit, the green haired wizard was not even out of breath, even though the magical energy he’d already expended was pretty significant. Takao tightened his grip on his wand, ready to bash in the face of anyone who tried to interfere with Midorima’s duel.

 

Midorima was facing off with Akashi.

 

Takao stared at the two of them. He could see the sparks of power – green and red, Midorima’s against Akashi’s, but neither of them were attacking. Their magic burned in a haze around them, sparking where it met in the space between them, but it wasn’t hostile.

 

Neither of them had cast a single spell.

 

Takao grinned as he realized what was happening.

 

Midorima had developed his ability to see the immediate future into a finely honed tool. Takao had suspected for a long time that Akashi, if not a natural legilimens, was developing the skill to use in the arena. Midorima had confirmed that Akashi had some talent, but not enough to turn it into a useful weapon, as far as he knew.

 

Midorima and Akashi were literally fighting out dozens of permutations of the same duel over and over again, trying to see how they could get past the other when they knew each other so well and could see exactly how they would react in a given situation.

 

It was exactly the trap Midorima had cautioned Takao to watch out for to take advantage of.

 

Takao braced himself. This was going to get a little hairy.

 

With one spell, he lifted all the dust off the ground, raising it into a cloud.

 

“Augmenti!”

 

Takao flooded the arena with another spell.

 

“Shin-chan!”

 

Midorima was already moving.

 

Takao could feel himself levitating above the water just as Midorima sent magical electric sparks running through it.

 

He heard some of their opponents screaming out. He figured Midorima had managed to protect the rest of their team as well, given that he couldn’t hear any of them in pain.

 

Akashi’s magic burned out through the arena, vanishing the water and nullifying Midorima’s magic.

 

“Very clever,” he told Midorima. Takao wasn’t sure if it was good or not that he didn’t look angry – he seemed more pleased than anything. A happy Akashi in the middle of a round spelled some pretty heavy disaster on the horizon.  

 

Akashi turned to face his own team.

 

“You let them get the better of you.”

 

Akashi’s voice was neutral and perfectly polite.

 

With a single move, Akashi raised his hand and dropped one of the members of his own team.

 

“Now I realize I just damaged our own chances of success,” Akashi said. “And I will take responsibility for that. If we lose, I will gouge out my own eyes.”

 

“WHAT THE FUCK?” Takao demanded. “This is just fucking dueling!”

 

“That’s Akashi all right,” Midorima muttered. “He’s serious.”

 

“You’re kidding!” Takao exclaimed, staring at Midorima with wide eyes. “And this kid is your friend?”

 

Midorima smiled lightly, patting Takao on the shoulder.

 

“It makes a lot more sense when he’s on my side,” he admitted.

 

“He’s fucking insane!”

 

“So are you,” Midorima commented. “What else would you call following me around day in and day out and tracking me down to another country just to try and convince me to share your affections?”

 

Takao wasn’t actually sure he had a response to that.

 

“Now we need to move before Akashi ruins us.”

 

“You take the over, I take the under?” Takao suggested.

 

“I don’t know what that means,” Midorima said flatly.

 

“You do you sparkly light show, I’ll take down the rest,” Takao explained with a grin.

 

Midorima nodded.

 

Without flinching, he cut his hand. His fingers moved in quick and precise movements as he drew in his blood on his own arm.

 

A tornado of magic started picking up around the arena. The runes rose off Midorima’s skin, taking form into six massive pillars, heading straight for the other team.

 

Takao could smell ozone burning next to him, and realized that Midorima was drawing too deep to fight back.

 

And then, as though with a breeze, Midorima’s magic petered out.

 

“You did well,” Akashi said, his voice coming across the arena. “Thank you for showing me what you could do. But I have seen enough.”

 

_What a fucking dick._

 

Takao saw the runes rising and brought up a shield. He saw Midorima raise a shield of runes, but Akashi was faster, and strong.

 

The circle of runes rose into the sky, and a storm of jagged ice was fired directly at the two of them.

 

Their overlapped shields held for a few seconds as the storm hammered them.

 

Then the world spun, and with no further warning, Takao passed out.

 

After that, there wasn’t a whole lot to say. Takao barely remembered standing up, or shaking hands with their opponents. He followed Midorima into the changing room, the reek of disappointment following them.

 

It was worse to know that they had come so close, Takao thought sadly.

 

With that morose thought, Takao collapsed onto a bench beside Midorima after the duel, feeling wrung out and exhausted. Midorima didn’t look much better.

 

They had both given it their all and had still fallen before the might that was Akashi Seijuro. The man was terrifying. And definitely psychotic.

 

“You want to know what he said to me before the duel?” Midorima asked Takao. Takao nodded, reaching over to grab the Miracle’s hand. “He said… ‘you follow fate, but I am absolute.’”

 

Midorima tilted his head back and laughed. He looked _relieved,_ which didn’t make any sense to Takao.

 

“With every indicator of fate on my side, he still won,” Midorima murmured. “I doubted myself for some time for my decision to bring what I had seen to him. But it’s true. If there is any man who could change the will of fate, it is him.”

 

As much as the displeased and hurt look on Midorima’s face had made Takao pissed off, this blissed out relief scared him senseless. Midorima had the look of a man who was no longer in control of his own actions.

 

“He’s not absolute, he’s just really fucking powerful,” Takao grumbled. “That isn’t the same thing.”

 

Midorima fixed his gaze on Takao like it was the first point in the conversation that he was really _seeing_ Takao standing there. It sent goosebumps up Takao’s skin.

 

“Perhaps,” Midorima allowed. “But it is enough.”

 

The door to their changing room opened. Several of Shutoku’s team groaned at the sight of the intruder.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ootsobu asked Akashi rudely.

 

“I apologize,” Akashi said politely. “I need to speak to Shintarou. It is a matter of some urgency.”

 

Midorima let go of Takao, standing to face the other Miracle.

 

“I am right here Akashi.”

 

…

 

Aomine waited outside the stadium. He knew that forcing Akashi to come track him down would not be a good idea, so he sat and waited for all of his bad decisions to catch up with him.

 

He felt like an animal offering itself up for slaughter.

 

That might not actually be too far off from the reality of the situation.

 

Aomine thought about the duel he had just watched. Akashi thoroughly outclassed Midorima when it came to power, but Midorima was probably one of the few people other than Satsuki who was anywhere near as smart as Akashi. Their unfair advantages over had essentially cancelled each other out.

 

Aomine could still feel chills running up and down his arms as he thought about the incredible matchup he had just watched.

 

No, he didn’t want to fight either of them.

 

In particular, Akashi’s magic had burned with an increased intensity Aomine hadn’t noticed before. There was an underlying tint of darkness, something about it that seemed different than before. He knew that the undercurrent was familiar, somehow – but maybe Aomine was just imagining things because he was seeing Akashi in a whole new violent way.

 

The redhead definitely had not been kidding when he threatened Kagami’s life, and Aomine wasn’t going to take the over or the under on whether Akashi would discard him just as easily.

 

Just because Tetsu and his Light had managed to tear their way through two miracles didn’t mean Aomine felt the need to do the same.

 

“Daiki.”

 

Aomine turned, facing his friends. Akashi was flanked by Midorima on his right, Kise and Murasakibara on his left.

 

Huh. The positioning was telling. It seemed there was movement among the ranks of Akashi’s generals. Murasakibara, having lost to Kuroko, appeared to have fallen out of the redhead’s ever so gracious favor.

 

“Your time is up,” Akashi said softly. “Have you made your decision?”

 

Aomine prayed that Tetsu would forgive him for this one day. It was the only choice he had, the only one that would protect himself, Tetsu, and Kagami.

 

Aomine hated himself for this, hated watching his freedom slip from his very grasp like wind blowing past, like water dripping all too quickly from his fingers.. But he hated the idea of putting Tetsu and that stupid, redheaded idiot in trouble even more.

 

Even if it meant his freedom, Aomine would protect them.

 

He sank to his knees. There was no need for his pride here.

 

“Yes, my lord.”

 

Akashi’s mouth twisted into a smile.

 

“I thought so,” he said loftily, placing a hand gently on Aomine’s bowed head.

 

“You have strayed, but I don’t blame you too much for that,” Akashi said. “After all, we can all empathize with how you feel. At least with regards to Tetsuya. Your taste in…. _other_ regards continues to mystify me.”

 

Aomine grit his teeth.

 

“Come,” Akashi ordered, and Aomine stood. He’d made his self-serving decision, and now he would do whatever he had to in order to survive. This was the path he had chosen, and he had to see it through, whatever the cost.

 

…

 

Aomine jolted awake.

 

He found very quickly that he was strapped down to a table and couldn’t move. The room around him was dim, with only the light of red magic illuminating it. Aomine fought against the restraints, trying to figure out what was going on.

 

He caught site of a figure on the other side of the room. Akashi was watching Aomine struggle with two bright gold eyes, a light that was not entirely sane burning behind them.

 

Aomine felt his heart race and his stomach drop with fear. Akashi took several steps until he was standing directly by the table, where Aomine’s head was anchored down.

 

Aomine didn’t think he had this much to fear from Akashi until he was staring down the consequences of his own actions so directly.

 

“Eh? Akashi! What is this?”

 

“This is my insurance,” Akashi said softly, placing a hand on Aomine’s cheek. “I need you all to be as strong as you can if we are going to save the world.”

 

“Akashi, I already told you, I’ll do what you want me to!” Aomine shouted, fear making his heart race. “You don’t need to do this!”

 

“I told you, Daiki, that I have my plans. Shintarou has foreseen something terrible, and together we have the strength to stop it. I cannot allow any weakness to creep into our group, not at the expense of everyone on the planet. This is the only way.”

 

Akashi stepped back. Aomine lifted himself up as much as he could, trying to follow the path of his former captain.

 

“AKASHI!”

 

“It will not take very long,” Akashi said clinically.

 

“AKASHI, WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK ARE YOU DOING?”

 

“I told you, I am securing my insurance.”

 

“AKASHI!”

 

The redhead’s eyes snapped to Aomine’s face, and the blue haired wizard knew that Akashi’s patience had worn entirely thin.

 

With a wave of his fingers, Akashi silenced Aomine. For a moment, Aomine tried to keep shouting, but no sound came out of his mouth, until he realized that he could not speak.

 

Aomine could feel Akashi’s magic rising. It had the same sharp, darker edge he had noticed during the duel with Midorima.

 

“I am the Speaker and my will is absolute.”

 

 _This shit again?_ Aomine wondered, just in time to feel a surge of decidedly unpleasant magic flood the room. Aomine shut his eyes, wincing as a loud, shrill ringing filled his ears.

 

The ringing obscured even Akashi’s voice, and Aomine was lost in painful darkness, trying to fight against what was happening to him.

 

He could feel the cold, sharp grip of magic plunging towards him, filling him to the core. Aomine fought it, tried to fight it, but even trying to _touch_ the invading force was painful.

 

Somewhere very far away, Aomine heard someone screaming.

 

Then, mercifully, he passed out.

 

…

 

When Aomine woke again, he felt very odd.

 

He tried to move his head and arms, but found that he couldn’t even though the restraints were gone.

 

In fact, his body was moving, walking as though Aomine was in control of it.

 

_How am I walking if I was asleep?_

 

Aomine wondered if he was dreaming.

 

His body was walking alongside the rest of the Miracles. Akashi was talking; his voice sounded like it was coming through water. It was distorted and far away.

 

In fact, trying to process his surroundings, Aomine realized that everything felt dim and far away.

 

So this had to be a dream.

 

_IT IS NOT A DREAM._

 

Aomine started.

 

The voice sounded terrible and awful, booming through his skull almost painfully. Aomine tried to bring up his hands to cover his ears, but he found that he could not.

 

Who the hell had said that? Nobody around him seemed to react to the voice, which meant it was inside his own head. There was no way that was a good thing.

 

_I AM ADDAD. I AM THE STORM._

 

What the fuck?

 

_I AM BORROWING YOUR BODY, MORTAL. FEAR NOT – I SHALL RETURN IT TO YOU MOSTLY INTACT._

 

“He is awake,” Aomine’s mouth said, though certainly not in Aomine’s words.

 

Akashi paused.

 

“Welcome back, Daiki,” he said, addressing the Miracle.

 

Aomine was freaking the fuck out. _What was inside of him?_

 

He couldn’t move his mouth to curse Akashi out, or his hands to hit him. Even his magic didn’t belong to him, like he was a passenger in his own body.

 

“I told you, this is my insurance,” Akashi said softly. “Not only did you prove yourself to not be powerful enough to help me in your previous condition, your disobedience made you impossible to trust. If you had been as compliant as Ryouta, I might have allowed you to remain in control of the demon inside your own body.”

 

And now he was being unfavorably compared with _Kise?_ What was going on? Aomine was sure that if he had been in control of himself, he would have attacked his former captain.

 

“He’s not very happy,” Aomine’s mouth supplied, sounding amused. Aomine was not amused.

 

“I did not expect him to be,” Akashi said lightly, and started walking again. Aomine’s body followed.

 

As his head moved without his permission, Aomine caught a glimpse of Kise, smirking. His eyes were unnaturally bright, even more golden than their usual color. Aomine wondered if that was the result of this strange dream or not.

 

This was horrifying, and Aomine was beginning to realize that it might not be a dream after all.

 

 _YOU ARE NOT DREAMING_ , the voice inside his head informed him.

 

Aomine realized that the presence possessing him felt like that uncomfortable magic at the portals, like the vicious monsters he had fought at Akashi’s behest.

 

Was one of those _sharing his body right now?_

 

_I AM OF THEIR KIND, YES. COMPARING THEM TO ME IS LIKE COMPARING YOU TO AN ANT. THEY HAVE NOTHING OF MY POWER._

 

The demon sounded amused.

 

Aomine thought he might lose his mind.

 

“As I was saying, I have finally run out of patience with Tetsuya. We will take him after he loses his duel to Ryouta. And that is the end of it.”

 

Aomine felt his head spin again.

 

He had to warn Kuroko.

 

He had to warn Kagami to protect Kuroko.

 

_I WOULD NOT._

 

Aomine did the best he could to envision holding up his middle finger at the demon.

 

He got the strangest impression that the demon laughed.

 

_YOU HUMANS ARE SO AMUSING. WERE IT NOT FOR THE ORDER OF YOUR SUPERIOR I WOULD HAVE RIPPED APART YOUR SOUL AND CONSUMED IT AND YOUR MAGIC IN A SINGLE BITE. I AM GLAD NOW THAT I DID NOT._

 

Aomine was presented with an astoundingly detailed and graphic image of his own body flayed open, being consumed by a creature very similar to the hellish beasts he’d fought before.

 

I’ve killed one of you before, Aomine thought. And before this is over, I’ll kill you. And then what you just showed me? I’m gonna do to Akashi. Just watch me.

 

_YOUR REVENGE IS AMUSING AND FUTILE. DO NOT WORRY. I WILL TAKE GOOD CARE OF YOUR MORTAL FORM. WE MAY EVEN HAVE WHAT YOU WOULD DESCRIBE AS FUN._

 

Aomine had zero interest in finding out what a demon like Addad did for fun.

 

 _LAY WASTE TO KINGDOMS MOSTLY, IN MY DAY,_ the demon supplied.

 

Aomine felt breath constrict in a throat that was no longer truly there. He thought if he was in full control he might be hyperventilating and panicking.

 

This was terrifying. It was panic without the sick rush of adrenaline, fear without his heart racing or his mind scrambling. He was completely detached from his own body.

 

He had to find a way to get to Kuroko before the duel with Kise. If Kuroko didn’t win that fight… Aomine didn’t even want to think about what might happen.

 

Kise and Kuroko.

 

This would be a fight not between the teams’ Aces, but rather between two members of the Generation of Miracles. The Copycat and the Invisible Man, Midorima had once called them, dismissively.

 

They had been the most overlooked and underrated of the Generation of Miracles. Even Akashi had dismissed the value of both their contributions to his team before.

 

There was nothing to dismiss about either of them now.

 

Aomine could just hope deep down that Kuroko would make it.

 

…

 

Furihata was a simple kind of guy with a really big, complicated problem.

 

His problem was that he kept having crushes on unattainable people who invariably managed to get him to do dangerous things to grab their attention.

 

He had joined the Quidditch team in his third year at Hogwarts because a cute girl in Slytherin told him that she would only go on a date with him if he was the best at something.

 

While Furihata proved to be a talented Chaser and a reasonably skilled flier, he was by no means the best Quidditch player in the school. Furihata’s flame for the cute Slytherin petered out after a time, though he realized that he really did love the sport, after all. So he stuck with Quidditch and pretended he’d never had any embarrassing dreams about ascending to the very top of the hierarchy of professional players.

 

The irony was that once Furihata had allowed himself to remove the pressure of having to be the best, he’d started outperforming his peers quite consistently on the field. In large part that was the reason why he now had an offer to play for a professional team.

 

Then, of course, Furihata had set his eyes on Akashi Seijuro and he was _done._

 

Furihata Koki would never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever EVER consider in a million years actually acting on his feelings for the dangerous redhead with a penchant for lashing out at people who disappointed him.

 

He was way too smart to even think about it.

 

Merlin knows, Akashi would probably straight up murder him if he tried.

 

That did not mean he wasn’t highly aware of the feelings that he had.

 

Really, all Furihata knew about the guy was that he was stern, but approachable, and accepted nothing less than absolute victory. Even if Furihata had been tempted in any way, shape, or form to act on the crush he had on the other man, he didn’t fit that description. Having spent most of his life trying and failing at a lot of things, Furihata didn’t think he had much to offer someone who won as easily as he breathed.

 

And yet, he’d joined a dueling team in part to offer personal support to Kawahara and Fukuda, neither of whom were tremendous duelists but both of whom had potential, and of course, Kuroko, who had the weirdest style of dueling Furihata had ever seen.

 

He’s also done it in part because there was some small bit of him that liked to imagine what would happen if he helped Seirin land the definitive blow to end their final round. He would stand on the podium of victory and have Akashi _see_ him for the first time.

 

Furihata blushed, covering his face with his hands.

 

Even thinking that made him feel foolish and childish.

 

At any rate, Furihata wasn’t interested in being the best anymore. And he wasn’t going to do his best because he wanted to impress someone. He was just going to have fun.

 

Of course, what was going on in the arena right now didn’t exactly look like fun.

 

Kise had apparently mastered the use of Aomine’s magic, because he was now meeting Kagami blow for blow. Kagami’s red fire was coming up against the sparks of Aomine’s lighting, wielded by Kise. Furihata looked around the arena and saw Aomine sitting with the rest of the Miracles. Nothing about his face indicated any surprise or distress that Kise was imitating Aomine’s magical signature in order to beat Aomine’s proclaimed rival.

 

Looking back to the duel, Furihata bit his lip. It didn’t look like things were going well. The benched duelists were cheering as hard as they could, but against the team commanded by Kasamatsu, who was already a captain of a squad of Aurors and an expert strategist, Seirin’s run and gun style of dueling could only take them so far.

 

Just like the last time Seirin had faced off against nearly exactly the same team back in school, this match was high energy and high paced. The duelists were ripping themselves down to the bone to prove what they had, and neither team was going to give up a spot in the final round.

 

Watching the duel, Furihata noticed that Kise was moving with a very slight limp. Even when aided by Aomine’s power, he wasn’t moving at the full speed he could have been using.

 

Had Kise been injured in a previous duel?

 

Furihata watched closely as the fight continued, both teams desperate for a victory.

 

Kise rose up to his full height.

 

His aura flashed red.

 

Watching in the stands, Aomine wanted so desperately to turn his head and see what Akashi thought of the now fully realized Miracle showing off a brand new talent right in front of them.

 

Kise had always been a late bloomer. It seemed that he had even more blooming to do than anyone would have given him credit for.

 

 _That’s Akashi’s magic,_ Aomine thought. He was thrilled, panicked, excited, worried…

 

He couldn’t wait for the opportunity to duel Kise again.

 

Down below, Kise was wrecking havoc on the Seirin team.

 

Kise had used Akashi’s magic to stop Kuroko’s invisible drive. Kuroko was staring at Kise, his face as blank as ever, but his posture stiff and alarmed. Kise looked plainly shocked.

 

Furihata watched with wide eyes, whimpering as his team was battered by the one man wrecking ball that was their opponent.

 

He was kind of glad he wasn’t standing with them in the arena right now.

 

“Furihata!”

 

Furihata jumped as Riko slammed a hand on his shoulder.

 

“Koganei is losing strength, I’m subbing you in,” she told him. “Are you ready to go? We can’t afford to lose ground here.”

 

Furihata felt his heart jump into his throat. He felt like he was drowning on dry land. There was a high pitched ringing in his ears and he felt just a little bit dizzy with fear.

 

Was he good enough? Was he strong enough? Would he let his team down after they had come all this way?

 

“I can do it, Captain,” he heard himself saying. He sounded almost as shaky as he felt, but Riko smiled.

 

“You better,” she said, in what was almost certainly a threat. She patted him on the back again, hard enough to bruise.

 

“Just stay focused and aim,” she reminded him.

 

Furihata nodded.

 

Riko called for the substitution and then, all too quickly, Furihata was standing in the arena. Hyuuga clapped him on the shoulder and Kiyoshi ruffled his hair, reminding him to have fun.

 

Fun.

 

Right.

 

Furihata struggled to draw in another breath. He dodged a spell aimed at him and took off running, trying to make himself less of a target as he furiously attempted to find cover.

 

A bright pink spell came hurtling towards him, but before he could do anything, the spell went ricocheting away.

 

“Be careful,” Kuroko advised, suddenly appearing by Furihata’s elbow and pulling him to safety behind a large boulder. Kuroko looked pale and exhausted, already beat by the level of competition. Furihata was sure that the duel hadn’t even been going for ten minutes, but at this pace, every second felt like an hour.

 

Furihata nodded and smiled at Kuroko. Taking a deep, steadying breath, he peered out from behind the rock. Instantly, he jerked back as several spells came flying towards him.

 

“If we do not do anything about Kise this duel will end very soon,” Kuroko mused. “Furihata, please cover me.”

 

Furihata gulped as Kuroko appeared to shimmer and waver in front of him. He was overcome by the urge to look away, towards the action of the fight.

 

Then Kuroko was gone and Furihata was sending spells over the top of the boulder. He hoped none of them hit Kuroko, because that would absolutely just be the worst.

 

One of Kise’s teammates went down to a stunning spell and Furihata pumped his fist in the air, cheering. He only just managed to avoid a retaliatory hit from Kasamatsu.

 

Furihata could feel the boulder shudder as Kasamatsu’s spell slammed into it. He was going to need to shield himself if he didn’t want to get taken out with the next spell.

 

“ _Protego!”_ Furihata whispered.

 

The boulder exploded, but Furihata’s shield held against Kasamatsu’s next two attacks.

 

Moving quickly and sharply, Furihata whipped his wand towards Kasamatsu, tripping him with a jelly-legs jinx. When he was distracted, Furihata sent a stunning spell at him.

 

The stunning spell hit a hastily erected shield, but the distraction gave Furihata an opportunity to get away. He fired a spell across the arena, hitting another duelist from the other team and sending them down. Furihata was running out of breath, and groaned as he saw Kasamatsu run over to revive the fallen duelist.

 

They were going to run out of energy and magical power before they ran out of time.

 

Furihata watched Kuroko and Kagami double team Kise, trying to get through his shields. Kise was looking a little pale and grey – taking on the power of the Generation of Miracles didn’t seem to have been too easy on him.

 

Furihata saw Kise stumble, and then he was facing off with Kasamatsu again.

 

“Where were we?” the older man asked with a smile.

 

“Uh, I don’t know?” Furihata tried innocently. Kasamatsu laughed, open and amused.

 

“Come on, you wanna fight, then fight!” he shouted.

 

“You don’t even know who I am and you want to give me dueling advice?” Furihata asked, shaking his head. “I’m pathetic but I’m not that pathetic man.”

 

“Of course I know you, you’re just a year behind me! You’re on the Quidditch team!”

 

“Oh yeah? So what’s my name?” Furihata demanded.

 

“Uh-“

 

“Yeah thought so.”

 

Furihata knew he wasn’t anything spectacular, and that spending time around any of the Miracles tended to make anyone pretty blinded, but he was a little pissed off. He took it pretty personally.

 

He cast two spells and dropped, not wanting to waste the energy on a shield. He pitched sideways and rolled like he would have on a broom, avoiding a blasting curse right to where he had been before. From the ground Furihata fired another spell, and dodged three more before coming up on Kasamatsu’s other side, panting.

 

The two wizards faced off against each other again.

 

“Very good,” Kasamatsu said. “But not quite good enough.”

 

“Wasn’t it?” Furihata asked. He grinned, and used a spell to conjure air, pushing Kasamatsu back, right into the path of one of Kiyoshi’s wayward curses. Furihata had seen him dueling with another member of Kise’s team and timed his attack perfectly.

 

“IT’S FURIHATA MOTHERFUCKING KOKI!” Furihata shouted, finding power and courage in his victory. “THAT’S MY NAME!”

 

Furihata stared down at his wand. He felt powerful, indestructible, unbeatable. He had just taken down the other team's captain.

 

Over on the other side of the arena, Kuroko and Kagami had overcome Kise, Kuroko’s magic piercing through a shield that Kise could no longer maintain. Furihata supposed that he had overextended himself beyond what was wise, and Seirin’s light and Shadow had taken that moment to deliver a devastating blow to end the duel.

 

It was over.

 

He closed his eyes, savoring the high of victory and the thrill of a battle well fought and won with everything he could leave out on the court.

 

Furihata might not have been the best at anything, but he was good enough for this.

 

Being the best was overrated, anyway.

 

…

 

In the stands, a very different sort of conversation was taking place.

 

“Are we going to take Kuro-chin now?” Murasakibara asked, taking a large bite of some kind of baked pastry.

 

Akashi shook his head, turning to face his three Miracles who had not fought in the duel.

 

“Kuroko won this fight fairly,” he said lightly. “Should I remove him from Seirin now, they will have no chance to face Rakuzan on even ground. It would be… unsportsmanlike, for me to take that opportunity from them. We will wait. We will execute the plan after Seirin loses to me tomorrow.”

 

Midorima nodded sharply, but Aomine’s eyes stayed fixed on the blue haired prodigy below them. He was being held up by two of his former roommates from Hogwarts, a pair of the weaker members of Seirin’s team.

 

Locked away in his own mind, he could only form one hopeful, victorious thought.

 

_What if he doesn’t lose?_

 

…

 

 


	48. Assert Dominance By Taking Off Your Clothes

 

…

 

Kagami couldn’t sleep.

 

The adrenaline and excitement from the upcoming duel wouldn’t dissipate. He was too fired up to test his strength against such a strong team.

 

Kagami rolled over, sighing.

 

Kuroko had fallen asleep almost as soon as they had both tumbled into bed. He was curled up, fast asleep under the covers, breathing softly. Behind him, their muggle clock told Kagami that it was almost four in the morning.

 

Kagami sighed again, rolling onto his back, frustrated.

 

It was no use. Kagami figured he would try going for a run to burn off some steam. Maybe it would help him get at least a couple hours before the duel that afternoon. He certainly wasn't doing any good just sitting here in bed, anyway.

 

Kagami sat up, careful not to disturb his sleeping boyfriend and slid out from under the covers. Hearing some movement behind him, Kagami turned his head quickly.

 

Nigou had sleepily, but happily, jumped up into the warm spot Kagami had left behind.

 

“You’re not supposed to be there,” Kagami told the dog disapprovingly. Nigou tucked his head further into his paws and ignored him. In his sleep, Kuroko slung an arm around the dog.

 

With a shrug and a grin, Kagami pulled on a workout shirt and shorts and took off.

 

The streets were quiet. A thick fog hung over the city, with the orange light of the streetlamps highlighting the haze.

 

Kagami took off at a brisk pace. He quickly lost himself in the mechanics of running, letting his body move on autopilot as his mind cleared. The simple physical activity helped calm his thoughts.

 

So lost in the activity was he that Kagami didn’t even notice where he was going until he was standing in front of the building that housed the underground arena for the Winter Cup.

 

It doubled as a muggle sports stadium, which formed the top layer of the building. Just underneath was the magical entrance to a whole different kind of sport.

 

Kagami bent over his knees, breathing hard, as he realized he had been going at a steady sprinting pace for almost half an hour.

 

Kagami stared up at the arena, wiping the sweat from his forehead and taking the opportunity to catch his breath.

 

In only a few hours they would be facing their final opponents in this very building. Kagami would finally know if he had what it took to be the best. He’d been chasing a good fight his entire life. Kagami was excited at the opportunity to face one of the hardest duels he would ever have.

 

Whatever happened today, it would go down in history.

 

Kagami was equal parts afraid and excited. His blood was pounding and his adrenaline was rushing all over again and he knew that any attempt to tire himself into sleep was officially pointless.

 

Kagami sighed. It was almost four-thirty now, and while he didn’t feel tired in the slightest, he felt like it was time to turn around and pack it in. At the very least, he could make sure he was home by the time Kuroko woke up.

 

Kagami turned, and immediately slammed into another person.

 

“Oh shit, sorry I-”

 

The rest of what Kagami was going to say never made it out of his mouth.

 

His arm was yanked around, and pushed up behind his body, forcing him to the pavement. Kagami, not sure if his attacker was muggle or wizard, slammed his head up into the face of whoever was on top of him, managing to get himself free. Before he could plan his next movement, Kagami’s attacker grabbed his arm again.

 

Kagami moved with his attacker, letting himself get slammed against the wall of the stadium before raising his head to face his assailant.

 

To his surprise, he found himself looking at Aomine. They met eye to eye where Aomine had the redhead pinned.

 

Kagami went from confused to furious in an instant.

 

“What the fuck man, I thought we were cool!” Kagami shouted.

 

“What would give you that idea?”

 

Aomine was wrong. That was all Kagami could think, looking at his face this close. His expression was sinister, and his eyes seemed to have no life behind them.

 

Under the orange light of the streetlamp, Aomine’s navy blue eyes seemed to shine gold.

 

“What the hell are you doing?” Kagami demanded. He was one second away from blasting Aomine away from him with magic and damn the consequences of doing so in the middle of muggle London.

 

“I will crush you like a bug,” Aomine said. “I will destroy you.”

 

Granted, the sentiment _sounded_ like Aomine (at least Aomine as Kagami had known him at Hogwarts, just generally pissed off and itching for the chance to face him in the arena), but the words weren’t his. Kagami had the sense that something incredibly bad was happening right now, but he had no idea what it was or how to stop it.

 

Aomine was smiling.

 

“That’s very interesting,” he said. “I’m almost doing you a favor.”

 

Kagami was bewildered and terrified. He felt like he had grossly miscalculated somewhere, like the feeling when you think you’re at the bottom of the stairs before your stomach drops as you fall the distance of the last step and stumble onto the landing. However, this was distinctly more unpleasant, because Kagami had no idea what was coming at the end.

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Oh? You need not worry your pretty head about it,” Aomine sneered.

 

Kagami was taken completely by surprise first by Aomine’s hand on his throat, and then when Aomine’s lips slammed into his own.

 

Kagami’s mind went gray with confusion. His blood was thrumming with fight or flight instinct, trying to break free -

 

“What are you doing?” Aomine asked, removing his lips from Kagami’s, pain and fear flashing across his face in an instant. Kagami was so taken aback that he didn’t even move, still pinned by Aomine’s weakening grip. And then Aomine’s expression changed entirely.

 

“What’s wrong?” Aomine asked, tauntingly, his eyes burning gold. “You’ve been pining all this time, and I’m just taking what you want, after all-”

 

Aomine’s face spasmed between emotions. Kagami did not take the time to analyze them beyond registering it as a moment of hesitation that he could exploit.

 

Kagami slammed his forehead into Aomine’s nose, fighting back against the harsh grip of the other wizard. If he had to use magic to defend himself he would. Whatever consequences he would experience as a result, he would take them, but he wasn’t just going to sit here and let this happen.

 

Aomine hissed and drew back, the expression on his face furious. Kagami watched him for a sign of weakness he could exploit to escape this situation.

 

Aomine’s face twitched and contorted angrily before settling on desperation.

 

“You have to go!” Aomine shouted. His voice was low and guttural. He sounded like a wounded animal. His expression was ferocious, his blue eyes narrowed in anger and fear.

 

“Bakagami, get the fuck away from here!”

 

“What is your _problem?_ ” Kagami demanded.

 

“My problem is you, idiot!” Aomine shouted. “GET THE FUCK OUT!”

 

Kagami could feel Aomine’s hands shaking where they were gripping his shirt keeping him pinned to the wall.

 

“Get the hell away from me!”

 

Kagami slammed his fist into the side of Aomine’s head, making Aomine release his grip on him, so that he could pull himself free.

 

Kagami looked around. There were no witnesses, but there were almost certainly cameras in the area. Luckily, Aomine was out cold on the ground, which meant Kagami could get a head start. With a sigh, Kagami sent out a magical pulse to kill any cameras that might have caught the interaction on film. He didn’t need to get questioned by the authorities about an assault.

 

With one last glance at Aomine’s still form, Kagami ran for it.

 

…

 

Kagami wasn’t able to sleep after that. He came home and showered and put on a pot of coffee. Kuroko sleepily poked his head out of their room, Nigou riding around his shoulders.

 

“Kagami? Have you been awake all night?”

 

Kagami shrugged, holding out a cup. Kuroko eyed Kagami thoughtfully as he took it.

 

“We need to do something about you not being able to sleep before tournaments,” Kuroko said. Kagami huffed noncommittally.

 

He knew that he needed to talk to Kuroko about what had happened.

 

Something was seriously fucked up with Aomine, and they might both be in danger. Aomine was dangerous on his own, but whatever was going on with him had the potential to make things go south very quickly.

 

Kuroko could be in danger, and Kagami had to say something.

 

“Kuroko,” he started, but he lost his courage before he’d even finished his sentence. When Kuroko looked up, Nigou curled up peacefully in his lap and sleeping, Kagami just shook his head.

 

“Never mind,” he muttered. “Let’s get ready to go meet Coach and the others.”

 

Kuroko eyed him curiously. Kagami knew there was almost no way he could get away with fooling his perceptive boyfriend, but he didn’t even know where to begin.

 

And frankly, he didn’t want to distract Kuroko right now. He didn’t want to _be_ distracted. Whatever drama Aomine was dealing with, Kagami and Kuroko could both handle it. They could handle it after they were done kicking Akashi’s ass.

 

As far as Kagami was concerned, Aomine had a whole lot of begging to do anyway, before he earned himself any help from Kagami. Kagami had thought, after Aomine had showed up and helped Kuroko develop yet another weapon to turn against the Generation of Miracles, that they had turned a new page in their relationship with him. That the overt hostility that had characterized their interactions before would dull, and that they were on track to fixing their friendship.

 

Obviously, Kagami had been way off base.

 

“Are you sure?” Kuroko asked, petting Nigou gently.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Kagami said. “It’s important, but it can wait.”

 

It didn’t have to wait long, just until they beat Akashi, Kagami resolved. After that, he would come clean and tell Kuroko everything.

 

Kuroko seemed to accept this explanation and continued sipping his vanilla coffee.

 

Kagami closed his eyes and hunched over the counter, telling himself sternly that the only reason he cared at all about Aomine Daiki was because of the potential the other wizard had to break Kuroko’s heart.

 

There was no other reason he would be concerned. Even when Aomine had agreed to help Kuroko, they were barely friends. Kagami’s entire relationship with the guy was built around them insulting each other and throwing spells back and forth.

 

He was only worried about Aomine because of the consequences to Kuroko. That was it.

 

So why did the words feel so much like a lie?

 

…

 

Kuroko was still not convinced that his Light wasn’t hiding something important from him, but there was only so much he could do. Kagami would tell him what was bothering him in time and Kuroko was sure that the two of them could handle whatever the issue was. Together.

 

Unfortunately, together was kind of Kuroko’s issue. He’d stopped by a water fountain for a drink and when he looked up, his entire team was gone.  now that he thought about it, they likely hadn’t noticed him stopping.

 

Kuroko smiled as he could hear Kagami’s response to that logic in the back of his head.

 

_You’ve been hard to spot your whole life, don’t idiotically forget to tell us where you’re going! Think things through!_

 

Kagami was certainly predictable.

 

Of course, even the happy mental image of Kagami berating him for not looking out for himself couldn’t push away the knowledge that he was separated from his team with a duel starting soon. Kuroko resolved to go check their team changing room, and hope he got lucky on the first try or that Kagami found him in the process.

 

“Tetsuya.”

 

Well, now that was just downright unlucky.

 

As much as Kuroko had dreaded this confrontation, he knew it was inevitable that he would eventually run into Akashi. He had just hoped that it would only be in the round.

 

With a prayer that Kagami would keep his temper and that Akashi would not try Kuroko’s own patience beyond the limit he was willing to endure, Kuroko turned around.

 

In an instant – so fast that he had no idea what had happened – Kuroko was on his knees.

 

Akashi smiled down at him.

 

“I don’t allow those who stand against me to stand above me,” he said.

 

Kuroko looked up at Akashi calmly.

 

He felt kind of comforted by the idea that Akashi felt so insecure in his future victory that he felt the need to intimidate Kuroko into compliance.

 

“We are going to talk when this is over,” Akashi said. “And we’re going to set the record straight. In the meantime, I hope you will do me the honor of doing your best in the round today.”

 

“You can count on it,” Kuroko said, absolutely unbothered by the fact that he was on his knees. The tactic was one meant to dominate and humiliate, but Kuroko was far beyond humiliation.

 

Humiliation had been in his second year, realizing he would never be as much of a wizard as his peers, and that no matter how hard he worked he would only ever be able to excel in the theory of magic.

 

Humiliation was fifth year, when, under the eyes of the entire school, Kuroko experienced failure after failure while fighting by the side of the Generation of Miracles. It was being unable to fight for himself when he was targeted by bullies. It was being ignored by his own roommates for months at a time.

 

No, Kuroko was not even remotely affected by being on his knees.

 

Akashi himself had made him emotionally resilient enough to not be affected by his actions now.

 

“Good,” Akashi said. He placed a hand on Kuroko’s head and leaned down to speak with him.

 

“I had believed that this _dalliance_ with Seirin and Kagami Taiga would eventually sort itself out. I am more than tired of it.”

 

Kuroko glared up at Akashi, really pissed off for the first time since their encounter had started.

 

“I think I told you to avoid harming another of my friends,” Kuroko said. “I won’t let you hurt him.”

 

Akashi patted Kuroko on the head.

 

“We’ll see,” he said noncommittally. “I will see you in the arena, Tetsuya.”

 

He straightened up and chuckled.

 

“Perhaps even literally,” he said as a parting shot, and turned away.

 

Kuroko stared at Akashi’s retreating back.

 

For a moment, he was sure that he had seen _both_ of Akashi’s eyes burn gold, but he couldn’t be sure.

 

That couldn’t possibly be right, could it?

 

And yet, Akashi’s face had not been so far from Kuroko’s own. The lighting was good. There was no real way to mistake what he had seen.

 

Kuroko just didn’t know what it _meant._

 

…

 

Kuroko lined up with the rest of his team.

 

This was it. The final round of the Winter Cup. This was his chance to show his friends the error of their kind of dueling, to open their eyes to the harm that they had caused a lot of people – but in particular, the harm they had caused Shige.

 

 _I’m going to win,_ Kuroko vowed to himself. _And then I’m going to come find you, Shige, I promise. I will make this right._

 

His face was impassive as he stood next to Kagami. In contrast, Kagami seemed to decidedly lack anything that seemed like composure.

 

Kuroko wondered what had happened that morning before the round to put Kagami in such a jumpy and pissed off mood.

 

Kuroko elbowed his light in the stomach.

 

“Please focus,” Kuroko said flatly. “If you are not at your best we are going to lose.”

 

Kagami glowered, but his expression softened. He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

 

“Sorry,” he said. “I’m here, I’m ready to go. Let’s kick some ass.”

 

Kuroko weighed the veracity of his Light’s statement. Kagami really did look kind of out of it, but his focus was narrowing down to the duel. Kuroko believed that his light would pull it together, so he nodded.

 

Kuroko turned his attention to the middle of the field where Akashi and Hyuuga were shaking hands. Akashi seemed neutral and polite. Hyuuga looked grumpy, but seemed to be generally behaving himself.

 

Having taken the team this far had done a lot for his focus and maturity as captain, even if he did have a terrible personality.

 

Hyuuga broke away from Akashi and returned to their team, his expression grim.

 

“Shields up as soon as the round starts,” he said. “And don’t lose focus. We can’t afford to falter here. This is it. This is why we came this far, and I’m not losing to that underclassman and his two bit replacements for the Generation of Miracles.”

 

Izuki snorted.

 

Their captain had clearly entered clutch mode, and was radiating fury.

 

He’d already  managed to rile himself up on the way back from the handshake.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath. He knew that he would have to keep his misdirection running from the very beginning of the duel. If they slipped up even once, the duel would be Akashi’s. Kuroko wasn’t going to give the redhead the chance to take this fight for his own.

 

“Don’t worry so much everyone!” Kiyoshi said, slinging an arm around Hyuuga’s shoulders. “Let’s have some fun!”

 

Mitobe rolled his eyes, but was smiling.

 

“Mitobe says that he thinks we’re all going to die,” Koganei said brightly. Mitobe punched his boyfriend lightly in the shoulder with a disapproving stare.

 

“Ow! I meant obviously he said we’re going to do our best and walk out of here with that first place trophy!”

 

Mitobe flashed them a thumbs up, smiling brightly.

 

“We’ll do what we can to win even if we win by a finger!” Izuki joked, pointing to Mitobe’s thumbs for emphasis.

 

“I can’t believe I’m friends with you,” Hyuuga muttered, rubbing his face. “Kagami, got something to add?”

 

The redhead was standing pensively, hands on his hips. He looked up at being addressed by his captain.

 

“I got nothing to say that my magic won’t say for me,” he said seriously. “Let’s take control of this duel and end it quickly!”

 

The team cheered.

 

As they took their spots on the field, Kuroko’s mind was churning.

 

He would have to hide better than he ever had, with those gold eyes seeking him out wherever he was. Akashi was not a wizard Kuroko could afford to underestimate.

 

_I am a shadow. I am a shadow. I’m not even really here._

 

Kuroko closed his eyes, breathing deeply.

 

_I am a shadow. I am a shadow. I am a shadow._

 

He heard the signal for the start of the round.

 

_I am a shadow._

 

Kuroko heard Kiyoshi and Mitobe raise the team’s shield, but in the same instant there was an explosion of very familiar power burning through the arena.

 

Kuroko opened his eyes.

 

Akashi had indeed taken control of the duel immediately.

 

Kuroko stared at the field unable to hide his reaction.

 

He felt the first stirrings of very real fear.

 

Frost covered the entire arena. The ground under Kuroko’s feet was frosted over with a thick coating of ice. Large, jagged spikes rose up out of the ground around him. It clawed at the edges of the magical shield surrounding the arena.

 

More importantly, and more dangerously, Kuroko could see the ice covering each of his teammates. They were frozen solid; five immovable statutes, caught midway through the movements of casting their first spells.

 

The fight hadn’t even gone on for three seconds. The temperature had dropped with the sudden appearance of the ice. Kuroko exhaled and he could see his breath in front of him.

 

“Let’s see,” Akashi said, striding forward. His boots crunched on the frozen ground. Kuroko shut his eyes tightly, unwilling to watch. He took a step back, instinctively hiding himself behind one of the icy spikes Akashi had summoned.

 

_You can’t see me, because I’m not even really here. I’m just a shadow. Just a shadow._

 

Kuroko ducked behind one of the giant spires, watching as Akashi neared his team.

 

“One, two, three… I only count five pathetic excuses for wizards, trying to stand up to me, but where is my sixth man? _Tetsuya_ , where could you have run off to?”

 

Kuroko’s breath hitched as Akashi said his name. His hands balled into fists, and he shivered from the cold.

 

Oh, Merlin.

 

This was not how this was supposed to end.

 

Kuroko had allowed himself to believe that if they tried hard enough, if he believed enough in the power of friendship that bound his team and his partnership with Kagami that they would be able to overcome any obstacle, beat any foe. They should not have lost in the first second of the duel.

 

Had it not been for Kuroko’s misdirection protecting him from Akashi’s magic, the duel would have been over entirely the very moment it started.

 

Kuroko steadied his emotions. He let them drop away from him like a stone, schooling his composure. The duel could have been lost seconds in, but it was not. He was still on his feet, and they could still do this, if they worked together.

 

“Come on, Tetsuya,” Akashi said lightly. “There’s no reason to draw this out. This match is already decided.”

 

 _No, it isn’t,_ Kuroko thought. If he could free Kagami, the other wizard could help melt the ice, and then they would be able to keep fighting. So long as they still had a team member standing in the arena, they had a chance to take the duel.

 

“Is this all that you could come up with to oppose me?” Akashi called out, his voice sounding closer than Kuroko wanted. “I expected so much better from you.”

 

With renewed determination, Kuroko crept as quietly as he could through the maze of jagged, icy spires coming up out of the ground. He set his teeth as he realized how easily Akashi could end this, just by melting his hiding places, but of course that wouldn’t be as much _fun._

 

Kuroko could hear Akashi in the distance, and he slipped into the narrow space between two spires, scarcely breathing as he tried so hard not to give himself away.

 

“I found you.”

 

_I am the void where the light does not shine. You have no power here._

 

Kuroko braced himself for the onslaught of Akashi’s attack, hoping for the chance to turn it back on its progenitor.

 

It never came.

 

Akashi did not even gesture, but Kuroko felt the redhead’s magic as the ice behind him rose up, encasing them in a dome away from the rest of the arena.

 

_I am the void. I am the void._

 

“Hello, Akashi,” Kuroko said dully.

 

It seemed he would have no choice but to confront Akashi here.

 

Akashi smirked, stepping towards Kuroko. Kuroko tried to step back, but met only a solid wall of ice.

 

He had nowhere to go. He was trapped. Even his misdirection was failing him.

 

Kuroko met Akashi’s eyes as the redhead came closer. He’d been right, before. Akashi’s eyes were both burning with gold, and his power burned like ozone between them.

 

Akashi stopped only a step away from Kuroko.

 

He placed a hand on Kuroko’s face.

 

Kuroko forced his expression to remain blank as he looked at Akashi. He could feel rage, impotent and useless, swirling in his chest, but there was literally nothing he could do to fight against the much more powerful wizard.

 

In the end, Akashi was just on an entirely different level.

 

“You’re shaking,” Akashi observed. “Are you scared of me, Tetsuya?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said.

 

“You should be,” Akashi told Kuroko seriously. His hand did not move, and Kuroko felt the urge to bat it away. He had just enough preservation instinct not to do that, however.

 

“You have been running away from me for long enough,” Akashi decreed.

 

“Not long enough, clearly,” Kuroko deadpanned.

 

Akashi smirked.

 

This wasn’t the same boy Kuroko knew.

 

This could not be the same Akashi Seijuro who had moved over to deliberately make room for a fellow Slytherin doomed to be an outcast on the first night of the sorting. This was not the polite boy that had sought out Kuroko in the library and pushed him to want something Kuroko had never believed he was allowed to want, let alone was capable of having. Kuroko could still see Akashi, scooting over to make sure there was room for Murasakibara at the Slytherin table, extending his hand to Kuroko in the dimly lit library...

 

This was not the boy that had defended his team at great personal cost to himself when faced with accusation after accusation of misconduct. Kuroko could remember as clear as day how tirelessly Akashi had worked to keep their names clear and their honor unimpeachable, because their good names were the most important possessions they had.

 

_“I know,” Akashi had said, sounding very tired and sad. “I know. I am sorry. It is not a choice I wanted to make, but I would invite the entire world into this room to prove that you have done nothing wrong. To prove that each of you has come by your gifts solely based on your luck and hard work alone. That no outside factor could produce what each of you can.”_

 

_“I won’t have a single person at this tournament suggesting we have done wrong. We must be above reproach, because I want the world to marvel at the gifts you have, and I want them to do so unequivocally without even having the option of calling your honor into question._

 

This was not the boy that had been so invested in the success of his team that he was ready to poison himself before he sent his friends to do so in his stead. Akashi had once taken charge of their team not because he demanded control, but because he wanted to protect the people he cared about.

 

 _“You fool, you should have sent me,” Midorima hissed._ Kuroko could hear his voice just as it had been that evening, stressed and tense, worried but trying to cover it up with contempt _._

 

_“You didn’t need to poison yourself for this team!”_

 

_“Shintarou, I know that,” Akashi had replied, like it was the simplest thing in the world. “I didn’t do it because I thought I had to. I did it because the thought of asking any of you to swallow poison on my behalf was so abhorrent I didn’t think I could bear it. I… could not do it.”_

 

This was not the person that had taught Kuroko how to win with grace, and how to honor his opponents by meeting them with every bit of skill and power he possessed in the arena.

 

He remembered what Akashi had said before their final tournament.

 

_“Hogwarts is our home and we will not lose here. This is our house, and it’s time for these challengers to pay their rent.”_

 

It had been so dorky and so clearly contrived that their entire team had laughed. And yet it had been so pure. Akashi’s genuine belief in their ability to overcome any obstacle, that was something Kuroko had treasured. The Generation of Miracles had been a unit, a cohesive whole bound together by friendship. They had valued Akashi’s leadership because they knew how much he valued them, how thoroughly he would go to bat for any one of them….

 

What had happened to them?

 

“Oh, Tetsuya,” Akashi said quietly. “I know you long for those times, but you know exactly what happened as well as I. We grew up.”

 

Kuroko shook his head, denying it as soon as Akashi said it.

 

“No,” he said. “Growing up doesn’t mean pitting your friends against each other. It doesn’t mean being needlessly cruel.”

 

“The world is cruel, Tetsuya,” Akashi said smoothly. “How can we face it if we are not just as harsh?”

 

“If the world is unfair it is our job to right unfairness, not make it worse.”

 

Akashi actually laughed in the face of this, and Kuroko felt ire rise inside him.

 

“So naïve even now,” he said. “Always fighting for the little guy, Tetsuya. It will be your downfall one day. But you forget that you and I are on the same side here. I want to save the world, and I find myself in a position where I cannot do that without your help.”

 

Without warning, Akashi kissed Kuroko.

 

Kuroko was caught by surprise, but he did not freeze the way he had when Akashi had kissed him at the end of sixth year.

 

Kuroko pushed at the other wizard. He was sure that when Akashi took a step back, it was mostly out of amused acquiescence, and not Kuroko’s own power.

 

“That is the second time you have done that to me without my permission,” Kuroko said blankly.

 

“I suppose it is,” Akashi said cavalierly.

 

“And it will be well past the second time that I told you that I am content with my team and my choices.”

 

“Even if those choices lead you to losing, here?”

 

Kuroko nodded sharply.

 

“Our dueling has already shown the world how extraordinary we are.”

 

“And yet you cannot hold a candle to me, even now,” Akashi sneered. “Your Light is a shadow of his own standing next to me in the arena.”

 

“I warned you about insulting Kagami too.”

 

Akashi exhaled angrily through his nose.

 

“Well, it is of no consequence,” Akashi said at last. “After all, I’ve won. I learned the only thing I needed to know about your misdirection. I appreciate you showing your true strength off for me, Tetsuya. I’ll be in touch with you later – we need to have a talk.”

 

Kuroko didn’t have a chance to ponder what that meant, because he felt the spark of Akashi’s power right by his face, and did not flinch.

 

A moment later he was out cold.

 

…

 

Akashi and his team were already gone by the time Kuroko was revived by the mediwizard staff.

 

The blue haired wizard sat up, looking around at his team.

 

He felt despair clutching at his heart like a hand made out of Akashi’s ice.

 

There was no way to get through to him now. Kuroko knew, definitively, that no sense could be talked into the redhead when he was so clearly able to dominate anyone he wanted to by virtue of his strength.

 

Kuroko joined his team in a fairly dejected trudge back to their locker room.

 

Seirin was quiet. They had come so close, and to have their chance at victory ripped away before they could even start the duel stung like acid.

 

“Be careful,” Riko advised as they changed out of their dueling robes. “There’s no telling what Rakuzan might do right now, and Akashi’s just crazy enough to try something insane and stupid.”

 

Each of Seirin’s members nodded.

 

Kuroko felt downtrodden and dejected.

 

They had lost.

 

After everything, after clawing their way through every single one of the Miracles, this is what they got?

 

It wasn’t fair.

 

“Hey,” Kagami said, sliding an arm around Kuroko’s waist. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to the concept of vanilla vodka. Party at my place!”

 

Seirin cheered.

 

“Hold on, that’s _our_ place!” Kuroko protested, but Kagami kissed him on the cheek.

 

“Let me win this one,” he said. “We need it.”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“Yeah okay,” he said. “But I want a vanilla milkshake. All of it.”

 

“You can drink twice your weight in spiked or virgin vanilla milkshakes all night.”

Kuroko nodded sharply, feeling that this was an acceptable trade off. “As much as you can drink.”

 

It was a quiet group that attended the award ceremony.

 

They placed second – an admirable achievement, and yet somehow it felt like a failure. Akashi didn’t even look at Kuroko as he accepted the first place trophy on behalf of his team. He lifted the trophy towards the stands.

 

Kuroko could see where Akashi’s line of sight ended, and found to his surprise another shock of red hair in the stands.

 

It appeared that Akashi Masaomi had come to watch his heir compete and conquer the entire field of competition.

 

As Kuroko watched, the man nodded once and stood, leaving the arena. Kuroko’s eyes went back to Akashi’s seemingly indifferent face.

 

Not that that meant anything. Akashi had never outwardly displayed anything other than severe apathy to the will of his father, even if in action he had never directly opposed him in any way.

 

Well, Kuroko supposed that was that.

 

He was going to have to find some other way to get through to Akashi.

 

He would make the other man see that what he had done to Ogiwara was wrong. He would make the other man see that the way things had been before, when they were kids and dueled for the sheer love of it, was better.

 

Even if Akashi was being an ass at the moment, Kuroko would find a way.

 

…

 

Later, much later, Seirin found their way to Kagami and Kuroko’s apartment. Kagami had not been joking about throwing a rager; he immediately began pulling down various bottles from the cupboard.

 

“Where did all this come from?” Kuroko asked from behind Kagami, making Kagami yelp and jump.

 

“Well, it _was_ supposed to be a surprise for when we won the whole damn thing,” Kagami said sheepishly. “You know, party ‘til dawn. We can drink in consolation instead!”

 

This was a very popular alternative to wallowing in self-pity for everyone on the team. Riko magically soundproofed the walls so that they wouldn’t have to worry about any of their muggle neighbors and Kagami efficiently distributed booze with the assistance of Kawahara.

 

Fukuda, who had never actually been in a muggle home before, was fascinated by the small TV Kagami and Kuroko owned, and Kiyoshi took it upon himself to genially introduce the other Hufflepuff graduate to the joys of muggle television programs.

 

Kuroko wondered if he should stop Kiyoshi from getting Fukuda hooked on terrible reality T.V, but figured things would be fine.

 

He hung out at the kitchen table, playing cards with Hyuuga, Izuki, and Tsuchida, the latter of whom was an awful cheat. He could hear Kagami occasionally yelling and running from Nigou, and the chaos caused as the tiny, adorable terror ran through the apartment. It made him smile a little, but certainly wasn’t worth getting up and stopping. He knew Kagami secretly adored Nigou - more than once he’d walked in on Kagami gently petting a sleeping pup before he saw Kuroko and immediately glared at the dog. The redhead was being won over to the side of the adorable, and Kuroko saw no need to impede progress.

 

Sometime later into the night, with most of the party enjoying the buzz of alcohol, Kagami made his way back to the kitchen, looking for his boyfriend.

 

He found Kuroko with a massive pile of winnings, smiling innocently as he pulled another pile of chocolate frogs (their substitution for actual gold) away from Hyuuga.

 

“Kagami!” Kuroko said, looking up. “I won all of these for you!”

 

Kagami had to double check that his nose wasn’t bleeding after that, because that was fucking adorable.

 

“Why are you taking advantage of our drunk team and stealing their chocolate frogs?” Kagami asked. It was true that Tsuchida, and in particular Izuki, were quite intoxicated.

 

Izuki chose that moment to speak up.

 

“Kagami’s right!” he hiccupped. “This is a froggy situation!”

 

He paused, thinking that over.

 

“No wait a fishy situation! Wait, that doesn’t work. Damn.”

 

Kagami chuckled.

 

“Come on, Kuroko, I wanna ask you about something,” Kagami said. “Let them have the chocolate.”

 

“But I won it,” Kuroko said very seriously.

 

“Then you can win it all back,” Kagami said. “We really need to talk.”

 

Kuroko, sensing that his Light really was being serious, abandoned his treasure to stand and join Kagami.

 

“Fine, it’s not as good as vanilla anyway,” he said, and Tsuchida and Izuki cheered as they took back their share of winnings and roped Kawahara into taking Kuroko’s place at the table.

 

Kagami and Kuroko ended up in their bedroom, sitting across from each other on the bed.

 

Kuroko, knowing that Kagami would speak when he was ready, waited patiently for the redhead to sort out his thoughts without pushing or prompting.

 

“What happened in the duel, earlier?” Kagami asked.

 

“Akashi ended it,” Kuroko supplied. “He froze over the whole arena.”

 

“No, I mean - I saw the playback – did he – what did he say to you? When he blocked off the view of the crowd?”

 

Kagami was clearly struggling, cutting off and restarting sentences as he tried to put together what he wanted to ask Kuroko.

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“He said he would talk to me after. But he never even looked my way at the end.”

 

Kagami nodded. He exhaled deeply.

 

“Listen, something’s fucked up with Aomine,” he said after a long moment. He took a long swig of his cup. “He tried to attack me this morning. And he kissed me.”

 

Kuroko’s eyes darted to Kagami’s face, surprised.

 

“He was… he wasn’t acting like himself,” Kagami said. “He was acting all weird, like he wasn’t in control of himself.”

 

“Why didn’t you tell me this morning?” Kuroko asked. His tone wasn’t judgmental, so much as curious.

 

“I didn’t want to distract you,” Kagami said, sighing. “It was pretty stupid in retrospect, I just didn’t know how to even start.”

 

“You could have started with what you just said,” Kuroko lightly admonished him.

 

“Hey, okay, I was distracted!”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I believe you,” he said seriously. “Whatever is going on, we’ll figure it out.”

 

Eventually, they rejoined the party. It was late into the night, and things were still going strong. Kagami had wanted to cook something, but he was far too tired, and their fridge not well stocked enough for a real meal, so Kagami did the next best thing and ordered pizza.

 

The team settled back into the living room, sharing highlights of the duel. Nigou passed out on the carpet between them, overly tuckered out by the excitement and the number of people giving him attention and treats.

 

“Furihata taking down Kasamatsu was pretty cool!” Tsuchida said. “I don’t know which of them was more surprised about it!”

 

Furihata turned red and squeaked.

 

“I think Kagami and Kiyoshi going all Berserker on Murasakibara was the coolest,” Izuki supplied. “It was on fire!”

 

The team groaned at the pun.

 

“Kagami did most of the hard work with that one,” Kiyoshi said modestly.

 

“Take more credit for yourself!” Hyuuga corrected the other man. “We needed both of you at the end there.”

 

“Murasakibara’s face when that American kid punched him though, that was _priceless_!”

 

The discussion continued in this vein for some time. It was only interrupted when a loud knock sounded from the front door of the apartment.

 

“Oh, that’s gotta be the pizza,” Kagami said, stopping in the middle of an _uncanny_ impression of Aomine when the American had intercepted the Thunderbird, and looking up. “Kuroko?”

 

Kagami tossed the wad of collected cash to Kuroko, who was sitting closest to the door. Kuroko caught it in one hand and stood up, stretching as he headed to get the pizza.

 

Kuroko opened the door, still laughing as he looked back at Kagami, who had resumed his impression.

 

He was so distracted that Kuroko forgot to look to see who was at the door. He should have known better, because the next voice he heard was all too familiar.

 

“We really need to talk.”

 

…

 


	49. Can We Get Back To Politics (Please?)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well I survived antitrust but the exam season continues to roll out. Here's a chapter instead of studying for another test :)

 

 

…

 

_ “We really need to talk.” _

 

Kuroko stared at the visitor on his doorstep.

 

“Are you going to let me in, Tetsu-kun?” Momoi asked, tilting her head to the side and smiling sadly. “Or are you going to make a proper lady wait outside in the middle of the night?”

 

Kuroko pulled the door open further, and stepped back to let Momoi cross the threshold into his apartment, where she immediately came face to face with the entire Seirin team.

 

Nigou, woken by the arrival of a new visitor, happily ran up to Momoi, yipping with happiness. Momoi smiled down at the pup, petting his head and admiring how much he looked like Kuroko.

 

“Hello, Satsuki!” Riko waved merrily from the table. “It’s good to see you again!”

 

Momoi smiled graciously.

 

“I am sorry for intruding,” she said. “I needed to speak with Tetsu-kun and it couldn’t wait.”

 

“That is fine,” Kuroko told her. “Kagami was getting our entire team drunk to dull the pain of loss.”

 

“Hey, don’t put this all on me!” Kagami protested. Kuroko just looked back at him while Kagami quailed.

 

“It’s been a long day,” he excused himself. Momoi gave him a half-hearted smile.

 

“Unfortunately, it is about to get longer,” she said. “Tetsu-kun?”

 

“Anything you can say to me can be said in front of my team, Momoi,” Kuroko said gently, gesturing to an open chair in the living room. “If it is this important, maybe we should all be here.”

 

Momoi nodded.

 

“Yes, it’s probably better that you are all here,” she said softly. She looked up and around at the assembled wizards.

 

“There’s something wrong with Sei-kun,” she said, her voice wavering.

 

“No shit,” Hyuuga snorted.

 

“No, I mean there’s something really,  _ really  _ wrong with Sei-kun,” Momoi ventured fretfully.

 

“Would you just get out with it?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Oi!”

 

Three voices shouted down Kagami, and he winced back. Kuroko stared at him disapprovingly.

 

“You really don’t understand women, do you?” he asked.

 

“And you do?” Kagami demanded.

 

Kuroko walked over to Momoi and patted her on the head, hugging her gently.

 

“Tell us what happened.”

 

“I think Sei-kun is going to try and kidnap Tetsu-kun.”

 

Kuroko was probably the only member of his team that did not immediately react in a vocal and cacophonous fury.

 

Kuroko waited out the shouting, maintaining eye contact with Momoi as he tried to determine the best way to respond to this statement.

 

"Alright, everyone shut up!" Riko shouted, bringing the almost rioting team to order. Kuroko was very grateful for the silencing charms that Kagami had placed on their apartment, because they would almost certainly have had neighbors coming to investigate by now if he had not.

 

"Okay, you want to explain?" Rio asked, hands on her hips, standing and glaring down Momoi.

 

"I overheard Sei-kun talking with the others," Momoi said. Her voice was watery, and she sounded so small and vulnerable. Kuroko sat down next to her and placed an arm around her shoulders.

 

Nigou immediately took this opportunity to jump up into Momoi’s lap, happily licking her chin. Momoi smiled wanly and pet him as he settled.

 

"Tell us what you heard," Kuroko said in a gentle voice. Momoi sniffed and looked up at him.

 

"They said that they were going to take you," she said. "I didn't even realize what they were talking about, and then Sei-kun kept talking and I just didn't know what to do!"

 

"Did he say anything about when he was planning to pull this off? Or where? Or anything that might help us keep him from walking off with our friend?" Hyuuga asked.

 

"Hey hey," Kiyoshi said, putting a hand on his boyfriend's arm when he saw that Momoi was getting ready to start crying all over again. "Yelling isn't going to help the situation any."

 

"Okay, well what will?" Hyuuga asked, clearly unhappy with everything that was going on.

 

"Hearing her out," Kiyoshi advised. "Momoi, did you hear anything else that could be helpful?"

 

Momoi shook her head, sending waves of pink hair shaking across her shoulders.

 

"No, he just said that he was going to take Tetsu-kun after his duel with Rakuzan," Momoi said. "He said he didn't think it would be sportsmanlike or something to take him before."

 

Izuki snorted.

 

"Even Akashi can SEE how important Kuroko is to this team," he said. When Hyuuga glared at him, Izuki held up his hands.

 

“Cuz of his eyes?”

  
Hyuuga looked just about ready to strangle the other duelist.

 

"Just trying to lighten the mood, Captain," Izuki said, backing away behind Koganei. For his part, Koganei refused to be counted into Izuki’s conspiracy of bad puns and stepped to the side, refusing to hide him.

 

Hyuuga sighed, running a hand through his hair.

 

"Just stop, okay?" he said. "We don't need that kind of mood lightening."

 

Izuki nodded, falling silent.

 

"So we could have that redhead psychopath coming here any second to try and grab Kuroko?" Hyuuga asked, turning to Momoi.

 

Momoi nodded.

 

"I suspect he could not act directly after the Winter Cup because his father was there, but he's going to come for Tetsu-kun. From what Mido-kun was saying before, I think that Sei-kun’s plans won't work unless he has Tetsu-kun."

 

Kiyoshi knelt down in front of Momoi, his expression very serious. He took both of Momoi's hands in his own. Nigou sleepily burrowed deeper into Momoi’s skirt, ignoring the disturbance.

 

"It's very important, and I would not ask you to betray the confidence of your friends in any other situation, but we have to protect Kuroko," Kiyoshi said. "Why does Akashi need him, exactly?"

 

Momoi's lip quivered.

 

"I don't know!" she insisted. "He and Mido-kun have been all secretive. I know that Mido-kun saw that something terrible was going to happen, and that Sei-kun has been organizing as best he can to try and stop it. He sent Dai-kun of trying to close portals in America. I think he thinks that we're going to get invaded by demons."

 

This was greeted by confusion.

 

"Demons?" Riko asked. "Like, evil shadowy incarnations of temptation and lust, that kind of demon?"

 

Momoi sighed.

 

"I've been doing research," she said. "These are creatures that eat magic. They live in... I think the simplest explanation is that they’re from another dimension. They sometimes manage to cross over accidentally when the magical conditions are right, but we usually don't have a lot to fear from a large-scale demon invasion. Sei-kun is deathly afraid that Nash Gold and his cronies are going to unleash a full scale demonic attack to wipe out the wizarding population, and that they're going to use it as an excuse to start wholesale slaughtering muggles."

 

"That explains Kise suddenly becoming a huge, visible activist for muggle rights," Koganei said thoughtfully. “Did Akashi ask him to do that?”

 

"And Tatsuya hanging around with Murasakibara," Kagami said suddenly. "I bet Akashi knew what was going to happen in Los Angeles! He sent the purple asshole there just because he wanted to make sure that nobody would discover the magical community and give the American wizards a chance to retaliate violently."

 

"Don't be mean to Mu-kun," Momoi sniffed. "Enough people already are."

 

"Sorry, sorry," Kagami grumbled. "I didn't mean it like that, I just meant that I bet he knew."

 

Momoi nodded.

 

"I think he did," she said. “Both of them. He sent Dai-kun to some transfiguration master in Boston but had him going on missions for Akashi the whole time. I bet Mido-kun was also working on their plan together.”

 

The group was pretty somber after that.

 

"So we're about to face a demon invasion from some unknown source and for some reason, Akashi thinks that Kuroko is absolutely essential to responding to it?" Riko asked. "Is that about what the situation is?"

 

Momoi nodded.

 

"Sei-kun has a plan," she said. "I don't know what it is, but I know that Mido-kun does. As far as Mido-kun is concerned, he can't make the plan work without Tetsu-kun. And if Mido-kun says something about runes, he's almost always right."

 

“But I don’t know anything about runes,” Kuroko said. Half the team, including Kagami, snorted. Kuroko rolled his eyes. “Not compared to Akashi and Midorima. What could possibly be so important that he needs  _ me,  _ not anyone else, not even himself to do?”

 

Momoi looked at Kuroko helplessly.

 

“I wish I knew, Tetsu-kun,” she said longingly, holding his hand in hers. “But I think it has something to do with your magic. In fact, I would bet your misdirection is key to everything.”

  
Kuroko was still baffled, but he had no idea how to rebut this, so he stayed silent.

 

"Shit," Tsuchida said, too loudly.

 

"Hey, everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it," he said, holding up his hands. "But it doesn't sound like it's a smart idea for Kuroko to stay where Akashi knows he might be."

 

Riko nodded at this assessment.

 

"It wouldn't be a bad idea for the rest of us to lay low too," she admitted. "If he thinks that Kuroko is the only way to stop the end of the world, he isn't exactly going to just give up when he can't find him."

 

"So we need to find somewhere our entire team can hide," Koganei said thoughtfully.

 

“I think it’s safe to say that for now, we need somewhere safer to regroup together, where nobody can find us.”s Riko agreed. Her arms were folded across her chest and her eyebrows were knitted in thought.

 

“There are some places my father owns that we could use, but none of them are really meant to be fortresses, and Akashi would likely be able to guess that we would hide there,” Riko added.

 

“That would be on his first list of places to be looking,” Momoi confirmed.

 

“Not a lot of families have access to the kind of heavy armaments that the Ancient and Noble families do,” Fukuda said. “The land takes on the latent power of generations of wizards and witches growing up there, building layer over layer into any spells on the property. I mean my place has wards, but they’re mostly to stop the muggles from seeing my parents dance around in the nude with their pagan friends on the solstices.”

 

This garnered a few confused and vaguely amused glances, but it didn’t exactly lighten the mood. Nor did it solve the problem of where their team could hole up and hide.

 

The Miracles could be bearing down on this apartment right now and they wouldn’t know.

 

Kagami and Kuroko glanced at each other.

 

“We could retreat to my home,” Kuroko said. “My parents are travelling with my grandmother, and the protections on the house are all but impenetrable. The location is held by a secret keeper for my family, and even if the enchantment is revealed, I believe even the Generation of Miracles would struggle to break through without providing us enough warning to flee.”

 

“Wow, that’s pretty intense,” Furihata said.

 

“I guess you could say my family has always been private people,” Kuroko said.

 

“And I imagine, given the specialty of your magic, it is a particularly hard place to find,” Riko supplied. “Well, that sounds like an ideal solution to me, to be honest.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Then hold on a moment,” he said. “I have to get something.”

 

Kuroko went into his bedroom, rummaging around in his desk until he could find the slip of parchment he was looking for.

 

“All of you need to read this,” Kuroko said. “You will not be able to share the location, but it will allow you to see the entrance.”

 

“Why do you have something like this just lying around?” Kagami asked. “This is dangerous.”

 

“I forgot to get rid of it,” Kuroko said honestly, and Kagami put his face in his hand.

 

“We’ll burn it after everyone sees it,” Kuroko assured him.

 

In short order, the scrap of parchment was handed around to every person in the circle. Kagami, who did not need to location of Kuroko’s home shared with him after having been there over the summer, made sure that he was the last person to get a hold of the scrap of paper. He sent it spiraling up in flames.

 

“Just in case the Miracles come looking and decide to poke their heads around,” Kagami said.

 

“There aren’t any more of those are there?” Koganei asked, sounding worried.

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“That was the only one.”

 

“Good,” Riko said. “We should get moving then, before anything bad happens.”

 

“Hold on,” Kuroko said, looking directly at Momoi.

 

“What if  _ I am  _ the only way to help him stop the end of the world?” Kuroko asked. “If that’s true, shouldn’t I try and help him?”

 

Momoi shook her head again.

 

“There’s something  _ wrong  _ with him,” she emphasized. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to be around any of the Miracles right now, Tetsu-kun. Even Dai-kun is being mean and ignoring me.”

 

“I agree,” Kagami added. “Especially about that blue asshole. We’re going to protect you, and we’ll find out what’s going on with Nash Gold Jr. too. If we have to stop a demon invasion, we’ll do it the right way, without you getting hurt, got that?”

 

Kuroko nodded sheepishly.

 

“Okay,” he said.

 

_ But what if helping the world means me getting hurt anyway? _

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything, because he knew exactly how well his team would not take such a proclamation. Still, he was even more quiet and thoughtful as they portkeyed to the edge of the grounds of his family home.

 

Everyone on Seirin’s team visibly relaxed as they crossed the threshold of the wards on the property. They could feel them settle behind them, hiding them from the rest of the world.

 

Dawn was only a few hours off now, and all of them were eager to make their way to a bed and some rest.

 

Kuroko quickly brought his guests up to the floor where the bedrooms were, fanning the team out to let them choose whatever room they wished. 

 

“All of the bedrooms on this wing of the house are unused,” Kuroko said. “The family elves will be delighted to have more people here to visit. Please make yourselves comfortable.”

 

“Kuroko, your place is awesome!” Kawahara said.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said.

 

It was almost dawn at this point. After a week of high energy duels, and the emotional roller coaster of the previous day, followed by a rousing party and Momoi’s cataclysmic news, the team was just about ready to drop. Most of them put up only minor attempts to joke or chat before disappearing out of the hallway.

 

As soon as everyone knew where they were sleeping, Kuroko retired to his own room, where he found Kagami looking up at the ceiling.

 

“Cute,” he said, pointing up.

 

The top of the ceiling was painted to always reflect a sky at twilight, clouds swirling lazily around the edge of the room. A handful of stars peeked out from the darker corners of the sky.

 

“Were you expecting pictures of naked women?” Kuroko asked.

 

“You know for a fact Alex left that magazine in my apartment, do not come for me,” Kagami said grumpily, but he smiled as Kuroko curled up against him with his head into the crook of Kagami’s neck.

 

“It’s time for sleep,” Kuroko said.

 

“You wanna get undressed first?”

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“You want me to change your shirt by magic?” Kagami asked. “Because I’m going to sleep too.”

 

Kuroko hesitated before nodding.

 

Kagami transfigured Kuroko’s clothes into something more like the loose shirt and shorts he usually wore when sleeping. He doused the lights as Kuroko pulled up the covers, and they settled in to get some real rest.

 

They had been sitting that way for quite some time. Kagami could see the stirrings of sunlight poking through the curtains, not that anyone on Seirin’s team intended to rise with the sun. Unable to douse his burning curiosity about one thing in particular, Kagami tapped Kuroko on the shoulder.

 

“Are you awake?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko replied, turning to face him. He entwined his hands with Kagami without even thinking about it.

 

“The handwriting on that paper was yours, wasn’t it,” Kagami said softly, semi accusingly. “You didn’t just have that laying around, that would be ridiculous; you wrote it when you went back in our room. You’re the keeper of your family’s secret.”

 

Kuroko looked up at him, expression unchanging.

 

“What makes you think that?”

 

“I do, okay!”

 

Kuroko just smiled and kissed his Light on the nose.

 

“Go to sleep, Kagami,” he said. “We’ve had a long day.”

 

…

 

_ ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER PROTEST ROCKS THE AMERICAN CAPITAL _

 

_ Wizards demonstrating on J Street in the Capital blocked off traffic, demanding that the president reduce sanctions against wizards living outside of registered magical cities. The bill, HR 4709 “The Act to Unify The American Magical Community,” passed President Gold’s desk yesterday afternoon after being fast tracked through the House and the Senate. It lays out specific magical areas of cities where wizards may live, and requires special dispensation to create alternative communities. _

 

_ This bill is the latest in a line of “wizards first” legislation that has been promoted by President Gold and his Cabinet. The legislation has focused on unifying the American magical community and reducing international ties that disadvantage the United States economically, said a press secretary for the President this morning. _

 

_ “If these protesters really wanted to help govern, they would run for office and get a job instead of shouting in the streets,” said Vice President Silver in an interview with Magical DCist. _

 

_ The President stated that he intends to turn his focus to Educational policy next. _

 

Akashi put down the paper, frowning.

 

“If things get much worse in the States they’ll have a full scale revolt on their hands,” Akashi’s father said, taking another sip of tea. “Gold has been clever about how far he pushes them at one time to avoid riots in the streets, but every city has it’s breaking point.”

 

Of course, when that happened, things were likely to get a whole lot worse before they got better, Akashi surmised, turning the page of the Daily Prophet thoughtfully.

 

“They’ll start in on the muggles next,” Akashi said thoughtfully, choosing his words carefully.

 

AH, LITTLE PUPPETMASTER, HOW AMUSING YOUR SCHEMES ARE.

 

_ Be quiet. _

 

“They’re just muggles,” Masaomi said, turning to his attention to his breakfast.

 

“Well, it’s one thing if he starts targeting muggles, but a man like that will never be satisfied with what he has,” Akashi said. “The son and the father both, they want more that is their due.”

 

“You don’t think they would ever dare attack Britain?” Masaomi paused, looking incredulous. “That is ridiculous.”

 

“Oh of course,” Akashi agreed. “But doesn’t he have trademarks pending in China at the moment for his wand industry?”

 

Akashi asked the question, knowing full well that the Gold family, which owned the oldest and largest wand business in the United States, had seen a massive rise in profits with the legislation requiring all wizards to have a wand. That he intended to reach out beyond the borders of his own country was just common sense.

 

“Perhaps that is something to have our Wizengamot investigators look into,” Masaomi said. “Gold could destroy the wand business abroad if he had a mind to.”

 

“Do you really think so?” Akashi asked, feigning innocence.

 

“Oh absolutely,” Masaomi said with certainty. He wiped his lips, ensuring that his face was clear, before leaving his napkin on the table as he stood.

 

“Are you accompanying me to the Wizengamot this morning?” Masaomi asked. “I should be on my way presently. We are introducing the bill you proposed on emergency procedure in the Minister of Magic’s office. It should be a quick passage.”

 

“No,” Akashi said. “I have some matters of my own to attend to.”

 

“Very well,” Masaomi said, finishing his tea. “How are our holdings faring?”

 

“Quite well,” Akashi replied. “The growth report is on your desk.”

 

“We’ll discuss it this evening then,” Masaomi said. “Until then.”

 

“Until then, Father.”

 

Akashi supposed that conversation would probably be at least a little satisfying. When he had come of age, his father had provided him a 5% share of the Akashi family assets to manage. Today, Akashi had grown those holdings so carefully that they now comprised 8% of the family money. The galleon growth itself was tremendous, and it was only a statement of how large his family fortune was that the growth was not reflected more exponentially.

 

At any rate, Akashi had more important issues to handle this morning.

 

He had expected Satsuki to turn traitor eventually; it was inevitable, given her relationship to Daiki and Tetsuya. It was unfortunate that she had decided to assert herself before Akashi could reach Tetsuya, but that was of no direct consequence to him. He had arrived at the empty apartment Tetsuya had lived in with that American interloper to find that a party had clearly been interrupted there, but that all of the visitors to the apartment were long gone.

 

He would find Tetsuya himself if he had to comb every building in London himself from top to bottom. He just didn’t have the time to do immediately. It was unfortunate, but other priorities reigned. With Tetsuya missing in action, Akashi had to proceed with his plans only partially intact.

 

He did not like it.

 

Akashi finished his breakfast and folded the newspaper calmly before activating the portkey around his neck.

 

He had a pressing meeting with Shintarou. They had a lot of work to do if they were going to accomplish what had taken Akashi months to do himself in a matter of days.

 

Unfortunately, they would just have to make it work.

 

…

 

Takao was pissed off.

 

There was something wrong with his boyfriend, and he wasn’t happy about it.

 

Shin-chan didn’t have his lucky item.

 

Takao had been following horoscopic predictions since he was in second year, because they were the single most reliable predictor of Shin-chan’s mercurial mood swings. He knew exactly where Cancer was ranked and what their lucky item was. He usually checked on his own relative standing and lucky item, because they tended to give him an idea into how receptive Midorima would be to his advances on any given day.

 

Since they had started dating, Takao didn’t just listen to the forecast put out by Oha-Asa – he usually carried around his own lucky item, because it tended to make Midorima feel better. That is, when Midorima didn’t take it upon himself to shove a lucky item at Takao over breakfast.

 

The point was, Takao had known Midorima since they were eleven years old. He had shared classes with him for years. He’d shared a home and a bed with the other man.

 

Even if Takao had not been born with excellent powers of observation, he would know the man he loved like the back of his hand.

 

Takao Kazunari was an expert in all things Midorima Shintarou, and the man he’d been speaking with was  _ not  _ his Shin-chan.

 

Today’s lucky item for Cancer was a silver dollar keychain, and Takao had not seen hide or hair of one at any point.

 

Takao had watched Midorima walk out of the changing room with Akashi right after their match, having no idea what the redhead could possibly want to talk to Takao's boyfriend about.

 

What he did know was that the whole business left him with a bad taste in his mouth, and the gripping sense of unease in his stomach. Something was wrong, Takao just didn't know how to pinpoint it yet.

 

Midorima had then proceeded to disappear for a solid twenty four hours. Complete radio silence. Takao had ended up pacing around their apartment, pissed off, for the better part of a day, before the worry overcame the anger. Anything could have happened to his Shin-chan, and the overwhelming sense of dread that Takao was experiencing could very well have been due to some detail he hadn't paid attention to at the time, but still registered as some sort of subconscious threat.

 

Takao just knew that things weren't going the way they should have been.

 

Midorima did not come home that night, which was Takao's first sign that things were going south. Ootsobu had bought the team dinner, and they had toasted to a fight well lost, and a round that they had clawed through with everything they had. The team had cheered, and Takao had kept glancing around, wondering when Shin-chan would show up with his stupid lucky item and some tsundere comment.

 

The next morning when Shin-chan still had not come come, Takao went straight to terrified. He wondered where on earth his boyfriend could be, and surmised that Shin-chan had just run off to have a dramatic sulk, just as he had done after losing to Kuroko in school.

 

It wouldn't be out of character, but the fact that he hadn't even told Takao where he was going was worrying. Very worrying, to the point of being infuriating. Takao didn't know if he should be pissed off at being so callously disregarded, or if he should be terrified for what could have happened to his boyfriend.

 

By the end of that next day, he was out of his mind with worry, and started contacting his friends. He'd even gotten desperate enough to text Kuroko. The Phantom duelist didn't pick up his phone, but the text returned without having made it to it's destination. Takao figured that the other man was somewhere under magical wards where the electromagnetic connection between phones couldn't properly work.

 

So that left him with limited options. Shin-Chan was fascinated by the idea of phones, but refused to carry one around "like some common muggle," to which Takao had replied that he knew plenty of awesome "common muggles" and that his boyfriend should stop being such an elitist.

 

Takao considered contacting the Aurors. If someone had attacked Midorima, then he needed police backup, not a text message.

 

But the truth was that Takao was pretty sure Midorima had not gotten attacked. The very idea that anyone could have managed to sneak up on and get the better of Midorima Shintarou, one of the most talented wizards in the world, and a powerful, prescient wizard, was nothing short of laughable.

 

Only a handful of wizards could have managed to get away with that, and Takao could count them on exactly one hand.

 

Kuroko had no reason to go after Shin-chan, which left four Miracles Takao was going to have to track down and interrogate as to the whereabouts of his boyfriend.

 

But first, he was going to go do something more practical.

 

As the sun set the day after the Winter Cup, Takao went to Shin-chan's house.

 

Shin-chan's mother was home. She smiled at Takao, welcoming him in.

 

She hadn't seen her son since before the Winter Cup, but thought that he was probably working on some project with Akashi.

 

Akashi.

 

Takao's breath hitched.

 

Akashi was going to murder him. The redhead wizard could do him in without leaving a single trace of magical evidence as to who did it, and would be perfectly willing to, as well.

 

Takao could still hear his chilling, overly polite voice threatening to pluck out his own eyes if their duel didn't go according to his expectations.

 

There was something seriously wrong with that guy.

 

Still, he was Midorima's best chance at finding his boyfriend, so he pulled his cloak around his shoulders and apparated at the edge of the Akashi family estate, hoping that he would catch the heir in the act of coming home.

 

Takao steeled his nerves and knocked on the door.

 

He stood there knocking for several minutes.

 

A poor, hustled looking house elf opened the door.

 

"I'm looking for Akashi, the younger," Takao told the house elf. "Is he in at all?"

 

"Blinky doesn't think the young master is in," the house elf said, writing it's hands.

 

"Blinky, it's fine," a quiet voice came from inside the house.

 

Takao found himself being towered over by the very famous figure of Akashi Masaomi.

 

"Are you a friend of my son's?" Masaomi asked, eyeing Takao. "I'm not sure I caught your name."

 

"Takao Kazunari, sir," Takao introduced himself as respectfully as he could, his heart racing in the presence of the famous wizard. "Actually, I was hoping he might know where Midorima Shintarou was, since he seems to have gone missing."

 

"Shintarou and Seijuro are off on a project together, but they should be home any moment," Masaomi said. "Takao. That's not a pure blood name, is it?"

 

"No sir," Takao replied, barely fighting the urge to ball his hands visibly into fists. He didn't like the way Masaomi said that, like he wasn't worth consideration just because he wasn't some stuck up pureblood.

 

Fucking Ancient and Noble families.

 

Takao hated them.

 

Their priorities were just whacked.

 

Masaomi considered Takao for another moment, before allowing the door to fall open.

 

“Well, come in,” he said. “You might as well wait for them in the parlor.”

 

Takao considered himself severely lucky to have escaped without further censure or comment, and decided to take advantage of the invitation of the Akashi patriarch before the guy changed his mind and decided to keep the rabble out with the trash.

 

Takao didn’t think he waited that long before he heard the tell-tale sign of apparation just outside the parlor, and rushed to the doorway.

 

Sure as the sunrise, Akashi was standing confidently in the entryway, with Midorima not far behind him, dusting off his robes.The hem was covered in a thin line of light colored dirt, and there was a small patch of the dirt on Midorima’s cheek.

 

Since when did Shin-chan do anything that got him that dirty?

 

Takao’s eyes narrowed.

 

First glance told him that Shin-chan wasn’t wearing his lucky item. The other wizard was holding himself differently than usual too.

 

It was probably thanks purely to Takao’s amazing powers of perception that by the time he made eye contact with Midorima, he was certain something was wrong with the other man. If there was anything that sealed the deal for him, it was the fact that Shin-chan’s normally forest green eyes were glowing gold. By the time he saw the unnatural eyes, Takao was convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt.

 

That wasn’t Takao’s Shin-chan.

 

Takao assessed the situation, and decided that his best chance was to play along and try to get some more information. 

 

“Hey, Shin-chan, you’ve been avoiding me!” Takao said cheerfully, letting none of his conclusions show on his face.

 

Midorima looked up, his expression seemingly confused for a moment before he composed himself.

 

“I have not been avoiding you, you fool” he said, and Takao had to give the thing credit, it  _ almost  _ sounded like Shin-chan there for a moment.

 

“So, no plush polar bear today?” Takao asked casually, folding his arms.

 

“Plush… bear?”   
  


“Cancer’s lucky item for today? Or did you forget to grab it this morning?”

 

“I have no interest in such trinkets.”

 

_ The real Shin-chan would have known what his actual lucky item was. The real Shin-chan would be holding onto that stupid keychain like a lifeline. _

 

That settled it. Takao needed to get out of here before he got murdered for interfering in Akashi’s plans, the way Midorima suggested he might back when Takao found him at that villa in France.

 

“Is there a reason you barged into my house, or did you just do so to entertain yourself by insulting my guests?” Akashi asked.

 

“Actually, I was going to ask my boyfriend and roommate if he planned on coming home sometime soon, but I can see you’re busy with whatever you’re busy with, so I guess I’ll see you later, Shin-chan.”

 

Takao brushed his way past both Miracles, needing to put some distance between himself and them before Akashi decided that killing Takao would be a lot less effort than dealing with his questions.

 

“Why would I care about such a half breed imbecile?”

 

It was  _ so, so  _ close to the words that had literally sent Takao over the edge so many years ago, and he only barely managed to avoid trembling.   
  


Takao turned, pasting the fakest smile he’d ever needed to fix to his shitty face, and closed his eyes to hide the watering signs of tears.

 

“Oh, Shin-chan, that’s certainly not what you were telling me the night before our last duel in the Winter Cup.”

 

Only the truth held Takao together as he all but sprinted out of Akashi’s house.

 

_ That isn’t Shin-chan. _

 

Takao let his hands ball into fists and he ran blindly across Akashi’s front lawn, running at full speed towards the edge of the property. He apparated as soon as he was across it, landing in a breathless heap on his own apartment floor.

 

The sun was shining low and golden through the windows of the apartment and Takao looked up at the sky. He felt like someone had clenched a fist in his gut.

 

Clearly something was very, very wrong.

 

He just had to figure out what it was.

 

Takao cried a little on the floor. He wallowed for a bit, before he pulled himself back up to his feet and stumbled towards the desk, pulling parchment and a pen towards him.

 

He was going to figure out what was going on. 

 

Takao sat, tapping the pen against his forehead, deep in thought.

 

What was wrong with Shin-chan?

 

The end of the world, demons, a sudden change in Midorima’s behavior after going off alone with Akashi?

 

Takao felt a chill run down his spine.

 

Oh. He did not like where his mind was going, putting together the pieces of this puzzle.

 

However he looked at it, Takao had only one serious thought come crashing down on him like an ice cold wave of water.

 

Shin-chan was in trouble, and Takao might be the only person who could get him out of it.

 

“Shin-chan, what did you do now,” Takao murmured.

 

This couldn’t be good.

 

…

 

Tatsuya was pissed off.

 

Murasakibara was deliberately ignoring him.

 

That’s what it had to be, as much as Tatsuya didn’t want it to be true. What else could it be, though? Tatsuya had racked his mind and once he had gotten over being worried sick about what might have happened, he remembered that his boyfriend was a walking nuclear bomb, and that no threat was great enough to legitimately compromise his safety.

 

Which meant that Murasakibara had either met with serious,  _ serious  _ trouble, or he was ignoring Tatsuya on purpose.

 

Tatsuya was sitting on his bed, staring up at the ceiling, lost in thought, when the doorbell rang.

 

Tatsuya pulled on a shirt and went to go answer it, surprised to find a competitor he recognized by sight standing there.

 

“You’re… that Hogwarts student,” Tatsuya said. “You compete with the green miracle.”

 

“Hey,” the other man said, smiling. “Name’s Takao. I rifled through Shin-chans address book to come find you, I hope you don’t mind me dropping in out of the blue like this. I think you and I might have a problem in common.”

 

…

 

“Another day, another protest rocks the American Capital,” Kagami read off the paper, tossing it onto the table. “What bullshit.”

 

“The preservation of the right to assemble is one of the most key freedoms of a functioning democracy,” Kuroko supplied.

 

“Oh, not them, I meant the fucking government. How the shit did we end up with this asshole?”

 

“Because people think wealth equates to virtue.”

 

“Well, that’s stupid.”

 

“I don’t disagree.”

 

The two of them took a sip of coffee as one.

 

Kagami put the paper down.

 

“So we need to make a decision about what we’re going to do,” Kagami said.

 

“We do,” Kuroko agreed.

 

“Listen, if I have to be the one to say it, I will,” Kagami said. “We can always pick up and flee to China. Alex has a nice little pocket dimension set up by an ancient civilization to explore. We can ride this out, you know? We don’t have to fight every single war. The world isn’t our responsibility.  _ Akashi  _ isn’t even our responsibility, really. We don’t need to stick this out.”

 

Kuroko stared at him for a long, quiet moment.

 

Kagami didn’t love the accusing look in his boyfriend’s eyes when he said that.

 

“Look, okay, someone’s got to put it on the table,” he said defensively. “It’s an option worth considering. I’m not saying it’s the play here, but we should at least talk about it.”

 

“It would mean abandoning a lot of people, including our friends,” Kuroko said neutrally. The word choice gave away what he thought of the idea - he was even more opposed to it than Kagami himself. 

 

“It’s not so much a question of choosing to leave them behind so much as not knowing what else to do,” Kagami sighed, knowing already that he was making a losing argument. “Listen, I want to go to war with Akashi and the government as much as you do, but look at how well the Winter Cup turned out! I don’t think we have a shot.”

 

Kuroko flinched at the mention of the Winter Cup.

 

He turned the idea around in his head, considering it only because it was Kagami who suggested it.

 

“What would we do, if we fled?” Kuroko asked sensibly.

 

“Survive, hopefully,” Kagami replied. Kuroko nodded, his eyes fixed on his coffee.

 

“That’s not an option,” he said. Kagami smiled sheepishly.

 

“Yeah, I kind of figured,” he said. “As long as I’ve known you, you’ve never run away from a fight, even if it meant taking a serious beating.”

 

“I don’t always take a beating you know,” Kuroko chided his boyfriend.

 

“Yeah, sometimes I get to watch you kick someone’s ass for a change,” Kagami teased. He took a long drag of coffee.

 

“Okay, so we’re staying,” Kagami said. “What does that mean? If we’re going to throw a monkey wrench in Akashi’s plans, we need to know what he’s doing specifically. Momoi doesn’t have a better idea, so we’re in the dark until we find someone who does.”

 

“I could talk to him,” Kuroko suggested. “I could pretend that I am acquiescing to whatever he needs me to do in order to get more information for us.”

 

“That won’t work.”

 

Kagami and Kuroko both turned to see Riko in the doorway.

 

“Ooh, is there coffee?” she asked. Kuroko nodded towards the pot on the table. Riko helped herself to a mug of the steaming beverage and took a sip.

 

“Why don’t you think that would work?” Kuroko asked.

 

“For the record, I also think that’s a really risky idea,” Kagami put in. “Akashi is pissed and I don’t like the idea of you being in that much danger.”

 

“Why wouldn’t it work?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Akashi is a legilimens,” Riko said. “A natural and powerful one. I surmised as such before the duel, but on at least one occasion I saw him definitively act in a way that was only statistically probable if he had the read the mind of his opponent – particularly during his duel with Midorima. If you walked up to him with any ulterior motive he would know.”

 

“And if he knew, he would probably lose his shit.”

 

“Now that, my statistics can’t tell you,” Riko said, taking another long drag of coffee. “He probably wouldn’t react well, though. You know, given that he  _ threatened to gouge out his own eyes during a duel.  _ Just my thoughts.”

 

Kagami and Kuroko shared a glance.

 

“Yeah, so we’re not doing that,” Kagami said. “Any other ideas?”

 

A loud bell signaled the arrival of someone at the front door of the estate.

 

“Expecting anyone?” Kagami turned to ask Kuroko, but his boyfriend was already gone.

 

“God damn it!” Kagami growled. “Don’t just run off like that!”

 

Kagami took off running after Kuroko towards the front door. This could be a trap of some kind – or Akashi himself, waltzing right up to Kuroko’s front door like the brazen ass he was. 

 

Visions of Kuroko being harmed or snatched right off his own porch flashed through Kagami’s head as he came to a halt next to the door where he saw the last two people he was expecting to see.

 

Tatsuya and Takao were standing side by side, both of them looking annoyed. And that, of course, just pissed off Kagami even more. His brain caught up with his panic as he remembered that nobody was supposed to be able to know about this building without the express permission of the secret-keeper.

 

“How the hell did you know we were here?”

 

“That’s polite,” Tatsuya said sarcastically. “Let us in, we need to talk.”

 

“Not until I know how you got here.”

 

“Kagami,  _ I  _ told them how to get here,” Kuroko said, appearing at his Light’s elbow. Kagami screeched.

 

“WARN ME!” he shouted. “And what do you mean you told them?”

 

“Takao wrote to me and sounded very distressed, and I believed that we should hear him out, so I told him to come to my home since I thought it was preferable to you than having me go out into London and find them.”

 

“But what if he’s being followed?”

 

“Takao, are you being followed?” Kuroko asked, turning to the former Gryffindor. Takao grinned.

 

“Nope, and I would know if I was.”

 

Kuroko turned back to Kagami.

 

“I believe that settles the issue,” he said. “Let them in.”

 

“You heard you boyfriend,” Takao crowed. “Let us in.”

 

Takao and Tatsuya shouldered their way past Kagami angrily.

 

“Why didn’t you tell me they were coming?” Kagami asked.

 

“I forgot,” Kuroko shrugged.

 

“What the hell are you doing here?” Kagami demanded of their visitors, shutting the door grumpily behind them.

 

“Great question,” Takao said, throwing himself into a seat. “Here’s the answer – my boyfriend’s been possessed by a demon.”

 

Kagami and Kuroko looked at each other and then back at Takao.

 

“That’s not funny,” Kagami said.

 

“Yeah, I fucking know it’s not!” Takao snapped. “You think I would be here pissed off if I just wanted to mess around?”

 

“Uh, yeah?” Kagami said, folding his arms. He looked over to Tatsuya.

 

“So the fuck are you here for?” he asked.

 

“We have the same problem.”

 

“What?”

 

“Murasakibara,” Kuroko supplied dully. “Himuro is informing you that he is dating Murasakibara.”

 

“What-”

 

“Please get angry later, but I believe Takao and Himuro have both come to us with very serious concerns,” Kuroko said gently. “Why do you believe this to be the case?”

 

“I can’t believe you didn’t even tell me you had a boyfriend!” Kagami grumbled.

 

“You didn’t exactly write to say you were swapping saliva with the Phantom player of the Generation of Miracles,” Himuro replied.

 

“Please do not be crass,” Kuroko said mildly.

 

“Sorry,” Himuro apologized, blushing. “I didn’t mean anything by it.”

 

“The demons?” Kuroko asked blankly.

 

“Shin-chan is acting weird,” Takao said. “He was staying at some place in France last year, and when I went to visit him, Akashi showed up talking about the end of the world. Between that and the research I’ve been helping Shin-chan with, I think I know what happened.”

 

“Weird in what way?” Kagami asked.

 

“Well he isn’t walking around with his lucky item, number one,” Takao said. “And he’s ignoring me, which is another issue. I’m telling you! The guy walking around in Shin-chan’s body isn’t Shin-chan, and based on what I know of what he was doing before the Winter Cup, it has to be a demon.”

 

Kagami’s eyes flicked to Tatsuya.

 

“Okay, and what makes you think that your boyfriend is being possessed by a demon?” he asked.

 

“Atsushi has been gone since after the tournament,” Tatsuya said. “I figure either you broke my boyfriend or something happened. Takao said he saw Akashi with Midorima, and since Atsushi hasn’t gone this long without contacting me in a while, it makes sense that the little psycho would be collecting his Miracles for whatever nefarious plot he’s got.”

 

Kagami set his jaw.

 

“That explains Aomine,” he said.

 

“And potentially Akashi as well,” Kuroko supplied.

 

“Well, whatever happened to Atsushi, happened after we lost our duel with you.”

 

“Same with Shin-chan,” Takao supplied immediately.

 

“Whoa, whoa, you’re saying you blame us for what happened?” Kagami demanded.

 

“No, just that it’s an interesting correlation,” Tatsuya tried to calm down the other American before a fight broke out between him and Takao. Kagami breathed heavily but sat back.

 

“What kind of research was Midorima looking into before the tournament?” Kuroko asked Takao.

 

“Ley lines, portals, that sort of stuff,” Takao said. “I tried to connect the dots from the pieces I got.  Between all of them and the end of the world, I think that there’s a hole between us and a dimension full of demons, and I think we’re all going to die if we don’t do something.”

 

The room was silent.

 

“I think you should start from the beginning and tell us everything you know,” Kuroko suggested. “And then we’ll share what we know, and from there we can decide on an appropriate course of action.”

 

“That course of action better involve dick-kicking that bastard Akashi, because I know he’s got something to do with this,” Takao muttered under his breath. When Kuroko just continued looking at him patiently, Takao sighed and leaned back in his chair. He downed his entire cup of tea, visibly composing himself.

 

“Okay, so it’s like this…”

 

…

 

Akashi meticulously scraped out another rune from the set he had crafted across hundreds of pages. The full map of the configuration was bigger than Akashi himself, only ever folded out to one section at a time.

 

The rune sparked as it set. Akashi traced the indent in the stone with ash, and then blood.

 

A tingle of his magic set into it.

 

Akashi wiped at his forehead. Midorima was working on another spiral of the configuration out of view. He could feel the other wizard’s magic beating through the set they were both working on. Their magic hummed in the runes like a small, beating heart with its own will.

 

Akashi finished the circle he was connecting to the main configuration. It glowed red, accepted into the main interlocking body of the spell.

 

Just putting the power into these runes to make them was hard enough. Akashi didn’t know if the Miracles would have the strength to activate them when they were ready.

 

The spell Akashi had set to warn him of the time went off. Akashi drew back, folding the rune map into his breast pocket. It was just about time for him to return home and accompany his father for the introduction of a new bill.

 

They were going to cut off Nash Gold and his hellspawn of a son from the world, and it was going to be immensely satisfying to watch. Akashi wanted to be there when the bill was introduced so that he could be certain of its passage. He could run interference for his father in circles where the Akashi reputation was more of a hindrance than a help.

 

Akashi clutched the permanent portkey he’d made between this site and his home, and disappeared in a whirl of wind.

 

In a matter of moments, Akashi was home and clean, greeting his father in the other man’s study.

 

“Good, you made it in time,” Akashi Masaomi said dismissively. “Come.”

 

Akashi bit back the response he wanted to give his father, which was that at eighteen, he was not only legally an adult, but having graduated from school and running part of the household, certainly did not need to be treated like a child.

 

Akashi was running against the edge of his patience. If his father continued to be an obstacle to getting things done, he was just going to have to remove him as he had done to everyone else who had ever dared stand in his way.

 

Akashi’s hand twitched towards his wand.

 

DO IT, SHRIMPY-CHAN, YOU KNOW YOU WANT TO.

 

Akashi shuddered as he physically fought the murderous urge burning at the back of his mind. When he closed his eyes, he could see his father’s body, bloody and splayed open just the way the demon inside Akashi had once shown him his own form.

 

IT WOULD BE EASY. YOU’RE MUCH MORE POWERFUL THAN HE IS.

 

_ No. _

 

Masaomi continued to serve Akashi’s interests, so he would keep his father alive for now.

 

Akashi didn’t want to have to run after his father’s connections in the Wizengamot, nor could he afford to ascend to the responsibilities of the Akashi patriarch before he managed to build the haven that would protect them.

 

Afterwards, well.

 

Akashi bowed his head to hide the fact that both of his eyes were burning gold as he fought with the murderous rage of the demon inside of him.

 

He was absolute.

 

He was an Akashi.

 

He would control the demon inside him, and he would prevent all of its ilk from invading and destroying his home. If he couldn’t do it, it couldn’t be done.

 

Akashi watched impassively as his father introduced new legislation.

 

It was a bill to coordinate with the ICW to press international sanctions against the United States. Wizarding Britain would, henceforth cease all trade and economic relations with the current administration. The stated justification was the anti-diversity policies that targeted wizards from all walks of life within the country’s borders.

 

It was a masterpiece of simple legislation, and Akashi was sure it was going to seriously ruin Nash Gold’s day.

 

Hell, maybe he’d even piss off his son, too. Wouldn’t that be a pure delight?

 

YOU ARE ALMOST AS CRUEL AS I.

 

_ Not even close, _ Akashi thought determinedly, wrestling back his ironclad control over himself.

 

He would win.

 

He had to.

 

He was absolute.

 

…

 

“Who wrote this piece of crap?”

 

Nash Gold Jr. was in a rare fury. Very few things managed to rile him up to quite this level of ferocity, but he had reached his tipping point.

 

“You already know,” Silver said, rolling his neck. He was looking over a set of forms in Nash Gold Jr.’s office, listening as his friend ranted and raved about the subject of the latest piece of legislation directed at America from Europe.

 

“Akashi Masaomi is the one who contacted all his friends across Europe to make it happen,” Silver explained, turning the page to look at the next document.

 

“ _ Sanctions! _ ” Nash Gold Jr. roared. “They can’t eliminate trade with the U.S! We’re one of the largest global consumers in the world! They’ll go bankrupt! This has to be a bluff!”

 

“It’s not a bluff,” Silver replied dully. “Stock in trade between Europe and Asia has skyrocketed. Wizards with an interest in the Middle East and North Africa are making bank. I expect that by the end of the week he’ll have negotiated a deal with Russia and South Korea too. Akashi Masaomi is uniting the entire world against us.”

 

“How?” Nash Gold Jr. demanded. “How can he be so far reaching that he can undermine my father, the President of the Goddamn United States of America?”

 

“He’s the executive of a huge number of international companies and has real estate interests everywhere,” Silver said. “He has friends in high places, and he has friends with friends in high places. The right coalition of British wizards could take over the world.”

 

“It isn’t his to have,” Nash Gold Jr. growled. “This is unconscionable. I wanted this  _ country.  _ I didn’t want to have to go to war within and without to protect my own interests.”

 

“So don’t,” Silver replied.

 

Nash Gold Jr. turned around to face his best and only good friend.

 

“Jason, if you have an idea, by all means just out with it,” Nash Gold Jr. replied. “I am not in the mood to play coy here.”

 

“I think you should just go ahead and kill Akashi.”

 

Silver’s voice was entirely calm.

 

The office was quiet for a few seconds as Nash Gold Jr. worked his way through what his friend had suggested. Gold turned the idea around in his head, trying to find the downside or see how things would play out differently if he took such a bold course of action.

 

He found that he didn’t, in fact, hate the idea. Actually, it might have the effect of neutering the little Akashi bastard too, which could only help. That “Miraculous” bastard was just as annoying as the father from whence he’d spawned.

 

Nash Gold Jr. smiled.

 

“I suppose,” he said. “It might be nice to remove Akashi Masaomi from the picture and paralyze the little brat while I’m at it.”

 

“Two birds, one stone,” John Silver shrugged, tilting his glass towards Gold in a toast.

 

“Sure,” Gold said, shaking out his shoulders. “Okay. Yeah. Let’s do it. Fuck Akashi Masaomi, let’s arrange for a little heart attack to put an end to his international maneuvering. I can’t have him cutting off all my allies just yet. Did you have a suggestion as to how to do it?”

 

Silver shrugged.

 

“I’ve got some ideas,” he replied. “I’ll look into it, and let you know when it’s done.”

 

“Perfect.”

 

…

 

Akashi was in bed when he heard the crash.

 

He was out of bed in a moment, on alert. Who would dare try and break into one of the most well fortified buildings in Britain? Who had the capacity and desire to?

 

By the time Akashi reached his door, he already knew that there was only one answer to that question. Without a single shred of proof, it was fairly obvious who was behind this break in, because nobody else would engage in such ridiculous shenanigans.

 

_ I see that parasite Gold finally made his move. _

 

Akashi did not bother concealing his presence as he walked down the lushly carpeted halls of his childhood home.

 

He was in no hurry, and he was not at all worried. What wizard could possibly pretend to challenge him?

 

With his magic, Akashi reached out across the house. His father was in his study. He had retired there to work on another bill to push through the Wizengamot this morning, strengthening the ties of the British magical community with the rest of Europe. It was a hellishly complicated diplomatic process, one that required skill and determination, both of which Akashi Masaomi had in spades.

 

There were two other wizards with him that had no business being there.

 

Akashi quickly surmised that these additional wizards were the intruders whose actions had woken him.

 

He took off at a light run. He didn’t fear the existence of intruders, but they could do damage or get ahold of sensitive documents if not stopped immediately.

 

Akashi was certain in his ability to halt these intruders in their steps.

 

After all, he was absolute.

 

Within short order, Akashi was running along the upstairs hallway towards his father’s office.

 

Just as Akashi was nearing the door to the office, the wall in front of him exploded outwards into the hallway. Akashi held his hand in front of him, protecting his face from the debris. He coughed as the smoke rose up towards him. Annoyed, Akashi magically pushed away the cloud of dust and broken bits of wall away from him.

 

He turned, aggravated, just in time to shield himself from an attack. He frowned – there were two of them, which meant he need only preserve the life of one of them.

 

Akashi pinpointed the location of the assailants and with a flick of his fingers, sent a piece of shattered stone towards one. As it flew, Akashi carved at it, creating a dangerous and lethal point out of the end of it.

 

He heard it make contact with the intruder with a wet crunch.

 

Another curse flashed green against Akashi’s shield and he twisted, one eye a vicious blood red, the other gold.

 

“ _ Cruciatus. _

 

The other man screamed. The glamor remained in place – held, Akashi thought, not by a conscious active spell, but some kind of magical object or talisman. The wizard went to his knees, screaming in agony.

 

“Who sent you.”

 

There was no answer but another growl of pain.

 

“ _ Cruciatus.  _ Who sent you?”

 

The man howled in pain.

 

“I will continue until I have an answer.”

 

Already aggravated by the situation as a whole, Akashi’s patience snapped. He shattered the stone talisman that maintained the man’s glamor, and burned away his face mask.

 

The man fell onto his back, heaving for breath.

 

Casually, as though he had all the time in the world, Akashi strode forwards, placing a foot at the center of his chest.

 

“Who. Sent. You.”

 

Akashi ground his foot harder into the man’s chest with every word.

 

The man opened his mouth wide, and Akashi pursed his lips seeing the gaping, sewn scar where his tongue had once been.

 

This man was more than a random intruder. He had been specifically selected for his inability to communicate the intentions of his master.

 

Akashi shrugged.

 

“No matter,” he told the man simply. His eyes widened in terror, but Akashi paid him no mind.

 

He did not need to speak the spell in order to invade the mind of the intruder. He had a vague flash of a dark alley, of orders and an address, but before Akashi got any farther, he was forcefully thrown out of the other man’s mind.

 

The intruder started to convulse, frothing at the mouth, blood dripping from his eyes.

 

A second later, he was dead.

 

Akashi swore.

 

The man had died without giving any evidence as to who had hired him.

 

Logic told Akashi that only one person had the motive and ability to send such men after him, and that man was Nash Gold Jr. Proving it would be a thoroughly different story.

 

Well, he might as well survey the damage that these wizards had caused and check on his father.

 

He stepped through the hole in the wall of his father’s study.

 

The inside of the room was a mess. Akashi could see the scorch marks of fire on the walls. Books had been thrown left and right. The huge windows on the side of the room facing their grounds were shattered inward, leaving a shower of glass on the carpeted floor. Torn shreds of paper were everywhere. Masaomi’s inkwell had fallen over, dousing all of the papers on the table in dark blue ink, and staining the wood. Even with magic, it would never be the same.

 

Vaguely, Akashi thought his father would be extremely upset about that. Like so many things in this museum of a house, it was a family heirloom, and irreplaceably priceless.

 

Akashi finally forced himself to look in the middle of the room, where the sight he’d tried to avoid took up far too much space in his vision. 

 

Akashi Masaomi was lying on the floor. He was quite dead.

 

The Akashi patriarch’s eyes were frozen open, his hand still clasped around his wand for all the good it hadn’t done him. 

 

“Father.”

 

There was so much emotion enclosed in the one word.

 

Akashi sighed.

 

“You were so disapproving of dueling,” he mused. “I suppose you might feel differently now.”

 

His father’s corpse, predictably, did not respond. The blood underneath him was dark, soaking into the white carpet. Still wet and dark, it reminded Akashi of the color of his father’s eyes.

 

Akashi knelt by his father and closed his eyes. He eased the wand from his father’s hand and removed the head of household ring from his father’s hand.

 

Akashi banished the wand to the family vault. He was not so petty that he would burn his father’s wand in front of his newly made corpse.

 

After all, he’d spent a large part of his life proving to himself that he was better than his father in every measurable way. As it turned out, dueling was one of them.

 

Akashi snorted.

 

He sat down, back against the wall.

 

He knew that he had to act. There were things that needed to be done. He had to inform the Wizengamot of his father’s death. There would be paperwork to take his father’s seat too, though that wasn’t urgent. There would be form after form at Gringotts too. Akashi would have to make arrangements for his father’s burial.

 

And yet he remained still. His analytical mind had already listed out and organized everything that needed to be done by order of priority, but Akashi couldn’t move.

 

Akashi Masaomi had been a bastard. He had terrorized Akashi in his youth, and had neglected him in his adulthood. He was stern and disapproving of everything and Akashi was never good enough for him.

 

He shouldn’t feel anything other than relief right now.

 

So why couldn’t he move?

 

REGRETTING WASTED TIME, SHRIMPY-CHAN?

 

_ Silence,  _ Akashi told the demon inside of him. He clenched his hands into fists.

 

YOUR PAIN IS PATHETIC.

 

“I said SHUT UP!” Akashi roared, deafeningly loud in the silent, destroyed office. The echo of the demon’s laughter faded in the back of his mind, returning to blessed quiet, where it remained quiescent, waiting for Akashi to call upon his power again. Akashi could feel his shaky control over the power inside him coalesce into strength again, and he sighed.

 

_ I have to hold it together until we’re all safe. I am absolute. If anyone can control this power, it is me. I am an Akashi, this is what I was born to do. _

 

He pointedly ignored the echoing ring of mocking laughter in his ears.

 

The sound of birds outside the window called Akashi back to action. Morning was approaching, and there were things that needed to be done, decisions that had to be made.

 

Akashi stood and stretched. His vigil had kept him up most of the night.

 

His father’s blood had dried on the carpet in front of him. His limbs were stiff and locked in the position in which he died.

 

Akashi pulled the head of household ring onto his own finger, slipping the heir ring into his pocket. He would store it safety at Gringotts for now.

 

An idea occurred to him, looking down at his father, an idea that scrapped all of his encroaching plans, but might serve his interest very well if he could play it correctly.

 

It was a risky strategy, but one that Akashi felt justified the dangers.

 

“Thank you, at least, for providing the answer to a question that has been on my mind,” he said pleasantly. “I wondered how I could convince the Wizengamot of the severity of the threat posed by Nash Gold Jr.”

 

Akashi knew he would need to act fast. He’d wasted almost all the night away, and he needed to get moving if he wanted his plan to be at all possible to go through with. 

 

With a wave of his hand both eyes burned gold. They glowed with power in the dark room.

 

The sound of wolves howling in the night surrounded the Akashi household.

 

Akashi smiled.

 

As it turned out, Nash Gold Jr. was going to give him the opportunity to do exactly what he wanted to. How delightfully ironic.

 

On his finger, the Akashi family crest glinted in the moonlight.

  
…

 


	50. APPOINT A SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter title both succinctly describes my feelings about the last 24 hours of American politics and the contents of this chapter. Go figure.
> 
> Next week we won't have a chapter. I'm gonna be traveling for a bit, but in two weeks we should have another chapter ready to go. See y'all when I get back!

 

…

 

Midorima had some concerns.

 

HAVE I NOT BEEN TAKING GOOD ENOUGH CARE OF YOUR MORTAL FORM?

 

The tone was sarcastic. If Midorima’s unconscious mind remained in control of his own body he would have sighed in exasperation. 

 

I DROVE AWAY THE HUMAN AS YOU ASKED.

 

Midorima felt his irritation flame out into something more like rage.

 

_ You did not,  _ he snapped.  _ Any other set of words, any other excuse would have sufficed, but you chose that, specifically to torture me. _

 

THAT IS UNGENEROUS, WIZARD. ANYTHING ELSE WOULD NOT HAVE BEEN EFFECTIVE.

 

Midorima felt his impotent frustration rise. How odd, to feel anger without the flash of heat in his gut. There was indignation, but no chemical response inside his body. He could not close his fists or narrow his eyes in displeasure.

 

_ “You’re weak,” Midorima had said in a voice that was almost as deadpan as Kuroko’s. “Did you really think that you would pose any challenge to me at all? Did you think that your observational skills would allow you to best me, one of the smartest wizards in this entire school? You’re nothing but a worthless half-blood fool.” _

 

Back then, Midorima had chosen his words carefully, aimed them like swords at the softest pieces of Takao’s insecurities. He’d assumed that by delivering the maximum amount of personal devastation, he would ensure a clean, cauterized break between Takao and his affections for Midorima. He’d hoped that would avoid what he had seen in one of the worst of his nightmares, second to only the one he was currently trying to halt.

 

Takao plunging off the Astronomy tower, backlit by lightning, to the roaring thunder.

 

Midorima didn’t know how to describe the feeling that felt like nausea. The demon inside of him had drawn just from that source of inspiration, already knowing where to cut Takao at his most vulnerable, because Takao had so deliberately exposed those vulnerabilities to Midorima. 

 

FINE. IF YOU WILL CEASE YOUR COMPLAINING I WILL SCRY THE ANNOYING WIZARD. YOUR MASTER DID ORDER ME TO NOT HURT YOU NEEDLESSLY.  

 

_ That would make me very happy,  _ Midorima conceded.

 

VERY WELL.

 

The demon’s magic manifested in the air in front of Midorima. He watched the green smoke - a bright neon that could never be confused for the forest green of Midorima’ own - remained shapeless and formless.

 

_ That is impossible. _

 

Because if Takao was beyond the reach of a magical scrying spell, that would mean…

 

HE IS DEAD.

 

_ There are half a dozen reasons a scrying spell might not reach it’s target. _

 

LITTLE WIZARD, ARE YOU SUGGESTING THAT I, WHO FIRST TEMPTED YOUR KIND WITH KNOWLEDGE, I WOULD NOT HAVE THE POWER TO SEEK OUT YOUR FRIEND WHEREVER HE MIGHT BE?

 

_ He could be behind wards… _

 

IF HE WAS ALIVE, HIS FACE WOULD APPEAR IN FRONT OF YOU. WIZARD, I AM MARBAS, AND I HAVE KNOWN MORE THAN A THOUSAND OF YOUR LIFETIMES WOULD TEACH YOU, EVEN WITH YOUR GIFTS.

 

That couldn’t be true. That couldn’t possibly be the case.

 

Takao was not dead.

 

Had Midorima been more like his partner, he would have made a desperate, thoughtless, and ultimately unsuccessful bid at regaining control over his own magic to scan the future. Only that foresight could tell him the truth about whether or not Takao was truly alive.

 

Demons lied.

 

I AM NOT LYING, WIZARD. NOW STOP YOUR INCESSANT WHINING, YOUR MASTER IS CALLING.

 

It was probably lucky for Akashi that Midorima was not in control of himself at the moment. If Takao was truly dead, then Akashi Seijuro would not have to worry about surviving the end of the world. If Takao was dead, if the demons didn’t get Akashi, Midorima would kill him himself. 

 

...

 

Midorima met Akashi at the Ministry. The demon inside him brushed dust off their smartly tailored suit and adjusted the dark blue robes over them. Inside, Midorima steamed with rage.

 

“Are the runes done?” Akashi asked.

 

“They are,” Midorima’s mouth replied. “We are ready to go whenever you wish.”

 

“Perfect,” Akashi placed a hand on Midorima’s shoulder. 

 

“The investigation into my home will reveal the presence of demons soon enough,” Akashi said. “This reveal will terrify the world. We must act as soon as that revelation is made. We will leave from this session immediately to finish the world that we have started.”

 

If Nash Gold Jr. was sending assassins, that meant it really was finally time.

 

His Miracles were ready. He was ready.

 

They had the power to save the world. They were strong enough.

 

They had to be.

 

Akashi strode on ahead, nearing the doors of the chamber of the Wizengamot.

 

“Akashi!” The demon inside Midorima called after him. The word sounded odd coming out of Midorima’s mouth; a name that sounded like it was spoken by someone so foreign to using it, when they looked exactly like Akashi’s best friend. Midorima suspected that the demon had been a second away from calling Akashi “master” in the middle of the Ministry, and thought better of it. Akashi turned.

 

“Don’t you wish to… clean up?”

 

Akashi shook his head.

 

“No. It suits my interests to let them see me bleed.”

 

Midorima watched as Akashi pushed open the double doors to the chamber and strode inside like he owned it.

 

Honestly, that really was not so far off from the truth. Akashi's family was old and powerful, and he'd grown up in this very hall. It was his birthright to rule it, just as it was that of any heir of an Ancient and Powerful family.

 

Midorima fought for control over his impotent and restless anger. 

 

Midorima and Akashi had become friends at Hogwarts, but long before that they had acknowledged each other as heirs to old families with long legacies and a great deal of responsibility awaiting them when they finally made it to adulthood.

 

Now, it seemed, Akashi was about to accept that responsibility after maneuvering himself into the exact position where he would be able to get it - just as he had maneuvered Midorima into hurting Takao. Good sense warred with personal revenge inside Midorima - he knew that this was the necessary next step that would save the world, but the cost was becoming too high. 

 

Before the doors closed behind him, Midorima let himself wonder, for just a second, what Akashi would have done about his father if Nash Gold Jr. had not solved that problem for him. Would Masaomi met his death at the hands of his own son? Would Akashi have killed his father in cold blood, as he had used Midorima as a weapon to kill Takao, if it had served his purposes?

 

Midorima's eyes followed Akashi as the man walked down the gallery towards his father's seat. Dressed in all black, he was the picture of a son in mourning - a son who had been put through the wringer himself. Even Midorima felt a stirring of sympathy for the other man, and he knew that Akashi was getting exactly what he wanted. The green haired wizard knew there was no chance of today not going well for Akashi too.

 

"We call this session of the Wizengamot to order," the Chief of the Wizengamot called, banging his gavel on the table in front of him. Midorima took a seat in the galley, his sharp eyes fixed on the proceedings.

 

"We have a piece of important preliminary business before the chamber," the Chief said. "As we all know, last night, there was an attack on an Ancient and Noble family."

 

Somber nods went around the room. Eyes darted towards Akashi, testing his reaction to this announcement. Akashi did not flinch.

 

"Nine aurors were dispatched to the Akashi residence to find it ablaze. They were murdered by whoever attacked the Akashi patriarch, and discovered by his son. Akashi Masaomi was a great leader and a hardworking legislator, fighting for the people we represent," the Chief continued. "To his heir and son, your father will be missed here."

 

"May his memory be a blessing," the chamber intoned.

 

Akashi bowed his head. It was the perfect balance of contrite and mourning, while displaying no weakness.

 

"Our first order of business is with regards to the Akashi seat in our chambers," the Chief continued. "Our work must continue, whatever sadness and mourning befalls us."

 

Midorima knew that some of the oldest traditionalists would expect Akashi to appoint a regent. He was almost nineteen, well past the age of legal adulthood, but for someone so young to be a voting member of the Wizengamot would be almost unheard of. It was unfortunately not uncommon for young heirs to be placed in a similar position, losing their family and their patriarch all at once, but it was usually mitigated by the advice and guidance of a political advisor trusted by the family to help the heir develop a feeling for politics.

 

If Midorima could have snorted at that thought he would have.

 

Akashi Seijuro could politically dance circles around every assembled wizards here. What advisor could Akashi possibly need to help him promote his own interests when he understood his position and holdings better than anyone? He was so much more skilled and dangerous than the people in this room realized. 

 

Besides, Akashi had not been receptive to taking anyone's advice or orders since he was fourteen, his father being the only rare exception to that.

 

SUCH A BLEAK OUTLOOK ON ONE YOU WOULD CALL YOUR FRIEND. I WONDER IF HE REALLY VALUES YOUR OPINION AS MUCH AS YOU MIGHT THINK.

 

_ I know what he values of me _ , Midorima thought, clenching his hand into a fist.

 

THEN WHY IS IT THAT YOU HAVE TO RESTRAIN YOURSELF FROM CUTTING HIM DOWN WHERE HE STANDS?

 

_ You know just as well as I do. _

 

AH YES. YOUR HUMAN WEAKNESS.

 

“The Wizengamot recognizes Lord Akashi.”

 

Akashi stood and walked stiffly to the middle of the floor.

 

Suddenly, Midorima understood Akashi’s refusal of magical medical care. He was bruised, the remnants of cuts and blood still visible on his face. He looked like a Lord returned from battle in his robes, and everyone around them could see the warrior in the young frame of the teenager.

 

Eighteen he might be, but he was an adult and a survivor to his core, and he was displaying that strength to everyone by letting them see just how unaffected he was by his own frailties. Just as with his reaction to the Wizengamot acknowledging the death of his father, Akashi allowed himself to be vulnerable and human without seeming weak.

 

It was an almost flawless act.

 

Midorima found himself pettily hoping that everyone around them saw through his friend even as he prayed that Akashi was successful in selling this story to them.

 

“I come before you to ask recognition of my birthright,” Akashi said. “I am the firstborn son of the Akashi family, and by right of primacy and right of blood I ask that my father's position be handed down to me.”

 

This received pretty much exactly the reaction Midorima (and likely Akashi) had known that it would. There was an outcry of dismay at this. Some felt Akashi too young, others saw in his request a callous ambition.

 

“Lad, is it not too soon? Yer father's body is hardly cold –“

 

“My father was assassinated,” Akashi interrupted.

 

There was another loud outcry of anger and confusion here.

 

"The news has likely reported what the shell of my family home looked like when they were done. This was no wild animal attack. This was no accident. Someone sent those vile creatures to my home to do violence against my father and I, and only a miracle saved me. When I returned and saw the carnage, I saw the monsters fleeing."

 

"Are you certain of this?" the Chief Wizengamot asked.

 

“My father was cut down by an attack like none I have ever seen," Akashi replied, confidence in every word. "I can describe these eldritch creatures only as demons. They cannot be killed. They cannot be cut down. Nine Aurors died trying to fight these creatures. I would be dead too if they had not left as I arrived. My father’s position caused him to play a vital role in international politics, and his enemies hope to take advantage of that void. I do not at all mean to seem callous, but I am also not only my father’s son. I am by birthright his heir, and it is my responsibility to maintain his name and his house. I cannot do nothing but grieve the loss of my father, because if I did, his work would go unfinished. I will take no advisor, because I can not trust that the same attempt on my father's life will not be made on mine. I have a responsibility to protect the Akashi line, and whether or not I am prepared, it is here, and I must bear it."

 

He heard the whispers around the Wizengamot.

 

Many thought him cold, calculating, but this excuse was one that they could accept. He allowed them to see a bit of what they believed to be delicate and wounded tissue in exchange for allowing him to keep his armor.

 

But he had to convince them to trust him.

 

“Of course,” the representative who had spoken first said. “I apologize for offending ye."

 

Akashi nodded, accepting the apology.

 

"I second the motion to assign Akashi Seijuro his family's seat in the Wizengamot!" the wizard said, turning to the Chief.

 

"Very well," he said. "Then it will come to a vote. Members of the Wizengamot, what say you?"

 

The vote was unanimous.

 

Even Midorima had not thought that things would turn out to be so one-sided, after everything. He'd thought that at least the traditionalist sensibilities of the Wizengamot would make at least a few of the older representatives withhold their votes to keep the position away from a young brat trying to reach above his station.

 

But then, bitterness at Akashi’s recent actions aside, Midorima could not underestimate how  easily Akashi evoked sympathy, especially now. The vote was over in moments, and the Chief of the Wizengamot was assigning Akashi to the position that was his birthright - though none expected him to claim it as soon as he had.

 

“We recognize Akashi Seijuro as the patriarch of the Akashi family.”

 

Akashi bowed his head.

 

Finally, something was going right, he thought victoriously.

 

"I also respectfully ask that the Wizengamot order an investigation into the death of my father," Akashi continued. "We should find out what these creatures are and how they were sent to my home, or we could all be in similar danger."

 

Midorima saw the wizards and witches assembled exchange nervous looks. They had likely not assumed, until Akashi placed the thought in their heads, that other old families might become targets as well. But if someone was trying to kill off the old blood at the root, the entire Wizengamot would be threatened.

 

This measure too, was easily accepted. No wizard in the room wanted to look like they were denying an orphan justice for his potentially murdered father, nor did they want to imagine having to orphan their own children by negligently ignoring the warning of someone who had already suffered.

 

Midorima and his demon left after that, returning to the mountains to continue the work he and Akashi had started. The redhead would remain, socializing and building his political coalition, and join him as soon as he was done.

 

The wheels were moving, and they no longer had any time to spare. The sooner this was finished, the sooner they could breathe easier knowing that they were safe.

 

Midorima had to force himself to get a grip on the wild emotions raging through him. Whatever he had lost, whatever pain and hurt he’d inflicted on Takao a second time around, he would do what he had to to save the world. One life could not be the tipping point that caused him to send the world spiraling into chaos.

 

Midorima wrapped himself in that cold math and let it settle over himself.

 

Whatever they had to do. That was what he and Akashi had agreed. Any price, including their own lives, was acceptable in comparison to what they could lose.

 

If Midorima had control over his body, he would have been shaking. 

 

...

 

Akashi apparated directly from the Ministry of Magic. He met his Miracles on the icy glacial valley where he had failed once before to shape the Earth to his will.

 

This time he would not fail.

 

The sky above them was grey and cloudy. Akashi looked up and saw that a snowstorm was coming. That was unfortunate, but not even a blizzard would make Akashi back down. They no longer had time to waste. They could not simply wait out the snow and hope for better conditions another day.

 

The ritual had to start soon, or they would be caught with a panicked public with nowhere to run, and that would be a mess they would have to work to control.

 

He had the eldritch and burning power of the demon inside of him, and the exponentially altered power of his own Miracles.

 

They had a war to fight, and this would be the fortress from whence the battles would be fought.

 

“Good afternoon,” Akashi greeted them. “It is time to get to work. From here in, we are fighting against the clock.”

 

“Did you convince Kuroko to join us?”

 

Midorima’s gaze was intense as he stared down Akashi. His eyes remained gold, but Akashi could feel the influence and gaze of the wizard under the demon’s control as well. 

 

Akashi shook his head.

 

“It doesn’t matter,” Akashi said finally. “We can do it ourselves.”

 

“Akashi,” Midorima said warningly. “Your friend will not have me explain your own rune structure to you as though you were a child, but we both know that the final ring of runes cannot be powered by any one of us or any of you. There is a unique type of magic needed to create what you want.”

 

“I know,” Akashi said, holding up his hands. “I know, okay, I know. But the final stage of magic may be applied later, and the time it takes to evacuate the entire wizarding population of Britain will provide plenty of time to gain his cooperation. We must act now, or there will will be no time to act later.”

 

Midorima paused for a long moment, considering what the redhead was saying. Far be it from him to second guess Akashi Seijuro. He'd so far proved right about every single thing that he had claimed a position on. Midorima had matched his own strength against the other man and found it wanting.

 

It was well past the time for objections, if he'd had any at one point.

 

“That is acceptable,” the demon inside Midorima said, sensing the acquiescence of the wizard. “I believe you would gain no loss by setting the last ring of runes in at a later date.”

 

“I am glad we are agreed,” Akashi said dangerously. “Are there any further objections?”

 

Thankfully, his Miracles remained silent.

 

Akashi didn't want to have to argue all of them into silence, though he would if it was necessary to do so.

 

He had already done too much to fail now. He had done terrible, though necessary, things.

 

Akashi looked around.

 

Ryouta, both of his eyes an unnatural gold, his expression unmoving.

 

The golden haired wizard had come to Akashi and volunteered to be the first one of them to try to increase his magic in the manner that Akashi suggested.

 

Ryouta had willingly walked into the rings of runes drawn in animal blood on the stone ground, and let Akashi shove a demon inside of him. Ryouta had been so determined to prove that he could do this, that given the opportunity, he could help Akashi save the world.

 

Akashi had let Ryouta stay in control of his own body, until he had seen what Ryouta had done to himself during the match against Kuroko. He was beyond pleased with the results, but Ryouta had nearly killed himself by taking on too much power too quickly, and that would have left Akashi's plans floundering.

 

It had been Ryouta, again, who begged Akashi with tears in his eyes, to take away the control that had allowed him to fail so spectacularly.

 

HIS WEAKNESS IS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE, the demon in Akashi smirked. AND NOW HE IS THE PERFECT TOOL FOR THE JOB.

 

Akashi did not regret what he needed to do.

 

His eyes went to Daiki. Both of his normally dark eyes burned brightly.

 

Daiki was strong, even if he had not been strong enough to take down Tetsuya and his little bands of misfits. Akashi just did not believe that he could trust the other wizard. He would not put the fate of the world on the line for Daiki's petty feelings.

 

And so, he'd done what he needed to. Daiki needed to be stronger, and he needed to be made more reliable, and Akashi had managed both of those results with this solution.

 

Daiki was still usable, and Akashi would make use of him for as long as he could.

 

Atsushi towered over the others. His eyes too burned gold.

 

Akashi had given the demon in his friend control after the loss to Kuroko. Shamefully, Murasakibara had lost to the combined strength of the American transplant and one of the uncrowned kings - to boot, it was the one with as little ambition and inner will as possible, the Iron Heart.

 

Akashi had fought the urge to sneer watching that duel.

 

Friendship. Teamwork. Such things could not overcome absolute strength, and Akashi had enjoyed cutting Seirin off at the stem and showing Tetsuya just how empty those values really were.

 

In this world, in a world on the brink of the apocalypse, there was only strength, and those who did not have it.

 

Atsushi's strength was easier to control when Akashi had absolute command of the demon inside of him, and so Akashi had suppressed the other man's consciousness as well.

 

As for Shintarou, the green haired wizard trusted Akashi implicitly. Akashi had taken him at his word that dark night on Halloween, and had fought with everything he had to help Shintarou, and then he had done everything he could to prove to his friend that Akashi - and only Akashi - had the strength and the will to protect the entire world. Akashi had only first felt the need to assert control over Shintarou was when that... annoying mixed blood waste of space Takao Kazunari had the gall to come knocking at Akashi's door. 

 

Akashi wondered if his father had opened the door to see if Takao would do something unforgivably rude for which Akashi could be punished, but thankfully the other boy had gone running at a few well placed insults.

 

Akashi knew, clinically, that aside from Shintarou, whose utilitarian morality lined up with Akashi's quite well, it was likely that after this was over that none of the Miracles would ever forgive him. It was the main reason why he hadn’t allowed Midorima to reassert himself. 

 

THEY WILL HATE YOU.

 

They may do as they wish, Akashi acknowledged the horrible commentary. So long as they survive, I will accept any level of risk. I do not want to see them ripped open by your kind.

 

The demon laughed, and Akashi grit his teeth.

 

Shintarou was watching Akashi expectantly.

 

"Do you have everything you need?" he asked.

 

Akashi smirked.

 

"Of course," he said. "I trust your work on the runes is finished?"

 

It was.

 

"He says it should be good enough," Midorima’s voice. Akashi could read into that 'good enough' exactly what he wanted to hear - that even by his friend's exacting standards at crafting runes, the magical net they had made over the valley was excellent. 

 

This time, Akashi would not fail. With the power he'd given his friends, they would be able to save the world.

 

It seemed like fate had visited a happy coincidence on Akashi. The children he'd befriended, the team he'd gathered around himself as a fourteen year old, trying to take the international dueling circuit by storm, possessed precisely the magical abilities to power the spell Akashi needed to make sure that they would be safe.

 

That more than anything made Akashi confident that not only would his power truly prove absolute in this case, but that fate truly smiled on their endeavor.

 

It had taken weeks of work between Akashi and Midorima, working almost full time to replicate the runes Akashi had painstakingly spent months carving into the mountainside by himself. With Midorima at his side and the ease of practice, they recarved and set every single rune that Akashi had originally made.

 

Now, the stage was set for the final application of magic Akashi had not been strong enough to finish a year ago.

 

It was finally time.

 

Akashi knelt in the tundra and placed his hand on bare stone.

 

It started to snow.

 

“I am the Speaker and my will is absolute.”

 

Akashi’s voice was quiet.

 

“I am the Speaker and my will is absolute!”

 

Akashi shouted the words, and they rang between the majestic mountains, bouncing in an echo across the glacial valley.

 

The words ignited the fire under his hand, beginning the spread of red magic.

 

The wind began to rise.

 

Akashi removed his shirt with a tug, not even noticing as the temperature continued to drop. With a sharp, small, knife, he began cutting the necessary runes into his own skin, drawing blood quickly and efficiently. He had downed a healing potion after leaving the Ministry, letting the minor scrapes he had received when the wall of his father's study blew up on him to fade away. Allowing a simple cut to interfere now would have been disastrous.

 

Akashi was going to turn himself into the magical focus for the spell, through which his Miracles would be able to channel their own power into the appropriate rune channels. This would be a work of patchwork magic, held together by the strength of Akashi's absolute power.

 

Midorima watched his hand with a critical eye, but found no fault with the lines of Akashi’s runes. He’d probably practiced the spell to the point of perfection, Midorima thought, maybe with a blade or maybe with a marked dull edge to make sure that the lines were perfect, but Akashi’s hand did not waver.

 

The process took about ten painful minutes. When Akashi was done, he vanished the knife and made himself more comfortable.

 

Akashi opened his mouth, and spoke to the wind.

 

“I am the Speaker, and my will is absolute,” he said. “My fate is tied to the fate of the land and its people. I am the Speaker, and I will be heard.”

 

Akashi once again placed a hand on the ground in front of him.

 

He smiled.

 

Nature was nothing compared to his will.

 

He was an Akashi.

 

More than that, he was the Akashi, the patriarch of his line, and the wizard who would bear the responsibility of bringing his name and family to a new level of prominence. He might be alone in his bloodline now, but he would make sure that his name was remembered for generations to come.

 

They would speak of Akashi the Absolute forever, and that legacy began here, today. With this spell, Akashi would build something destined to not just outlive him, but perhaps even last of his line, sometime long long in the future.

 

He was absolute, and the Earth itself would obey his commands. He had the power to carve ravines and build mountains, to shape the very future of the entire world. The movements of the heavens, the very shape of the world, none of those things held a candle to the pure magic that Akashi Seijuro could use to influence them.

 

He’d been possessed with the very gift that allowed him to call a demon into his own body to augment nature’s already significant gifts, the power he called upon now. 

 

Why else would he have been gifted with such extraordinary excess of magic if not for this exact moment, here and now? He’d been fated to be the one who could save the world: he stood with destiny. He had ripped into the fabric of the universe to gain the power he needed to safeguard the world, and he would succeed.

 

Akashi let his power course through his arm and into the ground. The concentrated power of his magical core was freezing cold, and his eyes widened as he saw his own magic radiate across the floor of the glacial valley.

 

The ground began to shake.

 

Akashi felt it when his magic reached the edge of the runes carved by Shintarou. Their power mingled dangerously, and for one precipitous second, Akashi thought that they were about to explode the entire valley.

 

Then their magic merged, the power of the demons within them burning gold under the filter of their own power. Akashi knew that if the demon's magic alone were powering these runes, it would be a sickly, bright green, the same color of the portals along ley lines, and the color that burned in the eyes of the demons that had come after Akashi and the wizards under his protection.

 

The mountains around them shook. The ground rumbled. The sky darkened.

 

The snow began to fall even more heavily.

 

The snowstorm that had threatened as they arrived in the mountains was starting, but there was nothing they could do. Akashi ignored the cold and the snow.

 

What was ice, compared to the absolute burning cold of his own magic?

 

He would sit here for as long as he had to in order to make the spell work this time around. 

 

And then the ground beneath and around them began to rise.

 

Tens of thousands of years of tectonic activity wracked the earth in the span of a few minutes as the earthquake continued. Solid ground moved like molten lava, bending to the will of the wizard shaping it.

 

“Atsushi,” Akashi ordered.

 

“Right here,” Murasakibara said, kneeling next to Akashi. “Ready?”

 

Akashi nodded. He was beginning to feel the strain of his own power, but it was nothing like before, when he’d attempted to do this and failed spectacularly.

 

Murasakibara joined his power to Akashi’s.

 

Purple and red mingled and joined together. There was absolutely no resistance to joining their power. Atsushi's magic was reasonably accommodating and rarely cared to assert itself, much like the wizard himself, and it bowed before the absolute control of the icy red fire of Akashi's magic.

 

Around them, jagged rock began to rise out of the shaking earth. In minutes, a ring of jagged peaks struck themselves forward from the earth.

 

“Keep going,” Akashi said, his voice strained. He could barely catch his breath. He felt like he had just run a marathon at top speed. His chest would simply not open wide enough to take in the air that he needed to breathe after using so much of his magic. His entire being was protesting the burn of such a permanent, significant change to the face of the planet, but Akashi could not allow himself to be held back by such weak complaints as frailty within his body.He’d said it over and over and over again; if he had to die to prevent the future Midorima had shown him, he would do so a thousand times over.

 

Akashi stepped back. His arms were bleeding, where the runes had been cut into his skin. His nose and eyes were bleeding too. He staggered back a step, breathing deeply through his mouth as the mountains began to close around them.

 

“Daiki, help Atsushi, you know what to do. Ryouta, begin grounding the illusions.”

 

“Yes.”

 

The mechanical responses were the result of the demons on a short leash, doing as they were ordered, but Akashi couldn't let himself feel guilty about that.

 

Akashi stumbled back, letting himself recover as the rest of the Miracles took over. He couldn’t pass out just yet, as his magic would have to ground the final spell and seal the transformation.

 

Akashi reconnected himself with the spell, smoothing over the power that burned from each of his miracles. The colors of their magic shone wherever the runes they were powering touched.

 

Akashi clinically supposed that the sight, brilliantly lighting up the glacial, snowy valley like an aurora, might have been considered beautiful by some.

 

What had once been flat ground had risen up thousands of feet into the air, a new set of mountains with sheer cliffs rising up on all sides. This was a fortress.

 

Atsushi had shaped the mountains, huge, rising behemoths that rose jaggedly towards the clouds, forming a circle around the area Akashi had laid out and brought into the air. The sides of the hills burned purple with his magic, shimmering gold where Atsushi's own power proved to not be enough.

 

The green of Shintarou's protective runes joined Murasakibara's warding in prepared lines around the new range of mountains, forming a complex series of wards to hide away and protect them,

 

The largest, brightest runes burned in the distance. It was the second most outward circle of runes, and they were a clear bright gold. It was impossible to tell where Ryouta's power ended and that of his demon began. A few strings of gold power ran through the massive net of runes where his power had bled through and helped pick up the slack.

 

Daiki's dark blue magic mingled with Akashi's in the inner ring. Here, another set of wards would form as another protective shield, and the transformations that Daiki was so good at would assert themselves.

 

The stone was moving as though it was made of liquid, malleable in the handles of the Miracles of magic that were ordering it to change itself on their command.

 

The ground continued to rumble underneath them as their magic took shape and form.

 

The glowing net of runes rose into the air as it received enough power to make the shield functional. It formed a sphere around the massive area they had cleared out and protected.

 

Akashi lost track of the time.

 

He could feel himself growing weaker and dizzier as the magic left him in a rush. He was only still on his feet by pure will alone, and knew that the second he loosened his iron control over himself, that he would pass out.

 

This will last forever. This will be the legacy of his magic. Of his command.

 

He had done this.

 

He had made this happen.

 

The snow was falling more fiercely now, but none of the Miracles were bothered. The sky grew to an almost nighttime blackness, and their magic glowed all the more brightly for it until the snow started to obscure the visibility.

 

The storm wailed down on them, the wind screeching. Akashi couldn't feel the snow cutting at his skin, but he didn't expect to. He'd lost feeling in his limbs hours ago.

 

They kept at it through the raging storm.

 

It wasn't until the sky began to lighten, and the snow began to clear, that Akashi could feel their magic hit the final layer of runes.

 

The last piece of protection would have to be completed by Tetsuya.

 

Akashi reached out his magic across the net of runes, satisfied with what they had done here.

 

Breathing hard, fighting to focus, Akashi sealed off their magic.

 

Nobody breathed as the spell wavered, then held.

 

The runes hummed with magic, stable and functioning.

 

Akashi finally let himself collapse onto his front hands. Around him, his Miracles were moving. Akashi could tell that most of them had managed to overcome the demons inside them for now, having just used almost all their power to make this happen.

 

“We have made a home for wizards and witches everywhere,” Akashi said, trying to pull himself to his feet. “We will be safe.”

 

He stumbled and fell into the snow.

 

Midorima caught him, but only managed to slow the redhead’s descent, as the weight caused his own knees to buckle.

 

“Akashicchi, Midorimacchi-”

 

“Kise,” Midorima grit through his teeth. His one eye remained gold, with the other it’s usual forest green. “Shut up.”

 

Kise laughed, falling to his knees in the snow. One of his eyes was yellow. The other was light, bright gold. The difference was made clear by the contrast between the two colors. Neither the demon nor the man possessed the power to fight with Midorima at this point. All of the Miracles had been nearly fully emptied the resources of their power in doing this. Daiki had overwhelmed his own magical core and passed out. Even Atsushi was unnaturally still, looking up at the sky with half closed eyes. 

 

“We did it," Kise said, sounding happy and relieved.

 

Akashi placed a bloody hand on Kise’s shoulder, leaving the bloody imprint of a hand on his shirt.

 

“We did.”

 

…

 

The letter came to Akashi at one of the other Akashi properties, delivered by a house elf who looked extremely nervous to be waking up the family patriarch from unconsciousness.

 

Akashi dismissed the worrying elf and opened the letter by hand. Any thought of exercising his magic at the moment felt like a joke.

 

His eyes scanned the contents of the letter, and he smiled blearily.

 

It seemed the Wizengamot was done with their investigation into the death of Akashi Masaomi, and had come to some serious conclusions that would have to be shared in private.

 

Akashi already figured that he knew what those conclusions were, but he forced himself to stand, wincing at every movement.

 

Akashi glanced at his appearance in the mirror and flinched.

 

His skin was still burned from the cold, portions of his back still bright red. Healing salve had only done so much, and the deep cuts of runes along his body would also take time to knit themselves closed.

 

Akashi looked like a wreck.

 

He changed slowly, his body shaking by the time he had finished the simple task.

 

Akashi enjoyed the quiet in his own mind as he laced up his boots.

 

Now dressed, Akashi was satisfied that most of his injuries were hidden. However, his face still looked pretty awful.

 

Akashi tapped the side of his face with his wand.

 

His entire being shuddered.

 

The magic came sluggishly slow, burning as it applied itself to Akashi’s face in a glamor that would hide away the severity of his weakness.

 

Akashi appeared before the Wizengamot with the weight of the world laying thick and heavy on his shoulders.

 

He held his head up high and with one gold eye, one red, he met the eyes of every member of the wizarding parliament. The news of what had truly happened at the Akashi mansion had disseminated across the Wizengamot. The forensic specialists that had confirmed what had happened there had shown their findings to chambers, and they were ripe for Akashi to take as much advantage of as he cared to.

 

It was lucky that Akashi was only manipulating them in order to save them.

 

Akashi listened with only polite interest as two representatives from the Department of Mysteries provided as much information as they could about the threat posed by the demons that had attacked the Akashi residence.

 

“It is quite likely that we will see more of these monsters,” one of them said nervously.

 

“But how can we kill them?” someone demanded, fear making them loud and brash.

 

The rest of the Wizengamot joined in this distress.

 

“Perhaps we will not need to,” Akashi said, standing. He hid the wince as well as he could, and strode forward.

 

“Pardon me for interrupting,” he said. “My family. For we are all family, even those of us who do not share blood, because the root of who we are is our magic. My family. We must take action, and I believe that there is a course we can take that will not require us to lose all of our number to this terror.”

 

“What action would you have us take?”

 

“I believe that Nash Gold is about to wage a war we cannot fight,” Akashi said. “But I believe that we can win if we are prepared. We must evacuate the population of wizard Britain. We must bring as many of us who will come. All of you know the name of the Generation of Miracles. I ask that you trust in our joint strength, for I have formed a place where no weapon Nash Gold may bring to bear will touch us.”

 

“You want us to run?”

 

“I want us to not die,” Akashi said. “The ruins of my ancestral home alone should tell you how successful a protracted war would be with such creatures. There is nothing left of my family that was there. If allowed to roam free, there will be nothing left of this entire world. They will consume every magical creature and person on this planet until it is sucked hollow, and then they will leave.”

 

Akashi could see that the Wizengamot was hanging onto his every word.

 

This was the moment of truth.

 

Six bills and twelve minor amendments pushed through by his father over a two-year period. A lifetime of magical energy poured into a project that should have been the work of a hundred men. A dangerous gamble on a dubious source of magical strength gained by pitting his friends against one another and taking away their will.

 

This moment, this pregnant pause between the danger and the shield, the moment in which the world hung between disaster and ruin; this was the moment he had been working towards since the fateful Halloween during which Shintarou had foreseen the end of the world.

 

The fate of the world depended on the answer to the question he was about to ask.

 

Akashi felt himself react.

 

He was absolute. He had not come this far to fail.

 

“I believe it is time to initiate the emergency evacuation of every wizard in this country and move our government to a secure location. We will let Nash Gold’s own monsters chew off his head, and then we will return to our homes when it is over.”

 

“You want us to run?” one of the older witches shouted, rising to her feet. “The cowardice!”

 

“With respect, madam, bravery will only end our lives,” Akashi said quietly. “If we are to protect the traditions we have, if we are to safeguard our future, this is the only way.”

 

“But where would we go?” another wizard shouted.

 

“There is a place I helped ward,” Akashi said. “It will need the work of all of us to be made suitable, but I believe there is the space we need and the protections necessary to defend us, but perhaps that is better determined by the Ministry,” Akashi finished humbly. “We can speak to the Department of Mysteries and make a plan, but I believe whatever that plan is, it cannot involve us remaining here like sitting ducks.”

 

“Merlin,” more than a few wizards and witches whispered.

 

This was a huge decision to make. The danger facing them was more frightening than any placed in their path before, but the reaction asked of them would have them abandoning their very way of life.

 

“Order, order!” the Chief of the Wizengamot said. “Order!”

 

Sparks flew out from the podium as his gavel came down hard on the polished wood, echoing through the room until silence fell.

 

The assembled wizards and witches watched as the Chief visibly composed himself.

 

“Lord Akashi has proposed a solution to the crisis facing us,” he said. “It is a drastic one which would carry many consequences, but it may be our only option.”

 

He looked down, wrestling with himself.

 

“We will take a vote. How many are in favor of evacuating the government and all citizens that can be moved to the safe haven of the Generation of Miracles?”

 

Hands went up.

 

Many hands.

 

Akashi felt a knot in his chest begin to unravel.

 

Many more hands rose than not. Some of them voted only because they trusted the word of an Akashi, and others only because they trusted the magic that burned in his veins as the captain of the Generation of Miracles.

 

Some voted in common sense.

 

Some voted against him for the other side of those same reasons, but they were the minority.

 

It wasn’t close, but it was closer than it should have been.

 

Nevertheless, Akashi’s proposal made it through.

 

“The proposal passes.”

 

The deputy of the Wizengamot looked to Akashi.

 

“We should inform the Minister and make the preparations for an immediate emergency evacuation,” Akashi said. “With haste. I have portkeys that will expire at midnight, and trusted officials can examine the site, and if they find it acceptable, we can begin escorting people over. Mass evacuations can start as soon as tomorrow, so long as the first people brought through can work with the building crews.”

 

The deputy nodded.

 

Akashi turned to the assembled wizards.

 

“Thank you for your trust,” he said. “I will prove myself worthy of it. We will survive this together.”

 

…

 


	51. The Super! Pun! Squad! Assembles

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we're back! Thanks for holding out for us folks, I hope this chapter is worth the wait. 
> 
> In SRS BZNUS I'm content warning this chapter for discussions of eugenics cannon typical to the HP world. Anyone who wants to avoid reading this can slide past Nash Gold Jrs. segment in it's entirety. Other than that, I think we're solid, so I'll see y'all in the comments or next week! <3

****

…

 

“He put  _ demons  _ in his friends?”

 

Koganei sounded faintly horrified, listening to Takao and Tatsuya relate what they knew about their boyfriends’ situation. Combined with Momoi’s information, there was little doubt that that was what Akashi had done, but it was no less disturbing simply for being the only sensible possibility.

 

“He probably thought it was the only way he could protect us,” Momoi said sadly. “There’s something… not right… about Sei-kun too.”

 

“Cool story, don’t care,” Koganei said. “That shit is just… creepy.”

 

“It is deeply troubling,” Kiyoshi said, intervening to prevent any further argument on the topic. “How do we even fight a demon, let alone one possessing someone, if we don’t want to hurt the person they’re possessing?”

 

“I mean, it’s not like we have to be  _ that  _ gentle with  _ all  _ of them,” Takao muttered, thinking mutinously about the behavior of the Miracles when they were at Hogwarts. 

 

“We are not killing them,” Kuroko said firmly. Takao huffed.

 

“I didn’t mean  _ kill  _ any of them,” he said. “I was just saying that if whatever we have to do roughs them up a bit, I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing.”

 

He subsided under Kuroko’s stony gaze, and sighed.

 

“Okay, so I think that the number one priority is removing the demons from the equation,” he said. “Anyone have an idea how to get that done?  _ Can  _ it be done?”

 

Silence reigned around the circle of wizards and witches. The motley group was stumped.

 

Kuroko felt a deep desperation grip him, and he was on his feet before he even realized that he was moving.

 

Vaguely, he could hear Kagami shouting behind him, but he couldn't stop himself. He had to help the Miracles. They were basically being held hostage by demons inside of them, and he had to find a way to help them.

 

Whatever the cost, he was going to get the demons out of his friends.

 

He didn't know how long this had been going on, even if he expected that it was mostly fairly recent. 

 

If Takao and Tatsuya were only just noticing unusual behavior in Midorima and Murasakibara, and Kagami had only recently seen Aomine acting oddly, then there was a good chance Akashi had had them possessed after they lost in the Winter Cup.

 

Had it been a punishment? Or was there something else Akashi had planned?

 

Kuroko was looking forward to wringing the answers out of Akashi himself, face to face. He was tired of being a pawn in whatever game Akashi was conducting. He wasn’t going to allow Akashi to keep hurting people just to get what he wanted.

 

Kuroko slammed down the hallway, aware of nothing except his anger. His footsteps echoed off the walls as he entered the foyer of his home, pulling his cloak free from the hanger by the huge doors.

 

Kuroko was wrapping his cloak around his shoulders, steely determination in his eyes.

 

"Hold on!" Kagami shouted, running into the hall after Kuroko. "Will you just stop and listen for a second?"

 

"No," Kuroko said, not even turning to face his boyfriend. His shaking hand slipped on the clasp of his cloak, and he paused. It slowed him down just enough for Kagami to catch up to him, out of breath.

 

"Where the hell do you think you're going?"

 

Kuroko looked up at Kagami.

 

"I'm going to slap the demon out of Akashi,” Kuroko said calmly as though it were that easy. “Then I am going to slap  _ him  _ and  _ then _ I am going to make him fix our friends."

 

Kagami just stared down at Kuroko.

 

"You think maybe that's kind of a dangerous idea?" he demanded. "He could just as easily do the same to you!"

 

"Let him try," Kuroko said mutinously.

 

"You're not waging a one man war with Akashi!" Kagami shouted.

 

Kuroko didn't flinch.

 

"You don't even know where he is!" Kagami added desperately, grasping at straws for any excuse that would make Kuroko see sense. This entire thing was ridiculous, and the sooner Kuroko came to his senses, the better.

 

"I have that covered," Kuroko said. "If Akashi is so desperate to find me, as long as I am in public I will find him."

 

Kagami pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

 

"Look, do you even know how to get a demon out of someone?" Kagami asked.

 

"No."

 

"Do you have a plan for what to do if the Miracles capture you instead of giving you a chance to help?"

 

Kuroko shook his head. He knew that Kagami was making sense, but that just made him more frustrated. He didn’t want to keep sitting here and doing nothing while his friends were hurting, but he had no idea what he could do to change the situation. 

 

"Okay yeah, I'm not letting you get killed for this," Kagami said. "You're staying here until we have a plan, got it?"

 

Kuroko looked downright mutinous.

 

"Hate me all you want, but I'm not going to let you run off and hurt yourself," Kagami said, putting his hands on his hips. Kuroko sighed, his anger dissipating as quickly as it came. 

 

"I don't hate Kagami," he said, wrapping his arms around his light. "I'm sorry."

 

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, I shouldn't have," Kagami murmured. "I’m worried, not angry at you. So will you let us help you? You don't have to go full on Rambo all by yourself, you know?"

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“What is a Rambo?” he asked.

 

"A great question for another time," Kagami said. "Now lets go figure out what's going on back with everyone else."

 

"Okay," Kuroko agreed.

 

Kagami and Kuroko rejoined the rest of their team.

 

"We're doing this together," Kagami said. "We'll be more vulnerable if we're on our own, so I think from now on in we have to commit to what we do as a team, or not at all."

 

“Definitely,” Koganei said at once, as Mitobe nodded in agreement. “We’re in this together.”

 

“We’ll get to the bottom of this,” Kiyoshi said, smiling brightly.

 

“I guess someone has to put these shitty juniors in their place and remind them to respect their elders,” Hyuuga said. “I’m in.”

 

“Well, if these idiots are going, I better make sure I’m there to supervise,” Riko said, though she didn’t look upset about the fact. “Are we all in here?”

 

A chorus of agreement rang out around the room.

 

“We need to be clear with each other about what that means,” Hyuuga said. “We might be putting all of us in serious danger; if we’re wrong, we might be exposing ourselves to a demon invasion, and if we’re right, we still have to worry about the demon invasion, but we also have to be worried about five of the most powerful wizards in recent history being after us. Things are going to get scary around here, and if you don’t want a part in it, this is your time to back out.”

 

Nobody said anything.

 

“If we’re being honest, I don’t think that there’s anywhere to back  _ out  _ to,” Fukuda said nervously. “We’re probably safest together, even if we wanted to run.”

 

“Y-yeah,” Furihata agreed. “If demons are coming then there isn’t going to be anywhere we can hide, nowhere we can run. They’ll get us all, whether we run or whether we’re together. I k-know I can’t fight a demon on my own, but maybe together we can figure this out. That’s the only chance I’ve got.”

 

Hyuuga nodded, and the rest of the team seemed to agree with Furihata on this one. 

 

“Well then, we better find ourselves some allies if we’re going to war with the demon possessed Generation of Miracles. Momoi, do you still have the contact information for some of the old competitors from Hogwarts?”

 

Momoi laughed earnestly.

 

“Of course I do,” she said. “Let’s go make some friends.”

 

Only Kagami heard Kuroko coughing delicately in the background, covering up a word that sounded a lot like “blackmail.”

 

….

 

Within short order, the government was preparing to evacuate. Akashi's plan called for the immediate transfer of power to another location, with civilian evacuation services ready to go at a second’s notice. The government was on high alert for any threat. Based on Midorima's helpful insights, Akashi knew that Nash Gold Jr. would be more than prepared to do something to offend the sensibilities of the British wizards who were waiting for any reason to pull the trigger.

 

The good news is that with the groundwork preparation Akashi had laid for them, it was possible – maybe even probable – that at least the wizards of Britain would be able to survive and ride out this attack in the fortress he had built for them.

 

They were so, so close to being home free. As soon as this was done, Akashi would track down Kuroko. He would have his Phantom provide the final layer of protections against the demons coming for them. With Kuroko’s protections, no demon would be able to find them.

 

In the initial second of his duel with Kuroko, Akashi had not used his own magic. He had borrowed that of the demon inside of him to attack the wizards dueling on Seirin’s team. If needed, he could have wiped out the entire team with his own power, but only his demon’s power could show him the truth about whether Tetsuya’s misdirection could serve the purpose he needed.

 

The demonic magic had ignored Tetsuya even more thoroughly than Akashi's own magic would have. Kuroko's misdirection had made himself invisible even to demons, creatures that fed on magic.

 

That was what Akashi needed to save the world. That amazing quirk of Tetsuya's magic, bound into the extraordinary gifts of Akashi's other Miracles.

 

As it was, the site was quite remarkable. The crew that had been investigating it since the vote in the Wizengamot had been very impressed with the work Akashi had done with the wards.

 

"Minister, does it meet with your approval?" Akashi asked.

 

The Minister had overseen tests of the wards of Akashi's haven. The team of unspeakables had been unable to penetrate the powerful fields Akashi had created with the help of the rest of his Miracles.

 

"Yes," the Minister said. "We will begin the evacuation of the government services and personnel immediately. If you're right, the apocalypse could be on our very doorstep."

 

"This is the right decision, sir," Akashi said respectfully, bowing his head to the Minister.

 

He was sure that even if Nash Gold Jr. hadn't planned on using this as an opportunity to unveil what he believed to be his ace in the hole, the evacuation of the entire British government would be the catalyst.

 

"We can begin the civilian evacuation as soon as the building crews are done getting this place habitable for wizards," the Minister continued. "It's a good job that the protocol for setting up emergency portkeys was updated within the last twelve months. We had Hogwarts run it's mandatory drill this year as well, so we should be able to make things go smoothly once we start getting people to the evacuation points."

 

"A stroke of good fortune indeed, Minister," Akashi commented.

 

Yes, it was a good thing that the protocol for handling emergencies had been examined and painstakingly altered for the purposes of just such an evacuation. It was lucky that Hogwarts and the Ministry had run evacuation drills in the last year in compliance with the new standards.

 

Akashi tried not to let himself feel too smug, seeing the pieces of his plans finally hook into each other and take form. Where the edges of his plan met and began to take shape, Akashi had what was almost a fully formed plan to save the world.

 

The hard part was over. The rest was just politics.

 

He fought a wave of dizziness - he'd been on his feet for ten hours and had more work yet to do, all after having nearly emptied his entire magical core and then some.

 

He should have been asleep, like his friends, but there was nothing for it. Someone had to be here to make sure that his plans went through smoothly.

 

“I am glad you are pleased,” Akashi said. “I need to return… home for the moment, but I will be in contact. Your aurors should have access as they need for now.”

 

“Thank you,” The Minister said, clapping Akashi on the shoulder. “And we truly are sorry for the loss of your father. He was a great man.”

 

Akashi nodded stiffly, and then he was gone.

 

The Miracles were still passed out cold when Akashi returned to his home in one of the other Akashi manors. His traditional family home might have been destroyed for his cause, but the Akashi family did not want for property to reside on.

 

He landed on shaky feet, stumbling a few steps forward in the master bedroom. He could feel his hands trembling.

 

Actually, he could feel all of his limbs trembling, and the world was not properly remaining in its place around him.

 

He fell against the dresser in his room, unable to keep himself upright any longer. He fell to his knees, glad for the comfortable carpet on his floor. Otherwise, he would have bruised himself with the force of his contact with the ground.

 

AWW, DID SHRIMPY-CHAN BITE OFF MORE THAN HE COULD CHEW?

 

_ You're not needed here any more _ , Akashi thought sternly. The demon’s voice was the last thing he wanted to hear.  _ You have served your purpose. Be gone _ .  _ I have done what I needed to do. Leave. _

 

The demon laughed.

 

It was a raucous, roaring sound, a thousand hyenas maliciously revealing in suffering. It shrieked and grated against the walls of Akashi's mind. Akashi grabbed onto his dresser, wincing at the noise, and holding on with tight white knuckled fists to the counter.

 

OH, SHRIMPY-CHAN, DON'T BE LIKE THAT.

 

Akashi rolled his eyes, annoyed.

 

"I am absolute," he grit out through clenched teeth. "I command you-"

 

In an instant, Akashi's throat closed up and he was thrown across the room, slamming headfirst into the mirror over his vanity on the other side of the room.

 

YOU STILL DON'T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND HOW THIS IS GOING TO WORK.

 

_ What the hell are you talking about? _

 

Akashi was tired, he was magically drained, and he was not in a mood to be playing mind games with this thrice-damned demon.

 

YOU KEEP TELLING ME TO LEAVE, BUT THE TRUTH IS, I'M ENJOYING MYSELF. THIS IS FUN. AND I THINK IT'S MY TURN TO TRY A TEST DRIVE. FROM NOW ON, I'M GOING TO BE IN CHARGE. GOT IT?

 

Panic began flickering at the edges of Akashi's consciousness as awareness set in.

 

No, he couldn’t let this happen.

 

"I am the speaker and my will is absolute," he tried again, but once again his throat closed up as though someone had wrapped their hand around his throat. His breath was completely cut off, silencing him. He felt like he was choking on his own tongue.

 

I'M MORE POWERFUL THAN YOU, SHRIMPY-CHAN, ESPECIALLY SINCE YOU’VE GONE AND SO HELPFULLY MADE YOURSELF VULNERABLE BY USING UP ALL YOUR POWER! DON'T THINK YOU CAN TRY THAT CHEAP SHIT WITH ME, NOT NOW. YOU SUMMONED ME FROM THE DARKNESS; DID YOU FORGET WHAT YOU OPENED YOUR VERY SOUL TO?

 

Akashi's vision filled with green light. He screamed as his ears were filled with a terrible, shrieking sound that went beyond anything he could imagine existing in the corporeal human world. For a moment, the ground around him flickered, and he could see a dark expanse in front of him, predatory animals screaming and screeching, could see the approaching grip of talons coming for him.

 

Akashi’s vision tunneled until all he could see were those terrifying claws, advancing faster than he could evade them.

 

He tried to duck, tried to run, tried to throw magic against the invading creature, but nothing helped. He was too slow, the magic flowing through him like hot iron in his veins, too painful to use and too weak to defend him. The talons closed around him, ripping at his skin. He cried out as blood was drawn. The creature came back, diving down towards Akashi and ripping directly into his gut, claws embedded deeply in his torso.

 

YOUR MIND BELONGS TO ME NOW, SHRIMPY-CHAN. TO BE TECHNICAL, ALL OF YOU DOES. AND NOW THAT YOU'RE AT YOUR WEAKEST, I THINK I'M GOING TO TAKE WHAT BELONGS TO ME.

 

Akashi blinked, and he was looking back at his room. He'd gone from furious to very, very afraid in an instant.

 

He felt the breath catch in his chest. He could see that his rib cage was intact with no sign of the ripping talons that had come for him only moments ago.

 

DON'T WORRY YOUR HEAD ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW, the demon told him smugly. THAT WAS MORE... METAPHORICAL. THINK OF YOUR SKIN AND BONES AS DEFENSES TO POSSESSION, AND THOSE LOVELY CLAWS BEING MY TALONS, TAKING HOLD OF WHAT NOW BELONGS TO ME.

 

_ No. _

 

No, this couldn't be happening.

 

This wasn't happening.

 

OH, BUT IT IS.

 

Akashi was frozen solid, unable to move. He tried to close his eyes, but he didn't have any control over his own body. He was forced to watch his own cracked and distorted reflection as the demon straightened up and stood.

 

"Oh finally," Akashi's mouth said, twisting into a mocking smile. "Waiting in the back of your angsty little mind was pure torture! Honestly, how could anyone this powerful be this boring? What you know about mergers and acquisitions could fill a book nobody would ever read. You’ve got plans and plans and plans and  _ plans  _ and it’s all so terribly  _ dull.  _ It’s time to have some  _ fun _ .”

 

Desperately, Akashi tried one last attempt to wrestle control over himself from the eldritch demon.

 

He had to get free, at least quickly enough to warn someone. He might be the only person who knew everything about the defenses he’d just proposed evacuating the entire wizarding population to. He had to warn the minister, had to find his friends and release them - 

 

"Nope, we're not doing any of that," the demon said with Akashi's own mouth. "You invited me in, Shrimpy-chan! When you let in the devil and make a nest for him in your home, don't be so upset when he decides to stay! Cheer up! I'm just giving you what you wanted. Plus, think of it as a vacation. You don't have to be in charge or make any of the difficult decisions. I'll handle everything from here. Isn’t this what you wanted? A merry band of demons to solve your problems?”

 

Akashi slammed himself against the walls of his own mind.

 

Merlin, he’d fucked up. He’d fucked up so bad. If he couldn’t get back in control of his own body, his own plans were going to be the reason why they all died.

 

_ I am absolute. I am absolute. _

 

_ I am the speaker and my will is absolute. _

 

"I hoped you would have a better attitude than this, but I guess that was too much to hope for," the demon sighed. "I think it's time for you to take a little nap and calm down for me, how about that? We'll talk later. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of your friends and your missing Phantom for you. I’m so very eager to meet such an  _ interesting  _ little thing that even my magic can’t touch.”

 

_ Get the hell out of my head. _

 

"Ta for now!" the demon chirped, and everything went black.

 

...

 

_ WIZARDS EVACUATE BRITISH MINISTRY, STATE OF HIGH ALERT DECLARED _

 

_ The Ministry of Magic announced today that the Wizengamot held an emergency vote to initiate emergency evacuation procedures of the government. The vote, which received majority support, was called for by Akashi Seijuro, the newly appointed heir to the Akashi seat in the Wizengamot. It appears that the Wizengamot declared a state of emergency in Britain over an attack at the Akashi home involving dangerous, as yet unidentified magical creatures. During the closed, confidential session, it appears that representatives of the Department of Mysteries provided the advice upon which the state of emergency was ultimately declared. _

 

_ During the attack, these creatures killed nine aurors and the former patriarch of the Akashi family, one of the oldest families in Britain. _

 

_ An anonymous source within the government stated that wizarding citizens of Britain can expect to hear the news of a full scale evacuation of Wizarding Britain within the week. _

 

_ “Look, I’m not saying that things are looking pear shaped, but I am saying that if you were thinking of vacationing in Polynesia or somewhere very far away, now might be an excellent time to spend a few weeks abroad.” _

 

_ The Ministry has waved the six-month application fee for international travel and will be doing same day renewal of travelling credentials for wizards free of charge until the expected evacuation is announced. Wizards and witches are advised to be on high alert. _

 

_ When pressed for comment about exactly what kind of creature attacked, the spokeswitch for the Department of Mysteries told us that the department has never in living memory seen attacks of this nature. _

 

_ The Minister of Magic’s office advised the Prophet that the evacuation of all government services to an undisclosed and protected location has been nearly completed. They also confirmed that from this location, it is expected that a Wizengamot vote to initiate a civilian evacuation will be forthcoming, as soon as is practical to ensure a safe, well managed arrival for all British wizards. They encourage any wizards who may require aid in an emergency evacuation scenario due to having young children, older or sick relatives, or other physical infirmities to get in touch with the appropriate authorities (contact information listed below) to ensure smooth travels. _

 

_ When asked whether muggleborn children and their non-magical relatives would also be included in the evacuation, the Minister’s office indicated that since at this time they believe the threat is solely to magical beings and individuals, that the appropriate individuals would be contacted during an evacuation, per the published government procedure. _

 

_ We at the Daily Prophet were told that evacuation instructions will be forthcoming, and to advise citizens tocomply with any government directives for leaving the country when doing so. _

 

_ For more information on emergency procedures, turn to the centerfold for a printout of published information from the Ministry. _

 

_ … _

 

“What the hell happened?”

 

Nash Gold Jr. found himself, once again, in a fury.

 

“They were supposed to take care of the old fart  _ quietly,  _ and now his son has the government on high alert and ready to evacuate! We’re not ready!”

 

“We may need to be,” Silver said absently. “It’s time, the pieces are moving. Your father has control over the schools, we’ve centered the population of wizards in America to a few select cities, we can keep track of every wizard through their wands, we’ve all but squashed all conflict from within. At least they don’t know it was you that sent the assassins.”

 

Nash Gold Jr. grumbled furiously. What had his assassins done to create such a stir?

 

“They haven’t  _ publicly  _ said they know, which is different,” he said absently. “Luckily, those idiots are gone so we shouldn’t have to worry about any testimony, but I bet that slippery redhead already guessed what happened.”

 

“Then we need to get rid of him too.”

 

“No, we need to start a war,” Nash Gold Jr. said. “That whole family is trouble, and those Miracles to boot. We need to remove them as an obstacle before we can complete our plans. Whatever Akashi thinks he knows, he’s going to reveal to the world what I’ve done the second he learns that demons wiped out the muggles. No, we need to be more proactive.”

 

He considered his options.

 

His original plan had been to spark a conflict that would out the wizarding world in the general public sphere, a nasty enough conflict that he would be justified in bringing down the hammer hard on the muggles of America.

 

He wanted a reason, any reason, to eradicate them.

 

And then, as though fate had given him the solution to cleansing his country of those who truly did not belong there, Nash Gold Jr. had been  _ handed  _ a book.

 

What Akashi had been thinking, entrusting a book that was so obviously dangerous to a simpleton like Murasakibara, Gold had no idea. He wouldn’t have trusted it with Silver, not now that he knew how valuable it was.

 

What Akashi had given him was a new plan. Instead of sparking a conflict to end the muggles once and for all, Nash Gold Jr. was going to make it seem like an accident.

 

His solution: demons.

 

Creatures fueled by magic, they would rampage and destroy everything in their path. But they could be controlled, and the book described exactly how someone who wanted to do so could make that happen.

 

Nash Gold Jr. was going to end the lives of every muggle in America in a single, fell swoop. A final solution to the vermin that were polluting the wizarding bloodline and forcing him and his people to hide in the shadows.

 

Wizards were more powerful. Wizards were stronger. They were more evolved than simple muggles, and they would take their rightful place in control of society. They would no longer live in fear of being discovered. They would no longer have to hide what they were, or alter themselves to meet the pathetic traditions and culture of the muggles.

 

They would be what they were always meant to be – the superior race.

 

The only thing standing in his way was the one man in the whole world who could expose his plans and thwart them before he was finished.

 

Akashi Seijuro.

 

“I think that you’re right,” Nash Gold Jr. said at last. “It is time for our plans to proceed to the final stage of events. My father will be pleased – we’ll crush Britain and destroy the last of the ridiculous Generation of Miracles, and then we will have our victory.”

 

“So, we find out where this evacuation site is and let some demons devour them for us?”

 

“That should solve the problem,” Nash Gold Jr. said. “I will make the preparations for us to begin. It shouldn’t take more than a few weeks.”

 

“A few  _ weeks _ ?”

 

“I don’t plan or set the cycles of the moon. Give me that level of sass again and you can be the human sacrifice part of the ritual,” Nash Gold Jr. said. “In the meantime, I suggest that we concentrate our efforts on quashing the resistance to our cultural reform efforts and get the necessary supplies for the ritual.”

 

“I guess being the son of the president comes in handy in times like these,” Silver replied, grinning.

 

“To being the son of the president,” Nash Gold Jr. raised his glass with a smirk. “For now, anyway.”

 

“To taking charge,” Silver toasted him.

 

Nash Gold Jr. downed his firewhiskey in a single gulp, and set about deciding how best to procure the necessary ingredients for the ritual by the next new moon.

 

Civilian evacuation or no, there was no way Akashi Seijuro could sufficiently ward any fortress against demons.

 

Nash Gold Jr. was really looking forward to watching that problem fix itself.

 

…

 

They gathered in the basement room of the Leaky Cauldron. The room was heavily protected and warde.They’d flooed directly there, without any chance of being spotted by other patrons.

 

“I don’t want all these people knowing where your house is,” Momoi had told Kuroko sternly when Kuroko suggested that his living room was likely better protected and harder to find than the basement room of a famous tavern in Diagon Alley. “And we don’t know for sure that they’re on our side yet. I’m not giving them an in only to have them run to Akashi and bring him right here.”

 

This was a line of logic that made complete sense, so Kuroko and the rest of Seirin accepted the minor security risk of holding a meeting in a less protected location.

 

The crowd Momoi had gathered was a motley collection of former and current duelists.

 

Kasamatsu had arrived still in his auror uniforms, as sharply pressed as though it was the beginning of the work day. He’d brought his entire team sans Kise with him, and they took up an entire table to themselves.

 

The hulking mass of the large wizards was admittedly, a little intimidating. Kasamatsu’s expression was closed off and stony, and he wasn’t making conversation even by his own standards.

 

Takao had contacted Ootsubo and some of the older duelists from his own team. Ootsubo had showed up, along with the seniors from their original team from Hogwarts, but the younger Miyaji was the only wizard that had competed with the current team who came to join them.

 

Only Sakurai and Imayoshi had shown up from Aomine’s team. Momoi had bribed, cajoled, and threatened the rest of their teammates, but they had wanted nothing to do with further drama.

 

Wakamatsu’s exact words to Momoi had been “the last year of my life has been centered around that asshole’s emotional drama and if you think I’m going to involve myself in that again willingly I’m gonna need a puff of whatever it is you’re smoking.”

 

It turned out even Momoi’s feminine wiles couldn’t make someone forget Aomine punching them in the stomach.

 

Momoi flicked her fingers down the length of her skirt nervously. The rest of Touou should have come. They were strong and powerful. They were some of the most individually talented fighters on the dueling circuit, and she wanted them at her back if she had to get into a real life brawl.

 

Well, not a brawl so much as a war.

 

Sakurai’s eyes flicked nervously towards where his former roommates were sitting as a group among Seirin’s ranks, clearly not sure whether he should come over and say hi, in part because Furihata and Kawahara had turned dual scowls on Sakurai and were glaring him down.

 

Neither of them knew for sure if Sakurai would have shown up if Imayoshi hadn’t had a hankering to satisfy Momoi, and that left them pissed off and wondering where they stood with a guy they’d once been as close as brothers with.

 

Imayoshi, for his part, was drinking a firewhiskey and ignoring everyone.

 

The door opened again, revealing Susa and Wakamatsu. Momoi smiled.

 

“I thought you weren’t coming!” she said, flouncing over to the two Gryffindors. She was genuinely pleased to see them. 

 

Susa rubbed the back of his head, glancing at Imayoshi.

 

“Well, the captain can be… persuasive,” he said. Momoi turned calculating eyes on the man who she had agreed to follow several years ago.

 

“Hey, you don’t have a corner on being the devious but pretty one,” Imayoshi said. “Fight me.”

 

Momoi threw her hands around Imayoshi’s neck and kissed him on the cheek.

 

“Sweetheart, I’m flattered, but I’m taken,” Imayoshi said, taking her hand. “Perhaps a long time from now in another life-”

 

“And it’s done, the moment is over,” Momoi said, waving her hand at Imayoshi as she dismissed him. “I’m back to hating you again.”

 

“I’ll never hate you,” Sakurai said immediately.

 

“Ryo, you’re too good for me,” Imayoshi replied as his team sat down. “And you; bitches, what took you so long?”

 

“Sorry, Captain,” Wakamatsu said. “Got held up on my shift. Our Captain’s a bitch.”

 

Imayoshi rolled his eyes, but consented to having his team gather at his table.

 

As soon as his team had arrived, Tatsuya shouted in happiness and headed over to the entrance of the room, greeting them. Kuroko was somewhat surprised, even though he probably should not have been, that Tatsuya had managed to get his entire team here.

 

Kuroko guessed that they were motivated more by a desire to help Tatsuya than Murasakibara, but if the end result was the same, he didn’t mind.

 

Showing up was an important step, but the real question was whether or not any of them would stay.

 

Kiyoshi waved merrily as Nebuya and Hayama showed up together. Both of them looked resigned.

 

“Reo isn’t coming,” Nebuya told Kiyoshi softly when he came over. “We tried to convince them, but they didn’t budge.”

 

“It’s okay,” Kiyoshi said. “It’s good to see both of you anyway!”

 

Slowly, the room filled up. As more came in, Momoi also circulated, getting them to sign a piece of parchment that she was carrying with her.

 

The real surprise was when the door flung open and Hanamiya threw himself though it, storming towards an open seat in one of the far corners with a scowl that clearly showed how much he did not think of this gathering. Seto followed quickly behind him, sitting in the chair next to his captain’s and leaning in close to whisper something in Hanamiya’s ear. Hanamiya rolled his eyes. 

 

“This should be everyone,” Momoi said, coming back up to the table where most of Seirin was sitting. “I contacted Shuzo-kun and Haizaki, but I never heard back from either of them.”

 

“Nijimura might have been useful,” Riko said. “Maybe he’d actually be able to talk some sense into these idiots, but we’re probably better off without that snake Haizaki.”

 

“And yet, we’ve got Hanamiya here,” Hyuuga growled softly.

 

Riko slapped him on the back of the head.

 

“Anyone who doesn’t play nice is sleeping on the couch for the next forever.”

 

Hyuuga subsided, expression mutinous.

 

“Well then, let’s make some new friends,” Kiyoshi said. “Coach?”

 

Riko took a deep breath.

 

“Alright everyone, listen up!” she shouted in her ‘coach’ voice, drawing the immediate and silent attention of a room full of athletes who were used to responding to that exact tone of voice.

 

“So here’s the situation,” Riko said. “First and foremost, that paper you signed was a secrecy contract. Sorry about it, but you won’t be able to tell anyone what you heard here, because we just can’t chance it.”

 

This was met with an explosion of noise.

 

Momoi reacted quickly. She set off a noise like a small explosion out of her wand, drawing everyone’s attention to her.

 

“Hey!” she shouted.

 

The room went quiet.

 

“The floor is all yours,” Momoi said, in a much quieter, more controlled voice, turning to Riko.

 

“Right,” Riko said. “We’ve got a problem. Everyone here has heard that the Ministry is evacuating? They expect to start pulling civilians out sometime in the next day or so.”

 

Nods went around the room. This tense news had been blasted everywhere, in special pamphlets and personal news from aurors visiting the homes of muggleborns to make sure that the procedures would be initiated smoothly.

 

“Well, we know why the evacuation is happening,” Momoi continued. “Nash Gold Jr. is going to summon an army of demons to attack his enemies. He’s going to demolish first wizarding Britain, and then the world.”

 

There was a long silence that followed this statement.

 

If anyone other than Momoi had made this declaration, Kuroko was almost certain that they would have been laughed out of the room. But Momoi was too well regarded on the dueling circuit for anyone to immediately discount what she had to say.

 

“How do you know?”   
  


Kuroko couldn’t tell who asked it, but Momoi set her shoulders.

 

“Mido-kun saw it,” she said. “He told Akashi, who has been working with the Miracles to block the actions of the Americans for some time.”

 

“Hold up, how long have you known what was coming?” the older Miyaji demanded. “How long did the bunch of you keep this from us?”

 

“Only as long as we had to,” Momoi said. “We thought that we could handle it ourselves. Sei-kun had a plan, we thought it would be enough to stop things from getting too bad.”

 

“Saying I believe you, and I’m not saying that I do,” Imayoshi drawled, “then evacuating sounds like a great idea. Why won’t that just solve the issue? If we can be safe elsewhere, then I vote we go to a very far elsewhere and let Nash Gold jr. play whatever games he wants to until he tires himself out.”

 

There was a lot more agreement to this sentiment than Seirin had been hoping to see.

 

“No,” Riko cut in. “We can’t trust Akashi, and the whole evacuation is his plan.”

 

“No offense, those Miracles might be assholes, but if they say they’ve made something that can protect us, then I believe it,” Okamura said. “Murasakibara’s shields on their own were stronger than any magic we’ve ever faced.”

 

“Until Kuroko’s misdirection cut through them,” Kagami cut in.

 

Momoi sent him a look to tell him to cool it before he started another fight.

 

“Demons eat magic,” Momoi said. “But more importantly, I don’t think the Miracles are… themselves.”

 

“Explain,” Imayoshi said, folding his arms.

 

“We think he’s had them possessed by demons.”

 

“We  _ know  _ he’s had them possessed by demons,” Takao said. “Shin-chan’s eyes were gold, and he was being an ass to me.”

 

“He’s always an ass to you,” Ootsubo said, unimpressed.

 

“Not lately,” the younger Miyaji brother corrected him. “They’ve been working together, doing a great job. They argue all the time, but it’s not like Hogwarts.”

 

“That’s because he’s finally getting some,” Takao said proudly, with zero shame.

 

The entire room cringed.

 

“Thanks for that,” Riko said.

 

“That would explain Kise,” Kasamatsu volunteered thoughtfully. Riko raised her eyebrows.

 

“The day before the Winter Cup, Kise just up and vanished in the middle of practice,” Kasamatsu said. “I don’t know where he went, but when he came back, he was… odd. He wasn’t using any of the stupid nicknames, and he was actually focused. After we lost to you guys, he got all weird, then Akashi showed up in our changing room and Kise just ran off with him.”

 

“Akashi came and grabbed Midorima from the changing room after our loss against Rakuzan,” Ootsubo confirmed. “Last I’ve seen of him since then.” 

 

“So we have five super powered wizards possessed by demons running around?” Masako asked, thinking of her own overly powered Miracle. “That does not sound advisable.”

 

“That’s why we want to take care of them before we end up in a shithole thanks to the Americans,” Hyuuga supplied. “We’re asking you for help, if you’re willing to give it. We need to get the demons out of the Miracles, and find out if this evacuation site is legit, or just some demon trap to kill all of us.”

 

The room fell silent.

 

Hyuuga folded his arms and waited them out.

 

It didn’t take very long before the first person spoke.

 

“Demons? Pull the other one,” Hanamiya said, standing up and stretching. “Whatever game you’re playing, I’ll pass. Either you’re serious, in which case I’m going to find a nice beach to retire on while things go to hell here, or you’re not, in which case this is some ridiculous prank that I don’t want to participate in. Later, Iron Heart.”

 

Hanamiya flounced out with a wave.

 

“That was shocking,” Hyuuga muttered under his breath.

 

“You’re so determined to think badly of people,” Kiyoshi teased.

 

“I’m staying,” Seto said when everyone kept looking at him. “Hanamiya might have a rash when it comes to authority and having positive relationships with other people, but I don’t. I know something is up and I’m wizard enough to know that if it’s as bad as you’re saying, I can’t fight this alone. Sometimes you gotta work together, even if you don’t want to.”

 

“So long as you keep the dark magic away from your allies, we’re happy you’re here,” Hyuuga told him. “Thank you for giving us a chance.”

 

Seto gave him a sarcastic salute and sat back, eager to be out of the spotlight.

 

“Anyone else want out?” Riko asked.

 

Kasamatsu stood slowly.

 

Kuroko physically felt his own heart sink.

 

He hadn’t realized that he’d been counting on the other wizard joining them until he was rising to his feet. The rest of Kaijou was watching him expectantly.

 

Whatever Kasamatsu decided, it was clear just from watching their dynamic that the rest of the team would follow him. Kuroko didn’t blame them - Kasamatsu was an enviable leader. He was powerful and gruff, but also kind. Much like Akashi, who hid the softer parts of his personality behind officious pride, Kasamatsu hid his softer side behind the loud, angry responses he shouted at his team during matches and practice. 

 

“I’ll keep what you’re doing to myself, but I won’t take part in it,” he said formally. “Thank you for letting us know what is happening, but it sounds like whatever Akashi is doing, we all still need to evacuate. If there is anything I can trust, it’s that any shield the Miracles make can protect us. There are those of us that don’t have the power to stand against demons and we need to make sure that they are still protected.”

 

The captain turned to his own team.

 

“Do whatever you feel is right,” he told them seriously. “I won’t hold you to staying or going, but I’m going to make sure that shithead doesn’t get himself in any more trouble than he already has.”

 

Kise.

 

Well, of course. Kasamatsu wasn’t a complicated guy. If he could protect innocent people who deserved to not get caught in the crossfire between whatever was about to start between them and Akashi, with a demon invasion on the horizon, then he would do that. If he could stay by Kise’s side and keep some sense drilled into him, he would try.

 

Takao might have told him how absolutely fruitless an endeavor that would be, but Kasamatsu was stubborn. He would do what he felt was best regardless of advice that he was given.

 

Unfortunately, he was also a natural leader.

 

“We’re behind you, Captain,” Nakamura said, adjusting his glasses and standing. “Always have been.”

 

“I’m not your captain anymore,” Kasamatsu objected, but Kobori, Moriyama, and Hayakawa stood up with their teammate.

 

“If you think it is best for us to evacuate when the Ministry makes the call, we will assist you however we can,” Moriyama said.

 

“Mo[ri]yama’s got it ‘ight,” Hayakawa said.

 

Kasamatsu looked flustered, but he nodded.

 

“I’m sorry,” he told Riko, looking up to meet her eyes.

 

“You have to do what you think is right,” she said flatly. “I understand.”

 

“And I know you have to do what you think is right,” Kasamatsu nodded, looking from her to Hyuuga. “I respect that.”

 

He turned to leave, the four wizards following him out the door.

 

Fukuda let out a low whistle. That was five people they could have desperately used to even the odds, leaving them behind.

 

Wei Liu was the next wizard to stand.

 

“I’m going back to China,” he said. “Or finding somewhere else to go. Or anything. But I don’t want to get involved with whatever is going on here, since this seems like a personal issue. This is too much drama for me. Sorry guys.”

 

Wei Liu didn’t actually sound apologetic, not that anyone blamed him. The poor guy had just wanted to join the British dueling circuit and got sucked into this ridiculous mess. He was already out the door before anyone registered what happened.

 

Okamura was the next one up.

 

“Sit down,” Masaki snapped.

 

“Sorry, Coach,” Okamura said. “I’m scared of you, but I’m way more scared of what Murasakibara could do with a demon inside of him. I’m not putting myself in a position where I’ve got to be the one fighting him. Besides, Kasamatsu’s technically my superior, and if he says we focus our efforts on evacuating the city when we get the order, that’s what I’m going to do.”

 

Fukui nodded in vehement agreement, standing up with him.

 

“Dude, I don’t want to fight Murasakibara on a normal day, that guy is a monster,” he said, sounding relieved that his former Captain had shown his cards. He had not wanted to be the only one walking out, but he also didn’t want to fight someone who could crush him as easily as he breathed.

 

“Sorry, Coach,” they both said again, quaking at the sight of her stormy expression.

 

Masako rubbed her forehead.

 

“Men,” she said in a strained voice as they left, turning to Hyuuga. “They’re a bunch of weak ass hoes. I’m with you guys. Someone needs to whip some sense into those Miracles. Whatever is happening, I will help you.”

 

She made herself more comfortable in her chair, folding her arms and glaring at anyone who stared at her for too long. Momoi smiled openly at her.

 

“No offense, Kazunari, but I don’t trust you to not get into trouble if I leave you here on your own, so I’m staying wherever you are,” Ootsubo said. His younger brother nodded, clearly intending to stay exactly where his brother did.

 

“Well I’m with you bro,” the oldest Miyaji brother said, fist-bumping his one time captain. “You know I’m with you to the end.”

 

Ootsubo smiled and cracked his knuckles.

 

“Thanks guys,” Takao said. “Anyone else?”

 

“I’m staying,” Sakurai said, standing up. Imayoshi didn’t look surprised at this.

 

“You’re sure about that?” he asked the younger boy.

 

Sakurai didn’t blush or stutter under the questioning gaze of the former Captain of Touou. He stood his ground, folding his hands over his chest.

 

“This isn’t about stupid fights between friends,” he said. “This sounds like the end of the world kind of stuff, and I’m going to help them.”

 

Imayoshi inclined his head.

 

“Even if I say I’m getting the hell out of dodge and finding a beach somewhere none of this shit can reach?” Imayoshi asked lightly.

 

“You wanna leave, fine,” Sakurai said, faltering a little. “But I’m not going with you. So do whatever you want, but I’m staying.”

 

Kawahara and Furihata looked extremely impressed by Sakurai standing up to Imayoshi. It was obvious that the dynamic between them had shifted somewhat since their days in school. 

 

Imayoshi held his gaze for a few more seconds before grabbing Sakurai’s wrist and pulling him back down into his seat. Sakurai yelped at the sudden movement.

 

“Well if you feel so strongly about it, I never really liked taking those guy’s orders anyway,” Imayoshi said. “The way I reckon, this will give me an excellent chance to get back at Aomine for about three years worth of nonsense I’ve been cleaning up after.”

 

Sakurai smiled brightly.

 

“Good.”

 

“But I’m reserving the ‘vacate to a far away beach’ plan for when things go south,” Imayoshi warned him as the tension in the room dissipated. 

 

“Things aren’t going to go south,” Sakurai promised. “And if they do, I’m pretty sure that we’re not going to be able to get nearly far enough away for it to matter.”

 

“Famous last words,” Koganei murmured, too low to hear. He sounded amused though.

 

“If our captain’s staying, so are we,” Susa said. “I trust your judgement Imayoshi, and I know if things were going pear shaped, you wouldn’t sit around here waiting for it to come.”

 

“He means you’re like a rat on a sinking ship,” Wakamatsu said grumpily. Imayoshi turned to Sakurai, looking to Saukari.

 

“That was… babe, should I be flattered or not? I don’t even know anymore.”

  
“I think he called you a rat,” Sakurai said.

 

“I’m just here for the opportunity to punch that blue bastard in the stomach and get even,” Wakamatsu said. “And because Imayoshi threatened to melt my face off if I didn’t come.”

 

Imayoshi smiled in delight.

 

“You guys bring a whole new meaning to the concept of toxic relationships, but we appreciate you staying anyway. Just keep this weird creepy shit you do as a team contained to the bunch of you,” Hyuuga grumped.

  
“Oh, Captain-”

 

“Okay, with that out of the way, is everyone else here planning on staying?” Riko asked, clapping her hands to gather everyone’s attention again. Thankfully, she’d cut off Imayoshi before he riled up Hyuuga enough to start a duel in the basement of the Leaky Cauldron. 

 

This was met by general agreement from the assembled witches and wizards.

 

“Good, then it’s time to take this conversation to a more secure location,” Riko said. “The parchment will prevent any of the people who left from telling Akashi where we are, but I don’t like being exposed like this when we have somewhere safer to go.”

 

Everyone seemed amenable to this.

 

“This, by the way, is your absolute last chance to back out if you want to,” Riko continued. “I won’t force you to stay, even if we need every last bit of help that we can get.”

 

“We’re with you,” Ootsubo said. “I’m not backing out. I don’t see anything we can do other than band together and try to fix this, whatever this shitty situation is.”

 

“Unfortunately, he’s right,” Imayoshi continued dryly. “So let’s get on with the world saving or whatever.”

 

In short order, Riko had handed around a piece of paper with the address of Kuroko’s home for all of them to read and commit to memory, so that they could be transported through the wards. Hyuuga produced a long rope that they would all be able to hold on to that he and Kiyoshi had turned into a portkey to take them there.

 

They landed in the foyer of Kuroko’s home, everyone looking around to see where they had come.

 

“This will be our base of operations for now,” Riko explained. “Tour later, planning now.”

 

She herded the large group into the sitting room they had been using for planning only a day before. It was a lot fuller now than it had been before.

 

The presence of more people was comforting, but Riko couldn’t help but think it was a false comfort.

 

No matter how many wands they had among them, they couldn’t beat a demon on their own.

 

Was this the right plan? Were they doing the right thing? Should they just get on board with whatever Akashi intended to do, no matter how horrible or ruthless his methods seemed to be?

 

Riko set her jaw.

 

She would not trust the actions of a man who would open his own friends up to demon possession. She could not believe that he would act in their best interests if he would not act in the best interests of his own teammates.

 

What they needed, really needed, was information.

 

“I think the first priority is going to have to be figuring out how to get the demons out of the Miracles,” Riko said once everyone was seated, before the conversation could rise to too high a level. “Does anyone here have any suggestions?”

 

“We will need to do some research,” Masako said.

 

“We need to research  _ quickly,” _ Takao emphasized. “If we’re going to get anywhere, we need to do it before we’re dealing with a much bigger problem.”

 

“Agreed,” Masako said.

 

“Talk about a DEAD-line!” Izuki chirped.

 

“Just for that, you come with me,” Takao said as Miyaji chuckled.

 

“You too, chucklehead,” Takao said, pointing at his former teammate. “You’re donating your family library as the first research location.”

 

“You think anyone in my family knows shit about demons?” Miyaji asked.

 

“Fuck no, but your mom makes better coffee than anywhere else we can get some, so suck it up buttercup.”

 

“I knew you were using us for our coffee,” the older Miyaji said.

 

“Roasted!” his little brother said, pumping his fist in the air.

 

“Super Pun Squad assemble for research!” Takao yelled as Miyaji ran over to stand beside him.

 

“Oh no,” Hyuuga whimpered under his breath. “Now there’s three of him. This is absolutely terrible.”

 

“I’m glad he’s making friends!” Kiyoshi said happily with a broad smile. “Any other volunteers to research demons?”

 

“That’s my cue,” Momoi said, rolling up the sleeves of her collared shirt.

 

“Of course our princess is going to be queen of the researchers,” Imayoshi said with a shit eating grin.

 

“Thank you for volunteering!” Momoi said cheerfully, grabbing Imayoshi’s shoulder with a great deal more force than necessary and dragging him to where the rest of the volunteers for the research team were waiting. “I appreciate your candid and open attitude.”

 

“Hey, that’s mine line!” Imayoshi yelped. He wasn’t given a chance to object further to this treatment.

 

“Not my fault you have a shitty personality,” Momoi said. “No time like the present, so let’s get moving.”

 

“Hold on,” Riko said. “Before you head out, we have another serious issue. While you guys are figuring out how we de-posses the Miracles, we need to find out what Akashi planning. If he’s right that there’s a demon invasion coming, and everything he’s doing is on the up and up, then we should consider evacuating, once we know that we can get rid of the demons. I just don’t trust that he isn’t hiding something, and we need to know that before we walk right into a trap.”

 

“Yes,” Momoi agreed. “The city is probably going to be evacuating in the next twenty-four hours. We need to know whether or not we can trust him as an ally, because I don’t want to be caught with our pants down.”

 

Riko nodded.

 

“I don’t know what he’s doing, and if he doesn’t know either, we’re all going to be in danger,” she supplied in support of Momoi’s assessment.

 

“We need a spy on the inside,” Momoi said softly. “I could-”

 

“No,” Riko vetoed the suggestion immediately before Momoi could make it. “If he hasn’t told you what he’s up to already, that means he had no intention of bringing you in on the details from the start.”

 

Momoi didn’t argue with that assessment. Akashi had not approached her about his plan to strengthen the Miracles. He had instructed Aomine specifically to keep his mouth shut about it (she needed no more proof for that assertion than the knowledge that Aomine had not said anything to her. Her Dai-kun told her  _ everything,  _ even the stuff she didn’t want to hear).

 

“What about me?” Takao asked. “I’ve been running after Shin-chan this whole time, they won’t think anything of me doing it again. Because of my magic, I might be able to get close enough to figure out what’s going on.”

 

That seemed like a more reasonable alternative. Riko considered it.

 

“He’ll know you’d figure it out,” she said. “He’d have to. That’s why he made Midorima push you away the first time – because you’re close enough that you might be able to stop him. He would be running interference the whole time.”

 

“Just because there’s a goalie doesn’t mean you can’t score,” Takao said with a wry grin, letting Izuki high five him before turning his attention to the issue at hand.

 

“We need someone who he won’t expect to be snooping around,” Riko said. “That means no boyfriends. Tatsuya, that puts you out too.”

 

Tatsuya shrugged, having anticipated this. He honestly wasn’t too hurt by the knowledge that he wouldn’t be the one heading directly into the den of the lion – or, perhaps better phrased, the belly of the demonic beast.

 

“We could sent Mitobe,” Koganei said. “He  _ is _ a pretty good legilimens.”

 

This was greeted by shock from the majority of the Seirin duelists. The outliers were Riko, who had known of Mitobe’s talents from the first day he had joined her team, and Hyuuga, with whom she shared almost all of her insights about the individual development of their team.

 

“Mitobe is a legilimens?”

 

Koganei laughed.

 

“What, did you think I translated his eyebrow wiggles?” Koganei asked. “Mitobe can’t talk, but he can communicate when he wants to.”

 

“So, wait, that means-”

 

“He doesn’t like poking around in people’s heads when they’re not that close,” Koganei volunteered. “It’s easier for him to just tell me what he wants to say. I got nothing going on up here he doesn’t know about anyway.”

 

The fire in Koganei’s eyes clearly dared anyone to say anything negative about his partner, but nobody had anything to say.

 

“Wicked,” Furihata said. “Wait, so do you know what I’m thinking right now?”

 

“Yeah,” Koganei said without missing a beat. His tone was sharp, the words shaped like barbs. “Mitobe tells me you’re thinking that you’re an idiot.”

 

Mitobe patted Koganei’s shoulder and gave him a chiding expression and Koganei sighed.

 

“Sorry, I didn’t really mean that, we’re all just stressed.”

 

Furihata accepted the apology, and they got back to the main topic of discussion.

 

“So, what’s the plan?”

 

Riko ran her eyes around the room.

 

Masako was an option; she was powerful enough to be welcomed into an endeavor Akashi would want, but not so closely connected to the drama between the Miracles that she would be a suspect.

 

Perhaps Hayama, a Crownless General, but not directly connected to any of them could -

 

“I will go.”

 

The words startled everyone at the table. Riko had honestly forgotten Kuroko was even involved in this endeavor even though they were sitting in his house.

 

“Akashi may expect me to interfere, but he has no choice but to let me get close if he wants me to help him,” Kuroko said. “And I’m the only one who can get away if he decides that I am more trouble than he prefers to deal with.”

 

This was met with stony silence.

 

“That’s actually not a terrible idea,” Takao said. “Kuroko was the only one Akashi’s magic didn’t affect during the Winter Cup. For some reason, no matter how powerful Akashi gets, if Kuroko can use his misdirection, he can’t be harmed.”

 

“Not unless all of his attention is on me,” Kuroko said. “That just means I would need a distraction.”

 

Riko was warming over to the idea. Kagami hated it the more he thought about it.

 

“And for all we know he wants to shove a demon in you the second he gets his claws into you!” Kagami said. “If that happens, not only does Akashi have an army of ridiculously powerful demons, he’s got one  _ nobody can see. _ ”

 

“We won’t let it come to that,” Kuroko told Kagami.

 

“I don’t think it’s a matter of letting that guy do anything,” Kagami replied, pissed off. “I don’t want you anywhere near him, or any of the rest of them. With how Aomine was with me-”

 

Kagami’s voice choked off as he realized that the entire room was staring at him intently.

 

“And what did Aomine do to you?” Riko asked, the threat of punishment for not having come clean with her from the beginning sharp in her voice.

 

“It doesn’t matter, listen,” Kagami backpedaled. My point is that I don’t trust them, and I don’t think that we should send Kuroko right into a trap!”

 

“Nothing about this situation is exactly ideal,” Kiyoshi tried to intervene. “We’re all in danger here.”

 

“If me going to talk to Akashi to figure out what’s going on gets us closer to helping us get the Miracles back and fight whatever is coming, then I’m going,” Kuroko said stubbornly.

 

“Kuroko-”

 

“I’m the only one who can do it,” Kuroko said, turning to Kagami.

 

_ I’m the only one he’ll listen to. If he’s really that far gone, I might be the only one who can talk to him without getting harmed. He wants me for something, he won’t kill me, not right away, which gives me a chance to find out what we need to and escape. _

 

“I don’t like it.”

 

“I know.”

 

Kagami made a face. Kuroko smiled up at him.

 

“I will be okay,” he told his boyfriend. “I will come back to you. I promise.”

 

Kagami gripped Kuroko’s hand in his own.

 

“Please don’t leave me,” he said. “Please don’t go.”

 

“Kagami, if I do not, we will be at war with Akashi,” Kuroko said. “I do not want that.”

 

“If he hurts you, I’ll make war on him all by my damn self,” Kagami growled. “He better not even think about it-”

 

“You would be crushed,” Kuroko deadpanned. “You would not stand a chance against all five of the Miracles. If he hurts me, you should not march up to Akashi and declare a one man war on him.”

 

“This again?” Kagami groaned. “I feel like you’ve been telling me that since I first met you.”

 

“Just because I have does not make it any less true,” Kuroko said. “Akashi wants to speak with me, it is unlikely that he will hurt me.”

 

“And even if he did, you would consider it worth it in order to protect the Miracles.”

 

Kuroko didn’t have to respond to this for Kagami to know that it was true.

 

That was just how Kuroko was. He didn’t know how to let go.

 

After everything, Kuroko hadn’t learned anything from his experiences with the Generation of Miracles. Those guys were intense and unsafe, and Kuroko was going to let them drag him over a cliff with them because he was trying to pull them back up.

 

Kagami folded his arms.

 

Heh, well. If Kuroko was going to keep holding on, then Kagami would be right beside him.

 

After all, Kagami had his own problems with letting go.

 

He was going to make sure that the Miracles never hurt Kuroko ever again. 

 

…

 


	52. In Which There Is No Agreement As To The Definition Of Kidnapping But We All Know Kuroko Is Fucked

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Becca and I literally pulled up definitions and started yelling at each other over what counts as kidnapping. Under the D.C. code confinement counts as kidnapping, but becca insists there must be physical removal from one place to another. Discuss in the comments and get as spicy as you need <3
> 
> The title of this chapter should be There Are Only Three Women In This Whole Universe And They Are The Only Useful Characters

****

…

 

Akashi was frantically trying to take back control of his own body, to no avail. The demon was firmly in charge. The trapped wizard knew that it was going to do something terrible to Akashi’s friends, but there was nothing he could do about it.

 

JUST WATCH. THIS IS GOING TO BE FUN.

 

Akashi watched in horror as the demon summoned his Miracles.

 

“I see no reason why any of you should need to be controlled any longer,” the demon said using Akashi’s mouth, and Akashi almost breathed a sigh of relief before the demon kept going.

 

“I’ll suppress the demons inside you for now, let you take back the wheel, but they stay where they are. If you so much as  _ think  _ about disobeying an order from me, or of running, I am going to cause you immeasurable pain, and then I am going to take away your free will, forever.”

 

Midorima flinched. Akashi saw Kise tremble, and Aomine grind his teeth, but none of them offered up so much as a shred of resistance.

 

“I have already shown you what I can do with the power over your demons,” Akashi’s mouth continued. “If you would like to see how much damage you can be forced to watch yourselves do, by all means, go ahead and defy me. But I am absolute, and from here on in, I will not be disobeyed.”

 

He turned to leave. Akashi was pounding against the inside of his own skull praying for a single opportunity to take back control of his own body.

 

Even if it was for a second, he could warn them.

 

He could tell them it wasn’t him, that this was not a decision he wanted to make. He could spare himself the hate that he saw reflected back at him in the Miracle’s eyes.

 

The demon was going to lead all of them into a trap, and then it was going to destroy them all.

 

And it was going to be entirely Akashi’s fault.

 

…

 

In theory, finding Akashi should have been easy.

 

It was not.

 

Kuroko’s first idea had been to wander around Diagon Alley in broad daylight, hoping that somehow word would get back to Akashi. Gossip was notoriously fast paced in the Wizarding World, after all.

 

Unfortunately, Kuroko had forgotten to factor in that most people in Diagon Alley would not see him unless he was actively trying to get their attention. He could sit all week in plain view at the bar and not have Akashi come looking for him there.

 

The second thing Kuroko had not factored in was the fact that the government had announced a state of emergency. Most of the shops along the alley were closing or in the process of magically sealing up so that they could move their wares elsewhere.

 

Kuroko supposed he shouldn’t have expected anything else. The wizards of Britain were getting ready for a full-scale evacuation. In the chaos, his misdirection was acting on overload.

 

Nobody would notice him at all, even if there had been anyone out shopping in the streets to find him to begin with.

 

Kuroko supposed he could write Akashi a letter, but he had no idea how far away the other wizard was. It could take a month for an owl to reach him if he’d gone far enough away, and he didn’t have the time to wait.

 

Kuroko returned home, ready to admit defeat and ask for help.

 

“You still haven’t found him?” Riko asked when he got her attention. Kuroko nodded.

 

Riko sighed and hit her forehead with the palm of her hand.

 

“Right,” she said. “Misdirection. Even  _ I’m  _ forgetting now. We could try sending Kagami with you, but with everyone leaving that still might be hit or miss, and we really need a hit here.”

 

“It sounds like you might need a woman’s touch,” Momoi cut in, smiling brilliantly.

 

“Witch, I will strangle you with my D cup. I  _ am  _ a woman.”

 

Momoi huffed, spreading out a hand to look at a perfectly manicured nail.

 

“I didn’t say you weren’t a woman, I was suggesting you lacked a woman’s  _ touch, _ ” she said loftily. “In this case, of the variety required to acquire information.”

 

Riko looked like she was going to punch Momoi, but she didn’t actually contradict her.

 

“You can touch anything you want in a womanly way, but we’re having a team meeting in five so you might as well just let everyone come up with a simpler solution.”

 

Momoi rolled her eyes, but sat as she was told, folding her arms.

 

In short order, Seirin and their allies were filling up the living room, and Riko described their dilemma.

 

“Did really nobody see that coming as a problem?” Takao asked when Kuroko described what happened when he tried to bait Akashi out in the open. “Cuz like, that should have been concern number one.”

 

“I don’t remember you saying anything,” Riko said with a smile that promised suffering.

 

“Hey, I just make the jokes, I wasn’t trying to start anything,” Takao said, backing up as much as the chair would allow.

 

“To get back on track,” Masako suggested pointedly, clearing her throat.

 

“Right. Short of waiting for the evacuation and potentially landing Kuroko right in Akashi’s hands with no way of figuring out whether or not he’s possessed, I’m out of ideas,” Riko admitted. “Anyone else have anything to offer?”

 

Momoi watched as everyone in the room tried to fix their gaze on someone else, and grit her teeth, pissed off at how long this was taking.

 

Sure, they were no Mido-kuns, but this ragtag group should at least have been able to figure out something in the time they’d had her information.

 

Huffing, Momoi rose to her feet sharply. 

 

“If a bitch wants a job done she’s got to do it herself,” Momoi said roughly, getting ready to leave. “I guess I’m up.”

 

“But Akashi will-”

 

Momoi artfully pulled her cloak around herself, making the deep magenta shimmer as it billowed before settling on her curvy frame.

 

“Who said anything about talking to Akashi?” she asked. “I’m going to go talk to the Minister’s receptionist.”

 

“And that will help you because….”

 

“Because the Minister’s receptionist is receiving a lot more than his guests,” Momoi said matter of factly, running her fingers through her hair to make it fall just so. “And she’ll know exactly where he is right now. Service staff always do.”

 

“What makes you think you can get her to talk?” Imayoshi asked.

 

Momoi winked and blew him a kiss.

 

“I have my ways,” she said. “Womanly charms and all.”

 

In a hurricane of graceful movement, almost like a choreographed dance, Momoi adjusted her breasts in her shirt and pulled down the collar, lifted up her skirt and hemmed it two inches higher with a press of fingers against fabric, and sprayed a bottle of sweetly smelling perfume around the room.

 

Momoi conjured a mirror, admiring her appearance before banishing it.

 

“I’ll be back in half an hour,” she said. “Bye boys, be good while I’m gone!”

 

Momoi waved and apparated away.

 

The rest of the room sat in shell-shocked silence for a second after Momoi had left.

 

“Now that is a  _ woman,”  _ Miyaji said appreciatively, running a hand through his hair, looking flustered.

 

“Please be respectful to Momoi,” Kuroko implored.

 

The younger Miyaji brother wasn’t the only one who was impressed by Momoi’s decisive and dramatic exit, and Kuroko’s plea didn’t stop them from commenting. Some did not feel the need to be nearly as restrained as Miyaji had been.

 

“I’m not going to lie,” Imayoshi said, leaning back in his chair. “That was fucking hot.”

 

Sakurai did not look disturbed by the fact that his boyfriend was ogling someone else. Takao raised an eyebrow at him and Sakurai shrugged helplessly.

 

“He’s not wrong,” he agreed. “It was pretty hot.”

 

“Fucking heteros,” Himuro said.

 

“Hey, I’m not straight you asswipe!” Imayoshi said.

 

“I can confirm that,” Sakurai said, turning bright red. “Definitely not straight.”

 

“Well I am, and fuck all of you,” Miyaji said, grinning as he flipped Imayoshi the bird. Imayoshi flipped him right the fuck back off.

 

“So do you like to top or bottom?” Takao asked.

 

“You’re a little bitch,” Miyaji snorted, clearly not at all actually pissed about the comment.

 

Takao howled with laughter.

 

…

 

“So, I’ve been meaning to ask you, who were your fifth and sixth guys at the Winter Cup?” Hyuuga asked Nebuya when they settled back down, and the topic of conversation moved on from Momoi. “I honestly didn’t notice them, and it was… over pretty fast.”

 

Hyuuga made a face, and most of Seirin looked down. That had not been a spectacular day for any of them.

 

“Oh,” Nebuya said, glancing at Hayama. “Uh, one of them was a kid we went to school with.  I think he probably was still in school during the competition and got special permission? He was a first year when we were fifth years. I think he and Akashi became friends after that big snowball fight.”

 

“Oh, Higuchi, right!” Kawahara said. “Man, he was so excited about that stupid dragon he helped Akashi with, do you remember?”

 

“Oh yeah, he was showing him how to make the teeth and everything,” Furihata said, his mind lost in a far away memory of a much better time. “That snowstorm was badass.”

 

“It was a pretty fun day, kicking your asses,” Hayama said.

 

“Yeah it was,” Hyuuga grinned.

 

“Only because you were five seconds faster than Kuroko!” Fukuda blurted out. “He was walking out with your flag when you face planted back into your own base.”

 

“Heh,” Hyuuga said. “I didn’t realize that. Well, better luck next time?”

 

“Next time we’ll be on the same team,” Kuroko said. “I like this one better.”

 

Hyuuga smiled gently at him, giving Kuroko one of the rare genuine smiles he reserved mostly for quiet moments when he thought his team and Riko couldn’t see him.

 

“Yeah, he’d be a fifth or sixth year now, I’m pretty sure,” Nebuya said, turning back to Hayama. “He was pretty quick on the draw, but I guess Akashi just need another guy and didn’t really care who.”

 

“Not like he really needed any of us,” Hayama complained, stretching. “Or that Mayazumi guy.”

 

“Man, that dude was pretty creepy,” Nebuya agreed. “You could barely keep track of him or tell where he was at all. I don’t think I ever saw him cast a spell in the two times we met up for practice. And he barely said a word. He would just sneak up on you and be like ‘oh I’ve been here-’”

 

“This whole time,” Kiyoshi finished, glancing at Kuroko.

 

“What did you say his name was?” Hyuuga asked.

 

“Mayazumi something,” Nebuya replied.

 

Mayazumi Chihiro,” Hayama confirmed. “I don’t remember him from school, but then again, he was so forgettable he could have sat in class with me for seven years and maybe I wouldn’t have known, you know? But I think he might have been a foreigner or something. He stuck real close to Akashi the whole time.”

 

Kuroko hadn’t seen him once.

 

He was frozen in his seat, thinking of the only reasonable possibility.

 

Akashi had found someone else with Kuroko’s misdirection.

 

That had to be it.

 

Akashi had replaced him.

 

“So he’s got someone like Kuroko?” Kagami asked. “I guess it’s true that you can’t replace the best, no matter how much you try.”

 

Kuroko was very warmed by this sentiment, but he found himself begging the obvious question.

 

“If Akashi has another wizard who can use misdirection, why is it that he’s obsessed with making me join him?”

 

Imayoshi chuckled.

 

“Well, for starters, the kid has a massive hard on for you, so it could be entirely personal,” he said. “It might be time to consider that he wants to whisk you away for a candlelit dinner, not to help him save the world.”

 

“Over my dead body,” Kagami grumbled.

 

“Easy, Tiger, your boy here can make his own choices,” Imayoshi cut in.

 

“And I chose Kagami already, so if that’s what this is about Akashi can eat a cactus,” Kuroko said succinctly. Kagami laughed.

 

“Maybe it’s just that this Mayawhatshisface isn’t as good at misdirection as you are, and he needs someone who knows what they’re doing to help him,” Kagami suggested. “That could be it.”

 

Kuroko thought this might be giving him far too much credit, but he was consumed by the mystery of Mayazumi Chihiro.

 

Momoi returned less than half an hour later, a line of lipstick down her neck.

 

“And that,” she said to Riko with an absolutely victorious grin, “is  _ a woman’s touch. _ ”

 

Riko turned a brighter shade of red than the lipstick decorating Momoi’s decolletage.

 

“I have the GPS coordinates for the evacuation site,” Riko said. “I figure if we set a portkey to a site about a mile away that’s enough room to allow for a fairly large rune net and then Tetsu-kun could just walk in.”

 

“That sounds unsafe, it could drop him miles up in the air or underground,” Riko argued.

 

“You’ve got a better idea or what?” Momoi demanded.

 

“LADIES!” Takao shouted, inserting himself between the feuding women. “Ladies ladies, listen. You don’t need to fight.”

 

“STAY OUT OF THIS!” Both women yelled immediately.

 

“Oh no, this one’s on me,” Takao said, grabbing the piece of paper with the speed of a prey animal with very well developed survival instincts. “Brb, I need google and a printer and all these wizards are gonna make that impossible.”

 

Takao vanished with a pop.

 

“That meant something to someone, right?” Riko asked. “Because I would hate to think that I just let someone run off with the most valuable piece of information we’ve been able to get out hands on so far.”

 

“I recognized some of the things he said as words,” Kiyoshi commented. “Not most of them. Was that a foreign language?”

 

Some of the muggleborns sniggered.

 

“That’s called muggle technology,” Kagami said brightly, clapping his senior on the shoulder. “And it’s pretty cool.”

 

True to his word, Takao was back with a color printed sheet of paper that showed a map of somewhere with a whole lot of mountains. Under one arm, he had a book.

 

“Borrowed a topographical map from home,” Takao said. “Shows the altitude so we don’t dump our phantom friend into a freezing alpine lake or ten thousand feet above ground right  _ next  _ to the mountain we wanted to set you on.”

 

“I appreciate that,” Kuroko said.

 

“Yeah well I don’t wanna throw you off the Himalaya’s so I guess we can do this the old fashioned way,” Takao said. “Here’s a photographic map of the area from satellites.”

 

“Satellites?”

 

It wasn’t obvious who had asked, and Takao didn’t look up as he flipped through the book of topographical maps.

 

“Picture taken by a camera really high up in the sky,” Kagami said, since it didn’t look like Takao was going to answer.

 

“Muggles are wild,” Fukuda said.

 

Takao matched up the coordinates with a grid map in the book.

 

“I don’t see any secret bases or anything,” Furihata murmured.

 

“That’s probably because there’s an illusion,” Takao said thoughtlessly, still searching for the page he needed. “Camera’s bounce light off of objects, which doesn’t work when the light is being changed so that you’re already looking at something different anyway.”

 

“So someone glamoured the cave of doom,” Kagami said impatiently. “What do you have?”

 

“Huh,” the muggleborn said.

 

“Huh, what?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Well these mountains aren’t there,” Takao said, pointing.

 

Indeed, where the satellite image showed a set of huge mountains forming a ring that rose even higher than the peaks beside them, the topographical map showed a flat valley.

 

“He created a mountain,” Momoi said, examining the pictures. “A few of them, from what it looks like.”

 

“You’re sure that’s the right map?” Riko asked.

 

“Yeah, it’s the same coordinates and everything,” Takao said. “Damn, can you even… how do you do that?”

 

“It would take one heck of a lot of power,” Hyuuga said. “A lot more than Akashi had.”

 

“Hence the demons, I suppose,” Momoi said faintly. “He hopped them all up with demonic magic so that they could help him. It explains why Mido-kun thought he would die if he did it alone.”

 

“Damn,” Takao said again. “I bet my Shin-chan had to be the one to design this. There’s got to be some wicked runes!”

 

“Yes well, where do we put Kuroko?” Hyuuga asked.

 

“Safest bet would be the other side of the mountain,” Momoi said.

 

“Excuse me,” Kuroko cut in. “If it’s an option I would like to not climb a mountain.”

 

“Might not be a choice kid,” Hyuuga said dryly.

 

“Let me rephrase,” Kuroko said patiently. “I cannot climb a mountain.”

 

“How about here?” Kiyoshi asked, pointing to the drawing. “That looks flat.”

 

“Everything looks flat, it’s an unmoving two dimensional image!”

 

“Well, no matter what we’re going to have to take a guess so…”

 

Kuroko didn’t love that, but he supposed if the portkey took him inside the wards at least he might have a chance of getting through.

 

He really didn’t want to know what would happen if the portkey he was travelling with and attached to got bounced off the wards. Kuroko might have passed through on his own, but he didn’t know if the portkey’s magic would also be rejected.

 

“Have you found somewhere that won’t drop me off a mountain?” Kuroko asked instead.

 

Furihata jumped, and Takao rolled his eyes.

 

“Don’t worry, we won’t let you get hurt,” Hyuuga said. “I’m going to drop you off right here.”

 

He pointed to a relatively flat looking peak.

 

“If you fall or get kicked off, you’ll take a broom so you can get in the air,” Hyuuga continued.

 

That make Kuroko feel a little safer about the whole endeavor.

 

“You don’t have to do this,” Kagami said, frowning. A round of groans echoed around the room.

 

“Seriously, you still haven’t gotten through these feelings yet?” Takao demanded.

 

“ _ I’m  _ serious, Kuroko you don’t have to do this,” Kagami said.

 

Kuroko kissed him on the cheek.

 

“I really do,” he corrected his Light. “And I will be okay. I promise.”

 

Kuroko ignored the churning in his gut that made him feel like a liar.

 

Kagami held out his hand, summoning his broom from his trunk.

 

“I want this back,” he said. “I’m counting on you to take care of my girl.”

 

“I will take care of myself,” Kuroko said, making Kagami turn pink. “And the broomstick you’re cheating on me with.”

 

“Throw the homewrecker over the cliff,” Imayoshi advised. Their allies laughed. Kagami was still bright red when Momoi got everyone’s attention.

 

“Well, no time like the present,” Momoi said. “Tetsu-kun, are you ready? We need this information as soon as possible.”

 

“I can do it,” Kuroko said. “I will do my best.”

 

Hyuuga grabbed a scrap of paper from the table with the notes that they were working on, and enchanted it, keeping sight of the exact spot and coordinates he wanted.

 

“Should be good to go in a minute,” he said, handing the paper to Kuroko.

 

Kuroko held onto it with all his might in one hand, looking up at all his friends.

 

Momoi smiled at him.

 

“Good luck,” she said.

 

Kagami grabbed Kuroko’s shoulder, pulling him into a heavy embrace.

 

“Good hunting,” Kagami said. “Bring us back enough to hang that red bastard with.”

 

Kuroko smiled against Kagami’s shirt.

 

“I’ll see you soon,” he promised.

 

Kagami kissed his forehead.

 

“I’ll see you soon,” he smiled back.

 

Kuroko took a step back from all of them, making sure he had enough room for the portkey.

 

“Thank you,” he said, bowing to all of them. “I will-”

 

Kuroko was whisked away before he could finish whatever he had been about to say.

 

In the silence, the rest of his allies stared at the spot where he’d vanished, a grim feeling settling over all of them.

 

“Do we have a plan for what happens if he fails?” Imayoshi asked after a few minutes.

 

“Kuroko isn’t going to fail!” Kagami shouted, turning to punch the other man in the face. Imayoshi backed off quickly.

 

“Listen man, I respect that you believe in your boyfriend, but it’s not Kuroko I’m doubting,” Imayoshi said. “Call it faith in Akashi, but what do we do if we don’t have an answer by the time they call for an evacuation and we still don’t know if we’re going to be letting people flee into a trap?”

 

“Then we have to delay the evacuation,” Furihata said, squeaking when the attention of the powerful wizards assembled there fell on him.

 

“You know, I don’t hate that idea,” Imayoshi said, grinning widely.

 

“Oh no I know that look,” Sakurai whimpered. “We’re going to have to break the laaaaawwwwww….”

 

…

 

Kuroko appeared, quite suddenly, on top of a mountain.

 

He shivered in the sudden cold.

 

It was snowing lightly, and a terrible wind was howling along the peaks.

 

In an instant, the portkey was ripped out of Kuroko’s hand and carried on the wind far into the gap between two nearby peaks.

 

Then it was gone.

 

Kuroko looked around.

 

These were mountains unlike any he had ever seen. They were behemoths, too large to be real, and yet here he was standing on one of them. The jagged, snow tipped edges pierced the sky as though they could reach beyond the bounds of earth into space itself.

 

It was breathtaking.

 

Kuroko shivered in the cold.

 

He looked around, trying to tell which direction he needed to head in.

 

_ I’m a shadow, I’ll fall wherever I want to, you don’t need to fool something that doesn’t have eyes. _

 

Then Kuroko turned, and saw it.

 

Nestled between the peak Kuroko was standing on and a collection of other mountains, there was a small dip.

 

Far, far down below, Kuroko could see the outline of a wall and houses.

 

Akashi had made his own city out here in the middle of nowhere, and created an entire mountain range as natural defenses for it.

 

Around the entire valley, ending at the tops of each of the mountains, there was a golden shield. Inside, Kuroko could see flashes of bright red, deep blue, forest green, and a sharp clear yellow. The colors sparked and shifted among the gold like liquid or smoke.

 

It was beautiful.

 

The edge of the shield covered most of the peak of Kuroko’s mountain, leaving him only  _ just  _ enough to stand on.

 

Kuroko could feel the powerful magic as soon as he focused on what he was seeing.

 

Holy crap.

 

This really was amazing.

 

If anyone had ever doubted that the Generation of Miracles deserved the title they had been given by the end of their first week at Hogwarts, this astounding creation proved them wrong. Whatever nefarious plot Akashi was working on, this was a feat of magical brilliance.

 

A true, honest to Merlin, wizarding Miracle.

 

Kuroko shivered as he stepped forward, his feet crunching in the freshly fallen snow. He wanted to get closer to the other edge before he got in his broom.

 

Kuroko took a step towards the city, seeing a winding path down he might be able to follow.

 

The shield was a visible dome, with no way around it. Kuroko could sense the familiar power of his friends forming the base of the shield, but covering it and permeating through every inch of the magically created ground was another type of magic. It felt  _ wrong,  _ and Kuroko didn’t like it.

 

_ We knew he had the Miracles possessed by demons because they weren’t going to be strong enough to help him,  _ Kuroko thought.

 

To anyone else in the world and maybe even to the demons that would apparently soon be invading, this shield would have been impenetrable.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath.

 

_ I am a shadow. You’re meant to keep out wizards, and I’m no wizard. _

 

He lifted his foot.

 

His leg passed through the powerful shield as though it wasn’t even there.

 

Kuroko let his foot come down in the snow on the other side, momentum pulling the rest of his body through without incident.

 

He recognized the power. This was the strongest runic shield Midorima’s cleverness and Murasakibara’s power could create.

 

A team of warders might have spent a month trying to tear it down and left without having succeeded.

 

And Kuroko had passed through it like a ghost.

 

Kuroko wondered how he’d ever considered his misdirection a weakness.

 

_ This weakness is my greatest strength. _

 

This shield clearly did not even consider him wizard enough to keep him out. It might not even have registered him as human, as unassuming and unthreatening as he appeared.

 

Kuroko, armed with a single muggle weapon and no other tool, could have singlehandedly wiped out every wizard behind the shield, given enough time and care.

 

Akashi had called him his assassin.

 

Was that what the other wizard wanted with him?

 

Kuroko stared dispassionately.

 

The scope of the whole thing was so large that it was only visible for what it was from this vantage point. But from here, Kuroko could see clearly that inside the ring of mountains, the behemoth figure of a dragon curled protectively around the collection of buildings.

 

The path he was looking at would lead him right through the dragon’s jaws into the town. The rest of the way down would not have been navigable by foot, and Kuroko guessed that it was also heavily warded with traps.

 

This truly was a fortress, one Akashi apparently believed would be able to withstand the power of a demonic attack.

 

Kuroko was ready to go down into the valley by broom, but the wind made any kind of decent by air impossible. Kuroko would not have put it past Akashi to even think that far, creating a rune that would increase the wind and air pressure here so that no winged assault on his fortress would work.

 

That meant he would be walking on foot. Kuroko braced himself for how awful this was going to be, and began heading down into the town. He could feel Akashi’s power at the base of the mountain calling to him like a beacon.

 

When had Akashi had the time to do this? How could he still feel so powerful after giving up the power needed to do something like this?

 

Kuroko wanted answers.

 

Kuroko climbed down into the basin of the fortress. He followed the path with no reason to believe that his presence would be noticed by anyone.

 

He was just a shadow, after all.

 

The moon hung in the clear sky overhead, lighting Kuroko’s way as he descended from the mountains. It was slow, tiring going. Kuroko tried not to think too hard about how he would get out of here, especially if he had to in a hurry.

 

Kuroko wondered if he could convince stone he was a shadow too, and just run through the rock.

 

He eyed the mountaintops speculatively.

 

Perhaps that was something to work on with his Light later, once they had a moment to spare.

 

Kuroko was covered in a light sheen of sweat by the time he was on the other side of the mountain, and the moon had moved quite a bit of the way across the sky. Kuroko waited, catching his breath as he admired the dragon.

 

Up close, Kuroko thought he could sense Aomine’s power in the dragon. It was beautiful work, almost certainly carved by magic. The eyes were open and threatening, the jaw parted and resting partway in the ground. The teeth were easily as tall as Kuroko was. The top of the jaw rose up nearly twenty feet above him, nestling towards a tail that created a natural wall of the city. The curled body of the dragon completed the circle on the other side, though Kuroko had no way of seeing that from here.

 

The scope alone was stunning. The skin of the dragon was shaped with such realistically carved scales that Kuroko could all but see the dragon moving in the moonlight, getting ready to take off.

 

Something about this tickled a childhood memory, though one that felt very painful after the fact. Kuroko honestly wondered if Akashi had drawn inspiration from the fortifications for the snow fortress the redhead had designed with an eager first year.

 

It was cute, in a way. Of course, if this dragon was anything like the one Akashi had animated on their old fortress, it was probably for the best that Kuroko not touch or disturb it in any way, given how effective it had proved itself to be when they were mere students.

 

Kuroko pulled himself out of older, more pleasant memories and stood up, brushing off a light coating of snow he’d received while sitting there admiring the wall of Akashi’s fortress.

 

Kuroko could tell as he approached those threatening jaws that there was another layer of protections on this part of the fortress. These were more concentrated, and stronger. Kuroko could hear the high-pitched hum of the magic in his ears. It put him on edge.

 

_ I am a shadow. You’re not meant to block me out, I’m not even here. _

 

Kuroko stepped between two of the large lower teeth, eyes closed shut.

 

If those jaws came crashing down, he would be impaled. Happily, he would probably be dead before he felt the pain, but then again he would be dead, which was not an ideal situation.

 

Nothing happened.

 

Kuroko took a few more hurried steps out of the range of the jaws and felt warm relief flood his veins.

 

He was in.

 

His misdirection had worked.

 

Actually, Kuroko was feeling  _ very  _ warm all of a sudden. He emerged on the other side of the wall, and realized that the city Akashi had created was meticulously climate controlled. The bitterly cold northern winter had dissipated, and inside the inner wards of Akashi’s design, it was a cool spring evening.

 

There were flowers growing, and even a few plots of grass and vegetables. Kuroko hadn’t been able to see them from as high up as he had been, but they were clear now.

 

This was incredible.

 

Kuroko’s eyes were wide as he took in the work that had been done on this place.

 

Akashi was brilliant. He’d really thought of everything. The rune map alone for this place must have been hellishly complicated. Kuroko, who had passed his Ancient Runes N.E.W.T with excellent, but not top scores, even without the competition of the Miracles, would not even know where to begin  _ making  _ something like this.

 

Akashi’s brilliance continued to astound him. So what was he doing, cavorting around with demons? Did he think that he was so smart and powerful that no matter how obviously inadvisable it was to create and maintain an allegiance with demons, that he would be able to control and outwit them?

 

Kuroko felt laughter bubbling up in his throat.

 

Actually, that was probably exactly what Akashi had thought.

 

How could someone that smart have so little sense? Kuroko was beginning to wonder if they were mutually exclusive traits. Momoi was lacking in neither, but then again, she wasn’t lacking in  _ any  _ arena, except maybe humility. But she, as with many things, appeared to be the exception to the rule. Takao lacked the dazzling brilliance of Midorima, but was overwhelmed with sensibility, as did Himuro.

 

Kagami had neither in very large quantities, but was certainly someone who was ruled by his sensibilities and his compassionate instincts. Much like Aomine, he was smart only when he chose to be.

 

Kise was a well-balanced mix of the two, much like Momoi.

 

Maybe Akashi’s lack of sense was simply that, lack of sense, unconnected to any other traits he had.

 

Kuroko tried to follow the call of Akashi’s magic as he walked along the empty streets. Kuroko suspected that the magic would lead him towards the largest building in the city, the one set up like some kind of town hall or official space.

 

It was probably meant to be the center of the newly evacuated government.

 

Kuroko could see only a few lights on. From what he knew of his former leader, he was sure one of those lights would be Akashi’s, up too late and working.

 

Kuroko looked up at the lights, wondering how he could search the building and find Akashi quickly before the other wizard found him. He wanted to have an opportunity to spy on his target and see what was going on.

 

A demon would lie, but if it didn’t know Kuroko was there, he might do something that would tip Kuroko off, and Kuroko would still be able to get away before he was seen and alert the others.

 

Down here, the broom would still be usable. Kuroko could use it to survey the building quickly. It would also be convenient for getting away. He would be able to fly up to the edge of the fierce winds above the city and walk the rest of the way.

 

That was a plan that might actually work.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Kuroko pulled the broom free from where he’d strapped it to his back and kicked off the ground.

 

He hadn’t flown since the lessons at Hogwarts, and had never been very good at it. Actually, the first time Kuroko had gotten on a broom, he’d immediately flipped upside-down and proceeded to collide at extreme low speeds with a wall while Ogiwara hooted with laughter at the top of his lungs.

 

Shige, the bastard, had found the incident to be the height of comedy. It was funnier in retrospect, but at the time Kuroko had mostly just been baffled at how he had managed to mess up flying so badly.

 

At the third window, Kuroko got lucky.

 

Akashi was sitting at his desk, shuffling through papers with his window was open.

 

Kuroko ducked, leaning as close to his broom as he could.

 

_ I am a shadow. I am a shadow. _

 

He flew right through the window, landing in the middle of the room.

 

Akashi didn’t look up from his papers.

 

Kuroko retreated softly, willing his footsteps to make as little noise as possible. 

 

_ I am a shadow. I am silent and I’m not even here. _

 

Kuroko backed up until he was flush with the wall, hiding in the darkness cast by the torchlight in the other corner.

 

Kuroko settled there by the wall, watching Akashi carefully for any sign that he was anything other than himself.

 

Kuroko had to be sure.

 

From where he was sitting, Akashi certainly didn’t look like he’d been possessed by a demon.

 

The redhead wizard looked thin and worn. Kuroko could see the shape of his cheekbones, gaunt and sharp on his too pale skin. His hair looked even more garish than usual against his almost grey complexion, and his eyes looked up and darted around quickly, perceiving attacks from the slightest flickering shadow.

 

Kuroko was sure to stay as still as possible when Akashi did look up. So far, Kuroko knew that his misdirection worked on Akashi and his magic, to a point. He wasn’t sure how far that stretched, but so far he was feeling pretty good about his misdirection.

 

Careful observation told Kuroko that both of the man’s eyes were gold.

 

Kuroko didn’t why, but that made him feel more on edge.

 

He knew that if he was going to get the answers he wanted, he was eventually going to have to make his presence known, but for now he remained where he was. He was willing to prolong the eventual confrontation as much as he had to.

 

Kuroko was content watching Akashi, but apparently, the other wizard was not so content with being watched.

 

Akashi paused in the middle of sorting out papers on his desk.

 

“Hello, Tetsuya,” he said, smiling as he turned around. “I knew you would come.”

 

“I knew that you would know that I would.”

 

Akashi laughed.

 

“How well we seem to know each other, even now,” he said. His voice sounded unsteady. Kuroko’s brow furrowed in confusion, wondering what was wrong with the other man. The feeling of  _ wrongness  _ he had felt standing in front of Akashi at the Winter Cup had intensified now.

 

Who was he talking to, really?

 

Was this even Akashi?

 

Memory struck Kuroko with the sharp clarity of a knife.

 

_ “Who are you?” Kuroko demanded. _

 

_ “Tetsuya,” Akashi admonished, smiling, bringing a hand to his chest. His smile looked out of place, and his eyes were still too wide and manic, with one eye still that bright gold that hurt to look at. “Of course, I am Akashi Seijuro. Your captain.” _

 

Things had been going wrong for a long time already. Kuroko didn’t know if it had started that day when Akashi had fought Murasakibara, but that was the first time he’d really realized that they had crossed a line they might not be able to come back from. 

 

_ “There have always been two of me,” Akashi had said. “We’ve merely traded places.” _

 

Kuroko still didn’t know what those words meant. He didn’t know this man, or what he was planning, and he opted for the simplest, easiest way of finding out. 

 

“What are you doing?” Kuroko asked.

 

Akashi smiled.

 

“Blunt and to the point as usual,” he observed.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said.

 

He waited patiently for an answer to his question.

 

“I trust you have had ample opportunity to see what I have done here,” Akashi said, instead of doing so.

 

“I have,” Kuroko agreed.

 

“So what do you think?” he asked, gesturing out the wide window Kuroko had entered through.  

 

“You are entirely out of your actual fucking mind,” Kuroko said entirely honestly, in that same flat voice.

 

Akashi laughed.

 

“What are you doing?” Kuroko repeated.

 

“I am saving us,” Akashi said.

 

“Saving us,” Kuroko repeated. The words felt hollow. What did that mean? What game was Akashi playing?

 

“Yes,” Akashi said. “Now if you don’t mind, instead of you interrogating me, I’d rather that we have a pleasant talk.”

 

Kuroko stared Akashi down.

 

There was something about the phrasing, this whole conversation that was wrong. That didn’t necessarily mean that Akashi was being controlled by a demon, and the first hint that Kuroko thought so might be met with his own messy demise. He didn’t know how stable Akashi was at the moment, or what was controlling him, and that put him in a very precarious position.

 

“We can talk,” Kuroko said after a minute, his voice more steady than he thought he would sound. “We can talk about how you had our friends possessed by demons, to start with.”

 

Akashi outright laughed, the asshole. Kuroko glared at him for having the audacity to make light of such a serious transgression. He’d expected Akashi to deny it, or at least try to make excuses for himself, but the much more powerful wizard did neither of those things. He smiled broadly.

 

“We can do that,” Akashi allowed. “However, this is a discussion we cannot have alone. Would you permit me to summon our friends, or would that be taken as a declaration of war, given how determined you are to start a fight with me?”

 

“What do you think I could do if you decided to attack me on your own?” Kuroko asked blankly. “Punch you in the face with my fantastic guns?”

 

Akashi smirked.

 

“Clever as always, Tetsuya, and so eager to dismiss your own capabilities,” Akashi said. “I would love to see how your ‘fantastic guns’ fared against my Miracles one on one.”

 

Kuroko had not seen Akashi send for anyone, nor had he registered the presence of a spell, but said Miracles took that opportunity to arrive in the doorway.

 

They all looked worse for the wear.

 

The worst off by far was Akashi, but Murasakibara was supporting his weight on a rough wooden cane, and Midorima’s arms were bandaged up to the elbow. He held them stiffly by his side, but the lack of movement told Kuroko he was in a great deal of pain. Aomine and Kise looked gaunt and were moving stiffly, as though they were sore and injured.

 

“The price of creating this haven was high,” Akashi said quietly. “We have all given as much as we could to ensure that when the time came, we would not be caught unawares, with no defense.”

 

“What does that mean, exactly?” Kuroko asked.

 

Akashi considered Kuroko for a moment, as though deciding whether or not to share his secrets with him. Kuroko had the distinctly uncomfortable sensation that his worth was being judged.

 

“Shintarou foresaw the end of our world,” Akashi said finally. “The muggles would rise up to fight us and the following war was going to destroy everything. I sought as best I could to stop Nash Gold and his useless progeny from setting that into motion, but now there is nothing we can do but arm ourselves.”

 

“Arm yourselves by going to war with anyone who disagrees with you,” Kuroko observed.

 

“We must be united,” Akashi said. “However that can be done, I will do what I have to to ensure that we survive the assault that Nash Gold Jr. will bring upon us.”

 

“Even if it means taking over the world yourself?” Kuroko asked.

 

“If I must.”

 

Kuroko stared at the redhead.

 

“You’re full of shit,” he said.

 

Akashi laughed.

 

“You’re so much more mouthy than you were the last time we faced one another,” he said, patting the side of Kuroko’s face carelessly. “I like this version a lot better.”

 

“Do not touch me,” Kuroko said.

 

“Unfortunately, you don’t get to have much of a say in what is going to happen here,” Akashi said lightly. “You might not have noticed, but I’ve  _ won. _ ”

 

“So if you have everything sorted out, what do you want from me?” Kuroko asked, folding his arms.

 

“I have done everything I can,” Akashi said. “But there is one last piece we need to truly be protected here. I want to make sure it can never be found, that it lies in the shadow of these mountains forever. And here, fate handed me a friend with just the power we need to remain unseen and safe from demonic attack.”

 

Kuroko stood absolutely still for a moment as he realized the implications of what Akashi was asking him to do.

 

“I would die,” he said plainly. “I would die before I finished shielding this building.”

 

Akashi chuckled humorlessly.

 

“Why must you always underestimate yourself so, Tetsuya?” he asked softly. “What is it about you that refuses to see how truly extraordinary you are?”

 

Kuroko reflexively took a step back.

 

This wasn’t underestimating himself. This was just simple objective fact. Kuroko didn’t have the power to do what Akashi wanted, and he sure wasn’t going to let Akashi shove a demon in him. He wasn’t even sure his misdirection would still  _ work  _ mixed with another kind of magic.

 

“I can’t do what you’re asking,” he said. “It is not a matter of will or deference. Akashi, I do not possess the capacity to do this.”

 

Akashi stared at Kuroko. For a moment, Kuroko’s teal eyes met gold, and then Akashi looked down.

 

“I can’t let you leave.”

 

“You can do whatever you feel you need to because there is no way for me to stop you, but I physically cannot do what you want me to,” Kuroko said blankly, pleading with the redhead not to do what he was about to.

 

“I’m sorry, Tetsuya, but I can’t let you leave.”

 

Kuroko had expected that. He didn’t react to the words, much as he wanted to.

 

“Now what I want to know is where you have gotten the ridiculous notion that all you need to stand against my power is the strength of  _ friendship, _ ” Akashi said distastefully, spitting out the word friendship like it was a foul profanity.

 

“It’s Kagami,” Kise said tonelessly, answering for Kuroko. “Kurokocchi has been saying and doing such stupid things since he met that weakling.”

 

His eyes were gleaming with an unnatural gold that was unlike their usual yellow.

 

“He was strong enough to help me beat almost all of you!” Kuroko said, pushing himself up to his hands and knees, refusing to let Kagami be maligned.

 

More quietly, but with no less intense a glare, he continued.

 

“ _ I _ beat you too.”

 

That was somehow more important for Kuroko to stress. Kuroko might have been Kagami’s shadow, but he knew now that his power wasn’t just ancillary to Kagami winning. Kuroko was not being dragged along to victory by association with more powerful duelists.

 

He was winning  _ with  _ them.

 

“Perhaps, but I have taken steps to make sure that will not happen again,” Akashi said. “I think you will find that my Miracles are much more powerful than your new Light. Especially now.”

 

“I do appreciate you dueling them so that I could see exactly where the weaknesses in their powers lay, so that I could correct it,” Akashi continued.

 

“They’re stronger, meaning you had them possessed by demons so that they would do what you wanted,” Kuroko corrected Akashi, not willing to let Akashi’s vague obfuscation stand.

 

“I gave them power,” Akashi said.

 

“You took away their freedom and their friends, isolated them, and made sure that they could never disobey you,” Kuroko replied. “You have to realize somewhere in there that this isn’t a good thing.”

 

Akashi stared Kuroko down.

 

And then Kuroko went flying across the room.

 

He hit the back wall and fell, hard.

 

Kuroko pulled himself up to his hands and knees, glaring.

 

“You can throw me around as much as you want, but it will not change what you’re doing or 

what you have done,” Kuroko said.

 

If Akashi was in there if this was his friend and not actually a demon, then Akashi would understand him. He would have to listen to him. But Kuroko’s heart continued to sink.

 

“Daiki,” Akashi said. “Please.”

 

Aomine didn’t say anything when he grabbed Kuroko by the arm and pulled him to his feet.

 

Kuroko let himself be manhandled, knowing that fighting back wouldn’t work.

 

“It doesn’t matter what you do,” Kuroko said, refusing to meet Akashi’s eyes. “Kagami will find me.”

 

“So it is Taiga,” Akashi said, his voice sharp with anger. “Tell me, Tetsuya, what does that buffoon have that you cannot find among us?”

 

“A heart,” Kuroko shot back. “A lack of propensity towards kidnapping me. A personal history that doesn’t involve torturing my friends. Do you want me to keep going alphabetically or in order of the magnitude of the harm you caused me?”

 

And then, just like that, Akashi’s personality flipped, and he was laughing.

 

“Oh now  _ that’s  _ juicy! That’s  _ hysterical _ !”

 

“I’m glad you find my anger with you to be a joke,” Kuroko said. “I assure you, I am not joking.”

 

“Trust me, Sugar, I know, but this whole thing is just delicious. The drama is incredible.”

 

Kuroko narrowed his eyes.

 

Those were not Akashi’s words.

 

He knew Akashi well enough to know that.

 

The only question was, how in control  _ was  _ the demon inside of Akashi.

 

Kuroko needed to find that information, and then he needed to get out.

 

Aomine didn’t say a word to Kuroko as he dragged the other boy down the hall.

 

“Why are you doing this?” Kuroko asked him. He didn’t expect an answer, and he didn’t get one.

 

Kuroko was deposited in a room at the far end of a hall, on the top floor. Aomine took his broom and bag. Kuroko didn’t try very hard to hold onto either of them.

 

Aomine took Kuroko’s cloak next, then his wand, and let the bundle float behind him as he opened the door.

 

Kuroko eyed the broom, wondering if there was any way he could grab it and conceal it, but Aomine floated it out of Kuroko’s reach before he could decide.

 

The room inside actually looked pretty comfortable. Kuroko had been half expecting a cell, but there was a reasonably sized bed, a dresser, and a mirror. In one corner, Kuroko could see another door.

 

“Listen, he’s not gonna hurt you if you just do what he wants.”

 

Kuroko turned.

 

A small, petty part of him was furious. What was Aomine doing, obeying Akashi’s every whim? He had a hundred times the power Kuroko did, and if Kuroko could stand up to their former captain, why couldn’t Aomine?

 

Kuroko didn’t want to hear that his Light was a coward.

 

“Please leave me alone. If I have to be a prisoner, I don’t want to talk to you.”

 

Aomine gave Kuroko one last indecipherable look, then squared his shoulders.

 

“Okay,” he said, sounding defeated. “Yell for me if you need anything.”

 

The door closed, and Kuroko heard the lock click into place.

 

Figures.

 

Kuroko could step through the strongest wards Akashi could make, but he couldn’t get through a damned locked door.

 

Kuroko went to the window, and confirmed that there was no way he could see himself climbing down that didn’t result in grievous injury. A five story drop  _ might  _ not kill him if he was lucky, but he definitely wouldn’t be running a marathon anytime soon after that.

 

He needed to get out of here, and soon.

 

Kuroko checked the door on the other side of the room. It led to a bathroom (a small kindness, given the circumstances), and there was no window he could use to try and get a better look to see if he could get down.

 

For now, it seemed like he was stuck.

 

By now, his friends would know that he was missing, and suspect that Akashi had captured him. They would assume as a result that the evacuation would be unsafe. They couldn’t risk doing otherwise.

 

Kagami would be pissed, he thought. It turned out that Kuroko had inadvertently lied to him after all. He hoped that he would be able to get out and make good on his promise eventually.

 

Kuroko drifted off in the seat by the window as the sun slowly slid over the horizon.

 

The door opened again sometime a few hours later. The large wizard who entered, resting most of his weight on a large cane in his left hand, was immediately recognizable to Kuroko.

 

“Murasakibara-”

 

“Kuro-chin betrayed us.”

 

He sounded so profoundly sad that Kuroko’s heart broke a little.

 

“I didn’t mean to do that,” Kuroko said quietly.

 

“Why did you do it?”

 

“You hurt my friends,” Kuroko replied.

 

“We  _ are  _ your friends,” Murasakibara replied.

 

Well that just destroyed Kuroko’s heart. Kuroko liked the other wizard. Murasakibara had been one of his closest friends in school.

 

He didn’t want to resent or dislike him.

 

“I just need to know one thing,” Kuroko said. “Why did he let you stay in control of the demon?”

 

“Because we know he’s right. We only needed the demons to be in control for the ritual. Now it’s going to be fine, as long as you help him.”

 

Well, that might have actually been an answer Murasakibara believed, but Kuroko doubted that sheer belief was keeping Midorima, Kise, and Aomine here.

 

Midorima was too smart, Kise too charismatic, and Aomine far too stubborn to simply accept Akashi’s authority as an excuse for remaining here.

 

“I brought you food,” Murasakibara said.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how he felt about that. His stomach was rumbling and he was tired. He’d stand a better chance at escaping if he kept up what little stamina he had.

 

He accepted the plate of food from Murasakibara.

 

“Thank you,” he said.

 

Murasakibara nodded, pulling a scone out of his pocket and taking a bite.

 

“It’s going to be okay, Kuro-chin,” he said. “You don’t have to worry about helping Aka-chin. He’s always right, and he says that if you help him set the last wards, then no demons will be able to find this place.”

 

Kuroko felt a pang of doubt.

 

Demon or no, Akashi might well be in control of what he was doing.

 

If this wasn’t a trap, then his friends would be sitting ducks for a demon invasion, passing up the best protection they could get. Kuroko might be refusing to save thousands of lives.

 

Murasakibara left Kuroko alone with the eggs and sausages he’d made. Kuroko ate an egg and a half before pushing the plate aside, not really hungry.

 

He really wanted a vanilla milkshake right now.

 

Kise came to visit him after Murasakibara left, and Kuroko wondered if Akashi was going to send all the Miracles one by one to try and convince him that he was doing the right thing.

 

Kise lingered by the door uncertainly for a moment.

 

“Hey, Kurokocchi,” he said.

 

“Hello, Kise,” Kuroko replied.

 

“Can I sit?”

 

“That depends if I’m talking to Kise or the demon inside him.”

 

“I’m Kise, 100% pure grade,” Kise joked.

 

“Then you can sit,” Kuroko said. Kise took the spot next to Kuroko, toeing off his shoes and sitting cross-legged on the bed beside him.

 

“What’s going on Kurokocchi?” Kise asked. “Why won’t you help us?”

 

“Akashi is possessed by a demon,” Kuroko said after a long pause. He could hear people beginning to move around in the city outside. He was so close, and yet so far away from the evacuated Ministry. Although Akashi would just come up with a suitable lie about Kuroko that would wind up with him continuing to be imprisoned here.

 

The whole situation felt so hopeless.

 

“I don’t trust him. I don’t trust that he’s not going to turn around and use what I’ve done against the people I want to protect.”

 

Kise sighed. He fell back onto Kuroko’s bed.

 

“What happened to us?” he asked. “We used to trust each other.”

 

“A lot of things happened,” Kuroko said, fixing Kise with a sharp stare. “You hurt Shige, for one.”

 

“Are you still upset about that?” Kise asked. “Man, that was like… four years ago. We were just messing around.”

 

Kuroko could still hear Shige’s pained screams in his own head. He could still remember waking up and coming face to face with what he thought was the corpse of his best friend. He could still remember what Shige’s blood felt like, sliding between his fingers as he scrambled for purchase on the cold stone floor.

 

The memories came in flashes of sensation, but they burned Kuroko like fire. It hurt to remember them, but he had to.

 

Ogiwara had just up and disappeared from the lives of everyone who was important to him, and Kuroko wasn’t going to let Ogiwara fade away from him too.

 

“Of course I’m still angry,” Kuroko said. “You tried to hurt Kagami too.”

 

Kise sighed.

 

“I am sorry,” he said after a few minutes. “I didn’t think we were going to go that far. I thought it was just a game and then it wasn’t. We were all stupid and too powerful, and looking for a fight. But if that’s what’s holding you back, you have to realize that everyone else we’re going to evacuate needs you too. They’re counting on this place to protect them, and they don’t deserve to die just because you’re angry. You’re right. You should be angry. You should want to hurt us as badly as we hurt you, but don’t make them pay for it.”

 

Kuroko listened carefully to what Kise had to say.

 

It made sense. It was a speech designed to play on the most Hufflepuff of his natures, the controlling part of his psyche.

 

Kise really was very good at getting what he wanted out of people.

 

Kuroko fell back beside Kise.

 

“You’re going to make a great minister someday,” Kuroko said to the ceiling. He regretted it almost immediately because Kise screamed and grabbed his arm, babbling nonsensically into Kuroko’s sleeve.

 

“Please stop,” Kuroko deadpanned.

 

“Ah, sorry Kurokocchi, I was just so happy to know you thought so highly of me,” Kise preened.

 

“That is not what I said. I was saying that you’re a politician,” Kuroko replied. “You’re really good at saying what people want to hear. I don’t even know what part is you anymore Kise.”

 

Kise’s face almost made Kuroko regret the barb. It was designed to cut deep, and it obviously had. Kuroko didn’t feel bad about it.

 

He closed his eyes and thought of Ogiwara’s pale and dying face.

 

“I’m not going to help Akashi,” Kuroko whispered. “I think he’s really going to kill us all.”

 

“Then you’re a fool,” Kise said, standing up. “Sorry, Kurokocchi, but it’s true.”

 

Kuroko dozed off without moving from where he was sitting.

 

He woke up to the feeling of someone sitting beside him. It was late in the afternoon.

 

“They delayed the evacuation by two days.”

 

Midorima wasn’t looking at Kuroko. He was staring out the window.

 

“What did you do?” Midorima asked.

 

“I didn’t do anything,” Kuroko said.

 

“Well your friends bombed four evacuation sites, and the Ministry is delaying until they can regroup and set up new, individualized evacuation points through secure channels. It will take at least two days before the first set of civilians can be brought here, thanks to you. You singlehandedly might cause thousands of people to die.”

 

Now that was just dramatic.

 

“I have been your prisoner here the whole time,” Kuroko said. “I have no way of communicating any intentions to anyone, friends or not. And have you considered that maybe evacuating an entire country on the say so of a demon is probably more foolhardy than opposing it?”

 

The glare Midorima fixed it with might have bent steel. It was laser focused and furious.

 

“You are the worst sort of person,” Midorima said. “You act like you don’t care about your emotions, but you are ruled by the least logical parts of your decision making process.”

 

“Maybe,” Kuroko said. “But my choices haven’t led to my being possessed by a demon.”

 

Midorima clicked his tongue, and Kuroko counted it as a win when Midorima stormed out of the room, clearly pissed off. He left a sandwich on the table behind him.

 

His amusement faded a few seconds later as he realized that he was trapped in a room alone again.

 

Kuroko sat up, not feeling particularly like sleeping, not knowing how else to pass the time until another one of the Miracles came by to lecture him. If this pattern continued, he’d see Aomine next. He was nervous about that encounter.

 

Kuroko didn’t know what had happened between Aomine teaching him how to use his method of spellcasting, and the match with Rakuzan, but Aomine had chosen to side with Akashi after all. That betrayal hurt.

 

Kuroko had never wanted to be on the opposite side of Aomine.

 

Kuroko lay back, frustrated.

 

He had always trusted the judgment of the Generation of Miracles before, so why not now? Why was he having so much trouble accepting the consensus of some of the most brilliant wizards in the world that Akashi was on the up and up about this plan?

 

Was he really just rehashing old schoolyard grudges?

 

Kuroko shook his head. He couldn’t let Kise in his head like that. In this, the Generation of Miracles was wrong. They were brilliant and powerful, but they weren’t infallible, and this time, they had failed.

 

This time, they were wrong.

 

Kuroko ate part of the sandwich Midorima had left behind for him, and sat back down on his bed, trying to psychologically prepare himself for seeing Aomine again.

 

He wasn’t sure what he would say, how he was supposed to respond.

 

Aomine had hurt Shige, for which Kuroko was angry at him. They had a long history as partners in the arena that made those feelings complicated. Kuroko had loved Aomine as his Light, and Aomine hadn’t just betrayed Kuroko, but he had also hurt one of his friends. Aomine had helped Kuroko prepare for the match against Yosen, but he’d turned around and betrayed Kuroko, and even now he was possessed by a demon and might be helping Akashi hasten the arrival of the end of the world.

 

Kuroko felt confused and angry and didn’t know how to feel about any part of this situation. He was honestly exhausted just trying to untangle what was going on, let alone his feelings about those events and the people involved in them.

 

Kuroko had built up his resolve by late evening when Aomine showed up, smiling tentatively at Kuroko.

 

“I brought dinner as a peace offering,” he said. “You don’t have to talk to me if you don’t want to, but you do need to eat.”

 

“Is Akashi fattening me up to eat me now?” Kuroko asked. “I’ll eat what I want to.”

 

“You wanna start a fight about everything now?” Aomine demanded. “Eat the chicken.”

 

“I don’t want to,” Kuroko replied childishly. Aomine put it down on the dresser.

 

“You don’t have to,” Aomine said tiredly. “Tetsu, why does every conversation we have turn into a fight these days?”

 

“Because we stopped being able to work together,” Kuroko shot back.

 

And it was kind of true. Kuroko and Aomine had fought and fought and fought outside the arena, but within the bounds of a security shield, they had been able to read each other like an open book. They worked together as a seamless team.

 

Then Aomine told Kuroko that he was tired of having Kuroko hold him back, didn’t remember how to utilize his misdirection any more, that Kuroko’s tricks were no longer winning them matches.

 

“If you want to help me and stop fighting, then help me get out of here,” Kuroko said instead of any of that.

 

Aomine sighed.

 

“Look, you know I can’t do that-”

 

“Aomine-”

 

“Don’t look at me like that, Tetsu.”

 

“Aomine, please.”

 

Aomine didn’t respond to his friend’s pleading.

 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered after a very long time. His voice sounded wrecked, utterly destroyed. “I tried to stop him. I did. I swear I had nothing to do with it. I went back to him because I didn’t want you to get hurt. I thought if I wanted to stay, he wouldn’t hurt you. He was going to kill that asshole Bakagami and take you, and I thought this was the only way to save both of you.”

 

Well, that explained a lot. Kuroko had been hurt by Aomine’s seemingly sudden and unexplainable betrayal, when it had turned out that Aomine helping Kuroko was one of the reasons Akashi had come down hard on Aomine. 

 

Akashi playing on Aomine’s protective instincts explained pretty much everything that had happened between them during the end of the Winter Cup. 

 

It didn’t explain why Aomine was still here.

 

“So why are you still here?”

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“Wherever I go, he can reach the demon inside me and command it to take over. Now that it’s there, he can take over whenever he wants. If I took one step out of line, I wouldn’t be  _ me  _ anymore, and that was scary enough. He made me-”

 

“He made you attack Kagami,” Kuroko filled in. “To show you how bad it could get if you disobeyed him.”

 

That made a kind of cold, cruel sense.

 

It was awful though.

 

“I never wanted you to get hurt,” Aomine said, after a pause. “Please believe me, I never wanted that.”

 

Kuroko sighed. He crossed the distance between himself and his former light and sat next to the much larger wizard.

 

“I know,” he said. “I mean, I’d figured as much.”

 

Without warning, he hugged Aomine around the waist, leaning into the other man’s warmth.

 

“He doesn’t need me,” Kuroko said, his voice wavering. “Why does he keep chasing me?”

 

“Because you’re the only wizard who can defeat him,” Aomine replied. “You and Bakagami, though it baffles me how that’s true.”

 

Kuroko chuckled darkly.

 

“Don’t be mean,” he chided his friend, but he didn’t let go. Aomine put an arm around Kuroko, sitting there with them as it got darker outside.

 

“Come with me,” Kuroko said quietly. “He’s hurting both of us, and if you come with me we have a better chance of beating him, of ending this once and for all. And then we can get our friend back.”

 

“Kuroko, he’s not Akashi right now,” Aomine said cautiously. “The demon inside him is running the show, and as long as that demon can control the demons inside of us, there’s nowhere I can run to where I won’t be a threat. Vepar is a high level demon, stronger than any of the ones I fought for Akashi, or the ones that he shoved inside of us.”

 

“I have to try,” Kuroko replied stubbornly. He’d figured that Akashi was being wholly possessed and that concerned him more because he was scared for the future of everyone who was evacuated to this fortress, and found that everything about their environment was controlled by a demon. Aomine chuckled humorlessly and ruffled the Hufflepuff boy’s hair fondly.

 

“Same old Tetsu, you never change,” he said, with sad grin. “It’ll be easier if you just give in to him and let him do what he has to.”

 

“I won’t,” Kuroko said, determined. He wasn’t going to help Akashi. If a demon was running the show, that meant he needed to warn his friends. They had to know what was happening before it got to be too late.

 

“Don’t worry about that.”

 

Aomine and Kuroko both looked up in surprise to find Akashi standing directly in front of them.

 

Or, more accurately, Akashi’s body, possessed and fully controlled by a demon.

 

“Go away,” Kuroko said, quickly withdrawing his arms from Aomine and folding them in a hostile gesture.

 

“It isn’t as though you have much else to do,” Akashi said, tone still good-natured. Kuroko supposed it was more accurate to say that it was the demon with the good-natured tone, but he was getting a headache just from keeping track.

 

He wished this was over.

 

He wished it wasn’t his job to win back his friends.

 

He wished none of this had happened, but of course that was as empty a wish as there ever had been.

 

“In comparison to spending time with you, I would prefer to be doing nothing at all,” Kuroko said blankly.

 

“You’re pretty funny,” Akashi replied.

 

“I am hilarious when my friends are being held hostage by a demon and I am being kept against my will,” Kuroko said.

 

The demon laughed again. That sound was really beginning to irritate Kuroko.

 

“Are you just going to keep me prisoner here in the heart of the evacuated Ministry?” Kuroko demanded.

 

“This is a cordoned off wing of the building,” Akashi said. “For maintaining the magical shield around the city.”

 

“The shield is rune based, it functions on it’s own.”

 

Akashi just smirked.

 

“And clever. I see why he liked you. You know that he was furious, when he found out he came in second to you? I have literally never seen a more high strung fourteen year old.”

 

Kuroko didn’t want to hear this. It felt invasive, listening to a demon lay out Akashi’s secrets. If Akashi wanted to tell Kuroko something about their shared history, Kuroko didn’t want to hear it from a demon using Akashi’s lips to communicate. 

 

It didn’t matter that Kuroko already knew how Akashi had felt, because Kuroko didn’t want to hear anything about the other man spilled through the lips of a demon.

 

“Come on. That wasn’t a request.”

 

Kuroko glanced back at Aomine, who was watching Kuroko apologetically.

 

Well, so much for backup from his Light.

 

That wasn’t fair, Kuroko chided himself. Aomine didn’t have a choice here. If he didn’t do what Akashi wanted, he would just be forced to.

 

It was just a really bad situation.

 

Unfortunately, Kuroko had the unpleasant sinking sensation that this bad situation was about to get a whole lot worse for everyone involved.

 

With an internal sigh, he followed Akashi.

 

…

 


	53. Kuroko's Trademark Resting Bitch Face

****

…

 

Akashi led Kuroko and Aomine down a set of stars. Kuroko realized that they were getting closer to a viable exit, and looked longingly towards the doorway.

 

“You wouldn’t make it,” Akashi advised him. “And I wouldn’t recommend trying my patience.”

 

Well, he was probably right about that. Kuroko was not all that fast, and Akashi was much stronger than he was. Kuroko just needed to get far away enough to break Akashi’s line of sight and his misdirection might help him get far enough…

 

Another look at Akashi told Kuroko he wasn’t going to get the chance.

 

He started walking again, following Akashi down into the basement of the building, Aomine bringing up the rear behind them.

 

Under the building, the way was lit by white balls of magical light. Kuroko could see a rune inscribed on the bottom of each of them, and wondered who had meticulously designed such an item.

 

Midorima perhaps, but Kuroko had the impression that the Midorima had been much busier with other, more important pursuits lately.

 

The floor leveled out, and Akashi led them through an entrance that was pulsing with an opaque red ward.

 

This appeared to be some sort of potions lab. Kuroko recognized a wall of ingredients on the far side of the room, floating in clear glass jars. One of the bottles contained a glowing purple liquid that pulsed slowly as he watched it.

 

His eyes scanned the rest of the room. There was a counter set up for the preparation and mixing of ingredients, and Kuroko could see a line of knives set out meticulously on it.

 

He wondered if Akashi had brought him down here to torture him.

 

Maybe he would ask Aomine to do it, just to increase the mental impact.

 

“Well, what do you think?” Akashi asked.

 

“It’s a neat potions lab,” Kuroko said blankly.

 

“I suppose it is,” Akashi said, but he looked like he was laughing at him. “Are you sure about that?”

 

Kuroko turned around slowly, taking in a full view of the room.

 

Yeah, it looked like an updated version of the labs at Hogwarts – still underground and lit artificially, but with higher quality equipment.

 

But that couldn’t possibly be all that Akashi was referring to.

 

“I would try looking directly at the table in the middle of the room,” Akashi suggested. “Since it seems you’re missing it entirely.”

 

_ But there is no table in the middle of the room. _

 

However, as soon as Kuroko focused his attention directly in front of him, he saw that indeed there was a table there, one he had somehow overlooked. Once Kuroko knew what to look for, it had appeared, as if by magic, out of nowhere. And yet, if he was trusting Akashi’s word, the table had actually been there the whole time. Seemingly asleep on top of it, there was a man.

 

_ What? _

 

“What is this?” Kuroko asked, taking a step forward.

 

The man on the slab was very pale, with grey hair. He was wearing a loose white shirt and pants.

 

“This is one of my most inspired creations,” Akashi said, stepping up beside Kuroko. “You might say that your misdirection gave me the idea, but I started to wonder if I could create that magic within someone else. I enlisted the help of one of Hogwart’s moderately promising future healers, and created a sentient simulacrum on which to experiment.”

 

This person, whatever he was, was a creation Akashi had made in a lab. A golem, with no will or desires of its own, but existing only to serve its creator.

 

“Why?” Kuroko asked. “When did you do this?”

 

_ Was this Akashi’s idea, or yours? _

 

Kuroko’s questions went unanswered. Akashi placed a hand around his shoulders, grinning widely. He had some questions of his own.

 

“Do you really not recognize him?” Akashi asked gleefully. “Did you think that the officials of the Winter Cup would allow me to compete with only five members of my team, simply because we were  _ that  _ impressive?”

 

Kuroko stared stonily back at Akashi. What did that even mean?

 

“Six wizards,” Akashi crowed. “Myself, Reo, Kotaro, Eikichi, and Higuchi, of course, but our sixth was my most precious work.”

 

Kuroko stared at the… person? Wizard? He wasn’t sure what he was looking at, exactly, but he knew that he was looking at the sixth member of Rakuzan, the one that Nebuya and Hayama had described to him only a day before.

 

This was Mayazumi Chihiro, the wizard that could use Kuroko’s misdirection.

 

Wizard? Kuroko wasn’t even sure if that was the right word. He didn’t understand what Akashi was really showing him. 

 

“As I said, Higuchi has helped me refine the parameters on Chihiro’s magic. His misdirection is becoming better with every single experiment.”

 

“What do you mean, experiment?” Kuroko asked.

 

Akashi smiled, an adult patiently explaining something to a small child.

 

“I have found another, much more compliant shadow,” he said. “One that will not cause me so many problems with his willfulness.”

 

Kuroko stared Akashi down.

 

“I know that your magic can misdirect even my own, thanks to your friend up here,” Akashi continued, tapping his head. Kuroko met two gold eyes and wondered for the first time how Akashi was reacting to being cooped up inside his own head.

 

It must have been terrible, not that Kuroko was inclined to be sympathetic given Akashi’s actions while he was not being possessed.

 

“If you have your own phantom then just let me go,” Kuroko said. The words were empty of the strong emotion behind them.

 

“No.”

 

“Why not?”

 

Akashi hummed.

 

“Perhaps a demonstration will show you why. Stay still.”

 

Kuroko did as requested, standing straight in the same spot. Akashi had Aomine back away from Kuroko.

 

“You should be familiar with this exercise,” Akashi said. He waved his hand, and a gold ring appeared on the floor around Kuroko.

 

“Since we know that the ward will not stop you from stepping out of the circle, you should know that if you take one step over the line, the floor will immediately administer an electric shock to your body,” Akashi said. “It will hurt tremendously.”

 

“Akashi,” Aomine said in a low concerned voice.

 

“Ah ah, what was the deal, muscles-kun? You just sit there and look pretty. I’m not finished with my toy phantom yet.”

 

Kuroko’s gut clenched.

 

There it was again – Akashi’s voice but not, the words belonging to someone else entirely. The tone, the cadence, none of it sounded like his friend.

 

“Stay,” Akashi said to Kuroko before turning to Mayazumi.

 

“Time to wake up,” Akashi said, and Mayazumi’s eyes opened.

 

Watching Mayazumi Chihiro move gave Kuroko a headache. It was like the air around him just rippled, creating the indistinct impression of a human being present, but immediately pushing him away to think about and look at something else.

 

Was this how other people experienced his misdirection?

 

Kuroko watched Mayazumi move, and barely registered that Akashi had been talking with them when suddenly both wizards (though neither was a wizard in the strictest sense of the word) turned to face Kuroko.

 

“Remember, don’t leave the circle,” Akashi ordered Kuroko.

 

“Kill him.”

 

Aomine made a strangled sound that Kuroko couldn’t focus on because the bright green spell was coming directly towards him.

 

It barely had enough power to be a fully formed Avada Kedavra, but it  _ would  _ kill Kuroko if he did not move or misdirect it.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Kuroko felt the magic as it approached. It was faint and barely there, but Kuroko’s misdirection caught hold of it and flung it into the far wall.

 

It exploded in a shower of stone and glass bottles. Akashi vanished the potions before they could interact caustically.

 

“As I expected,” Akashi said calmly, as though he had not just attempted to murder Kuroko. “You can see that Mayuzumi’s misdirection has not been perfected. He cannot do what you can yet, and I need to complete the rune wards on this fortress presently. It is a matter of urgency.”

 

“Then why show me this at all?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Call it an incentive,” Akashi said. “To make yourself indispensable to me.”

 

Kuroko stared at Akashi for a long time.

 

This was so fucked up he didn’t know where to even begin.

 

How did they even end up here? How had this happened?

 

“If I had not misdirected the spell, would you have let me die?”

 

Akashi smiled tauntingly.

 

Kuroko had his answer.

 

Akashi had wholly and entirely lost his mind. There was nothing of the redhead boy Kuroko had been willing to go to the ends of the earth to support. The demon was in charge, and whatever plans it was hatching, Kuroko was willing to bet that anyone who evacuated was going to die.

 

Which meant that the runes the demon wanted Kuroko to power were almost certainly not runes meant to hide wizards and witches from demons. Whatever they were, Kuroko knew with a sinking certainty that they meant no good.

 

“I see,” Kuroko said. “I must respectfully decline.”

 

Akashi stared at him for a minute and then shrugged, his stormy expression morphing into a smile that really didn’t fit his face the way it should have.

 

“Oh well then,” he said. “I’m sure you’ll change your mind eventually. It’s just a matter of time.”

 

Kuroko didn’t know if he should be afraid of that shift in attitude or not. Akashi was a man he could predict down to the minute if he had to, because he knew Akashi just that well. But he had no idea how this demon would react or what it would do to Kuroko for his disobedience when it continued.

 

Kuroko followed Aomine back up towards the room Akashi had ordered he be placed in, and sat on his bed, lost in thought.

 

Chiefly, Kuroko wondered if he was going to have to die to continue opposing the demon possessing Akashi.

 

…

 

Kuroko woke in the dark.

 

He wasn’t alone.

 

There was someone in the room with him.

 

Kuroko wanted to shut his eyes and pray that whoever it was would go away. He couldn’t help but think it wouldn’t be that easy. He could hear the light hiss of their breath, sense their movement behind him. Kuroko opened his eyes slowly, and sat up.

 

On the other side of the room, reflecting clearly in the scant light from the moon outside, were a pair of bright yellow eyes.

 

Kuroko met the gaze of his… intruder? Savior? He couldn’t tell who was there in the dark, and given that he was here against his will it was entirely possible that this person was no friend of Akashi’s.

 

“Hello.”

 

Kuroko’s hopes were dashed fairly quickly. The low rumbling growl that echoed across the room was Aomine’s.

 

Or rather, the voice was Aomine’s. The tone and cadence was all wrong, like someone else was using his vocal cords to speak.

 

Kuroko paused.

 

Someone  _ was  _ using Aomine’s vocal cords to speak. This was the demon. Aomine’s eyes had fully changed color, and whatever demon possessing him had come here for Kuroko.

 

Oh boy.

 

Aomine pounced just as Kuroko moved.

 

Kuroko didn’t have a chance. He was tangled in the bedsheets and didn’t even make it off the bed before Aomine was on top of him, pinning him down.

 

Aomine was heavy, more heavily muscled than Kuroko, and extremely tough to shift off him.

 

Kuroko knew there was no point even trying to move Aomine, but still he pushed at the sculpted chest, trying to shove him off.

 

“Leave me alone,” Kuroko said.

 

“I will not.”

 

Those were not Aomine’s words, and this was not Aomine. Kuroko forced himself to remember that when the larger wizard pinned him down.

 

Kuroko kneed Aomine in the groin.

 

Aomine winced and fell back, and Kuroko took his opportunity. He launched himself off the bed, extricating himself from Aomine as quickly as he could.

 

Aomine was cursing on the bed, moving slowly as he came after Kuroko.

 

Kuroko was only going to have a few more seconds before the thing possessing Aomine caught back up with him, and Kuroko didn’t think he was going to get another chance like this to get away.

 

Aomine was strong enough as he was, but possessed by a demon, Kuroko stood no chance of fighting him and coming out victoriously.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Kuroko scurried across the room, aiming directly for the door. It wouldn’t open.

 

Of course it wouldn’t.

 

Kuroko tried blasting it open wandlessly, but there was nothing to show for it. He banged on the door as loudly as he could.

 

“HELP!”

 

The demon barreled into Kuroko, sending him toppling over onto the floor. Kuroko went down hard, crying out in pain as his arms were seized in a powerful grip and pinned to the floor above his head.

 

“Shh now,” the demon said, placing a hand over Kuroko’s mouth. Kuroko cried out against the hand, but he couldn’t make very much noise.

 

Kuroko jerked, forcing the demon to take Aomine’s hand away to get a better hold on Kuroko’s wrists.

 

“You’re stronger than whatever is inside you,” Kuroko said, trying to stay calm. “The only thing that can beat you is you, so don’t let this demon take you!”

 

There was no recognition in Aomine’s eyes.

 

Whoever this was, he was a stranger to Kuroko, and Kuroko had no idea if he could bring Aomine back. If he couldn’t, Kuroko had no doubt that this creature would do him serious harm. 

 

“Listen to me, please!” Kuroko implored.

 

It was not very effective.

 

The demon leaned down and licked at Kuroko’s neck, making Kuroko flinch away.

 

“He’s been holding himself back from doing just this for so long,” the demon chuckled. “You should know he’s awake, and he’s  _ so devastated _ that he’s not in charge right now.”

 

Kuroko struggled, but he couldn’t stop the demon from kissing him.

 

He didn’t want this, he didn’t want to be here.

 

He didn’t want Aomine to be in this position either.

 

Mentally apologizing to his captive friend, Kuroko bit down as hard as he could on Aomine’s tongue.

 

The demon drew back, but it didn’t let go.

 

“Well, if his toy wants to play rough, I can’t say I mind,” it leered. “I’m going to wreck you, Kuroko Tetsuya, and I’m going to make him watch. He can enjoy destroying you with his own hands.”

 

Kuroko had no doubt that the demon would do exactly as it promised. He believed it one hundred per cent.

 

“Why are you doing this?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Why? Why not?” The demon laughed, and jerked Kuroko up to his feet, not letting go of his hands. In a smooth movement, it tore Kuroko’s shirt. Aomine’s free hand wandered down his chest, feeling down the line of Kuroko’s body. Kuroko tried to squirm away from the contact, but he couldn’t.

 

“I’m a demon, we take what we want. And what I want, right now, is to take a bite of the little morsel that this guy has been thinking about since the moment I got inside his head.”

 

“Stay out of my friend’s head.”

 

The idea of this creature violating Aomine’s most private memories was beyond upsetting.

 

He had to do something.

 

“Don’t speak to me that way,” The demon snarled. “You will obey as I demand, and perhaps you will even survive this encounter. You may prefer it that way when I am done.”

 

Kuroko knew that the demon was after his fear, and he wasn’t going to give that up freely.

 

“I am not scared of Aomine, and I am not scared of you.”

 

“You should be,” the demon leered. “I am the Bringer of Storms. I am a prince of the demon realm. I am a shadow.”

 

To emphasize his point, the demon slammed Kuroko against the wall. Kuroko was sure that the movement would leave a nasty bruise on his skin. The demon was holding him up with one hand, while the other was roaming downwards, somewhere Kuroko definitively did  _ not  _ want a demon to go.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Kuroko exhaled.

 

Inspiration hit.

 

He focused his mind. He ignored Aomine’s hands crushing his wrists against the wall. He ignored every point of too-hot contact between Aomine’s skin on his own. He ignored the lips devouring his neck with amorous intent.

 

He was a shadow. He wasn’t going to react.

 

But the thing inside Aomine was a shadow too. It had said so itself.

 

_ Go back to the shadow. _

 

“You have some skill, but you’re a thousand years too early to challenge me,” the demon bragged, and reached into Kuroko’s pants.

 

_ Go back to the shadow. _

 

Aomine jerked and screamed and reared back as though he’d been burned.

 

Kuroko was given room to breathe as his friend was curled up on the floor, screaming.

 

“Leave Aomine alone,” Kuroko said.

 

“You will regret this!”

 

_ Like I regretted getting rid of Dragon Pox,  _ Kuroko thought savagely.

 

Aomine screamed once more, and then he fell silent, heaving for air. After a few minutes, Aomine remained motionless on the floor, clutching his head.

 

Cautiously, Kuroko took a few steps towards Aomine.

 

Had it worked?

 

Kuroko reached Aomine’s side before Aomine noticed that Kuroko had gotten that close. Kuroko placed a hand on Aomine’s shoulder, and the larger wizard flinched, reeling back from the touch.

 

Aomine looked up. His eyes were confused and scared, but they were clear.

 

“Tetsu?”

 

“Aomine.”

 

Kuroko hugged Aomine around the middle, burying his face in Aomine’s stomach. Aomine jumped, but his arms settled around the younger boy.

 

“I missed you.”

 

“I’m right here,” Aomine said, gently running his hands through Kuroko’s hair. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry.”

 

Aomine’s voice was soft, almost reverent. Kuroko didn’t think he had ever heard the other wizard sounding this  _ vulnerable  _ before and it dug uncomfortably at him, even as he felt the world going dark around the edges.

 

“Merlin, I’m so sorry,” Aomine said. “I don’t know what was going on, I was so angry and hungry-”

 

“It wasn’t you,” Kuroko said firmly.

 

“Tetsu,” Aomine said slowly. “It wanted what I wanted, it just took what I wouldn’t.”

 

“Then what you’re telling me is that I don’t need to worry about you hurting me,” Kuroko said. “I trust you Aomine.”

 

Aomine grimaced, but he looked around as though seeing the room they were in for the first time.

 

“It’s okay, I’m going to get us out of here. We can talk about everything when we’re safe. Akashi-”

 

“We know he had you all possessed by demons to stop the end of the world,” Kuroko said. “And that he’s a demon too.”

 

Aomine nodded sharply.

 

“Then you know that getting out of here is not going to be all that easy,” he said. “I don’t think Akashi knows I’m not still controlled by the demon inside me, so we might at least have a head start.”

 

Kuroko nodded. The world was coming back into focus, even though he could still hear a ringing in his ears.

 

“Are you going to be okay for this?” Aomine asked.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

It wasn’t exactly like they had a choice.  

 

“Someone will have heard – all of that. I think Akashi was expecting some noise.”

 

“He wanted to swoop in like a white knight and take credit for “saving” me from you after letting your demon take control, like I wouldn’t notice,” Kuroko guessed.

 

Aomine glanced back at the other wizard.

 

“That makes sense, but shit,” he said.

 

Kuroko agreed.

 

“You okay?”

 

Kuroko agreed to that too, even though he was still feeling a little unsteady.

 

“We should get out of here. Hold on, I’ll fix your shirt.”

 

Kuroko held still while Aomine magically repaired the fabric. It wasn’t as neat as Momoi’s stitching, but that required attention to detail and focus that were probably not priorities for Aomine right now. 

 

“My wand,” Kuroko said. “Kagami’s broom – I need to bring it back to him. I promised.”

 

“Oh for – Tetsu, you worried about Bakagami’s broom right now?”

 

“When it’s our best way of getting out of here, I am.”

 

Aomine sighed. With a mighty wrench, he broke open the door and started walking down the hall.

 

“Okay, we’ll get the damn broom. It’s in Akashi’s office, so we’re going to need to distract him.”

 

Kuroko thought through their cover story for just a second before it came to him.

 

“Go in, tell Akashi that you went too far, that I need medical attention. He’ll leave you behind, I sneak in, we can take my wand and Kagami’s broom, and go out the window.”

 

“That’s, like, a thirty seconds head start on a demon, I don’t love that time frame,” Aomine said, looking around nervously.

 

“Thirty seconds is better than never making it out the building, and it’s the only time we’re going to get,” Kuroko replied. “Once we’re out, you fly, I misdirect.”

 

Aomine nodded. He extended his arm out to Kuroko, fist raised. Kuroko met it with the egde of his own fist.

 

“Let’s do it.”

 

Aomine strode off down the hall, Kuroko right behind him. They were going to have to be very tight on the timing for this one. They would not have a lot of time to make their escape once 

Akashi realized their deception and if they were caught…

 

There was no telling what the demon controlling Akashi would do to either of them.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

“Daiki, to what do I owe the pleasure?”

 

“Oh I think you know,” Aomine growled.

 

“Do I?” Akashi asked pleasantly.

 

“You set the  _ demon  _ loose on Tetsu,” Aomine accused him.

 

“Or perhaps your self control is not as strong as you believe it to be,” Akashi suggested and wow, that was a low blow.

 

“What is it that you want, Daiki?” Akashi asked, staring Aomine down.

 

“I want you to save Tetsu’s life.”

 

“Went a little too far, did we?” Akashi was amused, and that made Kuroko want to vomit at how casually the other man was disregarding the potential for Kuroko having a serious injury.

 

“Just go help him,” Aomine said, disgusted with himself. “He doesn’t want me to touch him.”

 

“What he wants didn’t factor into anything else you were apparently happy to do to him,” Akashi said, sounding bored. Kuroko heard the sound of his chair being slid back, however. It seemed Akashi was willing to go along with their plan after all.

 

Kuroko held his breath as the door opened.

 

_ I’m a shadow. _

 

As soon as Akashi was gone, Kuroko slid into the room behind him.

 

“We’re on the clock,” Aomine said. He raised his hand.

 

“ _ Accio! _ ”

 

The broom came flying out of the closet, and Kuroko’s wand came flying from inside Akashi’s desk.

 

“Let’s get the hell out of here,” Aomine said, mounting the broom with Kuroko moving quickly to get into place behind him. Kuroko wrapped his arms securely around Aomine’s waist.

 

Behind them, they heard a terrible shriek.

 

“Time’s up! Duck!”

 

Aomine sped out of Akashi’s window like a bat out of hell, Kuroko clutching onto his back with everything he had, burying his face into Aomine’s broad shoulders.

 

_ I am a shadow, you can’t see us, don’t bother aiming at us, we’re just a shadow. _

 

The first curse came hurling at them only a second after they made it out of the building. Kuroko sent it crashing to the ground below, wincing as he just avoided hitting someone.

 

_ Note to self, misdirect up. _

 

“Watch it!” Aomine yelled. “I’m gonna get us some altitude!”

 

The broom tilted sharply up until they were climbing almost vertically.

 

Multiple people were now casting spells at them from the ground, and Kuroko wondered if Akashi had contacted the other Miracles.

 

All four of them were trying to bring them down.

 

“Almost there!”

 

And then two dark shapes came hurling towards them.

 

“Uh, Aomine? We’ve got company!”

 

“Well keep them off our backs until I can get us somewhere that I can apparate us out of here!”

 

The figures were speeding up. With only one of them per broom, they could move a lot faster than Kuroko and Aomine, who were a lot less aerodynamic.

 

As they neared, Kuroko saw that it was Midorima and Kise.

 

Kise was throwing blue lightning at them, shouting something with his face lit up in excitement.

 

Kuroko breathed in. He’d redirected Aomine’s lightning before.

 

The spell hit, and Kuroko sent it careening into the side of the mountain, where it hit the ward and sparked along the magic there harmlessly.

 

Aomine cheered, throwing a fist up in victory. He swooped dangerously to avoid a rune trap Midorima had set up, and then dropped suddenly, stopping to avoid another trap the green-haired Miracle had nearly forced him to roll into.

 

“Keep up if you can!” Aomine shouted.

 

“I would prefer you not egg them on and challenge them,” Kuroko said faintly, but he didn’t think that Aomine heard him. Aomine certainly didn’t act like he’d heard Kuroko’s request.

 

Aomine looped dangerously, shouting in joy, before plunging above the shield into the dangerous winds.

 

“We can’t fly here!” Kuroko shouted.

 

“Says you!” Aomine yelled back. “The only one who can beat me on a broom is me!”

 

“You’re insane!”

 

“I’m free!” Aomine shouted, and let the wind carry them two hundred feet in the air in the span of a few seconds.

 

Kuroko could feel Aomine’s joy at no longer being caged, and honestly it was infectious. He was just happy that they were escaping. He could warn his friends of what was coming, tell them that they had to get as many people as they could to safety away from Akashi.

 

The wards on Kuroko Manor could be extended as far as needed to accommodate as many people as they could convince to stay there. If Kuroko’s misdirection was truly invisible to demons, then they could stay there forever if they had to.

 

It was Akashi’s plan, without the demons.

 

Speaking of Akashi.

 

Kuroko caught sight of four mounted figures rising with them into the wind.

 

“This isn’t over!” Kuroko yelled. Aomine glanced over his shoulder and swore.

 

“Switch?” he yelled.

 

“I can’t fly like this!” Kuroko shook his head. “Get us out of here as fast as you can, beyond the reach of the apparition shields!”

 

“Will do,” Aomine said.

 

The first barrage of spells hit them. Kuroko sent them flying back at the wizards who were cursing them. Up here, he didn’t have to worry about collateral damage and the Miracle’s power was distinct and familiar enough that he could aim precisely. He heard Midorima shouting over the wind, and saw his broom starting to go down.

 

A storm of Akashi’s blood red ice hurtled towards them.

 

_ We are just a shadow. _

 

The ice diverted around them, leaving gold sparks in the air where they got too close.

 

Far away, Kuroko could hear Akashi screaming in a furious shriek of a voice that was not his own.

 

Another round of spells hit, and Aomine dodged through the hail of spellfire, laughing hysterically.

 

“Just like the old days, eh Tetsu!”

 

“I don’t know what old days you’re talking about!” Kuroko yelled.

 

Aomine whooped with laughter.

 

They were flying, almost to freedom, when Kuroko felt something strike him. He jolted back, nearly pushing Aomine off the room.

 

“Careful, you okay?”

 

“Fine!” Kuroko shouted over the wind.

 

He looked down.

 

He could have sworn he was wearing a white shirt to bed when Aomine had attacked him.

 

He could have sworn it was white.

 

It was red now.

 

Something had hit him mid flight.

 

Kuroko’s eyes went unfocused and his grip on the broom loosened involuntarily.

 

Kuroko was floating.

 

He had the vague impression of battle. Flashes of fire, and the terrible boom of thunder surrounded them.

 

Aomine started shouting behind him.

 

Kuroko could feel himself falling, and then his arm was burning with pain too.

 

Time seemed to be skipping, because one moment it was too loud to hear anything, and another they were somewhere dark and cool and quiet.

 

“-gonna kill me if you die,” a low, familiar voice was saying. “Keep it together, Tetsu…”

 

Kuroko faded out again as he felt something tugging on his stomach.

 

He wondered if he should be concerned that it didn’t hurt.

 

Kuroko woke again to Aomine’s dark face filling his vision.

 

“We need to get out of here,” Aomine said. “Are you in there? Can you even hear me?”

 

Kuroko tried to say something, but he was pretty sure that it came out as a low moan.

 

“Listen, I know you have somewhere you were hiding. You had somewhere that even Akashi couldn’t get to you, where that asshole is. Where are they?”

 

There was something telling Kuroko that he wasn’t supposed to share this information. This was a secret, something he was meant to protect with his very life.

 

“I’m trying to  _ save  _ your life!”

 

Kuroko didn’t realize he’d spoken aloud, not that it mattered. He was fading again, the world spinning and greying out. There was no way he’d stay awake long enough to tell Aomine where his family home was….

 

Kuroko woke a third time to hear yelling. Two indistinct voices bellowed at each other somewhere very far away. He had the impression of being forcibly  _ pulled,  _ and tried to hold on to his support.

 

“-did you  _ do? _ ”

 

This time, when Kuroko faded out, he stayed out.

 

…

 

Kuroko dreamed fitfully. He could feel himself jerking from side to side, but was unable to stop himself from doing so even as voices shouted at him to remain still. He screamed as he felt phantom pain (this was only a dream, it couldn’t be anything more than an illusion) piercing through his stomach. Kuroko cried and shouted. He tried to get up, but someone kept stopping him. In his dream, he reached out with his arms. He willed his hands to stretch out just a little bit farther, needing to get back on his feet, needing them to know that bad things were about to happen.

 

He had to make them understand.

 

They needed to understand.

 

Akashi was coming for them, and he was going to destroy everything. Anyone who evacuated wouldn’t be safe. Whatever the demon inside Akashi wanted, it wasn’t their friend, it wasn’t the man who wanted to help innocents.

 

It was a demon and they were all going to die.

 

Akashi’s smirking face floated before him and twisted into an expression Kuroko had never seen before. He shouted again, his hands extended. His voice echoed in his own head, but nobody seemed to be listening, and he faded back into darkness.

 

The dream shifted. The world was spinning still, and he could hear the vague, indistinct sound of voices. Kuroko couldn’t find them, not wandering through the white fog.

 

He reached out blindly, and felt a hand on his own. A voice that was warm and familiar said something to him, and he fell into the void again.

 

He dreamed that Kagami was there. He looked tired, but he was gentle as he stood watch over Kuroko. The Hufflepuff tried to reach towards his boyfriend, but found that he couldn’t move. Kuroko’s lips tried to say Kagami’s name and get the other man’s attention, but he could not find the strength to call out to him.

 

He dreamed of birds flying, that he was sitting on their backs and watching as Aomine swooped through the sky, laughing freely as he’d been unable to in years.

 

He watched as Kagami smiled fondly beside him. Aomine yelled something to Kagami – a challenge – and Kagami swooped down, joining Aomine in a high speed race as they twirled and tumbled through the sky, one right behind the other, neither ever gaining much ground, or for very long.

 

He dreamed he was in his room with Kagami, the Gryffindor sitting by his side.

 

“Where is Aomine?” Kuroko asked. “Where are the birds?”

 

Kagami only smiled. Kuroko cleared his throat and tried repeating himself, wondering if his boyfriend had heard him.

 

“Where is Aomine?”

 

Kagami’s eyes fell a little, but the smile stayed fixed where it was.

 

“Don’t worry about him right now, we’ll protect you,” he said. “You’re safe now.”

 

Kuroko was confused about what this meant, but he was sure that dream Kagami knew what he was talking about, so he fell back into his pillows. He felt like he was falling for much longer than he should have, given the distance between himself and his bed, but this was a dream, so maybe he should just let it happen.

 

“We’ll talk when you’re stronger,” the dream version of Kagami said. Even in Kuroko’s head he was as gentle and strong as he had ever been, and Kuroko was glad that nothing had changed.

Kagami’s chuckle was comforting.

 

“This is a very good dream, because you’re in it,” he said.

 

Kagami faded away again, his voice echoing in Kuroko’s head as he dreamed.

 

…

 

Kuroko woke in his own bed.

 

He could tell as soon as he opened his eyes and looked around groggily that this was his home, his room.

 

The watery sunlight was shining through the curtains. Grey clouds were covering much of the sky outside, but it was still light enough out.

 

There was a weight pressed down on the bed beside him, and Kuroko looked to the side. 

 

Someone had fallen asleep on the bed beside him, half sitting in a chair beside it, half on the bed. From the dark red hair, Kuroko knew that it had to be Kagami.

 

Relief welled up so thickly in Kuroko’s chest he thought he might choke on it for a moment. He’d worried that he wasn’t going to be able to keep his promise to the other wizard, that he wasn’t going to make it back home after all.

 

Kuroko reached out, patting Kagami’s hair. It was soft, like he remembered.

 

Kagami looked troubled, even in his sleep.

 

Kuroko opened his mouth and tried to call the other man’s name, but no noise came out.

 

This was less than ideal.

 

Kuroko spotted a glass of water sitting on the side table by his bed, and reached out for it, unthinking.

 

His arms didn’t quite obey his orders, because his left arm flailed out, smacking the glass rather than gripping it. The cup went sliding across the table and hit Kagami in the top of the head before bouncing off and landing on the floor. It shattered where it hit, sending all the water that had not doused Kagami spilling on the hardwood.

 

Kagami was awake and sputtering in an instant. It took him only a moment to spot Kuroko and see that he was also awake.

 

Kagami smiled.

 

“It’s good to see you awake,” he said. “You were out for a while.”

 

Kagami clocked the broken glass on the floor, and Kuroko’s imploring expression, and put the two of them together.

 

“You could have woken me up without giving me a shower,” Kagami gently chided. “Hold on.”

 

Kuroko found he didn’t have the energy to communicate to Kagami that he’d tried, but had been unable to.

 

Kagami repaired the glass and filled it with water again. He picked it up and gave it to Kuroko.

 

“Drink first, answers later,” Kagami said. Kuroko acquiesced. His throat was so dry it hurt, and he was going to need his voice if he was going to ask the questions he needed answers to.

 

He didn’t remember… quite how he’d gotten here.

 

“Answers now,” Kuroko said, pulling away from the cup.

 

Kagami sighed, putting the cup back on the side table.

 

“Sure you up for this?”

 

Kuroko nodded firmly.

 

“You’ve been suffering from magical exhaustion since you got back,” Kagami said, sounding tired. “It was… touch and go for a minute there. You used up a lot of power doing… something, and you got pretty badly injured. What happened, exactly?”

 

Kuroko knew that he’d need to tell Kagami everything eventually. He sighed.

 

“This is a conversation we should have with everyone,” he said. Then he paused.

 

“For a while?”

 

“What?” Kagami asked, not following Kuroko’s train of thought.

 

“You said it was touch and go for a while, how long have I been asleep?”

 

“About a week?” Kagami said, blinking in confusion. “Maybe more, I don’t know what day it is anymore. I was kind of focused on the whole keeping you alive thing.”

 

A week.

 

A week.

 

Oh god, the demon was still in Aomine.

 

“Where is Aomine?”

 

Kagami’s face darkened.

 

“You don’t need to worry about him,” he said. “He won’t hurt you.”

 

Kuroko realized then that somehow Kagami had received a grossly inaccurate version of the events surrounding Kuroko’s imprisonment. That or Aomine had tried to tell him the whole thing and either done so in a way that had deliberately pissed Kagami off, or Kagami was too angry to listen to begin with.

 

Either version fit with his Lights’ personalities. They could be so troublesome, not that Kuroko minded most of the time.

 

“Kagami, Aomine saved me,” Kuroko said. “He helped me escape.”

 

“But-”

 

“Kagami, I will tell you everything that happened,” Kuroko said, holding onto one of Kagami’s rough, calloused hands with both of his own. “I swear that I will give you a play by play of everything that happened from the moment I left home to track down Akashi. However, we have more pressing concerns. I need to talk to Aomine.”

 

Kagami paused.

 

“Kuroko,” he said uncertainly. “Are you sure? That guy… I don’t know if we can trust him. He helped Akashi kidnap you, he admitted that much to us. He said he’d hurt you…”

 

“He didn’t do anything,” Kuroko said sharply. “He was possessed. He did what the demon made him. As soon as he was in control of himself, he helped me escape...”

 

“And you want to make sure that he’s okay,” Kagami finished, sounding unhappy but resigned about the situation. “I get it, even if I don’t like it. Okay. But I don’t want you alone with him. I’m coming with you. I am not going to let him manipulate or hurt you.”

 

_ Not like he already has  _ went unsaid between them. Kuroko wanted to grumble, but he knew that he couldn’t really rebut that.

 

He was angry at Aomine. Furious, but he still cared about him.

 

It was too hard to hate the other man.

 

Kuroko reached up to put a hand on Kagami’s cheek.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “For taking care of me.”

 

Kagami turned bright red.

 

“You do that pretty well on your own,” he grumbled, deflecting. “I don’t mind coming in with the assist every now and again.”

 

“Will you help me take care of Aomine?”

 

“I’ll  _ take care  _ of him alright,” Kagami muttered, leaving it absolutely clear that given the opportunity, he would be more than happy to throw the other wizard to the wolves and let him die.

 

“Please,” Kuroko said, knowing that if Kagami wouldn’t do it for Akashi, that he would do it for him. “Aomine is important to me.”

 

There it was.

 

Kagami wasn’t going to deny Kuroko when he asked in that tone of voice.

 

“Fine, okay,” Kagami said. “Let’s get you dressed first.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

Getting out of bed was a struggle, mostly supported by Kagami’s strong arms.

 

Under ordinary circumstances, Kuroko would have enjoyed being held by his Light like this, but he was a man on a mission, and did not want to be deterred.

 

He pulled off the nightshirt. Kagami took it from him and folded it while Kuroko rummaged around for a clean one.

 

In the process he looked down and saw the long cut across his abdomen, clearly well on it’s way to healing. It was so big though, Kuroko wondered how he could have gotten hurt like that and still lived.

 

“It was pretty bad,” Kagami said. “But Kagetora got you all the way back to whole again.”

 

“The Headmaster was here?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Yeah,” Kagami said. “He had to leave when he got the news that Hogwarts was evacuating. He couldn’t just refuse to take the students to where the Ministry told him.”

 

“No,” Kuroko breathed out, grabbing Kagami’s arm. “He’s a demon. Akashi’s a demon.”

 

“We know,” Kagami said, which calmed Kuroko down. “You were shouting that as soon as you came out of your first healing session. We figured as much when you showed up all… anyway. We got some of the parents to take their kids out before the evacuation started, but right now every wizard in Britain is either deep in hiding like us or with that bastard, and who knows what he’s going to do to them.”

 

When put like that, it did sound like a pretty shitty situation.

 

“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Kagami asked again.

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I have a bad feeling about leaving it any longer,” he said. Kagami frowned.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Kuroko hesitated, the clean shirt still in his hands. He was pretty sure that telling Kagami that the demon was still inside of Aomine would ensure that his partner would never let him anywhere near Aomine. He would be pissed off that Kuroko tried to hide it.

 

At the same time, Kuroko couldn’t hide it. It wasn’t safe. Even if it was, he couldn’t hide something like this from his Light.

 

“The demon inside of Aomine is only suppressed, not gone,” Kuroko said, pulling on a new shirt.

 

“What does that mean?” Kagami demanded.

 

“I do not know how long his control may last,” Kuroko admitted.

 

“So this guy is just a ticking time bomb, and he could wig out and go full on demon on us any second?” Kagami yelped. “He could be a demon right now, for all we know!”

 

“I am sure that Aomine will remain in control of himself,” Kuroko said, more steady than he felt. “And that I will be able to help remedy the problem. I am not asking, I am telling you to bring me to Aomine.”

 

“And I’m telling you that that’s not happening, especially when you’re still barely able to get to your feet!” Kagami replied. “We’ll figure something else out to help him, but-”

 

“Kagami.”

 

Kuroko’s voice cut through Kagami’s like a knife.

 

“Take me to Aomine,” Kuroko said. His voice was determined and stubborn. “I do not want to fight with you about this. Aomine needs help and I think I may be the only one who can do it.”

 

“And what if he hurts you?” Kagami demanded.

 

For some reason, that dug at Kuroko. He knew that the response came from a place of caring, that Kagami was only reacting to his own fear, but he was pissed off and tired of people trying to protect him.

 

“Did you mean it or not?” Kuroko demanded.

 

“Mean what?”

 

“That I can take care of myself?” Kuroko asked. “That we’re partners, that I’m strong enough to stand beside you in the arena?”

 

Kagami looked thrown for a loop.

 

“I meant every word and you know it,” he said, low and passionate.

 

“Then trust me,” Kuroko said. “Trust my strength, and let me do what I need to to get back our friend. I can do this, and I don’t need to be protected.”

 

Kagami didn’t know exactly when Aomine had become  _ their  _ friend, given that he’d been a grade A, fully pasteurized, unrivalled asshole for the entire time Kagami had known him. He was willing to concede that by virtue of his own choices, any friend of Kuroko’s was a friend of his own. If Kuroko cared about Aomine…

 

Then Kagami had no choice but to help him.

 

Even if he hated it, and hated Aomine a little bit for being the reason why Kuroko felt the need to put himself in danger.

 

There was a very small, deep part of him that wondered if Kuroko would leave him the moment Aomine became an available, non-demonically possessed asshole of an option, but that wasn’t a reason to let Aomine still be possessed by a demon. Whatever Kagami and Kuroko had, it wasn’t about Aomine and it never had been. If Kuroko left, he left, and Kagami would have to let him go.

 

Kagami sighed, getting a handle on his emotions.

 

“Fine, but like I said, I’m coming with you,” he said. “Let’s go.”

 

Kuroko found that the longer he was on his feet, the more clear headed he felt. He figured his weakness was due as much to the healing potions that were no doubt in his system as to his own injury. The cut had looked like it was almost as healed as it could get, anyway. A week’s convalescence was pretty heavy duty in a society where magic healing existed.

 

Kagami brought Kuroko to one of the lesser used studies on the bottom floor of the mansion. Kuroko had an idea of how he would find Aomine, given some of Kagami’s reactions, so he was mostly prepared when Kagami pulled out a key to unlock the door.

 

He was less than pleased with the fact that the door opened to show an unconscious Aomine, strapped down to a table. The red of Kagami’s magic surrounded him like a second skin, sparking occasionally.

 

Kuroko guessed that the magic was to keep Aomine asleep to avoid having to worry about him burning his way out of the mansion at the first possible opportunity.

 

“Was this really necessary?”

 

It wasn’t exactly accusatory, but Kuroko was definitely giving Kagami the stink eye.

 

“He showed up on our doorstep covered in blood carrying your unconscious body and-”

 

Kagami stopped before his voice could catch.

 

_ And I thought you were dead. I was ready to kill him. _

 

“We weren’t sure we could believe his side of the story until we talked to you,” Kagami settled on instead. “Hey, we  _ healed  _ him too, we didn’t just leave him outside, which I could have. We didn’t know  _  there was still a demon in him. _ ”

 

Kuroko just stared at him. This was reasonable. He was still unhappy about it.

 

“Wake him up,” Kuroko told Kagami. “Please.”

 

“You’re sure about this?”

 

“Please do not ask me that again.”

 

Kagami sighed. He raised a hand and gestured. The red magic surrounding Aomine lifted, and Kuroko approached the man bound to the table.

 

Aomine was moving only slightly, clearly struggling to come out of his magically induced nap.

 

Kuroko held onto Aomine’s hand, watching the wizard carefully.

 

“Aomine,” Kuroko called softly. “It’s time for you to wake up. You have been asleep for far too long.”

 

Aomine didn’t move.

 

Kuroko jabbed him gently in the side.

 

Aomine’s eyes opened.

 

They were clear and blue.

 

“Hi.”

 

“Tetsu.”

 

Aomine shifted in his restraints, looking around at the room they were in.

 

“You gonna let me out, or what?”

 

“I still say leave him in there for a bit,” Kagami said. He was still leaning against the doorframe, his arms folded across his broad chest. He looked ready to spring forward and attack at the slightest provocation.

 

“I haven’t decided whether or not I’m gonna kill him yet,” the redhead added. “Been thinking about it for most of the week, actually.”

 

“Oi, Bakagami, you let me out of here right now or I’ll-”

 

“You’ll what, Ahomine? You have more than enough to answer for as it is.”

 

Aomine closed his eyes, a pained expression crossing his features.

 

“Everything I did, I did for you, Tetsu. You know that right?”

 

Kagami huffed, but Kuroko placed a gentle hand on Aomine’s cheek.

 

“Yes. I do.”

 

“Kuroko-”

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko replied, fixing Kagami with the same bland expression. “I told you that Aomine  _ helped me escape _ . He did not hurt me.”

 

Kagami might have had an easier time believing this if Aomine didn’t look as guilty as he did.

 

“Fine,” Kagami threw his hands up into the air. “Fucking fine, just forgive him for everything he did to you and both of us, why don’t you-”

 

“Kagami,” Kuroko said again, and Kagami shut up. Clearly unhappy, Kagami folded his arms as Kuroko turned back to Aomine and spoke again.

 

“The demon is still in you.”

 

Aomine felt the skin on the back of his neck crawling unpleasantly. He was seized by desperation.

 

“Please, you’ve got to kill me, if it comes back I can’t control it-”

 

“See? He’s on board with that plan,” Kagami said, turning Kuroko. “That’s two against one, so I say put an iron knife in his chest and burn the rest of him with vervain, hazel, and salt to make sure he stays down.”

 

“Come on, Tetsu You know how much it hurts me to agree with Bakagami, but he’s right-”

 

“Stupid Aho-“

 

“SHUT UP!”

 

Kuroko had not meant to yell, but he wasn’t going to listen to his Lights argue about whether or not they should kill Aomine.

 

He wasn’t going to stand here and listen to that.

 

This was so fucked up.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes, breathing hard, trying to figure out what to do.

 

“Tetsu,” Aomine sounded pained. “You need to let me go.”

 

“No,” Kuroko said.

 

“Kuroko,” Kagami said.

 

“Both of you shut up,” Kuroko said. “I’m not leaving either of you behind, so shut up! We are not killing Aomine, so just  _ stop it! _ ”

 

Both of Kuroko’s Lights reeled in surprise at the vehemence of Kuroko’s objection.

 

“You said everything you did, you did for me,” Kuroko said. “Everything I’ve been fighting for is to help you, too. So stop telling me that my fight is useless already, and let me help you!”

 

“I won’t let you get hurt!” Aomine roared.

 

“I will not be harmed,” Kuroko said calmly, confidently. “And even if that was a risk, I am an adult and placing myself in danger is a choice only I can make for myself. Do not presume to tell me where to stake my heart and my life.”

 

_ I am a shadow and I cannot be harmed. _

 

Kuroko was  _ almost  _ certain he could save his friend without hurting Aomine or himself, and in this case, almost was actually enough. He could feel his magic, like a second heartbeat under his skin, thrumming to life as Kuroko called on it.

 

He could do this.

 

Kuroko placed a hand on the middle of Aomine’s chest.

 

“Kagami, please leave,” Kuroko said.

 

“What the hell?” Kagami demanded.

 

Aomine looked between Kagami and Kuroko.

 

“What’s going to happen?” he demanded, his eyes wild.

 

“I am going to command the demon to leave,” Kuroko said.

 

“And you think that’s going to work?”

 

Kuroko shrugged.

 

“I don’t know,” he said honestly.

 

Kagami covered his face with his hand.

 

“This is going to be like that thing with you and those second years isn’t it?” he asked.

 

“Probably,” Kuroko admitted. “At least my guns have gotten better since then.”

 

Kagami exhaled sharply through his nose.

 

“Could you please take risking your life more seriously?” he asked. “You’re going to give me an aneurism before I turn twenty.”

 

Kuroko put a hand on Kagami’s shoulder.

 

“I am,” he said. “I promise, I can do this.”

 

“Bakagami, you’re really gonna be stupid enough to let Tetsu put himself in danger? For me? You’re supposed to be his Light! You’re supposed to protect him, not let him die over someone who isn’t even worth it!”

 

Kuroko glared at Aomine. Kagami looked like he was going to start a fight all over again, but one look at Kuroko’s stubborn face told him that he should know better.

 

“I am going to save Aomine,” Kuroko said. “If either of you have any further objections, you can silence them.”

 

The ice in his voice cut like a knife.

 

Kagami exhaled through his teeth in frustration.

 

“Just be careful,” he said after a long moment. “I believe in you, I just… I don’t ever want to see you get hurt.”

 

“I will be fine,” Kuroko said, far more confidently and calmly than he felt.

 

He had made the demon in Aomine retreat, but getting it to leave entirely? He didn’t even have the first idea what he was doing.

 

Kagami nodded, and left, closing the door behind him.

 

“You sure you wanna do this, Tetsu?” Aomine asked. “Listen, we can find another way-”

 

“If you will accept my help, I am willing,” Kuroko said. “Please let me help you, Aomine.”

 

And because Aomine was weak to those eyes, he agreed.

 

“How are we going to do this?” he asked, resigning himself to the fact that this was happening.

 

“I believe you will have to let the demon take control again, in order to expel it,” Kuroko said. “I do not know how else to reach it.”

 

“You believe?” Aomine asked skeptically. “Do you actually know what you’re doing because-”

 

“You will be fine,” Kuroko said. “The only one who can beat you is you, so what are you worrying about some demon for?”

 

“Really?” Aomine demanded. “Man, you gonna throw that into my face right now?”

 

Kuroko gave him some more of his trademark deadpan resting bitch face.

 

Tentatively, he reached out with his magic.

 

It had been the strange power of his misdirection that had flowed through him and let him cage the demon in the first place. Kuroko reached for that alien presence in Aomine’s mind again.

 

“You will be fine,” Kuroko said, with far more confidence than he felt.

 

He broke the seal on the demon.

 

Immediately, the powerful magic of the demon surged forward. Aomine’s eyes burned gold, and he thrashed against the straps holding him down to the table.

 

“RELEASE ME AT ONCE!”

 

The voice was not Aomine’s. It was terrifying, loud, and otherworldly.

 

“Hello,” Kuroko said politely. The demon turned burning gold eyes on him.

 

“Excuse me, but I have to ask you to please stop possessing the body you are in,” Kuroko said, as firmly as he could. He could feel the demon’s magic, ready to lash out and turn him into mincemeat with a single thought.

 

And then the demon started laughing.

 

It was not a nice sound, more like nails on a chalkboard, screeching and terrible. Kuroko patiently waited it out.

 

“I AM THE SHADOW. I AM THE STORM. I AM ADDAD, DESTROYER OF WORLDS-”

 

Kuroko’s patience snapped.

 

“Get out of my friend.”

 

Kuroko had just been kidnapped, broken free with the help of his former dueling partner, been seriously injured, spent who knew how much time sitting in bed healing, and he was absolutely, one hundred percent done with this entire situation. He stood his ground as the demon opened it’s mouth wide to roar directly in Kuroko’s face.

 

“WHO DARES INTERRUPT ME?”

 

“I do.”

 

“YOU PALTRY, PATHETIC-”

 

“Shut up.”

 

The look on Aomine’s face would have been hilarious in any other situation.

 

But there was  _ something  _ in his friend and Kuroko was going to help him. Kuroko knew that somewhere in there, the man he cared about was desperately trying to free himself from alien control over his own body. He was locked away in a hell Kuroko didn’t care to dwell on.

 

“You are wrong,” Kuroko said, his face completely still. “ _ I _ am the shadow. Return to the filth from whence you came.”

 

“I WILL NOT BE ORDERED ABOUT BY A PEON!”

 

With a surge of magic, the demon pulled free of its restraints. Aomine’s body advanced on Kuroko, looming threateningly over him.

 

_ I’m no peon. I am the shadow. I am where the light does not shine. I am the void. _

 

Aomine screamed.

 

Kuroko watched as the other wizard’s skin rippled. His eyes burned gold, and then green as a vaguely humanoid shape lifted away from Aomine’s skin.

 

“I said  _ leave him _ .”

 

With another inhuman screech from Aomine, the shadow jerked.

 

I’LL KILL HIM, I SWEAR I WILL!

 

The demon’s true voice echoed in Kuroko’s head. He thought the sound was going to rip out his brain through his ears, it was so painfully abrasive.

 

“You won’t,” Kuroko said confidently. “Now, please leave Aomine alone.”

 

The sound of harsh laughter filled the room around Kuroko. The room seemed to grow darker and colder as the shadow in front of him grew darker and darker, its green eyes burning in the darkness.

 

And then it ripped free.

 

Aomine fell.

 

Kuroko moved to go to him, but he was blocked by the sharp-toothed mouth of the demon, freed from Aomine’s mortal shell, and very much prepared to devour Kuroko whole.

 

Kuroko didn’t react.

 

The face was rotted through, grey muscle over dark bone. The teeth were distinct enough, as were the spindly arms ending in huge, terrifying claws.

 

The thing extended wings that only barely avoided clipping either wall of the room.

 

I AM ADDAD. I AM THE STORM.

 

Green lightning burned along its body.

 

Kuroko held his ground. There was no point being afraid of this thing – it would either eat him or leave him alone. Either way, he would have very little control over which of the two options this demon chose.

 

“Thank you,” Kuroko said.

 

The demon laughed again, that horrible noise that made Kuroko want to cover his ears and run.

 

YOU ARE QUITE SOMETHING, LITTLE WIZARD. I WILL ENJOY FORCE FEEDING YOU EVERY INCH OF YOUR INTESTINES BIT BY BIT AND HARVESTING YOUR SOUL. YOU CAN LIVE ON IN AGONY FOREVER INSIDE OF ME!

 

As the demon shrieked, it grew louder and angrier. Kuroko still did not allow himself to react. He held his ground as the creature burned with power and started to charge, claws extended.

 

_ I am the void. I am the void. You can feel it here, the darkness from whence you come. _

 

I WILL DESTROY YOU, YOU INSOLENT GNAT!

 

_ Go back to the void, Fiend. _

 

The demon’s grating, terrible laugh filled the room again.

 

The floor beneath them grew bright, glowing with green magic.

 

The room lightened, the shadows losing their grip.

 

IF YOU LIKE THE DEMON REALM SO MUCH, YOU CAN JOIN ME, WIZARD.

 

Kuroko felt the floor tilt up to meet him. the ground began to swallow up the demon. It screamed and shrieked, the sound making Kuroko want to reach up to cover his ears, but he couldn’t move.

 

And then suddenly everything felt very cold. Kuroko felt something pulling at him.

 

Kuroko looked down.

 

A black claw was gripping deep inside his chest.

 

The world began to grey out.

 

All Kuroko could hear was his own rushing, ringing pulse, and Aomine’s reassuring if ragged breathing somewhere close by. He closed his eyes, welcoming blackness.

 

That hadn’t been so hard. Aomine was free, and now the demon was gone.

 

He had done it.

 

…

 

Kuroko woke in the dark.

 

He woke alone.

 

Behind him, with the unmistakable sound of being in excruciating, hellish pain, someone screamed.

 

…


	54. The Dank Meme Lord Dumbledores The Shit Out Of Kuroko

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Super critical authors note! Remember how this fic is tagged for graphic descriptions of violence? Remember how it's rated M? Remember how I tagged character death? Hey, we're getting to the point with the blood and violence and shit. Here's your last signposted warning.
> 
> That said, this chapter is actually one of my favorites, and it turned out epically awesome. I hope you like it!

 

…

 

_ Kuroko woke in the dark. _

 

_ He woke alone. _

 

_ Behind him, with the unmistakable sound of being in excruciating, hellish pain, someone screamed. _

 

Kuroko whirled around in alarm.

 

Wherever he was, he was cold. Kuroko shivered, his eyes staring fruitlessly into the darkness.

 

He could sense  _ things  _ moving just beyond his vision.

 

Another high pitched shriek make Kuroko whirl around, moving in stumbling circles as he tried to identify the source of the terrible noise.

 

He couldn’t see anything.

 

The darkness was so thick it was almost palatable. Kuroko could feel the ground below his feet and sense enough open air that he was almost sure he was outside… somewhere. But when he looked up, the sky was completely black, as black as the whole world around him.

 

What if he’d been blinded?

 

Kuroko used his magic to summon a small ball of pale blue light.

 

He wasn’t blind, then. Just somewhere very dark.

 

Kuroko peered around the area that he could see. The soil under his feet looked volcanic. It crunched below his feet.

 

He could still hear the shrieking noises in the distance, but they appeared to have moved farther away.

 

Kuroko turned, peering into the darkness trying to discern if there was any indicator of where he was or where he should go to leave.

 

That was the only thing Kuroko knew for sure. Wherever he was, however he had gotten here, he needed to get out.

 

There was another scream right behind him and Kuroko whirled, bringing the light with him.

 

He was looking directly at a demon.

 

The creature  _ looked  _ human. It was in the form of a human, a man with messy black hair, and skin even darker than Aomine’s. His frame was thin and wiry, and (like most people he knew) towered over Kuroko.

 

The man looked perfectly ordinary, but Kuroko knew that he was anything but.

 

He could sense the malevolent magic radiating off the demon like a beacon, like it was purposely trying to exude an aura of dark magic.

 

It was giving Kuroko a headache.

 

“You humans are so annoying,” the demon said, examining its human hands. “Do you have any idea how long I waited to get back to the human world? You ruined everything!”

 

“I am sorry,” Kuroko said, not giving a flying fuck what he’d ruined for the demon that had been controlling one of his best friends.

“Oh? Would you prefer that I take a different face?” the demon asked. In an instant, the skin on its face rippled. Where the demon had been, Aomine stood, smirking at Kuroko.

 

Kuroko shuddered and looked away.

 

“Stop that,” he said absently. “Leave me alone.”

 

“I don’t want to.”

 

Kuroko ground his teeth in frustration.

 

He was stuck here, but where exactly was  _ here _ ?

 

From all appearances (such as the total blackness provided, anyway) it was somewhere he wanted to leave as quickly as physically possible.

 

Kuroko tried as hard as he could to ignore the demon as he looked around, trying to find any sign or recognizable feature.

 

The demon was  _ still  _ talking. Kuroko started walking in another direction, the witch light following him.

 

In an instant, the demon was right in front of him again.

 

“You are a very rude human.”

 

“You are a very rude demon,” Kuroko said, giving no ground. “Please go away.”

 

The demon smirked.

 

“There is very little chance of me doing so.”

 

Well, if the demon wasn’t going to go away, Kuroko would. He started walking in the opposite direction, hoping that the demon would be too busy bitching about no longer being in the human world to notice Kuroko had left.

 

If they were no longer in the human world, Kuroko surmised that meant that they were in the realm of demons, and he didn’t like where that thought took him.

 

He had no idea how to get back from here or even really where  _ here  _ was, relative to the Earth he wanted to return to.

 

In an instant, the demon was in front of him, grabbing Kuroko’s biceps in a grip that was stronger than it should have been, even considering that it was currently wearing Aomine’s well-built muscles.

 

With a heave, the demon picked Kuroko up and threw him. Kuroko’s flight was stopped by a nearby rock. He hit it hard, coming into contact with the ground on his stomach, driving the air out from his lungs.

 

The demon sauntered over, standing right in front of Kuroko.

 

“I love your human forms,” he said.

 

“Go away,” Kuroko wheezed, trying to get back to his feet. He managed to sit up, leaning against the rock as he glared at the demon. He was hurting too much to do more than sit there for the moment.

 

“You’re incredibly disrespectful. After spending so much time inside that blockhead’s brain I figured you were some kind of saint. Figures he was too stupid to see you for the way you really are.”

 

“Don’t talk about Aomine,” Kuroko almost snapped.

 

With all of his effort, Kuroko pulled himself up until he was standing, using the rock for support while he glared down the demon to make his point.

 

He really needed to figure out how to get out of here, but first he needed to get rid of this demon.

 

“Okay, okay, got it: hands off the hot boyfriend.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

The demon smirked and in the blink of an eye, it was looming over him. It had changed forms again, all pretense of humanity gone, pinning Kuroko to the rock that he was trapped against. The black skin stretched over its grotesque form, green lightning burning along the scaly sides.

 

“You really are amusing,” a mouth that should not have been capable of human speech said around a mouthful of dagger-sharp teeth. “But I think I would rather enjoy eating you right now.”

 

Those sharp jaws yawned open.

 

Kuroko was frozen to the spot, cool acceptance running through his veins.

 

Where could he run to that he wouldn’t be caught by a demon? Outside the small circle of pale light, he couldn’t even see where he was going. Even if he had somewhere to run  _ to,  _ Kuroko wasn’t the fastest.

 

He was going to die here.

 

The demon roared.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes.

 

He could feel the putrid breath of the creature on his face, and braced for impact with those terrifying teeth.

 

It never came.

 

The demon had pulled back, now wearing the same human face it had worn when they had met.

  
  


“Fascinating,” the demon said, looking at Kuroko like he was a bug under a microscope. Kuroko didn’t enjoy the expression, but if it meant that he survived another few minutes he was willing to take being a curiosity over being dinner.

 

The demon peered more closely at Kuroko in the light of his blue witch light.

 

“How odd, are you sure you’re a wizard?” it asked, reaching for the little bubble of light.

 

Kuroko jerked it away from the demon frantically, not wanting to be left in the dark again.

 

The demon’s hand closed around the orb as though it was a physical presence.

 

And then the world exploded in light.

 

…

 

Kuroko was somewhere else when the light faded.

 

He could tell immediately because the darkness around him, which remained unchanged, was less oppressive, gentler somehow. It was cool, but not the sharp ice cold of wherever he had come from.

 

Thankfully, it seemed the demon was gone, though it was too dark to know that for sure. It was no longer bothering him, so Kuroko thought that was probably a safe assumption.

 

Another scream split the air, but this one was much more human. The female voice was guttural and sounded like the person behind it was in agony.

 

Kuroko blinked.

 

He had apparently just spontaneously changed locations.

 

How strange.

 

“Yo.”

 

Kuroko turned to see a man.

 

This man was very odd, as far as any person Kuroko had ever seen. He appeared to be very old, with a long beard held together with neon colored hair ties. A cap was perched on his head with the letters #TRASH above the flat brim across the front.

 

He was wearing sunglasses, but they didn’t appear to be particularly effective. They had no lenses, and instead consisted of plastic bars over where the glass should be.

 

The man was wearing a black shirt with white lettering proclaiming the phrase “DICKS OUT FOR HARAMBE” in all capital letters, with an open button down shirt over it that was decorated with pineapples that appeared to be smoking something.

 

Under the shirts, he had loose, brightly colored shorts, ending in feet wearing some plastic shoe with small holes in it that Kuroko couldn’t imagine the function of.

 

On top of all that, this man was glowing slightly, as though he was not quite corporeal, though the light did not appear to in any way illuminate the room around them.

 

All in all, the man looked like he absolutely didn’t belong. He looked bizarre in a way Kuroko did not quite know how to process.

 

The woman screamed again, somewhere nearby.

 

“Excuse me, but who are you?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Now that’s a new one,” the man said with a wide grin. “I’m your cool force-ghost uncle here to lay some truth bombs on you.”

 

This did not make anything remotely like sense to Kuroko.

 

“What?”

 

The man laughed heartily.

 

“Kid, I’m Merlin.”

 

The woman gave off another guttural, pained scream.

 

“You’re joking,” Kuroko said flatly.

 

“No I’m serious!” The main raised the neon glasses over his large cap and met Kuroko’s eyes squarely. “I’ve been out of the mix for a bit and spending a lot of time on the internet, sorry. I’m Merlin, and if you’re here, that means there’s something you really need to see.”

 

“Where is here, exactly?”

 

“Dowth, Ireland,” Merlin said. “About 3200 BC. You’re in a memory. A very, very old memory.”

 

Kuroko nodded, because that wasn’t weirder than anything else he’d dealt with in the last twenty four hours, and instead occupied himself with peering around in the dark.

 

Suddenly, light pierced the blackness. Kuroko looked, following the path of the beam of light.

 

It was a single ray of dim sunlight, and it was coming from down a long passageway, shining out of the dark and directly onto an altar in the middle of a round, cavernous room.

 

Kuroko looked around, seeing stones piled high into a rounded, rough ceiling above them. The walls were decorated with spirals and wavy shapes, the symbols barely discernable in the still semi darkness. In the empty alcove to the side, Kuroko saw the largest collection of triple spiral sigils in the small room.

 

The single ray of sunlight started to widen, and it fell onto an altar at the far side of the small, circular room, in a little enclave.

 

Kuroko corrected his earlier supposition that they were in a cave. If there was light shining in they must have been in some kind of structure, or at least close enough to the surface to be able to have light filter in from down the passageway.

 

There was a woman on an altar, in a position Kuroko recognized well enough when he saw it. He didn’t need to be any kind of licensed healer to recognize the position from textbooks Healer Takeda had thrown at him during the long summers he had spent in Los Angeles.

 

The woman was about to give birth.

 

In the darkness around him, hooded figures moved, attending the woman as she heaved for breath. What Kuroko could see from the dim light shining into the room told him that her skin was waxy and sweaty. She had likely been here for some time.

 

“Once she was far enough along, the midwives brought her here,” Merlin said, and Kuroko looked up at him. “This is a temple. When the village prophet foresaw that she would give birth today, the holiest and most important day of the year, they saw an opportunity.”

 

“Opportunity?” Kuroko asked.

 

The woman screamed again as the child was brought into the world. Its eyes opened, and the infant began to cry. Loud, healthy wails filled the air.

 

The woman screamed, reaching out her hands in the semi-darkness, crying in a language Kuroko didn’t understand. She tried to clutch at her child, but pain kept her mostly still on the altar as the child was taken away. The priests did not respond to her begging or tears, and Kuroko felt a deep sympathy for the poor woman.

 

“A child born with the rising of the sun,” Merlin said. “Perfectly timed, on the day of the summer solstice, the dawn of the longest day of the year. There is a powerful confluence of power in that.”

 

It seemed that the scene wasn’t over yet. The child was placed in another one of the three alcoves, in a round bowl on top of a raised dais. One priest drew a mark on the child’s head in black paint.

 

The woman was screaming again, and Kuroko realized that the birth wasn’t over yet. There was another child to be born.

 

The light in the single ray from the sun was starting to dim and the ray was becoming thinner as the sun began to pass over the point in the horizon that aligned perfectly with the entrance to the temple. They were left in the dark again.

 

The woman continued to scream for several more minutes, breathing heavily.

 

Kuroko wondered how these priests could see what they were doing when it was pitch black.

 

He could see the faint outline of bodies, and figured that while the sun was no longer directly shining into the passage, at least some light was, which guided the priests as the second child was born.

 

One priests raised a glowing knife above the mother, positioning a bowl beneath her neck. Kuroko didn’t look away in time to avoid seeing the mother bleed out while her twin children were in the same room.

 

She fell still.

 

The first infant was still crying, but the second was quiet. Kuroko could see that it was moving, and probably perfectly healthy as well, but it wasn’t bawling like the older one.

 

“Poor kid didn’t have a chance,” Merlin said. In the semi darkness, the second child was brought over to the altar with the first. It was not marked up the same way.

 

“Sorry about what you’re gonna see,” Merlin said. “This is probably gonna be triggering.”

 

Kuroko did not have nearly enough warning as the second infant, in this world for only moments, was raised above their twin.

 

The priests started chanting, and Kuroko watched in faint horror as the body of the younger twin started to glow gold.

 

There was a burst of green fire around the bowl, scorching the sides but leaving the child inside safe and untouched.

 

The priests were still chanting, and the light became too sharp to look at directly.

Kuroko saw a silver knife being raised and -

 

The baby’s throat was slit.

 

Red blood splattered into the basin around the older twin. The first baby started to cry all over again as the younger fell silent and still.

 

In an instant, it was dead.

 

The light had vanished, and the child’s body was burning up, turning into ash in the hands of the priest holding it. The remains, still crumbling into black ash, were placed beside the older twin, who was still faintly glowing.

 

The rune on the baby’s head glowed the brightest of any source of illumination in the room, shining brilliantly in the dark.

 

The priests began to cheer.

 

The image faded away, and Kuroko was left in the darkness again.

 

There was a long moment of silence as Kuroko tried to parse through and process what he had seen. The whole ritual had been pretty chilling.

 

“What was that?” Kuroko asked.

 

“That was desperation,” Merlin said. “My people needed a way out. They believed that creating a warrior to defend them was the only way they could survive. Desperation will make even the best people do insane things, and they weren’t the best of men to begin with. They wanted some chosen one to fight their battles for them, and they got me.”

 

Kuroko thought of Akashi, how noble and proud he had been, how he had undertaken his own insane campaign to save his friends and the rest of the wizards in Britain.

 

These people must have been very afraid, to get this desperate.

 

Kuroko didn’t like thinking about it, because Akashi had always seemed so strong and confident, like he was always in control and always knew what was going on around him, but he must have been very afraid too.

 

Realization caught up with Kuroko as he slowly understood what Merlin was telling him.

 

“That was  _ you? _ ”

 

Merlin nodded.

 

“Yeah, it was me,” he confirmed. “In the flesh. I was born and created to help fight demons, and this ritual was meant to make it so that my magic would be able to work on demons without them being able to eat it. They literally couldn’t sense me because my magic was so different.”

 

“Misdirection,” Kuroko murmured.

 

“If that’s what paddles your canoe,” Merlin said.

 

Kuroko didn’t know if that was an agreement or not, but chose to take it as such, since no other explanation was provided.

 

“Why did you show me this?”

 

Merlin sighed.

 

“I guess there’s another piece of shit pie you’re gonna have to get through before I can give you the whole story,” Merlin said. “Hold on, and when it’s over I’ll try to answer all of your questions.”

 

They had changed locations, but Kuroko got the same closed in impression of them being inside of a cave. In the background, he could hear another woman screaming.

 

This time however, he could see the temple. It was lit by red spheres of witch light, leaving dim but clear impressions of this second temple.

 

It had a similar setup as the last one, with three alcoves in a small chamber at the end of a long hallway, but the sigils were different. The triple spirals continued to feature prominently, but they were arranged in different ways.

 

“They represent the cycles of the sun,” Merlin said, seeing Kuroko’s eyes following the designs. “Where we were last, the symbols feature the summer solstice above the main altar. Here, the symbols feature the winter solstice above the most sacred part of the temple.”

 

“So this is-”

 

“Sunset on December 20 th ,” Merlin said softly. “The dying sun of the winter solstice, before the longest, coldest, darkest night of the year. Or rather, this is a few minutes before sunset, about nineteen years ago.”

 

Kuroko turned his attention to the woman on the altar.

 

Perhaps it was a trick of the dim red light, but Kuroko thought that he knew her, or at least had seen her before.

 

He definitely knew the man who was gently wiping her forehead, speaking in low, comforting tones: Akashi Masaomi.

 

He looked much younger than the last time Kuroko had seen him. There were no deep lines in his face, and his hair was the same bright color of his son’s with no grey in it, but Kuroko recognized him nonetheless.

 

_ December 20, about nineteen years ago. _

 

This was Akashi’s birthday.

 

Kuroko was about to watch his former dueling captain being born.

 

His day had gone from terrible to downright bizarre (and yet somehow, managed to remain equally as terrible all the way through).

 

Kuroko couldn’t catch any of the words Masaomi was saying to his wife (Akashi’s mom), but he never stopped speaking. His wife screamed, labor sending pangs of pain through her body.

 

Kuroko really didn’t want to watch this, but  _ Merlin himself  _ had insisted that this was important.

 

He grit his teeth.

 

Akashi’s mother started crying out with more frequency, and that was when panic began to set in on Masaomi’s face.

 

“Just a few more minutes, please, just hold on,” he said.

 

“Masaomi, he’s coming NOW!”

 

“Just wait!”

 

“YOU TELL THAT TO THE DAMN BABY COMING OUT OF  _ YOUR _ VAGINA!”

 

Kuroko thought that, despite having been yelled at the top of her lungs, this was an excellent point.

 

“But the ritual-”

 

“HANG THE DAMN RITUAL AND HELP ME PUSH THIS GODDAMN BABY OUT!”

 

Masaomi looked like he wanted to argue with his wife more, but Kuroko was glad that he reconsidered. Instead, he kissed her on the forehead.

 

“Okay, okay,” he whispered. “Let’s meet our son.”

 

The woman leaned back, crying out in pain as her husband left her side to get into position to help her give birth.

 

Several minutes later, still surrounded by darkness, Kuroko could hear the sharp keen of a healthy baby’s cries.

 

“Poor child,” Merlin said softly. “Born just a few minutes too early. Don’t let anyone tell you punctuality never killed anyone.”

 

Kuroko stared as Masaomi cursed.

 

“No, it’s too early, it’s too early-”

 

“It’s okay Masaomi,” his wife called. “We don’t need to go through with it. Our second son is coming-”

 

Her voice was cut off by a guttural moan.

 

_ But Akashi isn’t a twin,  _ Kuroko thought, trying to put the pieces of what he had seen together. There was no second Akashi brother. If there had been, he would know. The whole world would have known.

 

“No, we must,” Masaomi said. “We must. The second child will be born with the death of the shortest sun, he will serve instead.”

 

“NO, MASAOMI-”

 

Masaomi’s wife’s cries cut off whatever else she was going to say.

 

It was only a few minutes before a ray of dim amber sunlight cast through the passageway, illuminating the temple.

 

“It’s time!”

 

Masaomi’s expression was lit with the excitement of a madman.

 

“Just – just please, take care of them.”

 

Not six minutes after his twin was brought into the world, Akashi Seijuro was born.

 

Kuroko watched in awe as Masaomi held his second son. The little boy opened his eyes and screamed, wailing with healthy lungs.

 

Masaomi gently stroked the baby’s head, which already showed signs of red hair, just like the older twin.

 

Then he turned away. He looked like a man on a mission, determined to see it through to the end. Kuroko’s stomach began to sink as he realized what he was likely about to have to bear witness to again.

 

He did not think that this was going to end well.

 

“Masaomi! Damn you, Masaomi, stop!”

 

She was weakly gesturing with her right arm, but she was too exhausted to do anything as her husband took the second twin. He set the child down on the altar in the dying light of the winter sun, and marked his forehead in black ink. The ray of light was still burning into the passage as he worked.

 

Masaomi started to chant. He picked up the oldest twin.

 

The wizard continued to chant, not breaking even as his wife called out for him behind him.

 

Kuroko could feel the foul, malevolent magic concentrating in the temple, could see red and gold pooling around the infant as Akashi Masaomi poured his magic into the spell.

 

The infant’s eyes began to glow the tell tale gold of demonic possession.

 

Kuroko knew with fatal certainty what was coming now. He closed his eyes, hoping to avoid having to watch such a gruesome scene a second time. He felt a little ill.

 

How could Masaomi consider doing this to either of his sons? Did Akashi know that his father was a murderer? Did he know that he had had a brother? That he had had a  _ twin _ ?

 

The sound of the knife slicing filled Kuroko’s ears. It was a sharp twang of the blade and a squelch of blood and muscle cutting under it.

 

The sound of thick, heavy liquid falling into the basin couldn’t be anything more than blood. Kuroko opened his eyes, watching in horror as the older twin fell still and unmoving.

 

“Masaomi!”

 

Akashi’s mother had her wand in her hand. She had managed to push herself upright.

 

“You promised nothing bad would happen to either of them,” she whispered hoarsely.

 

“I said what I had to,” Masaomi said stonily. “We need a powerful heir, one who can handle the weight of his responsibilities.”

 

Their son started to glow.

 

“What did you do? You murdered our son!”

 

“I  _ protected  _ our son!”

 

A spell flew out of the woman’s wand. Her hands were shaking, and it went wide. It sparked against the wall of the temple, leaving a scorch mark where it chipped at the stone.

 

“What are you doing?” Masaomi demanded.

 

“Give me my son!”

 

“Just calm down, you’re being overly emotional-”

 

Another spell fired at Masaomi went wide, and his wife fell back, groaning in pain. Kuroko was sure that giving birth to two children could not have been easy, but her understandable fury lent her strength.

 

Kuroko didn’t have to see any deeper than her expression to know that was true.

 

“Just calm down!” Masaomi snapped, which was of course the exact wrong thing to say in this instant.

 

Two things happened then in quick succession. Kuroko watched as the woman that had just watched the infant torn fresh from her body be murdered right in front of her flung herself bodily at Akashi Masaomi. Kuroko was sure in that moment that she intended to kill her husband, and if he had been there in person, he would not have stopped her.

 

Then she stopped and jerked backwards, suddenly suspended as though from puppet strings. Her body twisted unnaturally, and her mouth tore open in a violent, terrible scream.

 

Masaomi abandoned the infant on the altar to have both hands free as he ran forward. Behind him, the thing in his infant son’s body giggled.

 

No child could make a sound that creepy. Well, perhaps Kuroko was underestimating the creep factor of some small children, but the truth was that the child was beginning to glow with a strange green light.

 

The infant laughed again.

 

Akashi’s mother jerked inhumanly, her body making a wet snapping sound.

 

With an explosive shower of blood, her heart exploded outwards. Blood splattered so high that it consecrated the ceiling.

 

She fell, as if in slow motion, landing in a heap on the floor.

 

“NO!” Masaomi screamed.

 

Kuroko quite thought that the older Akashi did not deserve to be upset at this turnout when he had intended to go through with such a bloody, gruesome, ritual.

 

The child was glowing with gold light. His eyes were shining like lamps, like stars. The infant screamed in mindless pain, and Masaomi was thrown against a wall of the temple.

 

“Stop!” Masaomi growled out.

 

He was thrown against the opposite wall, cutting his forehead open and sending a line of blood dripping down into his eye.

 

Akashi was burning with magic, radiating pure heat. The walls of the temple were beginning to shake, as though to close in on themselves, crushing everyone inside. Stones began to fall loose.

 

Masaomi shielded himself, letting a rock fall harmlessly to the side.

 

Then he heaved himself to his feet, hands raised. He was chanting, and his wand was in one hand. The infant attempted to attack him again, but was instead surrounded by a bright red net of runes.

 

Akashi Masaomi was fast with his wand. Kuroko had known that even as a child, and had been awed and somewhat scared of him whenever he had seen him at public functions (or, more rarely, at the few school events parents attended. Kuroko had the impression Akashi’s father was even more absentee than his own, at least from what he had seen after the interschool tournament). His wand moved in swift, practiced gestures, tracing out the runes as quickly as he could draw them. He didn’t stutter or hesitate, and there were no pauses to determine which runes would fit together for the effect he needed.

 

The enchanted rune net settled over the child, burning into his skin and cutting off the golden light.

 

Masaomi continued to chant, and the runes settled and began to spark. They vanished as they took hold.

 

Akashi – the infant version of the man Kuroko knew – settled down, and started crying again. The naked baby laid on the floor of the temple, fussing and calling out.

 

The last of the sunlight was cut off as the sun passed out of line with the entrance to the temple and below the horizon outside. The temple was thrown into darkness again, illuminated only by the dim red lights that Masaomi had conjured, still floating harmlessly around them.

 

Masaomi stood unsteadily.

 

Kuroko appreciated the full extent of the man’s power. Kuroko had just watched him invent a spell from scratch to contain an out of control power inside his son. He hadn’t paused to think about it, he’d just acted, knowing it would work.

 

It seemed that Kuroko’s friend wasn’t the only Akashi with truly miraculous talents with magic.

 

In the dim glow of his witch light, Masaomi surveyed the damage.

 

The temple was covered in blood. The corpse of Akashi’s mother lay still on the altar, next to the remnants of the body of the older twin.

 

For a moment, Kuroko thought that Masaomi would leave the infant behind. Masaomi apparently did not have that level of cruelty, because he stooped down and picked up the baby. He swaddled the child in cloth and Akashi nestled into it, calming down now that he was in the warm, safe arms of his parent. He was only an infant – he had no idea what had happened, or that it was his father that had participated in what had just happened.

 

Kuroko wondered if to this day, Akashi had learned about the circumstances of his birth and his mother’s death.

 

“Seijuro,” Masaomi said. His voice was a low growl, and there was no affection in it whatsoever.

 

With a swift turn, Masaomi held the baby to his chest and stormed out of the temple. A wave of his hand vanished the evidence of the dark ritual just as his light left the chamber, throwing Kuroko and Merlin back into darkness.

 

“Masaomi hated his son, because Akashi Seijuro was and is a living monument to his worst failure.”

 

Merlin snorted.

 

“What a fucking bag of dicks,” he said. “Sometimes I think people deserve to get wiped out by demons if they’re going to be this stupid. Half the population would let the world burn just to screw their enemies with no thought to the fact that they’re setting their own homes ablaze.”

 

Kuroko was taken aback.

 

This was more what he expected from Merlin, the greatest wizard to ever live. This wizard was dangerous, furious, intense. In life, his power would have rolled off of him in a warning to avoid his wrath.

 

And yet, he’d never imagined Merlin this  _ vengeful.  _ He’d seemed like a powerful, but kindly old man. Every line of Merlin’s face was set with age old fury, framed by those ridiculously impractical neon glasses and the stupid shirts.

 

“What do you mean?” Kuroko asked.

 

Merlin turned to look at Kuroko.

 

“Masaomi came across a ritual he thought would make his progeny the strongest wizard in the world. Greater than  _ Merlin,  _ even, he thought. But the irony is if he’d bothered to track down any notes about the ritual he would know that if he’d succeeded, his son would have been even more of a disappointment.”

 

Kuroko listened attentively.

 

Merlin flexed his free hand, looking down at his long, graceful fingers.

 

“Of course, he didn’t even manage to get the timing of the ritual right. It  _ has _ to be dawn _.  _ It  _ has  _ to be the summer. And it  _ has _ to be the first.”

 

“So it didn’t work because Akashi wasn’t actually the firstborn?”

 

“That and the rest of it all,” Merlin sighed, waving his hand aimlessly. “Unfortunately or fortunately, depending on how you look at it, Masaomi got enough right that he managed to fuck his kid up for life, and not kill himself, the kid, and everyone else in the process, but not enough to actually get the result that he wanted after all of that.”

 

Kuroko considered that for a long time. Obviously, Akashi Masaomi had found the ritual, and latched on to the opportunity to increase the Akashi family standing and raise the eminence of their name. He wanted to give his son the gift of incredible power. It turned out he’d done that, just not the way he’d intended to.

 

“If the ritual had been done correctly, what would have happened to Akashi?” Kuroko asked.

 

“He would have been like you,” Merlin said, holding up a peace sign with two fingers next to his eyes. “ _ Exactly _ like you. Hashtag twinning.”

 

Kuroko processed that for a solid minute before the full implications of what the older wizard had said hit him.

 

“Does that mean my family-”

 

“Oh no, no no,” Merlin held up his hands. “Not like that. You came by what you’ve got honestly, or at least as honestly as it gets. You’re probably a natural mutation, or more likely, the result of a bloodline that began with someone just like me. The part of your magic that’s different like mine is what let me come talk to you.”

 

Kuroko felt relief he didn’t realize he’d been hoping for. That was honestly good to hear. Given Kuroko’s family line, Kuroko suspected it was genetic. He wondered how far back someone had successfully completed this ritual. 

 

“So he didn’t do the ritual correctly,” Kuroko said.

 

Merlin shook his head.

 

“No, but he opened his son up to demonic energy. The kid was already going to be one of the most powerful wizards in history anyway, but his dad gave him… an edge. Unfortunately, he also turned him into a giant target. I wouldn’t be surprised if demons had started crawling into the world at higher rates because they wanted a taste of the rare, juicy steak Masaomi was advertising.”

 

Well, that was pretty horrifying.

 

_ “There have always been two of me.” _

 

“He’s had his twin stuck inside his head with a flood of demonic magic for as long as he’s been alive, but because of Masaomi’s magic, he didn’t know until some kind of heavy stressor broke his father’s protections.”

 

Kuroko felt chills go up his spine.

 

When Murasakibara had disobeyed Akashi for the first and only time, Akashi had been furious. He had nearly  _ lost  _ for the first time in his life, and he had unleashed the full fury of his unhindered magic.

 

It had felt then as though Akashi’s power had suddenly increased with no explanation.

 

But here was that clear explanation; Akashi’s twin had been murdered in this sick ritual, and because it had gone wrong, his magic had been improperly merged into Akashi’s. When Akashi had lost his mind with fury and called on all his magic, he’d been stronger than his father’s protections, and the insanity that had been held at bay had made a whole new appearance.

 

Akashi was, quite literally, insane.

 

Kuroko had thrown the insult out there off the tip of his tongue, wanting to see what would happen when he pissed Akashi off that thoroughly.

 

It turned out he’d been exactly on the mark.

 

Kuroko felt sick.

 

“He’s connected to demonic magic, always has been,” Merlin said. “The moment those barriers broke down he’d have felt compelled to seek out ways to come in contact with it.”

 

Akashi’s dangerous obsession with Kuroko, his drive to produce a perfect copy of his misdirection in Mayazumi Chihiro, were those products of the same compulsion?

 

Kuroko was beginning to see how all of these pieces fell together, and the picture they made wasn’t encouraging. Akashi needed to be stopped. The only way to do that was going to be to help him find himself again.

 

That meant getting the demon out of Akashi, as Seirin and their allies had originally posited during their planning sessions. Kuroko didn’t know how much progress had been made on that front while he was gone, but he did know that he had successfully managed it at least once.

 

“How did I get the demon out of Aomine?” Kuroko asked.

 

Merlin blinked.

 

“You know, I don’t know everything,” he complained.

 

Kuroko just stared at him.

 

“I honestly have no idea,” Merlin said.

 

“Then how did  _ you  _ get demons out of people?” Kuroko demanded.

 

Merlin sighed.

 

“Listen,” he said. “You don’t want to hear this, because I know you want to help your friends, but I didn’t handle a whole lot of exorcisms, if you know what I mean.”

 

Kuroko did not know what that meant.

 

“When I saw a demon, I killed it,” Merlin clarified.

 

Ah. Okay, Kuroko did know what he meant, and that was less than helpful.

 

“What about if the demon was inside a person?” Kuroko asked.

 

Merlin didn’t respond right away.

 

“What if the demon was inside a person?” Kuroko asked, more insistently.

 

“I heard you,” Merlin snapped. “And it didn’t matter. If there was a swol demon, I  _ took care  _ of it. Boom. Abra Kedabra. Poof. No more demon.”

 

“What about the people?”

 

Merlin’s expression told Kuroko all he needed to know.

 

Well, that wasn’t an option.

 

“I got a demon out of Aomine, but you don’t know how I did it,” Kuroko said calmly. Well that was just typical, wasn’t it?

 

He didn’t have time to experiment with this, and apparently even  _ Merlin  _ didn’t know what was going on with Kuroko’s misdirection.

 

“Your power is a lot more passive than mine,” Merlin said thoughtfully. “It’s possible that you might not even be able to fight demons the way I did, but you will still be able to help.”

 

Kuroko couldn’t help but feel increasingly frustrated as this conversation continued.

 

“You think I should fight demons, but you don’t know how I should fight demons,” Kuroko said calmly. As useless as it was, it made sense.

 

“Look man, I can’t force you to do anything you don’t want to, but you should keep in mind that if you don’t, you’ll die anyway.”

 

Well that was pleasant.

 

It also didn’t give Kuroko much of a choice. If he wanted to survive, he was going to have to be on the front lines of this war.

 

If Merlin was right, it sounded like Kuroko might  _ be  _ the front lines of the war.

 

“If I do fight the demons I have to find a way to use my misdirection to do it,” Kuroko summarized. “And I don’t have a lot of time.”

 

“Well,” Merlin equivocated. “Sorry bro, that’s not so true.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

“Unfortunately, I have to send you back to where I found you,” Merlin said. “Technically, we haven’t left the demon realm at all. I just shielded us from interference so that I could give you some answers. So you’re gonna have lots of time to practice on some demons.”

 

“But you didn’t really help me solve the problem,” Kuroko said.

 

“Exactly!” Merlin cheered, looking very pleased with himself. He was so exuberant that his motion sent the slotted neon glasses falling down one side of his face. “I Dumbledored the shit out of this one, didn’t I?”

 

Whatever that meant.

 

“How do I get back?” Kuroko asked, resigned to the fact that while he knew much more than he did before this spirit quest or whatever, he still didn’t have a solid way to fight the demons.

 

Merlin grinned.

 

“Four-twenty blaze it all the way down my man; It’ll be lit, yo.”

 

...

 

Kuroko opened his eyes, watching the demon playing with the orb of light, still prattling on.

 

“Fascinating,” it was saying. “I thought your whole bloodline had died out.”

 

It did not seem to have registered that its prey had vanished and returned, not that most people did when Kuroko left.

 

Kuroko felt dizzy as the demon rambled.

 

_ What just happened? _

 

Unless Kuroko had just had a minor seizure accompanied by a particularly realistic hallucination, he’d just been told by  _ Merlin  _ that his misdirection was a holdover from some kind of genetic marker created by an obscenely gruesome ritual that someone along his family tree had performed.

 

_ Desperation. _

 

Kuroko understood that. The willingness to do anything to survive, to make sure others survived. He didn’t think it was an option he would have chosen, but then again, maybe his refusal to do so might have led to the deaths of many more people.

 

Merlin had been born into terrible circumstances, but he’d saved the world.

 

Kuroko wondered idly how many more people there were like this out there. If the ritual was not the only way to confer demonic powers, there could be dozens of wizards out there with the same powers, potentially.

 

Unbidden, an image of Hanamiya rose to mind.

 

Nobody else had seen the moment when Hanamiya  _ turned around  _ to curse Kiyoshi. Kuroko had known that it happened, but nobody else did. Kuroko had assumed at the time it was because the tournament gave Hanamiya the benefit of the doubt as to what he’d been intending to do. As an adult, Kuroko was sure that if anyone had actually seen Hanamiya pointing his wand at Kiyoshi before he’d cast a borderline dark spell, he would have been expelled and possibly arrested. Hyuuga had cornered Hanamiya after that round, but Kuroko was similarly sure that Hyuuga had not seen Hanamiya’s wand pointed at Kiyoshi either. Riko had told him to take his proof to the school or the competition, but he’d had nothing.

 

Hell, as a student Hanamiya had been getting away with harming other competitors in the ring for months during the dueling tournament season, seemingly under the all seeing eye of magical monitors and strict tournament referees.

 

When magic gave you a full view of the entire arena, it was impossible to just hurt someone and get away with it. Referees didn’t  _ have  _ blind spots. The only blind spots that existed were the ones created by magic, and it was a disqualifying violation to use magic that acted on the referee’s magically enhanced vision. A duelists spells could only influence themselves or other competitors – an element of the rules that provided a convenient loophole for Kuroko’s misdirection, among other things. Kuroko was sure that the refs would have known if Hanamiya interfered with them on a regular basis, which meant that he had another card up his sleeve.

 

_ “ _ _ We live in the shadows and we do our best work when no one else is looking.” _

 

Was that why Hanamiya had tried to recruit Kuroko onto his team during their sixth year?

 

How many times had Hanamiya used the phrase “people like us” while talking to Kuroko? In fairness, whenever Hanamiya spoke, his wording was nine tenths manipulation and one part vague sincerity masquerading as sarcasm, but Kuroko’s curiosity was piqued by the thought.

 

Perhaps, if Kuroko had such a genetic abnormality, he was not alone.

 

Then there was Takao, who could see through Kuroko’s misdirection no matter how well he used it to conceal himself. Takao had seen right through Kuroko when even Akashi could not. It was not a matter of strength, it was a matter of a skill that Akashi did not possess.

 

Perhaps the key to fighting the demons was right under their noses. Enough wizards whose magic could not be sensed by demons might be able to bring down an invasion together.

 

The thought of Hanamiya Makoto working with anyone else, no matter the reason, was hilariously unrealistic and so out of character as to strain credulity. But it had been Hanamiya himself to tell Kuroko, in an extremely creepy interaction in the boys restroom at Hogwarts, that the best friend to be counted upon was an opportunist.

 

Hanamiya was nothing if not an opportunist, and he would not die just to maintain his bad boy image. The trick would be in making him realize that his options were literally die horribly or help them.

 

Obviously, there was Akashi. His magic wasn’t invisible to demons, but it was touched by demonic magic. His powers (at least those that were linked to the demonic force inside him) were a direct result of the ritual his father had attempted. Kuroko was pretty sure that meant that demons  _ couldn’t  _ eat Akashi either – or at least not his magic - which meant that if they could get the demon controlling him out, then they would have a powerful ally.

 

If, if, if.

 

All of that hedged on Kuroko surviving the demon realm long enough to get back to his friends in the first place. If he couldn’t pass along this information, then everything he had learned would be useless.

 

“Are you even listening to me?” the demon demanded, shoving Kuroko.

 

“No,” Kuroko said honestly.

 

He was more distracted by the line of light that seemed to have suddenly appeared on the ground under his own feet, extending off into the darkness.

 

_ It’ll be lit yo. _

 

Cute.

 

Kuroko followed the line of light with his eyes to where it disappeared in the distance.

 

Okay, obviously this was how he was going to get out of here. He obviously just needed to follow this line until he got back to his own world.

 

That was easy enough to figure out.

 

Kuroko started walking. As he did, the light that he passed dimmed and vanished. Interesting. Kuroko took a step to the side, and saw that the light followed him.

 

It seemed like no matter how lost he was, he would have a guide to help him get back. That was comforting.

 

“If you’re trying to get out, you’re going the wrong way,” the demon taunted him.

 

Kuroko turned to stare at the demon.

 

It was about that instant in which Kuroko realized that the demon could not see the line of white light that ran along the ground.

 

It was something only Kuroko could see.

 

He glanced back and forth between the demon and the line of light.

 

Trust a demon, or trust what he suspected was Merlin’s personal guidance?

 

It wasn’t even a tough choice.

 

Kuroko started walking again.

 

He was not going to wait around here for this demon to yank his chain. He needed to get back home to his Lights before something terrible happened on Earth, where he belonged.

 

And frankly, he was completely creeped out. He had nearly been eaten like two times, watched four children come out of their mothers’ vaginas, and several gruesome and chilling deaths, all within the past few hours.

 

Kuroko was beyond done with literally everything about this situation.

 

He turned around.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Kuroko kept walking. He didn’t turn around to see if he was being followed. He just walked.

 

_ I am a shadow. I am a shadow. _

 

Around him, there was only darkness. He must have been crossing some kind of plain, because the echoing of screams seemed to be travelling quite a ways. It set Kuroko on edge.

 

Kuroko was walking for an indeterminate amount of time before he was interrupted again.

 

“Did you miss me?”

 

“No,” Kuroko said, refusing to turn around. He kept walking.

 

Any further debate with the demon was precluded when Kuroko felt the ground shaking beneath him.

 

Something was coming.

 

In the darkness, there was something coming towards them.

 

Kuroko watched warily as his faint light lit up only one edge of a massive hairy leg as it descended right next to him, breaking the stone and sending black rock flying.

 

Kuroko felt a shard of rock cut his face.

 

He didn’t move.

 

Kuroko wasn’t sure he could move.

 

Kuroko was rooted to the spot as the spider scuttled overhead.

 

He could hear the pincers and eyes moving, even if he could only see parts of the massive beast as it moved around him. The belly of the spider was so far above him that it disappeared in the darkness. It had to be at least as tall as some of the skyscrapers that Kuroko had seen in Los Angeles.

 

A giant fucking spider.

 

Another huge, hairy leg came down next to Kuroko, and that was the moment that Kuroko felt himself snap. His body was his own, and he knew exactly what he needed to do. 

 

Kuroko ran.

 

He ducked under a rocky outcropping, moving blindly. He followed the line of light, trying to get as far away as he could from this nightmarish hellscape.

 

He didn’t want to see any of this. He wanted to be home in his own bed, far away from monsters and demons and things that go bump in the night.

 

Kuroko was brought up short by a sight he had not expected to see. He had stopped at the edge of a cliff, the face of the mountain dropping into a sharp ravine. It was only about ten yards down, and Kuroko hid behind a rock as he realized he might be spotted.

 

In the canyon below, torches along the rock walls illuminated the path. Kuroko could clearly see the figures moving between the two wide cliffs.

 

There were people. 

 

They were actual human people.

 

Kuroko could tell from the feel of their magic – these were not demons masquerading as something less vile, these were actual magical beings, trapped here in the demon world.

 

They were being marched down through the canyon, with heavy shackles around their necks, connected in a line. They marched as one, without faltering or fighting back.

 

At the head of the line was a demon.

 

It stood three times as high as any of the wizards down below. It had vicious black horns crowning a head with an elongated snout. The horns rose not quite past the height of the ravine, but the thing was still massive. It snarled orders, showing off huge teeth. It breathed in a low growl that set Kuroko’s teeth on edge, gripping the black rock hard enough to hurt.

 

The demon appeared to be all sinuous black flesh, with gigantic horned wings rising out of its back. It stood upright on two legs; they ended in claws that looked almost as sharp as the teeth.

 

This was a predator designed to attack and kill. Everything about it was optimized for tearing apart prey.

 

Kuroko realized with a sick sinking feeling that in this case, he was part of that prey.

 

As were all the wizards below him, being marched to an unknown, but almost certainly horrible fate.

 

Kuroko looked up, to where the line of light led him away from the sight below him.

 

He waited until he could tell that the line of human slaves was not followed up by another demon, and lowered himself over the edge.

 

Kuroko clung to the rock face, inching himself down. His heart was beating too fast, his breath too high in his chest.

 

Any second, he expected to be discovered and turned into the next meal for one of these awful creatures.

 

Kuroko scrambled to the floor below as the line of enslaved humans staggered forward. Kuroko did the only thing he could think of and tugged on the nearest humans’ shoulder. He was wearing a thin shirt, and his body looked malnourished. When he turned his eyes on Kuroko, Kuroko wasn’t even sure that the other wizard could properly see, or if it was just reacting to the feel of his hands.

 

But no, this wasn’t blindness.

 

The person was looking at him with a blank stare, no comprehension in his eyes. Kuroko knew a deadpan expression when he saw it in the mirror every morning, but this was different. It was like the lights were on, but nobody was home upstairs. This man looked  _ past  _ him, not even acknowledging that he was there.

 

This was the fate of the wizarding world. Cattle. Nothing more than livestock.

 

Kuroko recoiled at the sound of a whip cracking.

 

The human didn’t even cry out as the cruel whip cut at the skin of his back, although he did fall to his knees under the pressure. Kuroko watched, unable to move, as the demon advanced on the wizard.

 

Up close, the demons were even more terrifying. They stood three times the height of a normal wizard, their muscles built for tearing and crushing. The lupine jaw snarled, teeth glistening as though it would love nothing more than to eat the human right there.

 

Its huge wings fanned out, tail snapping in lazy annoyance behind it.

 

Another crack of the whip and the wizard fell to the ground, still not crying out. Kuroko stared as the demon grabbed the human by the arm, claws tearing into his flesh, and bit off his head without further ado.

 

Kuroko turned and ran.

 

He stumbled over broken ground.

 

He thought there might have been blood on his face.

 

If he stopped, even for a second, the demon was going to catch him, and it was going to eat him. A second of tarrying would be his demise. He would never be able to go home.

 

He fell and cut his knees on the rough rock, eyes unable to focus on anything but the light in front of him.

 

The light was so bright.

 

Kuroko was dizzy. He felt lightheaded. He didn’t know if he was breathing.

 

He felt disconnected from his own skin.

 

Kuroko fell again, and this time, he did not get up. His stomach rolled and for a moment Kuroko was sure he was going to vomit, but it passed.

 

He lay on his front, mind spinning. The world was dim, as though he was looking at it through frosted glass, as though his vision had suddenly changed and he now needed glasses.

 

This was what would happen if he did not carry out Merlin’s directive to stop the apocalypse from consuming the whole world.

 

Kuroko thought of the entire planet as he knew it – every wizard and witch in Los Angeles and London and every place in between, the many many people he had never met or known across the country, his competitors from France and Germany and China, and he felt sick all over again.

 

He thought of Kagami and Aomine, his fierce Lights, brought so low, and that was the image that pushed him over the edge.

 

On hands and knees, Kuroko vomited over the dark stone beneath him.

 

“I see you finally realize what is going to happen to you and yours.”

 

Kuroko tried to ignore the voice, but it was hard to ignore the heavy, rattling breathing from so close to him. Adad was back.

 

“That’s all you’re worth,” the demon sneered, his features once again the dark human, coming face to face with Kuroko, its nose resting only a few inches from Kuroko’s own.

 

“They came here so very long ago, our first slaves. And the lesser demons kept some as pets. Some of them are descended from the very first slaves they brought over, but most don’t last long in our world. Most of them are kidnapped babes, brought through by the sneakiest ones seeking favors from their betters. And where they benefit, I very much do as well.”

 

Kuroko for his part had had quite enough of all of this, thank you very much. He was annoyed, he was tired, he wanted to go home, and most strongly of all, he wanted this thing pretending to be Aomine to get as far as was physically possible away from him.

 

_ Go back to the shadow. _

 

Kuroko focused his gaze on the darkness far in the distance.

 

“Leave me alone,” he said, enunciating every word.

 

For a moment, nothing happened.

 

The demon was bodily thrown away from Kuroko.

 

Kuroko stared into the everlasting darkness for a few moments.

 

Well, that was actually not what he was expecting, but he couldn’t be mad about it. The demon was now gone.

 

Now that Kuroko had somewhat calmed down, he finally had a chance to look around.

 

He had stumbled into some kind of forest. The trees around him appeared to have purple bark, but it was hard to tell in the ghostly teal glow of his witch light.

 

Kuroko tried to forget what he had seen so far. He tried to blank out his mind and focus only on moving, but with every step, the images flashed behind his mind.

 

There was a creak of bark and Kuroko inhaled, turning around to face his attacker, but it was only what passed for wind.

 

Kuroko kept moving.

 

As far as he had thought he had gone, he had no idea how much farther he had left to go.

 

The forest was quiet. Kuroko could do nothing but dwell while he walked, afraid beyond the ability to discern actual threats from imagined ones. He felt wired and exhausted.

 

Then the line of trees broke, and Kuroko just stopped.

 

Mountains rose up in front of him, only vague shapes in the darkness. Kuroko could only see the extent of the slope in front of him because of the line of light guiding his way.

 

He was eerily reminded of the circle Akashi had created for his fortress. The mountains there had risen up like jagged knives into the sky as well, but Kuroko supposed there were only so many ways to make a caldera.

 

Kuroko stayed still, staring up at the path ahead of him.

 

That was high. That was really, really high. And very steep.

 

_ I cannot climb a mountain,  _ Kuroko had told Hyuuga not so long ago.

 

It looked like fate was laughing at him, because he no longer had a choice. He was going up the mountain, or he was going to die in the demon realm.

 

Something shrieked behind Kuroko, and his legs were moving before he was aware of consciously willing them to do so. He stumbled as his feet struggled to right themselves underneath him in his haste.

 

There was no option but to keep moving forward. To remain still was to invite death, to go backwards was unthinkable. Whatever lay ahead, Kuroko would face it. Kagami might be ever the Gryffindor, a man who would find a way forward and make one, but Kuroko’s Hufflepuff nature made him more cautious. He walked forward not because he wanted to forge a path, but because there was literally no other option.

 

The gravel shifted under Kuroko’s feet, making his grip tenuous. He hoped that higher up the ground would be more stable, because it would be untenable otherwise.

 

He climbed.

 

As Kuroko walked, the temperature dropped. Kuroko shivered and pulled his cloak around himself as it began to rain. The water was icy cold, and it burned where it touched his skin.

 

Kuroko quickly wrapped as much of his skin as he could in his cloak and kept moving up.

 

His feet slid in the mud. He slipped, falling several feet back down towards the base of the caldera. Kuroko grabbed for whatever rocks he could, and hissed as he felt his hands slice open on jagged rock. He cried out from the pain as he pulled himself back to his feet.

 

His hands were burning, but he held onto the stone as he moved, climbing foot by foot.

 

Time began to slip. Kuroko’s entire world was one hand in front of the other, one foot after one foot, until he reached a stable path where he could stand comfortably.

 

He climbed.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how long he had been moving, but his body hurt in places he hadn’t even known his body could hurt – places not even Riko had managed to force him to physically train.

 

He was drooping with exhaustion, hoping that the end was somewhere in sight, because Kuroko had no idea how much longer he could keep going. If this kept up, he was going to pass out, and who knew what could happen to him if he allowed himself to fall into such a vulnerable state in so dangerous a place.

 

He had to keep going.

 

What was being a Hufflepuff worth if he gave up now, when he was the only one who could help stop something really terrible from coming?

 

The wind swept at Kuroko, pulling at his robes and making him lose his grip. Kuroko slid again, falling several feet.

 

He didn’t have the breath to scream this time. He held on for all he was worth, refusing to look down. He couldn’t go back. He couldn’t let himself be stopped here.

 

Kuroko climbed until he could no longer feel his hands and arms.

 

Then there it was. Kuroko looked up and placed one bleeding hand on the edge of the mountain. He hauled himself up and peered down the other side.

 

The light disappeared into cloud cover below him. Kuroko took a deep breath before gingerly pulling the rest of his body up and over the edge.

 

Kuroko crossed over the ridge, and was immediately assailed by a storm of wind and ice.

 

A storm was raging in the center of the crater, and Kuroko slid a few feet on the uneven ground. He wrapped his cloak more tightly around himself, following the line of light and hoping that he made it where he needed to go. The storm was so thick around him that he couldn’t see very far ahead. The light underneath him was the only guide he had.

 

Kuroko passed through the storm. He didn’t know how long it took him. Each step seemed like it took every ounce of his energy.

 

He had to believe he was almost there. He had to believe that any second now, around the next bend, the next step he took, he would find his Lights again.

 

He carried on, his eyes fixed to the ground in front of him. Kuroko didn’t look up, huddling inside his cloak to protect himself from the storm. He focused on the mechanical motion of placing one foot over the other, making sure that he followed the line of light that was going to guide him home.

 

After what felt like far too long, Kuroko stumbled and fell. He lay on the ground for a while before he noticed a change in the path. It was no longer as steep as it had been, and the light was guiding him forward, instead of the back and forth switchbacks it had been making him follow before.

 

The ground had finally leveled out, and Kuroko dared to raise his head.

 

In front of him, he could see the shore of a massive lake. The haze of the storm made it impossible to see the other side, and to the right and left, where the lake curved meeting the sides of the crater, the shoreline vanished into the thick hail of ice.

 

To Kuroko’s right, a jet of bright green steam came shooting out of the black ground.

 

Kuroko groaned and pulled himself up to his knees. This place wasn’t safe, and he couldn’t afford to pass out or take a nap now.

 

He could sleep when he made it home or when he was dead, whichever came first.

 

Kuroko looked over the surface of the lake, and felt chills run up his spine. This entire place was just downright creepy, but there was something undeniably and uncomfortably wrong with what he was looking at. It took Kuroko almost a minute to place it as he caught his breath on the shore of the lake.

 

Despite the fact that ice was raining down around them, the surface of the water remained calm and untouched.

 

Thunder cracked overhead, flashing.

 

It was not reflected in the water.

 

Peering into the water, all Kuroko could see was smooth blackness, like glass. There was no tide or waves. The edge of the water remained static at his feet.

 

Unfortunately, the line of light underneath him remained unmoving under his feet as well. It led him directly forwards, past the line of the shore and straight into the depths.

 

Did he have to cross the lake? Why couldn’t he just go around it?

 

Because, Kuroko’s least enthusiastic instincts told him. The portal wasn’t on the other side of the lake.

 

Based on the path of the light, Kuroko was willing to bet that his path home lay directly through the bottom of it.

 

Kuroko picked up a stone from the side of the lake. He threw it.

 

The stone landed in the water, ripples growing from the point of contact. It sunk down to the bottom, and Kuroko watched as the water calmed almost at once, as though it had never been disturbed.

 

Well that was eerie.

 

What was Kuroko supposed to do? Just walk into the water and drown? Who knew what manner of demons and monsters could be hiding below that black surface, waiting to drag him down to the depths of the water and eat him?

 

No, they wouldn’t eat him, Kuroko realized calmly.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

He took a step forward, and was thrown back as his shoe hit the water, an unknown force repelling him.

 

Kuroko lay on the black sand where he landed, breathing hard.

 

“Well of course you can’t go through,” the demon behind him sneered, and Kuroko heaved a sigh. He’d hoped he had gotten rid of that thing.

 

“Why not?” Kuroko demanded, turning around. It was wearing Aomine’s face again. Kuroko had never wanted more to plant his fist in the middle of that expression. Given Aomine’s behavior during their last few years in school together and the build up to the Winter Cup, that was saying something.

 

“Only wizards can cross back into their own realm. Us shadows, we have to be  _ summoned.  _ The less powerful demons wait for an opportunity at one of the lesser gates. That is how it is  _ done. _ ”

 

Well that certainly posed a challenge. Kuroko’s misdirection was the only thing protecting him from becoming a snack to every demon in this hellscape. But it was also preventing him from going home.

 

The storm raged.

 

_ I’m no shadow, _ Kuroko thought.  _ I’m a wizard. I don’t belong here, and I need to go home. _

 

Around him, the hills seemed to rise. They formed grotesque shapes with burning eyes and exposed bones and jaws with nothing but teeth. Their mouths gaped into dark, yawning maws, and the screeching, howling, roaring, thundering around Kuroko grew louder and louder.

 

They were coming for him.

 

And they were  _ hungry. _

 

The demon Adad smiled. It was wide and full of teeth, mouth gaping wider than Kuroko was sure Aomine’s jaw could actually move. The pretense of humanity was falling away, and with every second Kuroko could feel the danger rising.

 

“ _ Yes! _ ”

 

_ I’m a wizard, I’m a wizard, I’m a wizard. _

 

The water glowed baby blue, the same color as Kuroko’s magic and he dove for it just as Adad jumped towards him like a snake striking its prey. In an instant, the demon had gone from smiling with a mostly human face to a full on demon, screeching in fury as it hunted.

 

The howl of the wind and the shrieking of angry predators followed him as he broke water. The impact was so sharp that he couldn’t even feel the cold at first, as his skin burned from the contact. Then, the temperature of the water reached his system. It was like ice, burning and biting. For a moment, Kuroko thought perhaps he’d escaped being eaten only to freeze or drown.

 

Kuroko was struck by the immediate silence. The wind, the demons ready to prey on his flesh, Adad, all of it was muffled and silenced the second he hit the freezing water.

 

He was falling and falling, looking up through the water at the furious demonic face of the creature that had been possessing Aomine.

 

_ You have to take me back, I’m a wizard! _

 

A primal panic gripped Kuroko’s heart then, staring up at the indistinct world above him.

 

Was this how he was going to die?

 

_ YOU CAN’T LEAVE ME HERE! _

 

Then the world around him was surrounded by light so bright Kuroko had to close his eyes.

 

He could feel himself moving, but he didn’t dare look to see what was happening. Some primal instinct told him that he didn’t want to know what lay in the void between the shadow realm and his own world.

 

_ Kagami. Aomine. I’m coming back to you. _

 

_ Please just wait for me. _

 

_ I’m coming back into the light. _

 

Kuroko turned, and twisted his body until he was facing away from the surface of the water.

 

He swam down.

 

…

  
  



	55. It’s Not Gay If It’s In a Three Way

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> THATS RIGHT BITCHES YOU HEARD ME

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The slow burn phase of this story is over and things are heating up. We are seven chapters and an epilogue away from crossing the finish line, and I can now confirm with certainty that we will well clear the 600k mark. Strap in, hold on, and hit play, because this shit is getting hella gay.
> 
> Have at it my friends!

**…**

 

Kagami waited.

 

Every moment since Kuroko had disappeared, he’d been waiting.

 

He closed the door behind him at Kuroko’s behest, and waited. He listened to the roar of the demon, and Kuroko’s own indistinct voice, and waited. He closed his eyes, breathing hard against the instinct to run back inside and protect Kuroko and waited even more.

 

His Shadow could do this.

 

Kagami waited as the silence fell, and waited a moment later.

 

When it seemed that there was no further action forthcoming, he banged on the door.

 

“Kuroko!” he shouted. “Kuroko, are you done in there?”

 

Kagami did not wait for an answer. He pushed open the door, shoving his way through the doorway.

 

Kagami felt like he’d been punched.

 

The bastard Aomine was on the floor, arm outstretched.

 

Black scorch marks covered the entire room like claw marks.

 

There was no sign of Kuroko.

 

The realization hit Kagami like being doused with boiling water.

 

His transition into Berserker state had never been so immediate or uncontrolled. Kagami wasn’t even aware of the magic flooding his body. All he knew that Kuroko was gone and it was Aomine’s fault.

 

He was seconds away from eviscerating Aomine where he lay, barely conscious and staring up at him when there was someone in his way.

 

“Move,” Kagami growled, fully intending to go directly through whoever thought they could defend Aomine.

 

He couldn’t even recognize the wizard or witch in front of him, he was so lost in that fury. They said something, but it was not filtered into meaningful words behind the blaze of anger taking root in every fiber of Kagami’s being, and Kagami charged.

 

The wizard threw up a wall of magic and Kagami barreled right into it, unable to pass. He could see their magic flaring around them, but he didn’t pay any attention to it. He would go through this wizard if they did not have the good sense to step aside at the sight of a charging berserker.

 

He could feel his magic screaming; or maybe that was him shouting incoherently.

 

Kuroko was _gone._ He might be hurt or in pain or _dead._ Whatever had happened to the man Kagami was in love with, it was all _Aomine’s fault._

 

Multiple shapes surrounded him, and Kagami growled. His magic lashing out as though it had a will of its own.

 

One minute Kagami was growling, facing off against his opponents. The next, he was out like a light.

 

Kagami woke staring into the bright magical lights floating around the ceiling of the study.

 

“Hey buddy.”

 

Riko was standing over him. Kagami groaned, shielding his eyes from the light.

 

“I thought we were doing better on the control thing,” she said, her voice not giving away anything she was thinking.

 

“At least tell me it wasn’t Ahomine who took me out,” Kagami pleaded.

 

“Nope,” Riko said, rubbing her forehead. “It took about five wizards and a sneak attack from Takao to get the job done. You even pulled Teppei out into his Berserker state.”

 

“Sorry,” Kagami said, glancing to the side to see that Hyuuga was checking on Kiyoshi, making sure that the magical equivalent of being body slammed by Kagami hadn’t done the other wizard any lasting damage.

 

“Do you know what happened?” Kagami asked.

 

“The way I hear, you showed up and Kuroko was just gone, and you tried to start wailing on Aomine,” Riko replied, running a diagnostic scan on Kagami to check for any serious injuries.

 

“Has anyone seen Kuroko?” Kagami asked.

 

“No,” Riko said. “He was gone.”

 

Kagami worried his lip between his teeth.

 

That couldn’t mean what he thought.

 

“Have we tried scrying for him?” Kagami demanded. “Locator spells?”

 

“We’re working on it,” Riko said. “I thought we might have Momoi give it a try when she’s done handling Aomine.”

 

Kagami scowled, but acquiesced.

 

"At least tell me I got to beat him up," Kagami said.

 

"Nope," Riko said cheerfully. "But it took way more duelists than it should have to take you out. You're lucky you didn't injure Kiyoshi while you were pissed off, because I might not have let you wake up."

 

Oh, Kagami believed that.

 

It didn’t take long for Momoi to show up in the study again, her expression closed off and grim.

 

“I take it that our ray of sunshine is settled?” Riko asked.

 

“Out cold,” Momoi confirmed. “Ready to help me find Tetsu-kun?”

 

“I’m coming too,” Kagami said, standing. He still felt a little weak, but he was more than up for the task of helping if it meant tracking down Kuroko. Nobody tried to stop him.

 

“Come on, let’s get somewhere with more space,” Momoi said.

 

They returned to the main sitting room, where Momoi set up the tools she would need.

 

“I don’t even know if you _can_ scry Tetsu-kun,” Momoi admitted softly. “So if this fails it doesn’t necessarily mean-”

 

“He’s not dead,” Kagami snapped.

 

Momoi nodded. She refused to accept that potentiality until she absolutely had to. Her Tetsu-kun was resilient.

 

He would be okay.

 

Kuroko’s image did not appear in the silvery surface of the rune-covered mirror Momoi pulled out of her purse, but she did not appear dissuaded. A bowl of water yielded no answers either. Momoi pulled out a map and dangled a crystal over it, but no matter how much of her dark pink magic was poured into the crystal, it refused to move.

 

Momoi sighed, and banished the map with one hand before securing the crystal around her neck. She let it fall back under her shirt.

 

“Just as I thought, Tetsu-kun’s misdirection is going to make him impossible to find,” she said. “But that doesn’t mean that we can’t check in on him.”

 

Momoi pulled out a vial of blood.

 

“Where the hell did you get that?” Kagami asked in a low, dangerous voice. It had to be Kuroko’s, given the context, and he didn’t like the idea of the pink haired witch, much as he liked her well enough, walking around with his Shadow’s blood.

 

“I stole it,” Momoi said, sounding not at all ashamed. “During one of our dueling tournaments. I wanted to make sure that if anything happened, I would know.”

 

With a quick wave of her wand, Momoi set up the complicated silver apparatus. It started to buzz and whirr, emitting a pale pink smoke.

 

“It’s supposed to do that,” Momoi said, seeing Kagami’s face. “Don’t worry.”

 

The witch dismissed the stasis spell on the vial of Kuroko’s blood, and spilled it out onto a silver prong.

 

The silver pieces began to circle and move more quickly, tinkling with the sound of bells as they moved.

 

“The blood will seek out a connection with its progenitor,” Momoi said confidently. “When it finds Tetsu-kun’s blood, it will begin to circle in time with his heartbeat.”

 

“Wicked,” Kagami said.

 

“How does it work?” Riko asked.

 

“Ah ah, witch’s secret,” Momoi said, tapping her finger to her mouth. “I can’t just go around telling anyone how to make one of these until I patent it, can I?”

 

Riko rolled her eyes, but before she could say anything else, the machine came to a grinding halt. An alarm bell went off, and the machine started emitting black smoke.

 

Where Kuroko’s blood touched the apparatus, the machine started to burn and smoke even more.

 

Momoi’s eyes widened in alarm. She jerked her wand to the side, making the whole thing fall apart in seconds. The alarm stopped as the magic holding the machine together was cut off.

 

“What does that mean?” Kagami asked, panicked. “Momoi, what does that mean, come on!”

 

“It means his heart isn’t beating,” Momoi said.

 

Her voice sounded dead.

 

“That’s bullshit!” Kagami shouted. “Your stupid machine is just broken!”

 

Kagami stormed away.

 

Momoi folded in on herself.

 

Her breath stuttered and shook, and she couldn’t stop the hot tears from pouring down her face.

 

“His heart isn’t beating,” she repeated in a small voice.

 

Kagami was already gone, storming towards Kuroko’s room. He briefly entertained the possibility of tracking down Aomine and beating the shit out of him.

 

But that wasn’t going to help anything. Kagami didn’t need revenge, because Kuroko wasn’t…

 

He couldn’t be.

 

Nigou was whining pitifully on their bed, clearly upset. The dog knew more than it let on, Kagami was sure, and for once their feelings were one hundred percent in sync. He already missed Kuroko.

 

Kagami refused to accept what Momoi had said.

 

Kuroko was fine. He was safe, and he would come home.

 

But the doubt lingered. He could still hear Momoi, and how small and quiet her voice had become when she announced that Kuroko’s heart was no longer beating.

 

Kagami paced like a caged tiger, unable to think or sleep. Nigou watched him, tail swishing from side to side in agitation. 

 

They had to figure out what had happened. _If Kuroko was dead_ -

 

No, that was unthinkable. Kagami refused to even consider the possibility because it was facially ridiculous. Kuroko couldn’t be dead. If he was dead-

 

If he was dead the wards would have fallen.

 

Kuroko was his family’s secret keeper. If he was dead, then Akashi would have already found them.

 

That meant Kuroko was just gone. He was still alive.

 

Kagami raised his head.

 

Kuroko was alive.

 

Kagami couldn’t help himself. He threw open the door, screaming with excitement and joy as relief flooded his entire being.

 

“Kuroko’s alive!” Kagami shouted. “He’s alive!”

 

Nigou was startled awake, barking excitedly at Kagami’s tone.

 

Doors flew open down the halls as grumpy wizards opened there doors, pissed at being dragged out of bed at this hour.

 

“Kuroko’s alive!” Kagami whooped at the top of his lungs. “He’s alive!”

 

Momoi stepped out into the hallway, wearing a bright pink dressing gown, her eyes bleary but wide as she listened to him.

 

“Kagami-”

 

“Kuroko was the secret keeper; we’re still here, that means he’s alive!” Kagami roared, not even stopping as he ran past her, running straight for the library. “He’s alive, and that means we can find him!”

 

Kagami didn’t stop. He was still running, Nigou right behind him, and Kagami didn’t mind even a little.

 

Momoi stood stock still for a moment as she processed this information, but she was after him only a second later.

 

She wasn’t going to just sit around here waiting.

 

…

 

Aomine waited.

 

Since the moment he had looked up, hand outstretched towards his Shadow, only to see Tetsu slip away from his grasp, he’d been waiting.

 

Aomine had been through a lot of shit in the last couple of years, but that might have been the worst moment of his life thus far.

 

Well, that and having a demon shoved into him. Aomine shuddered.

 

Aomine had come to staring down a charging Kagami, who was literally burning with a rage that would have barreled over Aomine even if he had been standing and prepared to defend himself.

 

Kagami had flown into an unholy rage. The berserker state broke free without a thought, fury fueling the magic that filled his entire body.

 

Thankfully, Tetsu’s friends had saved Aomine from Kagami’s initial wrath, because he had the look of a man who was entirely okay with murdering Aomine.

 

Kiyoshi had jumped in front of Kagami, his own berserker magic rising to the surface quickly enough to deflect Kagami’s enraged charge. It had taken him, Masako, Imayoshi, Mitobe, both Ootsubo’s, and Takao to corner Kagami and knock him out for long enough to chill out.

 

“Jesus Christ he’s no joke,” Takao said, laughing a little as he panted.

 

“We didn’t need _two_ Aomine’s,” Imayoshi said dryly. “I refuse to take responsibility for either one of them.”

 

“Screw you, this isn’t the time for jokes. Kuroko is missing.”

 

Aomine had watched this happen while frozen in shock, but he came back to himself in time to flip off Imayoshi.

 

“Come on big guy,” Imayoshi said, extending a hand to Aomine. “Good to see you back in one piece.”

 

“Good to see you too, shithead,” Aomine said, and he honestly meant it.

 

“Let’s get Seirin’s charming coach to check you over,” Imayoshi said. “She’ll sort you out.”

 

Aomine stood. He hadn’t realized right away, but he felt shaky walking under his own power. His legs didn’t move the way he was used to them moving. His arms felt too stiff, and he couldn’t remember how to hold them anymore.

 

But that was immaterial.

 

For the first time in months, his mind was silent. There was no voice echoing in his head with terrible force. There was no being controlling the movement of his limbs, the use of his voice.

 

It was just him.

 

Aomine held up his hand in front of his face, wiggling his fingers just to prove that he could, just to prove that he was the one moving his own arm.

 

“You hit your head there or something?” Imayoshi asked. Aomine heard the concern under the sarcasm and it pissed him off.

 

“I’m fine,” he said. “Just making sure I can still make a fist to punch Bakagami’s lights out if he comes near me again.”

 

“That’s the Aomine we all know and hate,” Wakamatsu said cheerfully. He’d come running at the commotion just in time to see Takao take out Kagami, and was watching the fallout with a semi-amused, semi-concerned expression on his face.

 

“Exactly,” Aomine confirmed.

 

“Well I still want you checked out,” Imayoshi said. “Seeing as how you’re having trouble standing at the moment.”

 

With tremendous effort, Aomine extracted himself from Imayoshi’s arm, and centered his weight on both legs. The world dove and spun, but righted itself eventually.

 

“I’m fine,” he said. “So I can just apparate home.”

 

“I think you should stay somewhere we can keep an eye on you for a bit.”

 

Standing by Wakamatsu’s elbow was the woman who had been the only reason Aomine survived to adulthood.

 

“Satsuki,” he said. His voice was rough with emotion.

 

“Daiki,” Momoi replied, and _ouch,_ when did he get demoted from not even having a nickname?

 

“Come on,” she said. “You might be fine, but you should still sleep.”

 

She looked tired too, but Aomine could read the room well enough to know that anything he said now wouldn’t be taken well. He nodded and followed her through the door, taking a last glance at Kagami, who was still out cold on the floor.

 

“We have to find Tetsu,” Aomine said as they left the group behind.

 

Momoi nodded sharply, but didn’t otherwise respond.

 

Aomine followed her, still feeling a little shaky and unsteady on his legs. Just when he thought he had run out of strength to keep walking, Momoi stopped by a door.

 

“Nobody is bunking here yet,” she said. “We can talk more in the morning.”

 

With that she turned and left, leaving behind a whiff of her flowery shampoo as her hair flounced behind her.

 

Aomine passed out the second he hit the bed.

 

_Aomine was just sitting and talking with Kuroko and Kagami. They were somewhere outside, somewhere green and sunny. Kuroko was smiling like he’d done back when they were kids and the easiest way to make him happy was helping him with a new technique for a duel. Kagami was laughing, trying to finish chewing the slice of brightly colored pie he was holding._

 

_Aomine could even smell the fresh growing plants around them. He could feel the warm summer wind._

 

_Aomine’s arm started to move without him controlling it, and panic gripped him. Dark fear spread through him before his magic was bursting free from his hand. There was blood everywhere, and suddenly Aomine was trapped in the darkness of his own mind, pounding on the walls of his own brain, desperately trying to seize control of his body all over again, and then it came, with the grating tone of steel dragging across broken glass-_

 

_DID YOU THINK I WAS GONE?_

 

Aomine woke with his mouth twisted wide in a silent scream.

 

He was shaking so hard he had no control over his own body. His limbs were locked up and pained.

 

For a moment, he was terrified that his body was once again, not his own, and he could feel his own pulse spiking inside his chest. He could hear it racing too loud in his ears, deafening against the silence of Tetsu’s guest room.

 

Shit.

 

 

But Aomine slowly calmed as he realized that his mind was in fact, his own. It was silent inside his head. As conflicted and confused as he felt, he was himself.

 

Aomine sat up. He tapped his fingers on his kneecap, looking for a sign that the movement was controlled by any power aside from him.

 

Sitting up was a painful struggle, but Aomine was fighting his own tired body, not a demon. His limbs hurt from locking up and shaking, but they were his own.

 

_It’s just me. It’s just me in here._

 

But the roaring, mocking voice of the demon in his nightmare kept Aomine from being able to close his eyes again that night.

 

He’d seen the demon leave, but that didn’t necessarily mean that it was gone for good.

 

He wanted to be sure.

 

Aomine didn’t get much sleep, glaring up at the ceiling in his room. He had no idea how on earth he could determine if there was anyone else in his own head.

 

He was probably going to have to do some research.

 

In his head, Aomine was already groaning.

 

He waited until he could see the sun begin to rise through the window before getting out of bed. Aomine decided he would just wander the halls until he found Tetsu’s kitchen or someone who could tell him which way he needed to go.

 

Lucky for Aomine, there was at least one other early riser in Tetsu’s merry group of friends.

 

Aomine recognized Takao heading down the hallway and jogged to catch up.

 

“Couldn’t sleep?” Takao asked cheerfully. Aomine’s scowl deepened.

 

“You heading to food?” he asked. Takao kept smiling.

 

“Sure, and afterwards we can put you to use on the demon research committee; I could use another pair of eyes.”

 

Aomine groaned internally. Research. Great.

 

In short order, Aomine had eaten half a cereal box and was entering the library right behind Takao.

 

It wasn’t as impressive as the Akashi library, or even the Aomine one, but it was fairly large. Tetsu’s family was old and noble, though they had never sought power or wealth as aggressively as many of the oldest families in the country.

 

Looking around, Aomine saw Satsuki and Kagami bent over a pair of heavy looking books, and diverted his attention to the other side of the library before either of them looked up and saw him.

 

He was sure Satsuki knew that he was there, but she didn’t say anything.

 

They would have to talk.

 

Aomine definitely wasn't looking forward to that. He was going to get yelled at and pissed off at himself because Satsuki was probably 100% in the right (she always was). 

 

Momoi would certainly be more able to help Aomine than he was capable of helping himself, but for some reason, Aomine felt that this was something he needed to do on his own.

 

Maybe he just liked the idea of being able to do something about what happened for a change.

 

“Okay, crash course on demons,” Takao started, veering them off to their own table in a corner.

 

“I don’t need the crash course,” Aomine said. “I lived it. I lived like ten different kinds of it, took a walking tour, skipped the guidebook, and got thrown in the river. What have you got on finding out if someone is possessed?”

 

“Oh, we figured that one out weeks ago,” Takao said. “Give me your hand.”

 

“If this is some joke-”

 

Aomine was cut off mid threat when Takao slashed his hand with a heavy knife.

 

“Fuck! You asshole, what the hell?”

 

“Iron burns demons,” Takao said. “We’d see smoke, like we did when I cut your arm when you showed up.”

 

Aomine looked down at his bleeding hand.

 

“Iron, huh?” he asked. He remembered facing down a demon in a snowy field, and piercing it’s hide with an iron weapon.

  
“Sounds like physical weapons can do a lot more damage than magical ones,” Aomine commented. He remembered how the black hide of the demon had smoked, how it had shrieked in agony when he’d hurt it. Aomine couldn’t feel anything other than the ordinary pain from having his hand cut.

 

He didn’t see anything other than his own red blood welling up from the torn skin, either. Takao tapped Aomine’s hand with his wand, wrapping it in bandages.

 

“Sorry,” he said. “I wanted to give myself the element of surprise in case I needed to run.”

 

Well, that was worth not punching the guy over. Aomine let the rage subside, realizing that Takao had just given him a tremendous gift.

 

He was going to have to get his hands on some iron, but in the meantime, he breathed a sigh of relief.

 

“Thanks,” he said gruffly. “So, demons. What are we looking at?”

 

“I’d like to figure out how Kuroko got the demon out of you,” Takao said. “Because I think that’s the only way we’re going to fix this. I’m not letting Shin-chan run around with a demon inside him for longer than I need to.”

 

Ah. Well, that explained his dedication. Aomine let Takao interrogate him, taking notes on a roll of parchment, and didn’t protest when a heavy stack of books was shoved his way.

 

“We’re borrowing from the Miyaji and Ootsubo libraries too,” Takao said.

 

Aomine just grunted, and let the book fall open in front of him.

 

The Miyaji brothers and Izuki showed up after a few minutes of silent reading. The brothers glared at Aomine, but Izuki looked more intimidated than angry.

 

“Kindly shut the fuck up with whatever feelings you have and pick up a book,” Takao said without looking up. “If I lose the chance to help Shin-chan because you idiots start fighting, I’m killing the four of you first.”

 

Well _that_ was a statement. It seemed that Takao Kazunari wasn’t taking the separation from Midorima very well, though he was certainly doing better than Kagami and Aomine when it came to having lost Kuroko. Aomine wondered about Midorima's stoic and stony expression every moment they had been in Akashi's fortress - did the other wizard know where his boyfriend was? That even now he was working so hard to fix what Midorima had helped break?

 

Izuki turned red, and quipped “I’d rather be caught DEAD before standing between you and your boy toy.”

 

“Come on now, Shun, you did that one already,” Takao said, turning a page in the book before him.

 

“Oh did I?” Izuki said, pulling out a notebook that – Merlin, did this guy just walk around writing puns all day – was covered in jokes, and made a note. “Wasn’t great anyway.”

 

“Nope,” Takao agreed. “It doesn’t work because he’s not dead, and if he was dead, it would be even less funny.”

 

Though the mood remained grim, after that the tension in the little study group had dissipated entirely.

 

That was how the next few days passed. Aomine overcame his lack of motivation to read as he looked for ways to fight demons, making notes with the group as they went. Sometimes they were joined by others. Sometimes the whole house would be empty, and Izuki would make puns about phantoms and ghosts that made Aomine’s heart hurt. Once, Aomine entered the sitting room to see Satsuki chewing out three very injured wizards - the Seirin Captain, one of Midorima's other teammates, and Murasakibara's boyfriend. He wondered idly how they had been hurt, but didn't ask.

 

Aomine didn’t wonder where the rest of the wizards and witches here went when they weren’t working on demonology. Some of them were clearly finding other research locations, because one of the Seirin benchwarmers came in waving a rare scroll on demon repelling runes that his family had been hiding with some other suspect items, not sure how to dispose of them appropriately or turn them in without getting in trouble.

 

The mystery that really bothered Aomine was what was going on with Momoi.

 

Aomine could tell that his childhood friend was avoiding him, he just didn’t know how to fix what he had done.

 

“Look, I’m sorry I got possessed by a demon,” he said, when he finally managed to corner her leaving the library. Tetsu had been gone for two days. “Whatever I did to piss you off, I didn’t want to do it, and I’m sorry that it happened, okay?”

 

“Oh, Dai-kun,” Momoi said. She sounded tired and frustrated, but Aomine couldn’t describe how relieved he was to hear the familiar nickname.

 

“I’m not angry at you for getting possessed, I’m angry because you didn’t come to me when you were in danger. You didn’t trust me to help you.”

 

And there really was nothing Aomine could have said in response. He hadn’t even considered that Momoi might be able to help him. And that was ridiculous, because if anyone could have gotten him out of the terrible choice he’d needed to make during the Winter Cup, it was Momoi Satsuki.

 

“I don’t know what to do with knowing that you don’t trust me.”

 

Aomine didn’t really know what to say to that. In that last moment when he had chosen to swear his fealty to Akashi, he hadn’t considered going to anyone to help. He’d resolved to handle it on his own.

 

_The only one who can save me is me._

 

Aomine wanted to laugh at his own arrogance.

 

Even Tetsu might have been able to help, if it was true that the manor they were in now was hidden from even Akashi’s power. But even now, Aomine refused to talk to anyone about the nightmares he was having, about waking up shaking so badly he couldn’t move, about not having used his magic since Kuroko had pulled the demon out of him for good.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said lamely, knowing it wasn’t enough.

 

“I know,” Momoi said with a watery smile. “But I need to get back to helping Riko plan how we’re going to move muggleborns and their families before the government starts evacuating them house by house.”

 

She walked off.

 

“Making girls cry now?”

 

That was Kagami, perfectly on cue. Aomine cursed silently. Of course now that he felt like shit, this guy had to show up like a knight in goddamn shining armor.

 

Aomine didn’t need anyone else rubbing every one of his failures in his face. He knew he’d fucked up big time as it was.

 

“Sure, you wanna be the next girl I make cry?” Aomine shot back. Fighting with Kagami was easier than facing the yawning emptiness inside himself.

 

“If I have to separate you to get to my dinner, I’m taking the price in blood.”

 

They were interrupted by Imayoshi, which felt just _too_ inconvenient. Aomine wondered if the older boy was following him around to keep him out of trouble.

 

Because of course they might all be playing nice with him, but none of them trusted him. They were scared of him, they resented him, they probably hated him. Tetsu’s friends in particular seemed pretty pissed about Aomine’s mere existence, not that Aomine blamed them.

 

And Kagami? Honestly Aomine considered letting him take the hits he so obviously wanted to dole out. The memory of trapping Kagami between his arms hurt just as much as his memories of hurting Tetsu did.

 

Aomine just had no idea how to start making up for everything he had done.

 

Since Tetsu had disappeared, every meeting between him and Kagami went south fast.

 

There was literally no setting the two of them up in the same room if anyone wanted the manor to still be standing when Kuroko came home.

 

Now, they were just trying to survive staying in the same building together while they prayed that Tetsu would come back.

 

And it happened all the time. They would come across each other in the hall, or more likely, the library, and things would devolve into a shouting match. Aomine would find his way to the kitchen to grab something to eat for breakfast and if Kagami was there they would end up exchanging heated words.

 

The third time this happened in the middle of breakfast, Wakamatsu had shown up just in time to punch Aomine in the stomach and distract him long enough for Kagami to be led away by some of his Seirin teammates without another fight igniting between the two of them.

 

“Not gonna lie, that felt really good,” Wakamatsu said, cracking his knuckles. Aomine glowered, rubbing his stomach.

 

“You want some of what I was going to give him?” Aomine demanded.

 

“Nah I’m good,” Wakamatsu said, stretching casually. “Imayoshi was right. Getting pissed off is way less satisfied than getting even.”

 

Then he went back to his breakfast, casually slurping on his cereal like nothing had happened.

 

Because that just set Aomine off even more, he whirled around. He was all too aware that while he was no longer a prisoner here, these people were not his friends, and if he got into one too many fights, nobody would be standing up for him.

 

Not even Satsuki wanted to, not that Aomine blamed her in the slightest.

 

They were all waiting for something to happen. Waiting for Tetsu. Just waiting. Even Nigou was less energetic than usual, mostly trailing after Kagami.

 

Aomine stormed up to his room, slamming the door loudly behind him. This all would have been so much easier if Tetsu was still here. At the very least, Tetsu could have run interference to stop Aomine and Kagami from trying to murder each other every chance they got. Aomine was honestly so tired of Kagami’s attitude. He didn’t want to have to get in a giant fight every time they saw each other, but there was something about Kagami that just inherently pissed Aomine off. If it wasn’t Kagami getting set off about something, he would do something that (to Aomine) justified planting a fist right in the middle of his face.

 

Aomine had had plenty of time to come to terms with the fact that he was kind of in love with the bastard, but literally every time they saw each other, it ended in them taking a swing at each other, either magically or physically. Sometimes both.

 

The stress of Tetsu’s disappearance was wearing on all of them, but without him to keep the peace, there was no helping Kagami and Aomine.

 

The situation couldn’t keep going.

 

Unfortunately, Kuroko was gone, and there was no sign that he was coming back. Any time Riko tried to raise the subject with Kagami, at least as far as Aomine could see, the redhead scowled and walked away, fuming.

 

“If Tetsu-kun was dead, we would know,” Momoi had said during one of these encounters. “Kagami is pretty sure he’s the secret keeper for his home, and based on what he has told me, I agree.”

 

Riko raised her eyebrows.

 

“That’s a lot of trust to put in your kid,” she said. 

 

“Kuroko’s parents are still travelling with his grandmother,” Momoi had replied. “Since he usually is at home alone or with his much older relative, it makes sense that he would be secret keeper. He’s also the least likely of all of them to have it, which makes him a strategic choice, and his misdirection makes him almost as hard to find as the building, which is also a benefit."

 

Her argument made sense.

 

“So Tetsu’s definitely alive somewhere,” Aomine summarized. “How do we find him?”

 

Momoi’s frostiness had thawed somewhat since their conversation in the library, but their friendship was nowhere as close as it had been.

 

It hurt Aomine to think that maybe they would never be able to fix their friendship.

 

“I still don’t know,” she said, gritting her teeth. “I have tried to summon and scry him, but I’m not getting anything. Mido-kun might have had better luck, but without him, I think Tetsu-kun may have to find his own way back. His misdirection is making it impossible for me to find him."

 

She looked worried.

 

Aomine knew how she felt.

 

He really hoped Tetsu came back soon, and not just for his own self-preservation. They couldn’t stay here waiting forever, not with Akashi and Nash Gold Jr. out there, making plans and setting up schemes they were going to have to be able to counter.

 

The days passed, and nothing happened. Riko was running the operations disrupting the evacuations and trying to collect information to see what Akashi was planning, given the small amount of information they had managed to get from Kuroko before he disappeared.

 

Kagami waited and Aomine waited, and everyone in their little alliance waited with bated breath, too afraid to suggest the horrible thought just beyond any of their grasps – that even if Kuroko was alive, he might not be able to come _back._

 

But nobody wanted to be the one to say it. So they waited.

 

They waited, and waited, and waited, until suddenly, they weren’t waiting any more.

 

…

 

Several days after Kuroko had vanished, Aomine came out of the shower still pulling on his shirt  and fell over something standing in his way.

 

Aomine tumbled to the floor and jumped up, cursing.

 

And then he just stared at the person sitting on his floor.

 

Kuroko looked up in alarm at a semi-shirtless Aomine. His expression didn’t give away anything he was thinking or feeling. Aomine dropped the shirt, letting the hem fall down so it was fully on, and then reacted with extreme alarm.

 

“Holy shit, Tetsu!” Aomine shouted. “Warn a guy, would you?”

 

There was a long pause in which Aomine and Kuroko just stared at each other for a solid minute. Then Aomine screeched even louder.

 

“Where the hell have you been?” Aomine demanded, reaching forward to wrap his arms around his Shadow. “Are you okay?”

 

Kuroko didn’t say anything for a long time. He buried his head into Aomine’s shirt. He was so relieved to be home, so glad to see his Light again that he was beyond words and gestures and explanation.

 

“Hey hey, Tetsu, it’s okay,” Aomine said, gently running his hands through Kuroko’s hair.

 

Kuroko didn’t see Aomine make a face, but he did hear the regret in his voice when Aomine finally broke away.

 

“Come on, we gotta find Bakagami, he’s gonna want to know you’re not dead so that he can finally stop trying to kill me.”

 

Kuroko really hoped against hope that that didn’t mean that his Lights had been _literally_ trying to kill each other while he was gone, but then again he’d heard that Kagami introduced himself to Aomine by literally attacking him in the middle of their first Transfiguration class together, so he wasn’t holding his breath on hearing otherwise. He’d seen how pissed off Kagami had been at Kuroko’s suggestion that he wanted to see Aomine just after waking up, he could imagine that his boyfriend had been furious to find that Kuroko’s exorcism attempt had backfired so spectacularly.

 

It wasn’t hard to find Kagami. He was in the kitchen, a red apron protecting his clothes as he stirred a giant pot of sauce on top of the stove.

 

“Cooking the muggle way, huh? You sure make a great housewife.”

 

Kagami tensed up, turning around with real violence in his expression as he glared at Aomine.

 

“What do you want, Ahomine?”

 

Kuroko thought he might burst at the sound of Kagami’s voice, rough and angry though it was (honestly, being angry was a primary aspect of the tall redhead’s personality so it felt like little had changed). He’d missed his boyfriend so much.

 

Unable to stay still knowing his friends were so close, he burst out from behind Aomine, eyes burning at the sudden light. But it didn’t matter because right there, in the flesh, looking no worse for the wear, was Kagami Taiga, his Light, love, and best friend.

 

Unfortunately, Kagami was aiming a hand sparking with the threat of his power directly at Aomine, ready to attack at the slightest provocation.

 

“Nothing you can give me, Bakagami,” Aomine was sneering. “You wanna fight? Let’s fight! You couldn’t even protect Kuroko-”

 

And that was where Kuroko was going to step in, because nothing was more likely to result in an exchange of spellfire than calling into question Kagami’s loyalty to his team or his friends. It was the insufferable Gryffindor in him, no doubt. More than a year out of Hogwarts (two years out for Aomine who had supposedly been mature enough to graduate early, according to the Board of Education and the N.E.W.T. testing commission) they were both still so childish, it was almost as trying as it was endearing.

 

“Excuse me,” he tried. It did no good. He cleared his throat and tried again, but neither man looked at him. With a sigh, Kuroko jabbed his fist directly into Aomine’s side, making Aomine lower his wand in sudden pain as he doubled over. Kuroko stepped in front of him, meeting Taiga’s eyes for the first time in –

 

Merlin, he didn’t know how long he’d been gone, but it felt like so much longer since he’d seen Kagami. Even though he’d talked with the other man after getting home when Aomine rescued him, he felt like he hadn’t had the chance to see him, really see him, since before he’d been kidnapped by Akashi. He’d been running scared and too focused on trying to help Aomine to really focus on being back, and now the magnitude of everything that had happened was sitting on his chest like a stone.

 

Kuroko had missed Kagami so much that he could barely breathe now that he was back in his arms.

 

“Kagami, this isn’t Aomine’s fault,” he said, finally managing to catch his Light’s attention.

 

Kagami stood stock still for a second before he became a blur of motion. The fire around his hand vanished sometime in the second between when he burst into movement and when the much larger boy slammed into Kuroko less than a second later, catching him up in a massive, all encompassing hug.

 

“Kuroko Tetsuya, you scared me half to death,” Kagami whispered into Kuroko’s sky blue hair.

 

They stayed like that for a long time, Kagami practically wrapped entirely around Kuroko, as though he could shield him from everything that had gone wrong in the world. Kuroko was clinging to him just as tightly, not wanting to let him go.

 

“Thank you for bringing him back,” Kagami said, and Kuroko realized he was talking to Aomine, who huffed as though he’d done nothing at all.

 

“I’ve been telling you since we got here, I didn’t mean for him to get kidnapped, and I’m not the one who injured him while we were escaping,” he said. “It’s about time I got a thank you for everything I’ve done anyway.”

 

“I know it wasn’t your fault,” Kagami said to Aomine. “I was angry at you, but I shouldn’t have been.”

 

“I know, okay, so quit being shitty and embarrassing,” Aomine said, his face turning a dark shade of red as Kagami held onto Kuroko.

 

Kagami huffed, but he buried his face in Kuroko’s hair, holding onto him as tightly as he could as though afraid that the second he lost contact with Kuroko that his Shadow would disappear again.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Sorry for what?” Kagami demanded of Kuroko. “You have nothing to be sorry for, except maybe having shitty taste in some of your friends.”

 

Aomine glowered at him, even knowing that that particular barb was aimed at the rest of the Miracles, not himself personally, at least not in this exact moment.

 

“I promised I would come back and then I left you, twice,” Kuroko said. “I shouldn’t have been so reckless and confident that nothing bad could happen.”

 

“I know, I know,” Kagami murmured. “But you don’t have to be. It wasn’t your fault and you’re safe now, and I’ll protect you, no matter what.”

 

…

 

To their mutual credit, Kuroko’s parents apparated into the entrance hall to see Sakurai hanging from the ceiling and Wakamatsu and Takao jeering at him from the ground below, and did not immediately have every recent Hogwarts graduate in their house arrested.

 

“Hello,” Kuroko’s father said, looking entirely unfazed. “Is our son around?”

 

Kuroko was located in short order.

 

“We have some questions,” Kuroko’s mother said, and Kuroko nodded, standing up from the table in the library.

 

His parents had Kuroko join them in the study, closing the door behind them once Kuroko, his grandmother, and his parents were alone.

 

“There are a few things we need to talk about,” Kuroko began.

 

…

 

All in all, Kuroko’s parents were fine with the use of their home as a strategic base of operations. They were horrified to have been caught up on everything that had happened only after the fact, as they had been out of contact in Paraguay for several months on a diplomatic mission.

 

Kuroko downplayed his kidnapping and subsequent escape, and refrained from mentioning his disappearance at all. He did, however, tell them everything he had learned about Akashi’s plans and the evacuation efforts.

 

His parents agreed that it was clear they needed to act.

 

Bringing up what had happened reminded Kuroko that there were two conversations he needed to have, and soon.

 

The first was easier. He found Seto hanging out in the sitting room, and waited patiently for the other man to notice his presence.

 

“Jeez, don’t scare me like that,” Seto said, looking not at all flustered by Kuroko’s sudden appearance.

 

“I need to talk to Hanamiya,” Kuroko said flatly. “Please let him know.”

 

He left before the other man could argue with him or try to convince him that he didn’t know where Hanamiya was.

 

Maybe Kuroko was wrong about his suspicions, but if he was right, Kuroko knew that he needed all the help he could get. Merlin might believe that Kuroko himself was enough to do something about the demon invasion, but Kuroko had his own doubts.

 

The second conversation was a lot harder.

 

Kuroko had known when he dived into that freezing lake, that he cared for Aomine just as deeply as Kagami. He’d been ready to die, to take whatever risks he had to, in order to get back to them.

 

Both of them.

 

Kuroko suspected that his Lights also harbored deep feelings for one another. Aomine’s comments while Kuroko had been Akashi’s prisoner, and some of the things Kagami had said, led him to believe that this might work.

 

No matter how non-traditional the arrangement might be, if they were willing to try, Kuroko wanted more than anything to give it a shot.

 

He loved them in the exact same way, and couldn’t imagine choosing only one of them, as happy as his relationship with Kagami had made him.

 

But Kuroko wasn’t going to do anything without talking it through with both of his Lights first. He wanted to raise the issue with Kagami before anything else, and he waited for the the right opportunity.

 

Said opportunity came to Kuroko when he and Kagami were alone in their room for the evening. Kuroko steeled his nerves and decided that it was time.

 

He felt that the easiest way to communicate would be the most direct.

 

“I have something we need to talk about,” Kuroko said to Kagami.

 

“Sure, what’s up?” Kagami asked.

 

“I want to date Aomine.”

 

Kagami felt his heart rip open at the words.

 

He’d known this was coming. Had prepared for it. Had thought it was a possibility from the night he had held Kuroko on the astronomy tower and begged him to give them a chance.

 

A chance is all, apparently, that they’d had. And Kagami’s time had run out.

 

Aomine was back, and he was back to his old self, for all that Kagami didn’t think much of his attitude.

 

“I think I need to explain,” Kuroko said. Kagami couldn’t read the tone of the words, but he didn’t have to. His stomach was sinking through the floor, and he felt like he couldn’t focus on Kuroko’s face for much longer. Shame was burning behind his face, and Kagami knew that if he stayed here any longer, he’d make a bigger fool out of himself than he already had.

 

“No, I get it,” Kagami said, feeling the rip in his chest widen with every word. “I hope you’re happy with him.”

 

He took a deep breath, turned, and ran.

 

He’d get over it.

 

He’d known what they had couldn’t last forever, had suspected from the very start that Kuroko had always been in love with Aomine.

 

Who wouldn’t be? Aomine was more powerful, more confident, and had history with Kuroko. If Kagami had the option between himself and Aomine, he knew which one was the more obvious choice.

 

And yet, Kagami had hoped that after what they’d had, Kuroko would choose him.

 

He’d really wanted Kuroko to choose him, but he wouldn’t stop his shadow from leaving. Kuroko was his own person, and made his own decisions, and Kagami didn’t want that any other way.

 

Kagami ran to the kitchen, for a lack of a better place to go. When he was stressed or upset, baking or cooking always made him feel better.

 

He stormed into the kitchen, lighting the lamps with a wave of magic. He winced as he heard one of the crystal globes shatter.

 

He was struggling to stay in control of his rampaging emotions.

 

Kuroko wanted to leave him.

 

Kagami didn’t trust himself to handle any kitchen equipment with magic, so he slammed the mixing bowls down on the counter and poured sugar, chocolate, flour, eggs… he measured by feeling more than by volume at this point, and damn it all if these would have enough sugar to kill him.

 

He filled a tray with the brownie mix, and started on a set of muffins, mixing in blueberries. He didn’t know when he started crying, but he did notice when his hands started shaking so much that he could no longer hold the bowl and spoon steadily.

 

Aw, shit.

 

Here he was getting all emotional all over again.

 

Kagami was a grown ass man, and he had been rejected plenty in his life. He’d been rejected by his mother, by her whole family, by his tribe, by his classmates, by Tatsuya, by the Miracles…

 

By the spirits, he should have been more than prepared to handle this, having seen it coming a mile and a half away.

 

Coyote’s tits he was stupid.

 

“Excuse me.”

 

Kagami didn’t raise his head from his arms. He didn’t exactly want to talk to Kuroko.

 

“You have two minutes before the brownies in the oven burn.”

 

“Great.”

 

Kagami’s response was less than enthusiastic.

 

“We need to talk,” Kuroko insisted.

 

“I think you’ve said all that really needs to be said,” Kagami said.

 

“I do not,” Kuroko replied evenly. “I apologize. I believed that my bluntness would provide more clarity, but I see I only made things more confusing. That is my fault. If you would give me the opportunity, I would like to finish what I had to say.”

 

“Fine, what?” Kagami snapped, finally looking up. His tone was angrier with Kuroko than he’d intended to be.

 

“I’m not choosing Aomine over you,” Kuroko said.

 

“Then what the hell did you mean, you want to date Aomine?” Kagami asked, rubbing his hand over his face. He was tired. He was emotionally drained. He did not understand in the slightest what Kuroko was driving at and he needed his shadow to be clearer.

 

“I want to date you,” Kuroko said. “And I want to date Aomine.”

 

Kagami stared at Kuroko.

 

“At the same time,” Kuroko clarified.

 

“You want like… some kind of threesome?” Kagami asked. Kuroko nodded, relieved that Kagami had understood, even if he didn’t approve.

 

Kagami felt relief that he wasn’t being rejected, but there were conflicting emotions too.

 

He was still pissed off at Aomine for one. He admired and liked the guy well enough, but after everything…

 

“This is what you want?” Kagami asked.

 

Kuroko nodded once, very seriously.

 

“Only if you want it too,” Kuroko said solemnly.

 

“What I want is for you to be happy,” Kagami said. “I don’t mind sharing you with Aomine but…”

 

Kuroko waited out the pause in Kagami’s thoughts.

 

“Really? Aomine? Do you think he’s safe to be around?” Kagami asked.

 

“The demon is gone,” Kuroko said definitively. “I left it behind in the demon realms, and it was pretty angry. If it had control of Aomine, we would know quickly.”

 

Kagami snorted. That wasn’t exactly confidence inspiring.

 

So Aomine wasn’t possessed by a demon. That didn’t make him much less of an ass in Kagami’s eyes.

 

And yet, Kagami could see right through Kuroko’s expressionless face. The other man wanted this. For whatever reason, he really wanted to make it work, somehow.

 

Kagami finally understood what Kuroko wanted, and realized maybe it wasn’t so bad.

 

“Have you talked to Aomine about this?” Kagami asked.

 

Kuroko shook his head.

 

“I would not have raised the issue with him had you decided that you were adamantly opposed,” Kuroko said. He leaned down and took Kagami’s hand in his own. “Your happiness is very important to me too.”

 

Kagami felt a little warm at that inside.

 

“You really mean it?” he said. “If I said I didn’t want this, you would drop it?”

 

“Yes,” Kuroko said, and he meant it. “I am sorry that I made you feel otherwise. I don’t ever want to hurt you, even carelessly.”

 

“Yeah well, you had some help from friendly fire there too,” Kagami said, leaning his forehead against Kuroko’s. “There’s some insecurity stuff I thought I left behind, but clearly not all the way.”

 

Kuroko held onto Kagami tightly.

 

“You’re perfect,” he said, and Kagami smiled against Kuroko’s mouth.

 

They kissed, their lips meeting softly. Kuroko was all but sitting in Kagami’s lap, their arms intertwined as they held one another.

 

They were interrupted by the rude, loud beeping of the oven.

 

“Oh shit, Kuroko, you gotta move or I’m gonna burn the brownies,” Kagami said.

 

“Let the chocolate burn,” Kuroko said.

 

“Oi, I’m making vanilla blueberry muffins too, you dork,” Kagami laughed, and Kuroko let himself be moved, smiling up at Kagami.

 

Nigou came running in, summoned by the commotion. Kuroko pet his head absently as Kagami moved the muffins into the oven and set the chocolate aside to cool. Kagami pulled lose a generous square, took a large bite, and immediately made a face.

 

“Never cook when you’re mad, Merlin’s soggy Y-fronts that’s the worst thing I’ve ever made.”

 

“Worse than Coach though?” Kuroko asked.

 

“Worse, so much worse, it’s not even good for you,” Kagami said, still gagging on the taste.” “Oh man.”

 

Kagami vanished the whole mess and sighed, sitting back down on the floor. He was still tense around the dog, but forced himself to stay calm. Nigou had gotten pretty big, having grown well beyond his small size when Kuroko had found him in an alley in the middle of the devastation of Los Angeles.

 

They sat in silence until the muffins were done. Kagami took a bite and yelped as he scalded his tongue. Once they cooled, Kagami pronounced them edible, and he and Kuroko joked around as they ate muffins.

 

“I love vanilla,” Kuroko said around a mouthful of muffin.

 

“Nothing like one AM baking to remind you that you’re alive,” Kagami said, taking another large bite of his muffin.

 

“What are the two of you up to?”

 

As though it was fate, Aomine was standing in the kitchen doorway, a guarded expression on his face.

 

“Couldn’t sleep,” Kagami said.

 

“I know the feeling,” Aomine said, rubbing the back of his head. He did look pretty tired.

 

The exchange was almost cordial. It was certainly less violent than every other time Aomine and Kagami had gotten together in the same room, so that was something, at the very least.

 

Kuroko and Kagami exchanged glances. Kuroko moved Nigou off the seat next to him, letting the dog make himself comfortable in Kuroko’s lap.

 

“If you are up for it, I would like to talk with you,” Kuroko said.

 

Aomine looked between Kagami and Kuroko as though sure that this had to be some huge joke at his expense. He yawned, shrugged, and folded himself into the chair next to Kuroko’s at the table.

 

“Okay, what’s up?” he asked.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath. He could see that Kagami was tense again, and he really hoped that this wasn’t going to go south.

 

“I would like to be in a relationship with both of you,” Kuroko said. “Together.”

 

“Tetsu, what?” Aomine asked.

 

“I care deeply for both of you,” Kuroko said. “It is very difficult for me to express that, and it is not my intention any way to harm either of you. I want this to be a relationship from which we all gain, and not one that fosters distrust,” Kuroko finished.

 

Aomine scrubbed at his face with his hand, ruffling the front of his hair.

 

“Tetsu, how’s that even gonna work?”  
  


“I’m not sure,” Kuroko said. “But I believe that if we can communicate our needs to each other, than this can be a mutually fulfilling bond.”

 

Aomine and Kagami glanced at each other, distrust masked by a desire to do whatever would make Kuroko happy. Aomine was afraid to say anything for a long time. He’d wanted to be with Tetsu for so long, had known that he cared for Kagami too, and this just seemed to good to be real.

 

But he was sure he was awake. He was mostly sure he wasn’t hallucinating or trapped in some cruel spell or illusion. And that meant this was real.

 

That meant Aomine might be able to come out of this nightmare with everything he’d been too afraid to hope for since Akashi had shoved a demon inside of him.

 

“Fine,” Kagami and Aomine said at the exact same time, both with identical expressions of malcontent. “But I’m not coming anywhere near _him._ ”

 

The synchronization would have been hilarious, if it weren’t for the fact that neither looked extremely happy about the arrangement Kuroko was proposing.

 

Kuroko sighed internally.

 

They would come around. They were just too similar to accept it right away, but eventually they would see that the two of them were not inherently incompatible. Perhaps this would be the gateway to them opening up to one another, as well.

 

And maybe, if this really worked out, they could have something that would make all of them really happy.

 

…

 

Kuroko should have known better than to think that things would just work themselves out easily. His Lights were both way too stubborn to make any progress with each other without outside interference, and they were determined not to get along.

 

It was part of the reason Kuroko was drawn to both of them, but it was not very conducive to getting to know each other.

 

His Lights were as good as their word when it came to not coming anywhere near each other. If Kuroko was eating breakfast with Kagami, Aomine was nowhere to be seen. If he was sharing his dinner with Aomine, Kagami made himself scarce.

 

They didn’t exist in any close proximity to each other, and yet somehow were becoming increasingly territorial by the hour.

 

Kuroko was less than thrilled with how the situation was playing out. This was untenable, and he could tell that both men he cared about were extremely unhappy, which was not at all what he had hoped for with this arrangement. 

 

Things came to a head when Aomine and Kagami nearly came to blows fighting over whose room Kuroko was going to sleep in. Kuroko was physically stretched between their arms like a favorite chew toy of two dogs when he realized his mistake. 

 

Distracted, Kuroko had let the argument escalate to a higher volume than he should have before he stepped in, jabbing his fingers into the sides of both his Lights in order to get their attention.

 

“I am not sleeping with either of you if you cannot be nice to one another,” he said, storming off. Momoi was more than happy to welcome Kuroko into her room. The couch in her guest room was excessively large, and Kuroko spent a comfortable night there, some of which was spent chatting with Momoi about the best way to try and convince his two boyfriends to get along.

 

“You can’t talk Dai-kun into anything,” Momoi said sternly. “If he doesn’t think it’s his own idea, he’ll just balk and fight and be stubborn about it. I spent a decade learning that the hard way, and I don’t know if you have that long to wait.”

 

The fact that the world was ending went unspoken. If this is something that would make Kuroko happy, he had to take it and fight for it. And he had to do it soon.

 

Thus a plot was hatched.

 

The next morning, the two of them woke up early to lay the groundwork for their plan. At breakfast, Kuroko sent Takao to talk with Kagami while Momoi talked to Aomine, under the guise of asking him to help her with a project.

 

At the exact same time, the portkeys that had been slipped onto the two wizards activated, landing them squarely in a reasonably small closet somewhere in Kuroko’s home. Aomine and Kagami looked at Kuroko in shock at the sudden movement – Kagami still had a piece of toast hanging from his mouth.

 

Kuroko put on his most disapproving deadpan expression, and gave his Lights the talking to he needed them to hear.

 

“You are not dogs, and I am not meat; I would appreciate the two of you beginning to act like you understand this concept as well.”

 

“Tetsu-”

 

“Work out your differences, and you can come out. If you’re in here too long I’ll send Riko or Momoi to bring you some food.”

 

The door closed in their faces, and Kagami and Aomine were left in the dark together.

 

“That was ice fucking cold,” Kagami said.

 

“If we eat anything Satsuki makes we’re gonna die,” Aomine agreed. “So we better make nice and at least pretend to be ok with each other or we’re going to get poisoned.”

 

“Coach is the same way,” Kagami said, making a face.

 

“I’m pretty sure they do it on purpose,” Aomine said thoughtfully. “Imayoshi asked Momoi to bring food _one time_ and I think she started fucking up the food just to prove that her talents were put to better use elsewhere.”

 

“Oh Coach tries so hard,” Kagami replied. “She just keeps trying to add supplements and potions to perfectly good food.”

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“Whatever, I’m getting out of here.”

 

Aomine tried to apparate, but found himself slamming up against a wall.

 

“Anti-apparation wards?” Kagami suggested when Aomine scowled.

 

“Nice guess, genius,” Aomine muttered under his breath.

 

“So we’re really stuck here,” Kagami said. He settled more comfortably where he was sitting. “Might as well wait them out then.”

 

With a flick of his fingers, Kagami summoned a bright red ball of witch light. It illuminated the entire space of the closet, glowing dimly.

 

Aomine sighed.

 

“Got any cards or something?” he asked. Kagami shrugged.

 

“Nah,” he said. “We could do what Kuroko said and talk…”

 

“The hell do you want to talk about?” Aomine asked.

 

“We could talk about the weather… or you could explain what the hell made you decide to help Akashi with his demons anyway?” Kagami demanded. “Didn’t you hear _demons are involved_ and think maybe this was something that you might need help with? Or did you think that nobody could stop a demon invasion except for you?”

 

Aomine wanted that to be less accurate than it was, but it pissed him off to hear someone else voice exactly what he’d been thinking since Akashi had shoved a demon into him.

 

“Just shut up,” Aomine growled, looking away.

 

“Okay,” Kagami said. “Wanna talk about what’s going on with your magic then?”

 

Aomine scowled.

 

“What the fuck do you know about what my magic is doing?” he demanded. “My magic is fine, you fucking idiot.”

 

“You think I didn’t notice every time you got pissed off at me you never used your magic?” Kagami asked. “Come on man I know I’m not as observant as some people but that’s pretty hard to miss. What, did the appeal of throwing around your power finally wear off?”

 

Aomine grit his teeth because the other man had been so far off he didn’t know where to start. He was pissed because even _knowing_ that Kagami was goading him, he was still letting it get to him.

 

He didn’t owe Bakagami an explanation for anything. He especially didn’t have to tell the other man that the reason he didn’t want to use his magic was that it had been used against him for so long that he wasn’t sure he could be trusted to control it anymore.

 

The fear lingered deep in the pit of his stomach. No matter how much time and space passed between his possession and the present, Aomine didn’t know if he would ever be able to use his magic without remembering the feeling of the demon using his magic to hurt other people.

 

It made him feel vaguely ill.

 

“Okay, so you don’t wanna talk about why you’re pissed off. We know why _I’m_ pissed so hashing that one out won’t help us. If neither of us has anything to say, we can just sit here in silence until Kuroko comes and gets us, but that seems pretty boring.”

 

Aomine sighed.

 

He wished that Bakagami would just stop talking, but he had no control over that.

 

He certainly wasn’t about to sit here and admit his fucking feelings to Kagami, not while he was pretty sure that Kagami would just deck him in the face for it.

 

They did sit in silence for a while. The tension remained, neither of them willing to try and compromise or break the silence. Aomine stared at the shadows the red light cast on the wall and tried to focus on anything other than the rather attractive, large man sharing the cramped space with him.

 

It seemed like neither of them would relent, when finally Aomine broke the quiet because he couldn’t stand just _sitting there_ any longer.

 

“Hollyhead Harpies got robbed out of the championship,” he said bluntly.

 

Kagami exhaled sharply, and then laughed.

 

“Man, did they,” he agreed. “No way the Tornados deserved that win. If Mai-chan had been playing they would have got creamed.”

 

“Lucky injury for the Tornados,” Aomine said. “Harpies have a great team, but they never cared enough about depth of field and they paid out the nose for it this season.”

 

“It’s easier to train seven players plus one alternate than fourteen,” Kagami argued.

 

“Yeah well, it’s called planning, a concept I’m not surprised you’re unfamiliar with,” Aomine sniped, but there wasn’t any real heat to the barb.

 

Kagami huffed.

 

“At least it wasn’t the Cannons,” he said.

 

“Fuck the Cannons,” Aomine agreed.

 

This exchange, which was almost cordial, did not last much longer, and the two of them elapsed into a more comfortable, but still awkward silence.

 

Kagami’s initial barb about Aomine’s stupidity in regards to Akashi’s demons was still stinging, and Aomine finally couldn’t take it anymore.

 

“He was going to kill you.”

 

That had not been what Kagami was expecting. He looked up, clearly not not sure what Aomine was talking about.

 

“What?”

 

“You asked me what made me think Akashi had the right idea about the demons,” Aomine said. His face felt hot and he knew he was blushing with embarrassment, but he couldn’t take Kagami of all people lambasting his decisions when Aomine had only ever done what he could to help people.

 

To help Bakagami too, as much as it angered him that he was still so easily motivated.

 

“So that’s what it was,” Aomine finished. “I didn’t agree with him, so he threatened you to make me help him.”

 

“Me?” Kagami asked. “Why the hell would Akashit think that would motivate you at all?”

 

Aomine glared at the other man.

 

“You need me to say it, Bakagami?” he said.

 

Kagami just stared at him, dumbfounded.

 

“I’m hot for you, okay?”

 

Kagami opened and closed his mouth a few times. He was absolutely dumbfounded.

 

“It’s why the demon wanted to hurt you to get to me,” Aomine added in before he could stop himself. “It enjoyed hearing me freak the fuck out while it… did that shit to you while I couldn’t do anything about it, because it knew how I felt about you.”

 

“But Kuroko-”

 

“I’m hot for him too, okay? It’s complicated.”

 

Kagami let a breath of air hiss out between his teeth as he considered what Aomine was telling him.

 

“So this whole… threesome thing, you’re on board with it?”

 

“You don’t sound like you are,” Aomine said, more perceptive that Kagami had been ungenerously giving him credit for.

 

“It’s… not really traditional,” he said slowly. “I guess it’s the kind of thing that would be really taboo in most places in America. My mom would shit an egg.”

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“It’s not all that traditional anywhere,” he acknowledged. “But it happens, and it isn’t really a major scandal. Look at your coach.”

 

“How is it that everyone knows Coach is in a three way relationship except her dad?” Kagami demanded. “It just seems unlikely that nobody has ever raised this in conversation with him.”

 

“Trying to get tips on hiding two boyfriends from your mom?”

 

Kagami snorted, but he didn’t comment on this.

 

“This is kind of crazy,” Kagami said, running his hands through his hair. “This doesn’t seem like it could possibly work.”

 

“Well trust Tetsu to make something impossible work,” Aomine said thoughtfully. “But it wouldn’t unless we were all honest, you know, coming in completely open with each other. I wasn’t, so let’s start over.”

 

Kagami nodded, exhaling.

 

“I guess the real question is, do we want to make it work,” Aomine added. “Not just for Tetsu, but because we want it too. I wanna try and make it work, so that’s me being open and honest.”

 

As much as Kagami hated admitting when Aomine was right, the other man had a seriously good point. This relationship, at least the way Kuroko had pitched it, couldn’t work if Aomine and Kagami were only in it for Kuroko. It had to be mutual, and something they worked on together.

 

Kagami considered Aomine in a light he hadn’t thought about before, and found that yeah, he wouldn’t mind this.

 

It was worth a try. It might not work out, but Kagami had never been one to shy away from decisions just because he was scared of failure.

 

If he had, he wouldn’t be a Gryffindor.

 

Aomine seemed to have the same train of thought.

 

“Well, you want to find out if you want this?” Aomine asked.

 

Kagami caught the innuendo, and he nodded, tense. What if this just couldn’t work? He knew that neither Kuroko nor Aomine would force him to do something he didn’t want to do, but he was nervous.

 

But on the other hand, what if it did? Kagami wondered which outcome he was more scared of.

 

Aomine leaned in, so close that Kagami could smell the soap he’d used to shower that morning. Aomine grinned.

 

“This okay, Bakagami?” he asked.

 

“Don’t call me names, Ahomine,” Kagami replied.

 

“Sure sure,” Aomine said. “But answer the question first.”

 

“You’re fine,” Kagami said, blushing again.

 

Aomine moved forward, and closed the distance between them. His lips met Kagami’s, much more gently than they had the first time they had kissed.

 

This was Aomine, not the demon inside him, and he was _pretty damn good at this._

 

Kagami leaned forward into the kiss, their arms wrapping around each other, sharing body heat.

 

Aomine broke off, looking hazy. Kagami felt a little heady himself.

 

“Well, that’s not a problem,” he said. Kagami snorted. Yeah, no definitely not a problem.

 

“You’re the one who was always cornering me when you were shirtless coming from the shower in school,” Kagami defended himself.

 

Aomine grinned slowly.

 

“Yeah?” he asked, in a low voice that practically promised sin.  “That something you liked to see?”

 

Kagami really didn’t need to respond verbally to that one, because Aomine already knew the answer.

 

“Sounds like you’ve been hot for me too for just as long,” Aomine said. “Of course, anyone would be. I don’t blame you.”

 

Aomine made quite a show of flexing his arms in the cramped space.

 

Kagami stuck out his tongue at the other man.

 

“You’re okay,” he said, because the _ego,_ honestly.

 

“I bet I’m a better kisser than you,” Aomine boasted and _oh boy, Kagami already knew where this was going_ and he kind of hated himself for taking the bait.

 

“Yeah?” he asked. “Come over here and prove it.”

 

Aomine did just that.

 

Sometime much, much later, the two of them were sitting in the closet, sharing much more space than they needed to. Neither was wearing a shirt any more, the heat between them having been more than enough to keep them warm.

 

“Now, what I really wanna know is what we’re going to do to get back at Tetsu for locking us in a closet.”

 

Kagami looked up at Aomine in the scant light from his bright red witch light, and grinned. There was a whole host of wet dreams he’d had, in school and out of it, that had just opened up as a possibility, and he was beginning to see the potential and brilliance of this suggestion.

 

Kuroko was pretty damn smart, but this time he might just have outmaneuvered himself.

 

“What did you have in mind?”

 

…

 


	56. Nash Gold Jr. Goes Yum Yum

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear to god I do not make these chapters line up with reality but now I'm really scared that I might be writing the future into existence.
> 
> Edit; I forgot to add CW for realistic references to drug sales and implied drug use. It's a minor part of the flashback portion.

...

 

Haizaki was not having a good time.

 

He’d graduated from Hogwarts with an average GPA, average test scores, and a handful of reproaching notes on his student file.

 

Sure, he was muggleborn, and so not a member of the exclusive club open only to the recently graduated children of the rich and powerful. He wasn’t the top of his class, but he was nowhere near the bottom. His practical exams had gone much better than the written ones, which admittedly had been abysmal.

 

None of those things should have landed him where he was now; waiting in a skeevy alleyway in Washington D.C. at three in the morning with a plan to kidnap someone for Nash Gold Jr.

 

Haizaki prided himself on being somewhat of an ass. The world was his, and he took what he wanted. Things were just better when he got them by depriving someone else of them. He knew most people weren’t like that, and Haizaki actually kind of enjoyed being universally hated at times.

 

Nash Gold Jr. was an entire other level of crazy.

 

And yet, when the blonde had come up to Haizaki while he was studying in the library on campus and asked him “ _ you want to fuck over the Generation of Miracles _ ?” Haizaki had agreed in a heartbeat.

 

Honestly, he’d felt weird about it from the get go. This wasn’t who he was anymore, it wasn’t the person he wanted to be.

 

The person Shuzo wanted him to be.

 

A moment of weakness, a fleeting indiscretion. That was all this was. Haizaki would help out Gold and then keep on going, pretending that nothing had ever happened.

 

Shuzo never had to find out.

 

Lightning struck across the sky, and it started to rain.

 

Haizaki swore, casting a spell to keep himself dry.

 

This reminded him way too much of his life as it had been a few years ago. He grit his teeth against the memory of why he’d come so far away from home to begin with.

 

…

 

_ Haizaki was loitering in yet another alley by Knockturn Alley. He was two months out from Hogwarts with no job and no prospects, but there were some careers that paid well and always hired, no matter how anathema you were. _

 

_ Haizaki hadn’t run with this crew in a long time, but he’d learned the ropes of this trade in the muggle world, and wizards weren’t any different. _

 

_ He fingered the ten pack of sealed pouches in his pocket. One last sale for the night, and then he’d be good for now. _

 

_ He didn’t want to get rich selling drugs. He’d seen plenty of people do that, and it was how you ended up dead or serving a life sentence. He just wanted to survive. _

 

_ But hey, make five grand in a night selling Fireweed in the shadows, and you get high off your own success. _

 

_ Haizaki snorted at his own double entendre. He had a few regulars that rose with the moon, who he might see over the next few hours. _

 

_ Speaking of. _

 

_ Haizaki was waved further into the alley by one such client. _

 

_ He wasn’t expecting anything out of the ordinary to happen, so when a fist slammed into his gut, Haizaki was absolutely not ready. He doubled over, gasping for air. _

 

_ Someone tried to knee him in the face and Haizaki dodged just in time to avoid breaking his nose. The knee made contact with his cheek instead and Haizaki was thrown into the wall next to him instead. _

 

_ He grabbed for his wand, but was paralyzed before he could do anything. _

 

_ Haizaki’s attacker rummaged through his pockets, grabbing whatever he could find, and vanishing into the night. _

 

_ Haizaki lay on the ground, immobile. He knew he was going to be stuck here until the spell wore off, but that could be hours. _

 

_ Overhead, he heard the crash of thunder. A moment later, Haizaki felt the touch of rain on his face. _

 

_ Ah, fuck. _

 

_ This was not his day. _

 

_ Haizaki lay there, getting progressively colder and wetter, until finally he could feel his limbs. His body dropped the rigid pose of the body bind and he stood and stretched. Haizaki recovered his wand and dried his clothes. _

 

_ It was only then that he started going through his pockets to see what he’d been robbed of. _

 

_ He felt white hot fear the second he realized what was gone. He should have expected it, but he’d tried so hard not to think about it while he was laying there unable to do anything.  _

 

_ The ten pack. _

 

_ Haizaki panicked. _

 

_ The drugs were fronted to him by his supplier. He didn’t have enough to pay the guy back and make rent. _

 

_ There was a  _ lot  _ of galleons worth of drugs in those bags. _

 

_ Ah fuck, he was going to have to run. Fuck rent, fuck his corner, he wasn’t going to survive not paying that guy back. Vukka was a werewolf who ran one of the big local packs. Haizaki wasn’t trying to get into a fight with a werewolf. _

 

_ There were only a few rules to the trade. Don’t get high on your own supply. Don’t cut below 3% if you want to keep your clients. And never cheat a supplier if you don’t wanna die. _

 

_ Haizaki didn’t want to die. _

 

_ “Shougo, where you going?” _

 

_ Fear rooted Haizaki to the spot. _

 

_ “Vukka,” he said smoothly. “How’s it hanging?” _

 

_ “It is hanging,” Vukka said, looming in the shadows of the alley. Haizaki could sense wolves closing in on him. There were at least five. _

 

_ Well, that wasn’t so bad. If Vukka hadn’t been there, Haizaki might have been actually optimistic about his chances. _

 

_ The alpha bared too-sharp teeth. _

 

_ “By my accounts, Shougo, it’s time to pay up.” _

 

_ Haizaki did some quick math. He’d earned almost enough, cutting his supply to stretch it as far as he could. His parents were pharmacists, he knew how to make drugs last, and he’d expected to earn back twice as much as he’d sold. _

 

_ He’d sold about half his drugs before he’d been robbed. _

 

_ Haizaki tried not to let his heartbeat skip. He didn’t have enough. He hadn’t sold enough. It would be close though, and maybe he could stall. He could sell and steal his way to the rest.  _

 

_ “Yeah bossman, working on it,” he said. “Corners been slow business. I’ve only sold half my supply, but I can give you all my proceeds from them. Call it a show of good faith, my sales pitch is just warming up.” _

 

_ Vukka shook his head. _

 

_ “Now that’s not what we agreed to,” he said. “I know you’re new on the streets and just stupid enough to try it; you trying to rob me, kid? You smoking my supply instead of selling it?” _

 

_ Panic. Danger. Get out, survive, run, kill if you have to - _

 

_ “What, no I just told you-” _

 

_ Vukka gestured. _

 

_ Haizaki had counted five werewolves, including the alpha. Three more jumped down from the roofs around him. _

 

_ “I can’t afford to have the word out that I don’t protect my supply,” Vukka said. “You were promising, Shougo, but I think this is just not going to work out.” _

 

_ “I can get you the money!” Haizaki yelled. “Every knut, I swear!” _

 

_ Vukka clicked his tongue. _

 

_ “It’s too late for that,” he said. “I don’t give second chances.” _

 

_ Haizaki screamed as he felt claws lash out behind him. _

 

_ Oh god, was it a full moon? He didn’t know, he hadn’t checked, and he lunged sideways, his wand sparking to life in a burst of fire. _

 

_ The wolves moved back, but Haizaki’s back was left unprotected. _

 

_ Suddenly, Haizaki stumbled. _

 

_ He was on his knees without knowing why. _

 

_ The world was spinning, and he didn’t know why. _

 

_ Then the pain hit him. _

 

_ Someone had stabbed him. He looked down, shaking. The knife was deep in his side. He reached out a hand to touch it and screamed as it pulled at the muscles being pierced by that very blade. _

 

_ Oh shit, that wasn’t good, that wasn’t good, he was going to die right here in Knockturn Alley without ever having made anything of himself, and this was just some grade A bullshit. _

 

_ He didn’t hear the footsteps, but he felt the approaching magic of a powerful wizard. When the stranger spoke, Haizaki was left with the lasting impression that he knew the man who was about to beat witness to his murder. _

 

_ “Leave. Now.” _

 

_ “You also want what’s coming to this brat, is that it?” _

 

_ Haizaki heard a put upon sigh. _

 

_ “You tough guys are all the same,” a very familiar voice complained. _

 

_ Haizaki was sure he knew the other man, but he had no idea how. His mind was fuzzy around the edges, skipping past thoughts without being able to settle anywhere. _

 

_ “I thought I made it clear what I wanted when I told you to leave.” _

 

_ Haizaki felt the spark of powerful magic. Powerful, familiar magic. _

 

_ He heard the soft thuds as bodies hit the floor, followed by more footsteps. He tried to keep his eyes open to see who this guy was. It wasn’t any use. Haizaki was losing blood too fast. He felt cold and numb and very tired. _

 

_ He heard the wizard kneel down next to him and felt magic wrapping around the deep stab wound to the gut. _

 

_ Part of Haizaki wanted to growl and fight back, deny this guy the chance to save him. What was one more low life thug bleeding out in an alleyway? Who the fuck thought that they had a right to make themselves feel better about themselves by denying him the chance to let go? _

 

_ But the truth was, as much as Haizaki hated his life, he also didn’t want to die. _

 

_ It hurt. It hurt a lot. Haizaki knew he’d been stabbed deep, but the healing almost took more out of him than the stabbing. He groaned, unable to hold back his distress as muscle and flesh began to repair under the stern guidance of another wizard’s magic. _

 

_ Haizaki didn’t know how long he lay there, no longer dying in a dirty alley. He wondered vaguely if the drug dealers were still out cold around them or if the wizard who had saved Haizaki’s life had taken theirs. _

 

_ Then it was over. Haizaki fell back, seriously considering just passing out right here and sleep off the healing in this shitty alleyway. _

 

_ “Oi. Brat.” _

 

_ Haizaki forced his eyes open. It felt like his eyelids had been glued shut, and the effort that it took to open them was tremendous. He looked up. _

 

_ Nijimura fucking Shuzo.  _

 

_ Like the prodigal son, he had returned, and he was standing right in front of him. Haizaki didn’t even know why he should have been surprised. _

 

_ Of course it was the fucking golden boy of Hogwarts, here to save the day just like always. _

 

_ “You here to lecture me again?” Haizaki sneered, all teeth. “You’re not Head Boy any more. And I’m not in school.” _

 

_ “No, you’re not,” Nijimura agreed lightly. “But you are doing an excellent impression of acting like a child anyway.” _

 

_ “Hey man, screw you. You don’t know anything about me. If you saved my life to lecture me you should have just let me die.” _

 

_ Nijimura considered the younger man lying on the ground before him. _

 

_ “Well, I know you nearly just bled out in a filthy alleyway,” Nijimura said lightly. “And I know that I saved your life when literally every other human being on the planet would have said ‘good riddance to bad rubbish’ and looked the other way to let you die.” _

 

_ Haizaki sneered again, unimpressed by this altruism. If Nijimura wanted someone to thank him for doing something to make himself feel like a better person, he shouldn’t have tried to save Haizaki. _

 

_ “Your accent’s gotten all fucked,” Haizaki said, because he didn’t have a better insult readily available. Even he’d liked Nijimura. He’d been jealous of the other student’s easy confidence and universal geniality. _

 

_ “America will do that to you,” Nijimura agreed pleasantly. _

 

_ “America?” Haizaki sneered again. _

 

_ “Where I went to law school,” Nijimura said, his face unreadable. _

 

_ “Ugh you’re an unbearable do-gooder  _ and _ a lawyer,” Haizaki complained. “You’re the fucking worst.” _

 

_ “I’m an unbearable do-gooder lawyer who just saved your life,” Nijimura corrected, still without any judgement or anger in his voice. “And that makes me a wizard that you owe a life debt to.” _

 

_ Haizaki stilled. He felt pissed off all over again. _

 

_ He should have known that this guy was only stepping in for his own benefit. _

 

_ “The fuck do you want from me then?” Haizaki asked. _

 

_ “Well, I work for a human rights group in the States,” Nijimura said. “They asked me to find them an apprentice. I thought of you.” _

 

_ That wasn’t what Haizaki had thought Nijimura was going to say. _

 

_ “You want me to… be a lawyer?” Haizaki asked. _

 

_ “I want you to go to law school on this program’s money and pay me back for saving your life by not wasting what I gave you.” _

 

_ Haizaki clenched his hands into fists. _

 

_ How dare Nijimura come here dictating to him how he should live or what he should do. Fuck, if Haizaki wanted to throw away his entire life on drugs and booze, he was entitled to, since everyone else had thrown it away before even waiting to see if there was value to it. _

 

_ “What are you saying?” Haizaki asked. _

 

_ “I’m giving you an opportunity for a fresh start, Brat,” Nijimura said. “I figure you could use it.” _

 

_ “But you’re not gonna give this shot to one of your Miracles?” Haizaki asked, feeling himself warm to the idea despite how much he wanted to hate it. _

 

_ “They’re doing just fine as they are,” Nijimura said, but there was a tense jump in the muscle of his cheek. _

 

_ “You’re sick of them too, huh?” Haizaki smirked. There was something very satisfying in knowing that Nijimura was almost as exacerbated by the Miracles as anyone else, even if he hid it much better. “I knew it!” _

 

_ “Listen, you owe me a life debt,” Nijimura said again. “This is how I’m asking you to pay it off. Make yourself useful to someone else for a change, and maybe you’ll find you like being a productive member of society instead of a jackass. Just a thought.” _

 

_ “You want me to pay off my life debt to you by improving myself as a person?” Haizaki sneered. _

 

_ “Yes,” Nijimura said calmly. “That’s exactly what I want.” _

 

_ “And if I refuse?” _

 

_ “I’m sure if you genuinely don’t want to, there might be other ways you could fulfill your debt to me, but I doubt any of them would be nearly as useful for you,” Nijimura admitted. “Haizaki, just take the offer.” _

 

_ Nijimura extended his hand. _

 

_ With a flash of inspiration, Haizaki realized that he fucking hated the life he’d had here in Britain. He’d hated pretty much everyone he went to school with, and their pretentious obsession with blood lineage and magical power, neither of which were conferred by skill or virtue, but rather by birth alone. _

 

_ He’d hated the fact that no matter how much stronger he was than Kise Ryouta, the blonde had gotten every chance and opportunity that Haizaki had been denied.  _

 

_ And here Nijimura was, offering him a chance at an opportunity of his own. The chance to prove that he was no less capable than anyone else, as a way of fulfilling a life debt. Fuck, the guy was even giving him a way of pretending he’d been shanghaied into it to save face. _

 

_ And so, Haizaki Shougo, who had literally never taken anyone’s hand unless it was to pull them closer and bite it, took Nijimura’s hand. _

 

_ “Fine,” he said.  _

 

…

 

Haizaki didn’t regret handing his life over to Nijimura, exactly, but this was the most boring fucking shit he’d ever done in his entire goddamn life.

 

If someone had told Haizaki at fifteen that he would find a subject more dry and difficult to study for than History of Magic, he would have laughed and promptly punched them in the face.

 

He wondered if it would make him feel better to punch Nijimura in the face. Or his professor.

 

Or maybe the book, though the last one would probably just hurt his hand.

 

Supernatural tenant law, rights of haunting entities? Merlin and Morgause this was dull.

 

Magical law was the fucking worst.

 

Nijimura had been as good as his word. Within two days, they were taking an international portkey to New York, and flooing into Nijimura’s apartment in Boston.

 

It was a nice place, though Haizaki noted a distinct orderliness and way too many books for his taste.

 

Nijimura placed two things on the table in front of Haizaki.

 

A time turner, and a thick prep book.

 

“The fuck is the LSAT?” Haizaki asked.

 

“Hell on earth,” Nijimura said. “But since you missed the last LSAT before law school admissions by a few weeks and I’m not supervising you full time for a year while you get your shit together, we have the apartment upstairs for two months. The last two months, to be exact.”

 

Haizaki stared at Nijimura.

 

“You’re joking.”

 

“Eight hours a day, a month and a half,” Nijimura said. “That should get you up to testing speed, and give me time to keep an eye on you. In fact, I expect we’re up there right now.”

 

“So much for trust,” Haizaki muttered.

 

“I said I didn’t want you dying in an alley, I didn’t say I trusted you,” Nijimura said. “Come on.”

 

Haizaki hated Nijimura every second of it, but there was something to be said for the fact that, a week after he had technically arrived in America, after several months of preparation, he received a small letter in the mail.

 

“Read it and weep,” Haizaki said, showing the paper to Nijimura.

 

The older wizard fought the urge to grin. He didn’t want to completely lose his composure, but he was proud. Haizaki had really taken to the exam.

 

“Nice work,” Nijimura said. “Harvard will be impressed.”

 

Haizaki, who had forgotten that after the hell of preparing for the exam that he still had to apply to law school, wondered if he should try shivving Nijimura, like he’d fantasized about so many times while they were studying for the exam.

 

But he didn’t.

 

And Harvard accepted him.

 

And suddenly Haizaki was taking Civil Procedure of Magical Courts and Magical Contracts: Blood Oaths to Unbreakable Vows, and finding that he didn’t hate  _ everything _ he was doing.

 

He found out that he was  _ good  _ at it. And nobody assumed he wasn’t.

 

Best of all, he enjoyed the faces of these pure blood snobs who thought being number one in their class was their god given right, when Haizaki snatched that opportunity right from under their noses. It was the best kind of petty theft.

 

“I’m not expecting perfect scores,” Nijimura said in that infuriatingly patient and kind voice. “I just want you to apply yourself and stay out of trouble, okay?”

 

And just to show Nijimura fucking Shuzo that Haizaki was worth more than any two Miracles put together when he wanted to be, he left his first year grades glued to the table with a permanent sticking charm.

 

It took Nijimura three weeks to remove it (not that he tried very hard). 

 

Two semesters of straight As.

 

Haizaki really enjoyed Nijimura’s face, and the several minutes it took him to compose himself when he’d seen what Haizaki had done.

 

_ Showed him alright,  _ Haizaki thought.  _ Nobody is expecting perfect scores my ass. _

 

Haizaki was so drunk on his own success that it didn’t occur to him until much, much later that he had essentially played himself. But once he started doing well, Haizaki found that it was a lot easier to keep going.

 

He liked being the king at the top of the class for once.

 

For the first time since maybe his first week of Hogwarts, Haizaki wasn’t a side show to the Generation of Miracles, and it was fantastic.

 

…

 

Nash Gold Jr. had a problem.

 

That problem was that at a certain point, everyone he knew was far too legitimate to do their own dirty work. Nash Gold Jr. didn’t trust contractors or paid wands to do exactly what he needed and to die to protect his secrets.

 

This wasn’t just about a feud with the Akashi family, which if discovered could end his career. No, this was treason. The kind that would end his father’s reign of power, the kind that would end with Nash Gold Jr. losing not just his money, power, and reputation, but his life.

 

The solution to that problem should have been simple. He needed someone with the right motivation. The right leverage. Someone who could be trusted to do what Nash Gold Jr. wanted for their individual purposes as well as his own. 

 

And just when Nash Gold Jr. was considering hiring some muscle and kidnapping their families to keep them quiet, the perfect solution fell right into his lap.

 

The President had sent his son to watch the arguments for a motions hearing with regards to the arrest of one of their more prominent and persistent protesters.

 

Which is how he found himself in the federal district courthouse at nine thirty in the morning, waiting for a judge to come and rule that he wasn’t going to change the conditions of release for the defendant.

 

“Remind me why we haven’t already found a reason to round up these defense attorneys and get rid of a massive pain in our asses,” Nash Gold Jr. complained quietly.

 

“You can’t kill all the lawyers man,” Silver replied absently. “They’re like cockroaches, they’ll survive anything. Even if you did manage to, some of them turn out to be useful.”

 

Nash Gold Jr. rolled his eyes, settling back in the gallery as the court was called to order, his eyes resentfully fixed on the dark haired defense attorney.

 

And then he looked again.

 

_ That guy look familiar?  _ Nash scrawled on the legal pad in front of him. Silver looked up and shook his head. Nash rolled his eyes.

 

Idiots. He was surrounded by idiots.

 

From the moment the defense lawyer opened his mouth, Nash Gold Jr. already had a new plan.

 

It was the accent that did it. This goddamn protester’s defense attorney was British!

 

The accent and the face… it had been almost half a decade, but Nash Gold Jr. was sure that his memory wasn’t failing him. He just wanted to be sure.

 

_ I want his bar certification and CV now. _

 

Silver looked at Nash like he was crazy, but decided not to push it. He got up and slid past his friend, heading for the doors at the back of the courtroom.

 

The lawyers droned on and on about sentencing factors and the severity of offenses… Nash Gold Jr. was bored to tears, and more than thrilled to see Jason Silver walk back into the courtroom, carrying a file. He passed the manila folder to Gold Jr. as he passed by to grab his seat again.

 

Gold Jr. opened the file curiously. The lawyer was Nijimura Shuzo, British National. He’d graduated Hogwarts some five years ago, and became a citizen of the United States while studying at Harvard College of Magical Law.  _ Suma cum laude _ graduate, impressive. Working for a nonprofit defense firm right out of law school, also impressive. He’d passed the bar in Massachusetts, and waived into the D.C. bar to practice in federal court, maintaining licenses to practice in both states. By all appearances, he had devoted himself to the defense of the civil rights of the worst rabble that Nash Gold Jr. had spent so much time trying to rid himself and his country of.

 

Nash Gold Jr. did some quick math in his head while checking the dates on his file. Nijimura Shuzo would have been Head Boy when the Miracles had competed in the junior tournament. Nash Gold Jr. was sure he recognized Nijimura as a competitor, but he honestly had paid so little attention to the upper divisions, it wasn’t surprising that he could barely remember the other man.

 

His attention had been focused in on the Generation of Miracles, the five assholes that had started all of this.

 

Nijimura was sure nobody who went to school with those guys would pass up an opportunity to one-up them, but Nijimura Shuzo was not the target he’d wanted. This guy wasn’t just unimpeachable. He was literally the most flawless goody two shoes that had ever walked the surface of the planet.

 

This kid was a fucking saint.

 

Nash Gold Jr. watched as the judge granted the defense motion in part and denied it in part, ruling that the protesting rabble rouser would still be placed under magical supervision.

 

As the lawyer packed up his documents and gave his client a reassuring clap on the shoulder, Nijimura saw a much more promising opportunity.

 

The man with grey hair that Nijimura had handed his briefcase to. He looked too young to be a lawyer; Nash Gold Jr. bet the guy was his clerk. The hair had to be dyed or something, because it certainly wasn’t a natural gray.

 

He could hear them speaking in low voices.

 

The clerk had a British accent too. As Nijimura spoke to him, his body language was screaming that he didn’t want to be there.

 

“Find me everything on that clerk, too,” Nash Gold Jr. said, seeing another angle in. Silver pulled a face, looking annoyed.

 

“You want me to run a background check on the judge too, or what?”

 

Nash Gold Jr. turned around and smiled brilliantly at his colleague.

 

“Do it, or we find a new Vice President.”

 

Nash Gold Jr. took immense pleasure in knowing that Silver wanted to deck him right there in the middle of court, and yet held himself back knowing that he couldn’t accept the consequences of doing so.

 

He was even more pleased when, later that night, Jason Silver delivered him some excellent news.

 

“He’s a law student,” Silver said, throwing the file on Nash Gold Jr.’s desk just on this side of disrespectfully. Nash Gold Jr. was too interested to chastise him for it, but he filed Silver’s disobedience away for later rumination. “Ending second year.”

 

A second glance told him that Haizaki Shougo was in the same year as the Miracles. Promising leverage, should he prove to dislike them anywhere near as much as Nash Gold Jr. himself did.

 

“HCML?” Nash asked, his eyes falling down each line in the file as he processed it. “This hellion got into Harvard?”

 

There was no way. Nash was staring at his N.E.W.T scores, the kid was no genius. He’d managed to do better on the LSAT, but _Harvard?_

 

“Nepotism doesn’t stop just because the guy with the influence is someone you don’t like,” Silver said. “Nijimura did  _ very  _ well for himself, and this Haizaki kid scored just well enough that they could justify admitting him if they had to.”

 

That was perhaps ungenerous. Haizaki’s scores at Harvard were significantly better than the results of the British public exam system would suggest. Still, Harvard had to have taken one hell of a chance on this kid on the recommendation of an alum.

 

“Exactly how well did that bastard defense lawyer who recommended this guy do?” Nash demanded.

 

“Well, Nijimura Shuzo is first chair on a prominent civil rights case that’s going straight to the Supreme Court on appeal as soon as the guy’s convicted and he’s maybe a year out, how well do you think?”

 

“I think I don’t want to hear any more of this sarcasm,” Nash Gold Jr. said. “What else?”

 

“Well, I managed to dig up an incident,” Silver said. “Apparently this Haizaki kid declared a blood feud with the Akashi family when he picked a fight with the blond Miracle.”

 

“Kise Ryouta?” Nash Gold Jr. made a face. “What? He’s a muggleborn! He doesn’t  _ have  _ a line to declare a blood feud on behalf of!”

 

“Apparently he was adopted by blood into the Akashi family,” Silver said. “He let Haizaki insult Akashi, and then challenged him on his master’s behalf.”

 

“These guys’ personal drama gives me a headache,” Nash said, rubbing his forehead. “So what happened?”

 

“Haizaki kicked his ass, and then kept kicking it after the Miracle surrendered. He nearly got expelled, but it got swept under the rug. Barely. Apparently it’s the worst kept secret in magical Britain; He’s toxic waste on that side of the Atlantic. Nobody wants to piss off an Akashi by hiring him, even if there is only one Akashi left to piss off”

 

Nash Gold Jr. practically wanted to cheer.

 

He couldn’t have asked for a better henchman to be hand delivered to his doorstep.

 

“I think I need to make the acquaintance of one Haizaki Shougo,” he said at last. “Want to take a trip to Boston with me?”

 

“Nah,” Silver said. “Mom said if I blow off my apprenticeship with this senator again I’m getting cut off.”

 

Nash Gold Jr. snorted derisively, straightening his suit.

 

“Well then, I will see you tomorrow. That is, if your  _ mother  _ doesn’t have a problem with it.”

Nash Gold Jr. apparated away. Silver watched him leave, and relaxed when he was finally alone.

 

“One day,” Silver muttered mutinously, casting a last look at Nash Gold Jr.’s desk before leaving by way of the door.

 

...

 

Everything Nash Gold Jr. knew about Haizaki Shougo told him that a direct approach would have the highest probability of success.

 

He walked around the library, making the educated guess that a student with Haizaki’s grades would most likely be found there. His instincts were right on the nose, as he eventually found the grey haired man bent over a casebook in the library.

 

Nash Gold Jr. paused by the last row of shelves, re-evaluating his approach. He was counting on Haizaki hating the Miracles more than he wanted to keep the, to all appearances, extremely successful and respectable life he’d been handed by his mentor.

 

Well, there was no backing out now.

 

Haizaki was studying hard, pissed off about it, and not sure why. He hated that he wanted to make Nijimura proud of him, but he also didn’t want to play right into the other man’s hands by letting that urge make him want to fail on purpose.

 

If it honestly didn’t matter to Nijimura if he passed or failed, then Haizaki was left to decide what he wanted, for the very first time in his life.

 

And for the very first time, he felt the kindling urge to do something that would not make someone else respect him, but that could allow him to respect himself.

 

Sure, he resented Nijimura for knowing him better than he’d known himself and for saving him. But that anger was less than unproductive. It would land him dead, as he’d seen. He didn’t want to wallow in the deep cuts of his past.

 

Unfortunately, his past decided at just that moment to dig its fingers into the deepest and oldest of those cuts, and rip it directly open.

 

“You want to fuck over the Generation of Miracles?”

 

Haizaki looked up, meeting the eyes of some blonde guy with a terribly tacky tattoo. That was a bold entrance, one had had Haizaki’s attention.

 

“You know they can get rid of those with magic?” he asked, nodding to the ugly rose.

 

The blonde man smiled nastily.

 

“Cute,” he said. “But I’m not here to talk to you about my tat. The name is Nash Gold Jr. I’m the son of the President of the United States, and if you hate the Generation of Miracles as much as I do, I think we can help each other out.”

 

Haizaki recognized the guy now. The tat was the same as it had been when the guy was a fourteen year old competing at Hogwarts, but the attitude was unchanged. A tiny change in fate and Haizaki could have been beating this pretentious ass’s face in instead of having to watch Kise do it less effectively from the sidelines. 

 

Even if he’d only seen the guy more recently in photos in the paper, he knew who Nash Gold Jr. was.

 

“What the shit do you know about the Generation of Miracles?” Haizaki asked.

 

“I know they could use being taken down a peg. You want to help, or you want to spend the rest of your summer learning case law so you can help keep criminals out of jail like your boss?”

 

Haizaki glanced down at the thick casebook.

 

Yeah, fuck that up the ass. He’d significantly prefer to mess with the Miracles than keep studying for his law school class on Trusts and Perpetuities.

 

“I can’t imagine anything I want more,” he said, slamming the book closed.

 

_ Sorry, Shuzo _ .

 

The fact that Haizaki felt even the slightest twinge of regret at fucking over anyone, even Nijimura Shuzo, pissed him off more than he could describe.

 

…

 

Nijimura knew that something was very wrong when Haizaki didn’t come home on time.

 

He’d come back from court with a heavy exhale. It had been another rough day.

 

Life under tyranny took a lot from you.

 

He’d expected to see Haizaki at the dining table in their apartment, but the room was empty.

 

Where was Haizaki?

 

It was possible that the guy had just lost track of time, and was still studying. Nijimura frowned.

 

It was unlike Haizaki to study more than he absolutely had to, but very like Haizaki to get threatened enough about his position at the top of his class to stay late to try and psyche out some first year students.

 

Nijimura hummed softly as he evaluated the severity of his response.

 

This was not the first time Haizaki had gone missing on him, but it was the first time it had happened since Haizaki had smugly left his grades out on the table, having realized that he could enjoy taking his position at the top of Harvard from a bunch of spoiled purebloods that just didn't have his aptitude the same way he enjoyed stealing some first year's chocolate cauldrons.

 

It fed the same urges with none of the destructive implications. The very core of the truth was that Haizaki was a Slytherin, and that meant he wanted to land on top. He liked winning more than almost anything else, and when he realized that he could do that in law school without the intervention of a band of super powerful Miracles, he'd taken to it like a fish taking its first experimental twist in the water after being left to dry out on land.

 

So Nijimura was not inclined to assume, based on one late arrival home, that everything he had encouraged Haizaki to fight for during the last few years was wasted.

 

But it was pretty late.

 

Nijimura shot off a text to Haizaki and turned on the lights, rummaging through the fridge for the leftovers from the take out he'd ordered the night before when he'd come home too tired to cook.

 

Nijimura had started practicing as a lawyer straight out of law school, and he had been summarily unprepared for what it would be like to interview a client who had been detained and abused, or how difficult the government could make the job of protecting said client.

 

He felt like he was on the front line of a war waged in ink and paper and magically duplicated court orders. He’d taken on a second front by making Haizaki his apprentice, even though he never would have had it come out differently. Seeing Haizaki bloom was worth the trouble ten times over.

 

Haizaki never texted him back, and Nijimura had a hard time getting to sleep.

 

...

 

When Nijimura came home the next day, Haizaki still had not responded, but he was sitting at the dining room table, drinking straight from a bottle.

 

"Rough class?" Nijimura asked.

 

Haizaki shrugged, throwing back the bottle again and draining it before tossing it into the bin.

 

"What?" he asked. "Didn't go."

 

Njimura frowned as Haizaki pulled his coat off the back of the chair he'd been sitting and stormed towards the door. The younger wizard was definitely dunk. Nijimura could see it in his movements, hear it in his voice.

 

"Where are you going?" Nijimura asked, not intending his tone to snap as harshly as it did. Haizaki fixed him with an expression that was way too similar to the one he'd had when Nijimura confronted him in Knockturn Alley and sneered.

 

"None of your business,  _ Dad _ ," he said, spitting out the word nastily. "Don't wait up."

 

Nijimura wiped a hand across his face as the door slammed shut behind Haizaki.

 

Ah, fuck. He'd been waiting for the other shoe to drop. He had to find a way to respond to this latest rebellion in a way that wouldn't push Haizaki further away. Whatever happened, Nijimura did not want him to lose the progress he had made so far.

 

...

 

Nijimura was woken two nights later by the door to his apartment slamming closed.

 

In a moment he was wide awake. His wand was in his hand. Whoever was breaking into Nijimura's apartment was going to learn why Nijimura had the reputation he did on the dueling circuit.

 

But when Nijimura burst into the living room with a burst of light, blinding his intruder, he found only Haizaki.

 

"Fucking hell, turn it off would you?"

 

Nijimura dimmed the light, considering Haizaki.

 

"Are you drunk?"

 

"What of it?"

 

Nijimura pursed his lips.

 

"Have you been to class at all this week?"

 

Haizaki sneered, which was just about all the answer Nijimura needed. He hadn't. That was a problem. A problem Nijimura needed to stamp out now. He could not allow this to fester.

 

"What is going on, Shougo?"

 

"Why do you care?"

 

Nijimura wished the vitriol didn't surprise him, but he'd honestly hoped that by now Haizaki took him at face value that he cared.

 

"Why wouldn't I?" Nijimura asked.

 

"You only give a shit because of the stupid life debt!" Haizaki snarled. "Nobody helps anybody because they want to, it's always because they get something out of it!"

 

Nijimura sighed.

 

"Have you considered," he asked slowly, letting Haizaki's come up to meet his face before continuing, "That what I get out of this is the immense satisfaction of seeing someone that I care about succeeding instead of wasting their talents on petty bullying and increasingly self destructive criminal impulses?"

 

Haizaki stared at him, mouth gaping like a fish.

 

"It was never about the goddamn life debt, Shougo," Nijimura said, holding out a hand to help the other man. "Come on, let's get you sobered up and in bed."

 

Haizaki went without a fight, his body slack with shock.

 

Nijimura wanted to kick himself. He'd never said the words out loud to Haizaki and had merely assumed that the other boy understood his intentions. Well, it was time they had a talk about what this was, about why Nijimura had come back to America because he'd wanted to make sure that the most precarious of his juniors got a fair shot at making something of himself.

 

But that could wait.

 

...

 

Nijimura woke up early and called in, taking the morning off. He would have taken the whole day, because this was important, but he couldn't cancel a client meeting on this kind of notice. He waited a few minutes under his covers, listening to the sound of the rain pounding viciously on his window before getting out of bed and preparing a mix of pancakes and bacon, working by hand because it helped take his mind off things better than using magic. Outside, the low and distant rumble could be heard across the city.

 

It was going to be a miserable kind of day.

 

Haizaki stumbled through the door a few moments after the bacon hit the pan.

 

“Ready to talk?” Nijimura asked.

 

“Coffee,” Haizaki groaned like a zombie, and dumped significantly more grounds than necessary into the coffee filter before setting it to head. Unlike Nijimura, he heated the water with his wand, and watched the dark liquid drip through too slowly.

 

In short order, breakfast and coffee were ready, and Haizaki and Nijimura were sitting around the small table in their dining room.

 

“So you must be pretty pissed off,” Haizaki said, not looking up from the stack of pancakes in front of him.

 

Nijimura sighed. He took a long drag of coffee, considering his words before he responded.

 

“I’m not angry, I’m disappointed.”

 

“Don’t give me that bullshit,” Haizaki growled.

 

“It’s true,” Nijimura said. “You’re too powerful to waste your life like this. I don’t enjoy watching you throw away all this potential.”

 

Haizaki was furious. He was flattered. He didn’t know how to feel.

 

How fucking dare this guy, really.

 

“Who the fuck asked you to give a shit?” he demanded.

 

“Guess it’s just the kind of person I am,” Nijimura said, his expression giving nothing away. “What did Nash Gold Jr. want you to do?”

 

“The fuck do you care?”

 

“Nash Gold Jr. is not only dangerous, he has his mind bent on destroying the world,” Nijimura said. “As one of the people who has to  _ live in the world  _ I find myself with a pressing stake in current events at the moment.”

 

Haizaki glared at Nijimura.

 

“I’m giving you the opportunity to tell me,” Nijimura said. “Because if I have to pull the answers out of your mind, I’m going to be pissed.”

 

Haizaki laughed.

 

“There it is!” He crowed in delight. “I knew you’d finally have enough of me eventually! Everyone always does!”

 

Nijimura put his hands on his hips.

 

He forced his temper down.

 

“Is that what you think?” he asked quietly. “That all of this is just some charade until I’m tired of you?”

 

“What the fuck else would it be?”

 

Oh, that hurt. That dug deep, and Nijimura had to remind himself that it was intended to. Haizaki was coming up with any way he could to make Nijimura leave, to invalidate every second he had spent trying to help Haizaki.

 

So he held out his arms and wrapped them around Haizaki. The other man struggled, but still in his mentor’s grip.

 

“I won’t leave,” Nijimura said. “You’re always free to walk away if you want, but I won’t leave. And if you need me, I will be right behind you. I came back for you.”

 

“What on earth could you possibly see in me?” Haizaki demanded.

 

“God damn it, Shougo, I saw you. It’s all I’ve ever needed from you. Just you.”

 

Haizaki folded into Nijimura and cried.

 

As the rain poured outside he sobbed and sobbed until it was over, until his body was wrung out and tired.

 

Until there was nothing left.

 

“What happened?”

 

Nijimura’s voice was quiet but firm.

 

“He asked if I wanted to fuck over the Miracles,” Haizaki said. “And duh.”

 

Nijimura didn’t state the obvious; that Haizaki needed to let go of the power they had over him. That he was easily manipulated by his anger and bitterness. 

 

Haizaki knew that now, and he didn’t need to hear Nijimura grind him into the floor with it.

 

Instead Nijimura listened. He listened, and didn’t judge.

 

Haizaki told him how Nash Gold Jr. had convinced him to kidnap victims that wouldn’t be missed for a ritual that was going to summon some seriously powerful monsters that Nash Gold Jr. was going to use to go to war with Akashi and the rest of them.

 

Haizaki told Nijimura how he was meant to meet with Nash Gold Jr. that evening to set up the ritual. 

 

When he was done, they sat on Nijimura’s bed together in silence.

 

“Obviously, you know you’re not meeting up with him tonight,” Nijimura said. “You have the good sense not to do that, and now I hope you’re clear headed enough to see it.”

 

Haizaki found himself capitulating too easily, but he didn’t want to fight with Nijimura any more. To be honest, he was tired of rebelling just to rebel, of fighting just to fight. He wanted the cushy life and the respect being on top of his class at Harvard gave him. 

 

“Fine,” Haizaki said.

 

Nijimura had the good sense to not look delighted at Haizaki’s capitulation.

 

“Now, I just have to make a call.”

 

Momoi would be  _ thrilled _ to hear about this.

 

At least, for once, Nijimura was dealing with nonsense that wasn’t the direct result of the misadventures of the Generation of Miracles, right?

 

Either way, Nijimura was pretty sure he was going to need to reschedule that client meeting after all. More importantly, he was going to have to make sure that Momoi did not spill the beans on who was passing along the information. He’d managed to avoid interacting with anyone else from Britain (Haizaki being the lone exception) since he’d left Hogwarts, and he hoped to keep it that way.

 

…

 

Nash Gold Jr. scowled. He should have known that that lowlife knockoff Miracle would have backed out at the last minute, but it didn’t matter. Even if he went crying about what Gold Jr. was doing down the streets of D.C. or Boston, he would be far too late to stop what was going to happen.

 

After all, Haizaki had been just kind enough to deliver the sacrifices Gold Jr. needed before chickening out of their endeavor. He was ready to start his apocalypse, to cleanse the world of those who opposed him once and for all.

 

Nash Gold Jr. was done waiting.

 

He’d called Silver twelve times that morning, but the shit hadn’t picked up either. He imagined the his minion was probably running errands for his darling mother.

 

Well, sod on him. As soon as Nash Gold Jr. was done here he would track down his friend and make sure that Silver knew the consequences of crossing a Gold.

 

With a manic gleam in his eye, Nash Gold Jr. surveyed his efforts.

 

The circle was drawn. His sacrifices lay where they died, blood slowly fueling the power of the spell.

 

He waited as the pressure of the magic built up around him. It burned like ozone, sour and unpleasant, but it would bring him the greatest victory he’d ever had.

 

The runes smoked, and then burned. They started to glow, green fire illuminating the large warehouse he’d used as the site for his ritual.

 

Nash Gold Jr. watched as the light travelled along the lines of the runes, reaching the sacrifices where every line terminated.

 

The cost had been high, but the world was better off without the people Haizaki had been tempted into bringing Nash Gold Jr., at least as far as Gold was concerned. Their bodies burned as the magic from the rune configuration reached them, their flesh crumbling to ash.

 

“YES!” Nash Gold Jr. shouted, punching his hand into the air.

 

He had done it.

 

The circle was glowing, the gory sacrifices dark piles at every corner of the warehouse.

 

This was it.

 

This was the rise of Gold and his family, the end of the Miracles, the end of everyone who wanted to stand against them.

 

Nash Gold Jr. closed his eyes and smiled into the power that was pouring into the building.

 

The ground started to glow, the runes obscured by the light that they were emitting. The ground was obscured by the bright glow, and he could feel the moment the spell connected.

 

The portal below him pulsed.

 

It grew in size, and Nash Gold Jr. could only watch in wonder as a sharp black claw rose out of the portal.

 

It was followed by a muscled forearm, and then a face, snarling and barbed. The body of the beast was covered in what looked like fur, but the texture made it seem as though the points were not quite so malleable.

 

The large beast stared down at him. The grotesque face leaned in close, deep set and glowing green eyes staring back at him.

 

It breathed in, air rattling through its ragged body.

 

“Amazing,” Nash Gold Jr. whispered, his hair waving in the breeze. “Truly astounding.”

 

His eyes lit with greed. In front of him, he could see every single possibility that now stood at his fingertips.

 

The demon opened its jagged jaws, growling lowly.

 

“I’m going to rule the world,” the wizard whispered, already able to see the entire world bowing in front of him in his mind’s eye.

 

Another two massive demons exited the portal, burning with the tainted green magic of the demon realm.

 

“Yes!”

 

So enraptured was he with his own success that Nash Gold Jr. did not see the first demon rear back, intent in every move. It snapped forward in an instant, jaws terrifyingly wide.

 

The son of the president didn’t see his own demise coming.

 

In one single bite, Nash Gold Jr. was devoured.

 

The demon looked around the room, considering the burned out bodies of the people Nash Gold Jr. had sacrificed to the ritual, and  _ roared. _

 

The doors of the warehouse burst open, blown open by magic, and onto the gruesome scene stumbled two dozen odd wizards (every ally Seirin could conjure at a moment’s notice when Momoi raised the alarm) with their wands drawn, ready for a fight.

 

“What the hell are those things?” the oldest Miyaji brother reared back in alarm.

 

“That’s a fucking demon,” Aomine said. “Three of them. Lesser demons, and they’re bitches.”

 

“How do we kill it?” Riko asked, drawing her wand with a focused expression.

 

“Iron weapons, don’t hit them directly with magic unless you’re aiming for a cut in their skin,” Aomine said. “Easier to cut off the head and burn it then to take it down with magic, got it?”

 

“I got it.”

 

Imayoshi conjured a sword with a sharp metallic sound. Next to him, Sakurai did the same, bracing himself.

 

“We-we’re gonna kill a bunch of demons,” he said shakily.

 

“Watch out for the tails,” Imayoshi said.

 

“Ain’t no thang,” Takao said, rolling his shoulders. “It’ll be good practice for when I’m gonna save Shin-chan.”

 

“One last thing,” Aomine said, the air around his hand sparking like live lightning, morphing into a long, deadly looking glaive.

 

“What’s that?” Kagami demanded.

 

“Ten galleons and a night on top says I take down more of them than you do,” Aomine grinned as anyone within earshot contemplated the effects of an obliviation spell point blank to the forehead trying to forget hearing the last part. “Later, Bakagami!”

 

“Ahomine!” Kagami snarled. Red fire burned at the edges of his fingertips, and he summoned a massive axe. For a moment, Kuroko was arrested by the movement of Kagami’s biceps as he lifted the huge weapon, swinging it experimentally.

 

His attention moved to the lithe form of Aomine, who had jumped from the floor, magic aiding the movement of his body as he landed on the snout of one of the creatures.

 

Aomine smiled, all teeth, as the monster roared.

 

“Come and get some!”

 

“Like this!” Aomine shouted, and in a swift movement, he flipped over the demon’s head, landing on his neck. Aomine struck hard and deep with the bladed weapon. He jumped again, landing on the hilt of his blade, moving it down until it had all but cut through the monster’s neck. Where it dug into the beast’s flesh, navy blue lightning burned, sending up burning black clouds that smelled foul.

 

The thing howled in fury, but it went down, making the ground shake. Seirin and their allies shouted in alarm as the demon hit the floor, but Aomine stood again and struck boldly, fully severing its ugly head.

 

The other two demons were attacking, and another was coming out of the portal.

 

“Any thoughts on closing this thing from the peanut gallery of rune geniuses?” Takao shouted, stabbing out the eye of one of the demons. It howled, lupine head throwing back as it tried to dislodge the wizard attacking it.

 

“Patience is a virtue, Kazu-kun,” Momoi shouted.

 

Kuroko was standing in front of the demon that Kagami was attacking, trying to focus his magic. It was one of the more humanoid ones that he had seen, with horns and huge terrifying wings. The face was still lupine, but the eyes were intelligent, and not those of a mindless beast. These were the demons that kept humans as slaves.

 

He remembered with acute intensity the power that had torn the raging storm of Midorima’s power apart. With his recent trip to the demon realm still fueling his nightmares, Kuroko was all but certain this would work.

 

_ I am the void. _

 

Kuroko reached out a hand. He could feel the magic in the demon, feel the tainted life force flickering and beating like a heartbeat, like a flame.

 

He saw it as it was – a being of magic, and yet not. A creature immune from the power of any ordinary wizard; but Kuroko was no ordinary wizard.

 

He could see the power that held it together, like runes drawn in the air. He fixated on the precise feeling of taking control of Midorima’s magic, of undoing it.

 

_ I am the void, where no light shines. No magic treads here, not even yours. _

 

Kuroko’s hands were slick with blood where heavy, unknown runes carved themselves into his skin. His eyes went black, no longer seeing the world in front of him.

 

_ I unmake you. _

 

This time, Kuroko could feel it. He knew the instant he was in control of the demon’s power, and his own surrounded it like a veil.

 

Kuroko crushed the demon.

 

The room exploded.

 

It was lucky for everyone present that Kagami had seen Kuroko, and immediately put together what his Shadow was doing.

 

Kagami dove free of the demon, and the second it exploded, his own flames covered those of the demon, directing the blast back towards the gate.

 

He saw Kuroko collapse as the fire went out, but he had to dive in the opposite direction to avoid the still swinging tail as the final demon to come through. 

 

Aomine was already on it, but Kagami met him halfway. Together, axe and glaive, they ripped the wings from the demon’s body and struck again and again and again, until the flesh was bleeding black and exposed and it could no longer move.

 

Purple – Aomine’s navy and Kagami’s dark red combined – fire burned as the last corpse fell.

 

A few seconds later, the portal went black.

 

Sakurai promptly bent over and vomited twice.

 

Izuki was shaking.

 

Koganei sobbed quietly, holding onto Mitobe’s hand with every bit of strength he had. There was a cut on his face that was still bleeding, but not seriously.

 

They looked around slowly, furtively – afraid to see one of their comrades slain on the ground, but the more of them that they saw standing, the easier it was to breathe.

 

“Tetsu,” Aomine turned to Kagami, eyes wide.

 

Kagami ran.

 

Aomine made it to Kuroko first, but the blue haired wizard was already standing.

 

“That’s the dumbest fucking idea you’ve had in a long ass time,” Aomine said.

 

“Did I kill it with my guns?” Kuroko croaked.

 

“Yeah man,” Aomine said, and he and Kagami held onto Kuroko for all they were worth. “You killed it with your guns, now never do that to me again.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“Excuse me,” he said. A second later he was following Sakurai’s example and throwing up.

 

He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

 

“That is not an ideal method of getting rid of demons,” Kuroko admitted.

 

“It was badass though,” Kagami grinned.

 

They helped Kuroko stand, each with a hand around his waist.

 

“So that’s that then,” Kiyoshi said, looking over their assembled wizards and witches. “It’s all over. Apocalypse averted. Gold’s dastardly plan is unveiled, and he’s probably running for the hills or dead, so we won’t have to worry about an army of demons.”

 

Hyuuga panted for breath, staring at the massive ritual circle that had burned itself to a crisp when they closed the portal.

 

“Yeah,” he said, not very convincingly. “Threat’s over and done with, so we should be fine. It’s finished.”

 

…

 


	57. This Chapter Is One Amulet Short Of A Supernatural Episode

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating last week - I was ill and had a lot on my plate at work. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll have a chapter up next week - my weekend is going to be full of my application for first year attorney positions. We'll see how things go as we enter the home stretch of this fic though.
> 
> As always, love and friendship y'all, pls don't judge me too hard for my past as a supernatural nerd bye
> 
> ((EDIT; so full cards on the table I was drinking wine when I uploaded this and forgot to add that this chapter has smut! As always, pls mind the M rating. If you don't wanna read threesome sex you can skip from where Kagami tells Aomine he was worried about him down to the next scene break.))

 

 

…

 

“YES!”

 

Takao was jumping up and down. Imayoshi had swept Sakurai up in his arms and the two of them were slow dancing in the corner.

 

Izuki and Miyaji had run off and come back with some kegs.

 

“We survived a demon attack!”

 

The rest of the group was no less exuberant. Furihata was shouting and jumping up and down in place with Kawahara and Fukuda. Hyuuga had dragged off a dangerous looking Kiyoshi and Riko with a glint in his eyes that Kuroko decided to ignore.

 

It was like Christmas morning, pure relief leading to the euphoric release of tension that came with the realization that they weren’t dead.

 

Aomine and Kagami were still supporting Kuroko.

 

“What happened, Tetsu?” Aomine asked. His voice was a low growl. The cocky showmanship he’d exhibited while fighting the demons was gone without a trace.

 

Kuroko sighed. He’d been avoiding the topic for as long as he could, but it was time.

 

“My magic is immune to demons,” Kuroko said. “They can’t see me.”

 

“That was more than just misdirection Tetsu,” Aomine said, his voice barely more than a low growl.

 

Kuroko and Kagami exchanged a look.

 

“I think it happened before,” Kuroko said. “When I fought Midorima, when his magic came in contact with mine, it imploded.”

 

“Shit,” Aomine said, running a hand through his hair. “So you’re saying you blew up the demon.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“I don’t know if I could do it again, or very often,” he admitted. “I think that nearly wiped me out. I don’t know how it even works.”

 

Kagami was watching the two of them with a stoic look on his face. He looked like he was in pain.

 

“Well, that’s pretty fucking badass,” Aomine said. “Let’s get someone to take a look at your arms.”

 

Kuroko agreed without much argument. The world was still swimming in front of him. Kagami propped up Kuroko’s other side, and together they went in search of a healer.

 

Kuroko knew he was missing time; he remembered nothing between standing in the entrance hall of his home up until Riko was bandaging his arms with a lightly glowing salve and bandages so white they almost hurt his eyes. He was lost in the feeling of gripping a large, warm hand to his side.

 

He remembered only flashes after that – the hallway moving around him as someone carried him. Kuroko turned his face towards the warm body and felt a low rumble of speech from the man’s chest – Kagami, Kuroko thought, based on the sound.

 

The next thing he remembered was being laid on the cool sheets of his own bed, one of his Lights on either side of him.

 

And then, at least for a little while, he slept.

 

…

 

Furihata was the first one to wake up that night. Kuroko heard him scream from his room. It was quickly followed by the sound of two doors opening, and the was the hushed low voice of someone speaking to him. Whoever it was, they stayed with Furihata as Kuroko didn’t hear the door open again.

 

At some point, Kuroko heard Momoi’s distressed tone talking to someone he thought sounded like Imayoshi.

 

Sometime around two in the morning, he woke up again when he heard someone throwing up outside their door.

 

“Sorry to bring it up again,” Izuki cracked weakly, his voice carrying away as he moved down the hall. For once, the comment wasn’t met with the usual chorus of groans that tended to follow every bad pun he made.

 

Aomine rumbled deep in his chest next to Kuroko.

 

“I can’t fucking sleep like this.”

 

Kuroko and Kagami made eye contact as Aomine straightened up.

 

“I need a drink,” he said, pulling on a shirt. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”

 

Kagami caught Aomine’s hand as Aomine circled around his side of the bed.

 

“Hold on,” he said. “Nobody else here is getting any sleep tonight either. Might as well not get any sleep together.”

 

Kuroko watched as Kagami rolled out of bed, reaching for a pair of sweatpants on the floor.

 

“Coming, Tetsu?” Aomine asked, meeting Kuroko’s eyes. Kuroko nodded mutely, and followed his Lights out into the hallway.

 

Moving felt better than staying still, and while they were walking Kuroko could focus enough on the mechanical motion of his legs to push away the thoughts that had chased him in the dark while he tried to sleep.

 

It seemed nobody was having an easy night. When the trio arrived in the kitchen, they found that quite a group had gathered there, though with a different intention.

 

Hyuuga was sitting at one end of the table with Imayoshi. There was a bottle of clear amber liquid on the table between them, and Kuroko could smell the sharp scent of alcohol in the air. The younger Miyaji brother was sitting with them, along with Tatsuya, Kawahara, and Tsuchida. Tatsuya nodded to Kagami as the redhead walked in, trailed by a glowering Aomine and a quiet Kuroko.

 

Kagami put his hands on his waist, staring at the group.

 

“Say anything about the booze and you and I can take it outside,” Imayoshi said, baring his teeth in a grin that was anything but pleasant.

 

Aomine snorted, and reached between Imayoshi and Hyuuga to take hold of the bottle. He took a long swig from it before putting it back down.

 

“Didn’t come here to take away your alcohol, Captain,” he said.  “Bakagami came down here to bake away his sorrows.”

 

The hopeful look on the faces of the assembled wizards made Kagami roll his eyes. He wasn’t actually annoyed, but he wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of relying on his baking.

 

“Well,” he said. “Might as well make yourselves comfortable.”

 

Kagami drew back his sleeves and got to work. Fighting demons, he could do. Taking care of people, he could do.

 

He cast a sideways glance at Aomine, who had hid his shaking hands under the table, and felt his own heart stagger.

 

Nobody had been hurt tonight, but Kagami couldn’t help but be afraid of what could have happened if they hadn’t managed to bring everyone home. Only luck had prevented tonight from becoming a total disaster.

 

He needed to be stronger.

 

…

 

“I don’t know what to say,” Kiyoshi said when Kagami had come to him the next day. Kiyoshi looked as tired as Kagami felt – clearly, there had been no sleep to go around.

 

“You’re a Berserker too!” Kagami insisted. “You have to know some way that I can improve, that I can get stronger.”

 

Kiyoshi eyed him with a knowing expression. Kagami wondered if he was really _that_ transparent, but he couldn’t exactly claim otherwise.

 

“Similar magic perhaps, but not the same,” Kiyoshi said. “My Berserker magic comes from my mom’s side, and we think she’s got some Viking in her. It’s… this is the kind of magic a tribe would rather be wiped out than allowing outsiders to learn. It’s coded not just in your blood or your magic, but also in your cultural memory. The Berserker magic is the essence of the culture that shaped it, even when its children stray far from the fold. Aren’t there other Berserkers you could ask, ones who share your type of magic?”

 

Kagami clenched his fist.       

 

He was an outsider to both sides of his Berserker magic. In that sense, it was of neither culture. His mother might be thrilled to have Kagami crawling back to her side of the family, but his magic was too wild for the magic of her blood, and if he could even find his dad, he doubted he would be able to track down a teacher, what with the American government forcing any dissenters far underground or into prison cells.

 

“I need to become stronger,” Kagami said. “You’ve got to have something, some kind of training that may be able to help.”

 

Kiyoshi sighed, smiling gently at the younger wizard.

 

“I can show you what my teacher did,” Kiyoshi said. “To help me learn whether or not I had our family magic. I don’t know if it will help, but anything is worth a try.”

 

Kagami nodded eagerly, grasping onto the offer.

 

“Please,” he asked. “Anything, if you think it will help.”

 

Kiyoshi nodded.

 

“Sit down with me,” he said, and made himself comfortable sitting cross-legged on the carpet. He held out his hands to Kagami, who clumsily followed suit.

 

Kiyoshi’s hands glowed a deep brown. The magic spread to Kagami as he took his hands. Kagami was swept up in some kind of memory, but he could immediately tell that it was wrong.

 

The magic didn’t feel anything like his own.

 

He could hear the sound of drums, hundreds of drums, and the crying of thousands of warriors. He could smell burning wood, and his blood rushing in his ears. He could hear the ringing of metal on metal, and howling wolves in the far distance, and the crunch of ice on the sea.

 

It was the voice of an army, but not his army.

 

This was the overwhelming power of something that felt familiar, but not his own.

 

The magic fell away after a few more moments, and Kagami could see Kiyoshi’s sympathetic face in front of him again.

 

“I figured,” Kiyoshi said, already able to see the disappointment in Kagami’s face. “I’m sorry I couldn’t help.”

 

Kagami swallowed back the bitter disappointment and the burn of failure. He was letting Aomine and Kuroko down. If he didn’t get stronger, he couldn’t protect them.

 

Kagami had no idea what he would do if he couldn’t protect them.

 

Even Aomine, as odd as their relationship had been at the inception, was precious to him, and Kagami couldn’t imagine losing him.

 

He wanted to help them, to give them the security that he was strong enough to make sure they would survive, but he couldn’t.

 

“You need to find how your magic calls to you,” Kiyoshi said, drawing back his hand. “It chose you for a reason, Taiga. It knows what it’s doing.”

 

Kagami exhaled, relaxing a little. He was more shocked by Kiyoshi’s use of his first name than anything.

 

“Yeah,” he said. “Thanks.”

 

He had to do something.

 

Restless energy was coiling in his gut and it was all Kagami could do just to walk forward without bouncing up and down or finding some other way to dispel it.

 

If he couldn’t find a way to improve his berserker magic, he resigned himself to a miserable afternoon in the library.

 

There was at least one other issue he might be able to solve there, if he couldn’t do anything else.

 

...

 

“Where’s Bakagami?” Aomine asked Kuroko at dinner, his eyes narrowed in concern. Kuroko shrugged, looking around.

 

“Thought I saw him in the library,” Takao said. “I offered to help, but he’s determined to find whatever he’s looking for.”

 

Aomine glowered, but said nothing. The worry hung at the corner of his eyes, and didn’t leave.

 

Kagami reappeared on the morning of the second day.

 

“Where the hell have you been?” Aomine asked.

 

Kagami shoved a piece of paper towards his boyfriend.

 

“What the hell is this?” Aomine asked, staring down at the paper confused.

 

“You have nightmares,” Kagami said.

 

“What of it?” Aomine asked defensively. “Everyone else does too.”

 

“I thought this could help,” Kagami said. “You’re scared of what Akashi did to you, it doesn’t take a genius to figure that out.”

 

“Guess if you did then it can’t have,” Aomine sniped back, fully ready to respond to anything Kagami said with abrasive sarcasm.

 

“It’ll protect you from being possessed,” Kagami said. “We should all get them, actually, but I wanted to make sure you got it personally.”

 

Aomine stared at Kagami.

 

A second later, Aomine was making out with Kagami, and Kuroko was given a front row seat to the redhead wizard being slammed against the door and having the breath stolen directly from his lungs.

 

If Kuroko didn’t know better, he would have thought that Aomine was attacking Kagami, but the sounds coming from either of them were definitively not _distressed._

 

The piece of paper fell to the floor in a flutter and Kuroko caught it, making sure that it wouldn’t be swept somewhere it could not be recovered.

 

“You could have said something,” Aomine said, holding Kagami’s face between his hands and staring at him with brutal intensity. “I was worried about you.”

 

“Yeah, well I’m worried about you too,” Kagami said, winding his fingers in between Aomine’s “I want you to feel safe. Both of you.”

 

Kagami extended his hand out to Kuroko, who was watching his two Lights from across the room. He stepped over to them, taking Kagami’s hand, and letting Aomine pull him close as well.

 

“Let us take care of you,” Aomine said, leaning in close to Kagami. “You’re not the only one with guns around here you know. Plus the only one who can fuck your brains out is me.”

 

“Promises,” Kagami scoffed. “Bet I can fuck you better.”

 

Aomine snorted.

 

“Well, tonight’s my turn,” he said. “Bed, now, or I’m gonna end up doing you against the wall.”

 

“Aomine is so uncivilized,” Kuroko observed dryly, and Aomine glared at him.

 

“That’s not what I heard from you the other night,” he said. “Wanna help me take Bakagami apart?”

 

“Only if you stop using that stupid nickname.”

 

“I will when he does.”

 

“You two are terrible,” Kagami interrupted them both, and just like that, Aomine and Kuroko focused their attention back on the American.

 

“I remember hearing something about a bed?” Kagami observed, and Aomine smiled slowly.

 

“Let me take you to pieces,” he said, and Kagami actually gulped.

 

To be honest, Kuroko wasn’t sure anyone would be able to withstand the expression Aomine had. It was pure sex, and it either meant that the recipient was about to get a pounding in the dueling arena or out of it.

 

Aomine had worn that exact same expression facing off blow for blow with Kagami in their last match together, and Kuroko was honestly amazed it had taken them this long to figure out that there was something between them.

 

Aomine didn’t wait for Kagami to get free of his clothes. He ripped them bodily from him.

 

“I liked that shirt!” Kagami complained.

 

“I’ll fix it,” Aomine promised, kissing Kagami’s complaints away. “Tetsu, distract him?”

 

Kuroko took Aomine’s place and kissed Kagami while Aomine positioned himself against the headboard, behind his fellow Gryffindor. He reached for the lube they kept beside the bed, and coated his fingers in it.

 

With agonizing slowness, he fingered Kagami open. Kagami tried to fuck himself back on Aomine’s hand, but Aomine was determined to set the pace, counting on Kuroko to keep Kagami distracted. He did an admirable job, pulling moans from Kagami’s throat. Between kisses as they fought for air, Kuroko struggled to divest himself of his shirt and jeans.

 

“Come on already!” Kagami complained to Aomine, and Aomine grinned.

 

“If you say so,” he said, and pulled Kagami backwards away from Kuroko’s mouth, setting him down directly onto his dick.

 

Kagami cried out. He was definitely stretched enough that all he could feel was the pleasant fullness of Aomine’s dick. He’d taken the other wizard before, despite Aomine’s impressive size, but it still set fireworks off behind his eyelids every time.

 

“We’re going to show you a good time, okay Bakagami?” Aomine asked, smiling around the stupid nickname with a smirk that was so sexual it probably should have been illegal.

 

“If you can, Ahomine,” Kagami retorted. Aomine chuckled.

 

“Good thing I’ve got some help,” he said. “Tetsu, if you don’t get out of those pants in three seconds they’re getting ripped off.”

Luckily for Kuroko’s pants, he managed to get rid of them in record time and rejoin his Lights on the bed.

 

“Don’t be so violent towards my clothes,” Kuroko lectured him gently.

 

“Yeah yeah, now help me fuck Kagami already,” Aomine replied, and Kuroko could hardly pass that up.

 

Kuroko climbed into Kagami’s lap, gently kissing him.

 

“Let us make you feel good,” he said, carding his hands through Kagami’s hair. “Let us take care of you.”

 

Kagami nodded, flushed and covered in a thin layer of sweat.

 

Kuroko kissed his way down Kagami’s chest, eyes never leaving Kagami’s face. He could see Aomine behind Kagami, biting down on Kagami’s neck and laying claim to the fair skin there. Kuroko was sure that the wizard intended to leave marks that would be visible long after they were done.

 

Kuroko reached Kagami’s groin. Looking down and orienting himself, he licked his way down Kagami’s dick. Kagami cried out as Kuroko worshiped the skin of his inner thighs, gently licking his way around everywhere except the place Kagami most needed him to be.

 

“Tetsu, don’t tease,” Aomine chided, and Kuroko looked up at him.

 

“If you say so,” he deadpanned, and took Kagami’s entire dick into his mouth.

 

“Fuck!”

 

Aomine chuckled behind Kagami, resting his forehead at the base of Kagami’s neck.

 

“Tetsu, that’s fucking hot,” he said. “You do that for Bakagami a lot before? Get lots of practice choking on it?”

 

Kuroko did not feel the need to remove himself from his current activity to dignify that with an answer.

 

As he thought, Aomine took that as a sign to up the ante. With a smooth, graceful thrust, he rolled his thighs up. Kagami cried out as he bucked forward, trapped between wanting to grind down into the sensation behind him and up into the one above.

 

Aomine rolled his hips again, forcing Kuroko to bounce in Kagami’s lap, making both his Light and Shadow cry out together.

 

“Just fuck me seriously already,” Kagami cried out. “I’m there, I’m right there.”

 

“If you say so,” Aomine said, and he kept up an impressive pace. “You wanna finish inside Tetsu’s mouth or his ass?”

 

Kagami’s mouth opened wordlessly, Kuroko not removing his own lips from around his cock.

 

“You want Tetsu to ride you?” Aomine asked seductively in Kagami’s ear, and it was all Kuroko could do to comply. He pulled back, and Kagami cried out at the loss.

 

Kuroko barely had to prepare himself, well used to the stretch of having sex with Kagami any number of ways. He straddled his Light, kissing him again and letting Kagami taste himself on Kuroko’s mouth, before sinking down on Kagami’s hard length just in time for Aomine to thrust up particularly robustly.

 

Kuroko had, on more than one occasion, admired the tone and strength of Aomine’s thighs and ass. Certainly, there was no small amount of aesthetic charm there, but the definition in the wizard’s legs really showed in times like these. With Kagami and Kuroko both sitting on him, he thrust up, moving his hips with no sign of strain at all.

 

It was hot as fuck.

 

So was Kagami, writhing between the two of them. Kuroko matched Aomine’s rhythm easily. He’d been attuned to the other man since the first time they dueled together, and they set up a brutal pace. Kagami moaned and cried out in pleasure, unable to say anything else except to ask for more.

 

“I’m almost there,” Kagami said breathily, chasing the high of his orgasm however he could get it, grinding down into Aomine’s thrusts, or up into Kuroko’s. “Please, please.”

 

“Yeah?” Aomine asked. “Come for us then.”

 

With that, Kagami came, unable to hold himself back from the overload of sensation between Kuroko riding him, and Aomine behind him. Seeing Kagami falling over the brink set Kuroko off too, and they came together, leaving the space between them a mess.

 

Aomine fucked Kagami through his orgasm before climaxing, holding onto Kagami’s shoulders hard enough to bruise.

 

They fell back together, breathing heavily.

 

“That was fucking hot,” Aomine said, breathlessly.

 

“Yes,” Kuroko agreed, and Kagami nodded.

 

“We should get up,” Kagami said after they caught their breath, making no move to do so.

 

Aomine shook his head, and raised an arm.

 

In a moment, they were dry and clean.

 

“I love magic,” Kuroko said, burrowing his head into Kagami’s chest. Aomine held Kagami tightly on the other side. They fell asleep like that, breathing deeply together, and holding on to one another.

 

…

 

The three of them were entangled on Kuroko’s bed, breathing softly.

 

Kuroko didn’t know what had woken him at first. He had the prevailing sensation that something was wrong.

 

Something was wrong, but looking around, he couldn’t tell exactly what it was. Kagami and Aomine were safe in his arms. His home was protected, the wards stood strong.

 

They were safe.

 

Then why was every fiber of Kuroko’s being telling him that he needed to get up and run?

 

Kuroko could feel his lovers shifting, as though feeling the same impulse.

 

“What’s that light?”

 

Aomine was the first one out of bed, pulling open the curtains and opening the glass door to the balcony.

 

Kuroko blearily watched as Kagami followed him, and grudgingly pulled himself out of bed. Aomine had clearly been woken by the golden red light burning through Kuroko’s curtains.

 

Hair all askew, he stood on the balcony in his room, staring at the sky. It was burning like fire. The grounds of Kuroko manor were lit like it was daytime even though it was well past midnight.

 

Kuroko was arrested by the sight that was unfolding in front of him.

 

He rubbed his eyes, as though by clearing the sleep from them he would discover that he was just looking at his home as it had always been.

 

Unfortunately, it didn’t change anything.

 

Kuroko was shocked beyond speech at what he was looking at.

 

The sky was falling.

 

“Oh.”

 

Kuroko couldn’t tell which of his Lights had spoken.

 

For a moment, the three of them stood there, framed by the burning light of fire. Cast in silhouette by the light, Kagami and Aomine took up positions on either side of Kuroko, staring in awe.

 

The balls of fire coming down for impact didn’t even look real. Their inevitable death seemed like a scene from a dream, too far away, despite being all too close. The fire didn’t even look like it was moving.

 

Kagami broke out of the trance first, panicked movements beginning to push his boyfriends out of the way, trying to make them move, to get out of the way of the incoming disaster.

 

Kuroko kept staring.

 

“Fuck.”

 

The involuntary response from Aomine was enough to ground him back in his own body. He grabbed for Kuroko as Kagami spelled his vocal cords and shouted at the top of his lungs.

 

“RUN! GET UP AND RUN! YOU HAVE TO LEAVE!”

 

People were flooding the halls.

 

“MOVE!” Kagami roared. “WAKE UP AND GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!”

 

Aomine shook Kuroko by the arm.

 

“We have to go, Tetsu, come on!”

 

Kuroko was frozen. He couldn’t force his body to move.

 

He could hear the chaos as his friends filled the hall behind him, panicked yelling as they all tried to figure out what was going on.

 

He could hear Kagami and Riko barking instructions. Everyone who could do so was portkeying anyone they could reach as quickly as they could. The manor was emptying of wizards in flashes of magic.

 

“Tetsu!”

 

Kuroko turned around, his eyes wide in abject fear. He wasn’t seeing Aomine in front of him.

 

“Nigou!”

 

Aomine rolled his eyes and huffed in annoyance.

 

“Tetsu, we have to _go!_ ”

 

“I have to get Nigou!”

 

“Morgana’s saggy tits, I’ll summon him, let’s go!”

 

Aomine held out a hand, but Nigou failed to appear, floating through the air as Aomine hoped.

 

“His collar is enchanted,” Kuroko said. “He can’t be summoned. I have to find him!”

 

Aomine growled low in his chest. They were maybe a minute away from being burned alive, and here Tetsu was freaking out about the damn dog!

 

Kuroko’s mother was running down the now empty hall, wand in her hand as she scanned for any of the students who had been left behind or were unable to leave. She saw Aomine and her son, and rushed forward.

 

“I can’t find Nigou!” Kuroko said, eyes wide.

 

“I’ll find him,” Kuroko’s mother said sternly. “Tetsuya, I will find your familiar, but you need to leave, do you understand?”

 

Kuroko nodded. He still felt oddly unattached to what was going on. He was having trouble believing that what was happening right now was reality, and not some horror story being told about someone else.

 

“I’ll take care of him,” Aomine promised, and Kuroko’s mother smiled gently at him. He was struck by the knowledge that Kuroko’s smile definitely was inherited from his mother.

 

“I know you will,” she said. “I’ll see you soon.”

 

Kuroko let Aomine pull him along, grabbing Kagami’s arm and apparating the three of them away.

 

…

 

Kuroko was woken by the sound of tapping.

 

He opened his eyes blearily.

 

There was an owl at the window. Kagami and Aomine were both still asleep. Kuroko gently extracted himself from between his partners and climbed over Aomine’s thigh. Aomine rolled over into the warm space Kuroko left, cuddling into Kagami’s chest.

 

Cute.

 

They had portkeyed to Aomine’s apartment, leaving Kuroko’s home behind to be razed to the ground. The place Kuroko had grown up, his room with his school books and assignments and the little tokens he’d collected over the years, everything was gone.

 

Kuroko was wearing one of Aomine’s shirts, which was appropriately comedic on the much smaller wizard. Aomine had promised to transfigure something to fit better in the morning, but they had fallen together into Aomine’s bed before they could do much else  and had promptly fallen fast asleep.

 

Kuroko smiled as the early morning light shone through onto the two wizards before turning his attention back to the owl, who was tapping irritably at the glass.

 

Kuroko let the black screech owl in, letting it perch on his arm while he moved to the kitchen to avoid waking either of his boyfriends up.

 

Kuroko pulled the parchment scroll out from the owl’s leg and let it fly free out the window in the kitchen. He hummed thoughtfully as he perused the single line of text.

 

_Open your damn door._

 

Kuroko’s eyes flicked to the door of the apartment, then back down to the paper.

 

Just outside his window, the screech owl, who had made itself at home in a nearby tree, hooted.

 

Kuroko shrugged and crossed over to the door, opening it with a single pull.

 

He was surprised to see Hanamiya Makoto standing on the doorstep.

 

“Had to send an owl to follow and track you down,” he said dismissively, pushing his way past Kuroko into the apartment and turning to face Kuroko.

 

“Set said you wanted to see me. What the fuck do you want now?”

 

Kuroko was honestly shocked that Hanamiya had actually come. Not only that, but given that he’d followed his owl here, he’d clearly gone to more than a little effort to do so.

 

That was out of character, to say the least.

 

Or maybe Kuroko’s query had intrigued him just enough to come here and settle his curiosity before storming off with a sneer and an insult.

 

Kuroko held back his commentary and closed the door gently, to avoid making too much noise.

 

“Hello, Hanamiya.”

 

Hanamiya snorted, folding his arms across his chest and glaring down at Kuroko.

 

“I came here because you told Seto you had something to say to me, so don’t waste my time. If you want to talk, talk.”

 

“You said we were alike,” Kuroko said, cutting directly to the chase. “What did you mean?”

 

Hamaniya actually looked surprised. He smiled slowly, as though only coming to the belated realization that something was funny.

 

“Finally gave up on telling yourself we weren’t?” he asked.

 

“What did you mean?”

 

Kuroko would not be deterred.

 

Hanamiya’s eyes narrowed.

 

“What do you know?”

 

“I asked you first.”

 

Hanamiya actually laughed at that, clapping Kuroko on the shoulder.

 

“You’ve done a lot of growing up,” he said. “I bet you don’t let anyone push you around any more.”

 

Kuroko stared Hanamiya down.

 

“What do you know?”

 

Hanamiya sighed, feigning surrender.

 

“Fine, just because I’m such a nice guy,” he said. “I’ll help you out.”

 

Kuroko waited.

 

“It’s part of my family magic, passed down in the blood,” Hanamiya said. “Like yours, I imagine. It’s pretty rare in my family and not all that strong when it does crop up, but it shows up as a completely different kind of magic.”

 

Kuroko expected that.

 

“I took a trip to the demon world,” he offered in exchange. “They couldn’t see me.”

 

Hanamiya smirked.

 

“Not surprising,” he said. “They’re only looking for wizard magic. We’re different.”

 

After all this time, Kuroko was still surprised by how vehemently that sentence made him want to punch Hanamiya Makoto in the face.

 

“Then you could help us!”

 

“Answer’s no, Phantom,” Hanamiya said. “I figured you wanted to ask me to do something asinine like save the world, and I came here to watch your face when I told you to fuck off. I’m not going to die on this hill. From what you’re saying, these demons can’t sense my magic. If I peace out to an uninhabited island for a few years, I’ll survive.”

 

“You want to be the only wizard left on the planet?” Kuroko asked.

 

Hanamiya smiled slow and sure like molasses.

 

“Well, now that hadn’t even occurred to me, but it does present _so many_ opportunities I would be eager to take advantage of. You’re in the same boat as I am. I’d advise you make like me and scram.”

 

Kuroko stared down Hanamiya. He couldn’t believe this man could be so callous.

 

“I’m going to ask you just one more time, Phantom,” Hanamiya said, extending his hand. “This is your last chance to be on the side that survives.”

 

Kuroko did not extend his hand to meet Hanamiya’s.

 

“People will die.”

 

Hanamiya shrugged.

 

“They die every day. Nobody asked me to risk my ass to save them.”

 

“I did.”

 

Hanamiya burst out laughing.

 

“You goddamn moron,” he exploded, half bent over with mirth, “did you forget that I’m the fucking bad guy? I might not be as flashy as that Akashi dude, but I was never your friend.”

 

“You don’t have to be to not want the world to end,” Kuroko replied evenly.

 

Hanamiya was still laughing.

 

“I’ll give you this, Phantom,” he said. “I do almost hope you succeed, just because you’re that entertaining. But we’re done here.”

 

With a flash of magic, Hanamiya departed for places unknown.

 

“What a fucking snake.”

 

Kuroko turned to see Kagami.

 

“He’s a snake who might have helped us,” Kuroko objected, but not vehemently. He was well aware that Hanamiya was pretty shit as a person. He hadn’t expected much out of him.

 

“Doesn’t make him less of a snake,” Kagami said. To that, Kuroko had no response.

 

“Forget about Hanamiya,” Kagami said. “We’ll figure out something.”

 

Kuroko nodded, but he couldn’t hold himself back from worrying. He worried about Nigou, who he hadn’t seen since before his home was destroyed. He worried about his parents, who had not reached out to find him, and about his friends, who he did not know for sure had made it out.

 

He worried about the wizards and witches who had complied with the evacuation order and were essentially at the mercy of the demon controlling Akashi, and for his friends, suffering from an unconditional horror.

 

He worried about the world.

 

The sight of the brilliant balls of fire bearing down on him was burned across the inside of his eyes, and he couldn’t close them without seeing it.

 

Luckily, he had two wonderful people who were much more worth it to watch.

 

…

 

Riko called the gathering of their ragtag group of friends by owl post two days after they had scattered from the Kuroko residence.

 

Most of the original gang was there. None of them had fled so far that Riko couldn’t find them, not in the short amount of time it had been since they’d fled to every corner of the wind. Enough people had stayed together using portkeys to travel that it was simple enough to gather them at Riko’s home. Most of them did not have the benefit of being able to apparate out with someone keyed into the house wards, and had left in groups of five or more.

 

Aida Kagetora was in residence at Hogwarts, which meant that they had the run of the London townhouse to themselves.

 

“We’re going to have to meet him on his home turf,” Riko said when she had everyone’s attention. “Cut the head off the snake.”

 

“T-that’s one sc-scary snake,” Furihata cowered.

 

“We have no idea how many demons he might have summoned,” Imayoshi said. “And he’s got a hell of a lot of hostages.”

 

“Hey!” Hyuuga yelled, silencing the objection when more dissenting murmurs arose. “We need to clear a way to Akashi. If we can get him back, we can turn the tide.”

 

“Oh, if it’s that easy,” Imayoshi replied, voice heavy with sarcasm. “What are you planning to do when you get there?”

 

“Not me,” Hyuuga said. “Kuroko.”

 

It took some doing for everyone assembled to actually find Kuroko to stare at. Most settled for looking at Aomine and Kagami, knowing Kuroko would be nearby, or that they were likely to have the most interesting reaction to this.

 

Kagami crossed his arms and glared at everyone who looked his way. Aomine did not cross his arms, but he was wearing a nearly identical glare as he leaned back to look more intimidating.

 

“We’ll get him there,” Aomine promised Hyuuga. “We’ll keep him safe, and I’ll still kill more demons than anyone else.”

 

Riko cracked a smile, and Momoi shook her head at the bold proclamation.

 

“Tetsu-kun, you’re okay with this?”

 

“I am.”

 

Kuroko’s voice drew frantic attempts to locate him, when of course he was standing directly by Kagami’s elbow. “We know that I can take the demon out of Akashi, because I did it to Aomine. He might be the only person who could stop this.”

 

“Assuming, of course, that Akashi isn’t entirely cool with what the demon is doing in the first place,” Imayoshi drawled. “What if you yank the demon out of him and he attacks you?”

 

“Then we have one less demon to worry about,” Kuroko said. Kagami and Aomine had both flinched at the proposition, and at Kuroko’s blank reaction to the idea of being murdered. “Of course if you have an idea that doesn’t risk the lives of anyone here, we would love to hear it before we all head out on a suicide mission.”

 

Imayoshi chuckled.

 

“Unfortunately not,” he agreed.

 

“Are we sure that when Aomine is there he’s not gonna go all….” Izuki trailed off, and Aomine turned red under the dark tan of his skin.

 

“Wanna come over here and say that to my face?” he demanded.

 

Izuki shrunk back, but Hyuuga came to his defense.

 

“Leave Shun alone,” he said. “It’s a valid question.”

 

Aomine cracked his neck to each side, his glare never fading.

 

“He can’t get to me by possession any more,” he said. “And unless he’s got some freaky mind control on top of being the world’s scariest legilimens, I’m good. That said, if the second is true, _nobody_ is safe.”

 

“Fair enough,” Hyuuga said. “So, here’s the deal. We need anti-possession tats, iron weapons…”

 

“Iron nets,” Takao put in. “People might be possessed. If we can’t kill or exorcise them, we’re going to need to take them down and keep them down.”

 

“Iron net and rope,” Hyuuga amended. “Any ideas?”

 

“We’ve got iron,” Fukuda said. “Plenty of it, from back in the day.”

 

“I’m intrigued despite myself,” Imayoshi commented dryly.

 

“It’s from illegal fairy hunting, not sex toys, get your goddamn mind out of the gutter,” Fukuda said without missing a beat. He’d come a long way from being embarrassed about his family being pagan and dark to boot – and wasn’t going to take shit from Imayoshi about it.

 

“Just because it’s not meant to be doesn’t mean it can’t be a sex toy,” Imayoshi said, and Sakurai actually slapped his shoulder.

 

“Stop!” he said, his face going redder by the minute. “Guys, I’m so sorry-”

 

“I’m not,” Imayoshi said unhelpfully, and Hyuuga cleared his throat loudly.

 

“If anyone wants to get out, now’s the chance,” he said. “I can’t be sure that we’re all going to make it, and I won’t force anyone to get involved.”

 

There was a long silence in which everyone involved considered that bleak statement. While all of them had graduated from Hogwarts, most of them were still kids, really. They weren’t supposed to be responsible for saving the world.

 

But here they were.

 

“So do we still have the coordinates?” Takao asked. Everyone stared at him.

 

“Get the fuck off my back, you bitches,” Takao turned around, glaring at everyone. “I’m getting Shin-Chan back. Anyone who wants to help me save the world along the way is welcome to.”

 

Tatsuya was the first one to agree.               

 

“He’s an idiot, but he’s my idiot,” he said, not able to say Murasakibara’s name without his throat catching. “I’m going.”

 

Sakurai, surprisingly, was the next.

 

“I like life,” he said. “But if it’s die making my stand now or die later, I’d rather go out trying.”

 

Imayoshi and Sakurai held each other’s eyes for a long time.

 

“Fucking fine, I guess this is how I die,” he said.

 

“We’ve been with you since the beginning,” Furihata said, and Kawahara and Fukuda nodded.

 

“You’ve got me and Dai-kun.”

 

“Who said you could talk for me, huh?”

 

“I don’t have to, you’re gonna follow Tetsu-kun’s ass all the way there while you stare at it.”

 

Aomine huffed but didn’t argue.

 

“Let’s do this,” Kagami said.

 

The agreement spread through the circle, the prevailing sentiment being that they had come this far.

 

As awful as it had been, they had killed demons already. They knew what they had to do. They knew how far they would have to go if they wanted to survive.

 

Hyuuga nodded when they had come to a consensus. He put down the map on the table in front of them.

 

“Good,” he said. “Now, here’s what I propose.”

 

…

  
****


	58. The Author Unveils Her Second Best Piece Of Long Term Foreshadowing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You'll notice we're a little... uh... late. We had some issues getting everything written and betaed, but I can now say we're officially only one chapter away from the end, and I only have a few thousand words left to write. We're going to get back on a weekly schedule now, and hopefully stay there through the end.
> 
> So without further ado - I give you my second best piece of foreshadowing. Don't believe me? Go back and read the Authors Note in chapter nine. This Was All Part Of The Plan. 
> 
> ((and please once again, this fic is rated M, it is tagged for graphic descriptions of violence, those warnings stand especially through the end of this story))

 

…

 

The full moon shone quietly through the open window of Akashi’s office.

 

Akashi was beginning to lose hope. The demon was in control, and no matter how much Akashi raged, he couldn’t regain power over his own body. The demon had gleefully shut down his consciousness every time Akashi had proved himself to be anything more than a minor nuisance.

 

Akashi was beginning to accept that from within this prison in his own mind, he was going to have to watch the entire world go up in flames.

 

It would be all his fault, too.

 

Akashi felt guilt twist nauseously in his mind.

 

Vepar, lord of the reaching rivers. Akashi had chosen him because he was powerful, and hadn’t that just backfired spectacularly? Didn’t it just burn that no matter how much magical power Akashi owned, he would never have the power to stop the destruction he had started?

 

The gods were real, Akashi mused, and they had a sharp sense of irony.

 

The night was peaceful outside the window of Akashi’s office. The city was quiet. The moon shone silently. For once the night was clear and not pouring snow. Here and there was a flash of gold or red in the sky, sometimes intermingled with blue, yellow, green, or purple. The wards around the city were meant to be translucent; it was a testament to the power of the Generation of Miracles that their power occasionally became visible in the sky.

 

Akashi felt skin that was no longer his own crawl in instinctive warning.

 

In the distance, there was an explosion.

 

The demon twisted in Akashi’s body, gaze sharpening on the window.

 

“They came,” the demon said through Akashi’s mouth. “Finally. I was getting tired of waiting.”

 

_ They _ … Akashi followed the demon’s line of sight off into the night.

 

Somewhere beyond the wards and walls he had shaped, he could feel the magic of two-dozen odd wizards and witches.

 

For the first time in months, maybe years, Akashi felt the stirring of strong, uplifting emotion.

 

He felt hope.

 

_ Stop me,  _ he thought desperately, never having wanted to lose so badly in his entire life.  _ Please, I hope that you have figured out enough to stop me at any cost. _

 

Daiki had known first hand what Akashi had done to the Generation of Miracles, and Satsuki knew enough to figure out the rest of what the demon was planning. The only question was whether or not they would survive to stop it.

 

OH SHRIMPY-CHAN, IF YOUR FRIENDS ARE HERE, YOU WILL WATCH THEM BURN. THAT IS THE ONLY WAY THIS NIGHT WILL END. I GUARANTEE THAT THEY WILL BREAK THEMSELVES UPON THE FOUNDATION YOU HAVE LAID FOR THEM.

 

_ They will not. _

 

WE WILL SEE. I’M GOING TO SHOW YOU THAT THE INSECTS YOU CALL FRIENDS ARE JUST SO MUCH TRASH TO BE CRUSHED BENEATH ME, JUST LIKE THE REST OF YOUR PETTY RACE.

 

…

 

The night was quiet.

 

The wind had died down from the last time Kuroko was here. They had portkeyed their forces to the base of the mountain, not able to ensure that there would be enough flat ground for all of the wizards and witches to land.

 

Every wizard and witch had a broom strapped to their backs, for ease of moving around the massive structure.

 

Kuroko was reminded, again, of the impossible scale at which Akashi had reshaped the Earth.

 

It was truly incredible.

 

“Alright, we all know the plan,” Hyuuga said, drawing everyone’s attention. “Don’t anyone try and play the hero tonight. If we stick to the plan and stay together, we’ll be fine.”

 

“Hear hear,” Kiyoshi agreed, and Hyuuga’s eyes darted to him for a moment. Hyuuga was leading a unit that consisted of all of the original members of the Seirin team (minus Kagami and Kuroko), but with the addition of Seto, who had stayed.

 

(“Are you sure we want him with  _ us? _ ” Koganei had asked, making a face. “I sure as hell don’t trust him with anyone else, and I want that snake where I can see him,” Hyuuga had replied grumpily.)

 

Imayoshi would be heading a unit made of the core of the Touou dueling team and the two members of Yosen who had remained to fight the Generation of Miracles. Masako had yielded control to Imayoshi, which wasn’t surprising given how thoroughly she still believed she had failed Murasakibara. 

 

Ootsubo was leading the third unit. His little brother, the two Miyajis, the rest of Shutoku that had arrived, and Takao would be fighting with them.

 

The final unit was comprised of only three wizards. The hulking forms of Kagami and Aomine were silhouettes in the night, and somewhere between them, Hyuuga knew Kuroko was be standing, waiting for the action to start.

 

“Well begun is half done,” Kiyoshi said. “We should get moving.

 

Hyuuga agreed. They’d already lost enough time to waiting here, hesitating on the precipice of what was no doubt going to be an all out war.

 

“Good hunting,” he said brusquely. “Watch each other’s backs.”

 

“We know, Mr. Pep Talk,” Imayoshi rolled his eyes. “Some of us were  _ also  _ the captain of a dueling team, you know?"

 

Hyuuga twisted his wand in his hand, but didn’t take the bait.

 

“Don’t take unnecessary chances,” he said. “I want all of you to make it out of this alive.”

 

This was met by general agreement, obviously.

 

“Alright, warders,” Hyuuga said. “Let’s get this show on the road and be done with it. Fan out in your units.”

 

Kuroko knew that they would not succeed in breaking through the wards. He’d thought, standing at the peak that rose so far above them, that it would take a team of the most skilled warders in the world months to crack the shield that the power of the Generation of Miracles had solidified.

 

That opinion was unchanged. The shield was almost visible, flashing with the combined power of the Generation of Miracles and the demons that had possessed them.

 

But that wasn’t the point.

 

_ “ _ We’ll wait on Kagami’s signal, and then see if we can bring everyone’s attention front and center,” Hyuuga nodded. Hopefully, they would be able to draw Akashi’s attention and the main force of whatever army he was hiding behind this shield, and clear the way for Kuroko to slip in through the back. 

 

“Watch yourself,” Takao said to Kuroko as they prepared to leave. Kuroko nodded back.

 

“I’ll see you on the other side.”

 

Well, that was if Kuroko didn’t fall off his broom first.

 

Aomine grinned, mounting his broom with the easy familiarity of practice and natural skill. Kagami rose into the air a little unsteadily, and Kuroko was reminded that the other man hadn’t spent much time in the air either, though he definitely had the natural balance to compensate for not having extensive practice. Kuroko hesitated, eyeing his own broom with unease.

 

He’d never been all that good at flying -

 

The last time he had flown, he’d been holding onto Aomine as tightly as he could, with spellfire exploding in the night around them, and had nearly died.

 

He could still feel the sick lurch of the broom when he’d been cut and Akashi's spell had thrown them off course. His side ached, though the wound was fully healed now. Even thinking about the broom send his mind into a tailspin of vertigo.

 

“Tetsu, you ready?”

 

Kuroko threw one leg over the broom and kicked off into the air.

 

He would do what he had to do. His stomach was rolling unpleasantly, and Kuroko was sure he was going to puke.

 

“Yes,” he said unnecessarily. “Let’s go.”

 

Kagami and Aomine flanked Kuroko as the three began flying east, around to the other side of the mountain.

 

Kuroko glanced back only once as Hyuuga gave the order for the rest of their friends to get into the air and begin the first stages of the attack. They would wait there until either Aomine or Kagami confirmed that their group had made it to the other side of the mountain, and then the attack would start.

 

Kuroko hoped he would see all of them again.

 

_ Keep them safe,  _ he prayed, not knowing who or what he was praying to, only that he wanted the universe to bring all of these people back to their homes when this was over.

 

They didn’t deserve to die here.

 

Aomine hadn’t deserved to be possessed.

 

Akashi hadn’t deserved to lose his mind under the pressure of being forced to be the best at any cost to himself or others.

 

Ogiwara hadn’t deserved being attacked.

 

Kuroko hadn’t deserved to be bullied or ignored.

 

Kagami hadn’t deserved to be abandoned by his mother only to have her favor returned to him when it was just the slightest bit convenient for her to do so.

 

The world had been so, so unfair. Kuroko felt that they were all about due a change in luck.

 

_ We will find Akashi, and we will end this, and nobody need be hurt, _ he thought desperately.

 

“Okay there, Tetsu?” Aomine called, rolling sideways on his broom to pull up next to Kuroko.

 

“Fine,” Kuroko said, keeping all of his attention on flying in a straight line. It had started gently snowing as cloud cover had begun to rolled in. The moon’s light was slowly obscured until they were flying mostly in darkness.

 

That was fine. Following the base of the massive mountain did not require a whole lot of light.

 

Kuroko should have been shivering, but warming charms keyed to the broom made sure that they wouldn’t notice the snow.

 

“That good, huh?” Aomine asked, smirking.

 

“I will be good when we are back home, and we have handled the problem of the demons,” Kuroko replied tersely. “But I will settle for getting off this broom.”

 

Aomine laughed, though it sounded somewhat forced.

 

They continued flying in silence. Every so often, Kuroko would glance to the top of the mountain, but the low cloud cover actually did them a favor. No scouts would be able to see them with the naked eye with the moon hidden.

 

Aomine raised his arm, signaling for Kuroko and Kagami to halt. Aomine pulled up gracefully, though Kuroko nearly threw himself off the broom when he tried to stop.

 

“We’re here,” Aomine said. “Let’s light this fucker up.”

 

Under ordinary circumstances, Kuroko would have been just as excited as Aomine at the challenge, but this wasn’t a duel. People might die here.

 

He didn’t think Akashi would want to kill anyone, but Akashi currently wasn’t in control of himself or his magic.

 

Anything could happen, and they were about to set a nest of very dangerous wasps on fire.

 

Kagami fumbled pulling out the communications mirror. Without his hands, his balance was precarious and he began to wobble dangerously.

 

Aomine dove for the mirror when Kagami dropped it, catching it only a foot below Kagami’s leg.

 

“Oi, glasses,” Aomine drawled into the mirror. He looked up to smirk at his blushing boyfriend. “We’re here. You ready?”

 

Kuroko could hear Hyuuga confirm from the other side of the mountain that they were. He exhaled.

 

It was about to begin.

 

Just as Kuroko thought that, the sound of a gigantic explosion echoed through the valley between the mountains.

 

“Nice,” Aomine said. “That’s our cue, so let’s go!”

 

Without warning, three bright red spells came shooting at them in quick succession. 

 

Aomine rolled, shouting in alarm. Kagami managed to shoulder Kuroko out of the way, helping him avoid a spray of fire that melted the snow and scorched the tundra below them.

 

“Shit!” Kagami shouted. “Did they see us?”

 

The spells were still raining down on them, chasing Kagami as he flew up, only to fall back and target Aomine - and by proximity, Kuroko.

 

Aomine cast a shield charm around Kuroko and dodged another spray of fire, his eyes scanning the side of the mountain. Kuroko privately thought that this was completely unnecessary, given that as soon as Aomine moved away from him, the turrets didn’t target him at all.

 

“No!” Aomine shouted back to Kagami. “There!”

 

Kagami fired where Aomine pointed, needing only the single direction.

 

The two spells hit the turret as one, blasting a crater in the side of the mountain, but the fire was still coming.

 

“I’m going to murder Kise,” Aomine shouted as he looked around for the others. “I  _ designed  _ those fucking things.”

 

“And who had the idea for them, Aomine?” Kuroko asked blankly. Aomine glared at him.

 

“Shut up,” he said. “He had no idea how to make them work.”

 

Kuroko just stared him down.

 

“The more important question,” he said, above the sound of the wind around them, “is whether the wards have alerted Akashi to the fact that we are here.”

 

Aomine swore, dodging another wave of fire and putting up his own shielding charm. Scowling, he sent a cutting charm at the side of the mountain, overpowering it and watching with severe satisfaction as the entire thing was reduced to dust.

 

“I made them actually work,” Aomine grumbled as Kagami took care of the third. It vanished in a column of fire.

 

“Well that was a friendly greeting,” Kagami said, rejoining them. “Any other surprises we should know about?” he asked Aomine with raised eyebrows.

 

“You say that like I fucking understood the runes Akashi set up,” Aomine said. “I didn’t even take the stupid class!”

 

That was… an extraordinarily fair point. Kagami decided not to press it.

 

“Well, let’s proceed with caution,” he said.

 

Aomine nodded.

 

“Obviously,” he said haughtily. “Now we gotta stop wasting time and move.”

 

Aomine was flying again almost before Kagami and Kuroko registered he was gone. The two of them exchanged glances before pushing their brooms to catch up with their boyfriend.

 

It was going to be a long night, and it had barely begun.

 

On the other side of the mountain, Kuroko heard another barrage of explosions.

 

_ Please be safe,  _ he thought.

 

Kuroko was privately sure that he could make his way up the mountain more safely on his own (as evidenced by the fact that Akashi’s defenses had left him alone when he was by himself), but he also knew that arguing with a stubborn Kagami and an even worse Aomine would not do him any good. He supposed that they would just have to be proven wrong before they decided to do anything about it.

 

He just hoped that nobody got hurt while they figured it out.

 

Just as he was thinking that, Kuroko felt the jerk of magic slamming into his broom, and Kuroko started plummeting towards the ground.

 

….

 

Tatsuya had been restless ever since Murasakibara had started ignoring him, and that restlessness had only grown when Takao and the Seirin team had figured out what was going on. 

 

He’d had to resist the urge to run after Murasakibara and slap some sense into him, but even he had enough self-preservation instinct to stop himself from doing that. If Murasakibara was possessed by a demon, there was no telling what he would do to Tatsuya, regardless of what the Atsushi beneath the demon wanted.

 

That restlessness had driven him to take unnecessary risks as they fought with aurors and tried as hard as they could to prevent citizens from evacuating.

 

Unfortunately, they’d been less than successful, and Tatsuya’s frustration had only grown as he felt more and more useless. He felt like there was nothing he could do. 

 

But now that they were in the air with the end in sight, Tatsuya found himself settling into an odd calm. He should have been ramped up and excited for the fight, or at least scared.

 

But then again, Tatsuya hadn’t been scared when he punched Atsushi in the face during their last duel together, and that was arguably the most dangerous thing he had ever done in his entire life.

 

He glanced sideways at Masako. The older woman was entirely unbothered taking directions from Imayoshi. She was waiting calmly for word from Kagami that their other team was in place.

 

“What do you think of that Imayoshi guy?” Tatsuya asked her quietly, nodding to the wizard in charge. Masako smiled.

 

“He’s competent,” she said. “And extremely motivated. He actually beat me as runner up for that stupid tournament when we were back in school, but he told them to choose me instead.”

 

“How chivalrous,” Tatsuya muttered.

 

“He’s got a terrible personality,” Masako agreed calmly, which Tatsuya, who had more than once been on the receiving end of the other woman’s blows and stinging hexes, thought was pretty goddamn rich. “But he won’t lead us astray.”

 

Well, that was good enough for Tatsuya, he supposed.

 

“Are you two gossiping about Sho-kun?” Momoi asked loudly, causing Tatsuya to wince.

 

Now that was a witch he did not want to fuck with.

 

“Sorry,” he said.

 

Momoi smiled dangerously.

 

“No harm done,” she said. “But we should really focus. Tetsu-kun and the others will make it to their destination very soon, and we should get word any minute.”

 

Tatsuya nodded, and they waited in terse silence. The second they got the signal from the three wizards making their way around the mountain, things were going to get very exciting up here extremely quickly. His gaze fixed on Hyuuga, about half a mile away, levitating on his own broom.

 

Just as Momoi predicted, it was only another minute before Hyuuga sprung into movement. In a blaze of light, he sent a fireball explosion at the shield surrounding the top of the mountain, letting off a loud noise.

 

“That’s us,” Momoi glanced at Tatsuya. “Let’s see if tampering with these wards brings anyone running."

 

Tatsuya nodded, but before they could do anything else, the mountain started spewing fire at them.

 

“Fuck!” Susa yelled, as Imayoshi ordered them to scatter.

 

“What the hell is that?” Tatsuya shouted.

 

“Self firing spell turret,” Imayoshi yelled, dodging another round of fire. “It’s basically a muggle machine gun but with magic. Aim for where the spells are coming from!”

 

Imayoshi's hurried explanation made sense to only about half the wizards present, but the gist didn't need a whole lot of explaining. The wizards scattered.

 

Hyuuga’s unit wasn’t faring much better. The fire exploding at them from the mountain had caused the large group to panic and scatter. With only a few really competent flyers, they were taking some heavy hits. Tsuchida’s broom was scorched in seconds. Furihata dodged a line of fire and returned an attack of his own  as he spiraled upside down. The spells hit just above the turret, leaving it scorched, but functional.

 

“Don’t mind, keep at it!” Hyuuga yelled.

 

There were five turrets targeting them, and dodging all of them at once was terrifying.

 

Furihata thought idly that if he survived this, the Arrows training camp was going to be a goddamn breeze in comparison.

 

Another round of fire took out the turret in front of them between the combined efforts of Fukuda, Furihata, and Kawahara. Riko took precise aim and blew up the farthest turret.

 

Fire was still coming, but Furihata was too busy dodging to see where it was coming from.

 

And then the ground below them started to rumble, sending snow cascading down the hill.

 

“Golems!”

 

A blast of icy breath sent Furihata spiraling up, far above his teammates as he tried to avoid being caught in the ice.

 

If the cold didn’t kill him, the impact would when his broom froze up and started to fall.

 

Three golems rose out of the ground to focus on them. Furihata heard spellfire in the distance that told him that the other two units were dealing with similar difficulties.

 

Kiyoshi blew a solid chunk out of one of the golem’s arms as it grabbed for him, and they were sent scattering by stone. From above, Furihata sniped at one of the turrets, finally clear to see where the fire was coming from. It took a few shots, but there were still two turrets left.

 

Furihata was taking aim for one of them when he heard Kawahara shouting in glee as an explosive hex took out the knee of one of the golems, sending it tumbling to the ground.

 

He glanced over, just in time to see Kawahara’s broom set ablaze by one of the turrets.

 

Kawahara screamed as he rocketed down.

 

Furihata abandoned his plan and dove, fear for his friend lancing in his heart.

 

He’d lived with this kid for seven years, ate every meal with him during the year, shared every class; they’d survived Dragon Pox together. Kawahara had helped him train to get onto the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, cheered him on with their roommates at games, and all Furihata could think was that he wasn’t going to allow his friend to die.

 

Furihata coaxed every inch of speed out of his broom that he could. Kawahara was falling towards the ground and Furihata was gaining momentum, but he didn’t know if he would be fast enough –

 

Behind him, he could hear indistinct yelling, the sound of screaming, the roar of explosions. Flashes of light where fire and ice unsuccessfully tried to snare him filled his eyes, but Furihata was singularly focused on his target. He dodged a line of fire, flipping a curse off above him in response without slowing down. 

 

Furihata caught Kawahara only seconds before they hit the ground, but they weren’t out of the woods yet. H He was going too fast and the additional weight destabilized his broom causing the two Hufflepuffs to hit the ground hard and roll. The movement distributed the force of the impact, but Furihata knew that it wouldn’t help that much. He would be in for a world of hurt if he survived to get to tomorrow.

 

A cloud of smoke was sent up around them, and then they were falling again.

 

Somehow, Furihata still had his broom in his hand, and managed to keep them in the air.

 

Eventually the broom stopped falling.

 

Furihata caught his breath and shook his head to clear his vision from the snow that had stuck to his fringe and hung down in his face.

 

His broom was in one hand, shaking where it hung in the air. Furihata was dangling, with his other hand grabbing onto Kawahara’s forearm.

 

They had fallen into some kind of ravine, a crevasse in the glacier. Furihata wondered if this had been here when Akashi created the mountain or if it had also been part of his plan.

 

Well, either way, they needed to get back up in the air and rejoin the fight.

 

He heard yelling above him, and Furihata barely managed to swing out of the way as two wizards raced down the ravine, shouting as they passed Furihata.

 

Tsuchida swung his broom around and managed to stop, but Fukuda did not. He collided with the wall, stripping his bristles on the ice and colliding with Tsuchida.

 

Luckily, they were only a few feet above the ground when they fell.

 

Furihata gently lowered himself and Kawahara to the ground. He could immediately see that Kawahara was injured from the way he was moving his leg.

 

“You okay?” Furihata asked, worried.

 

Kawahara nodded.

 

“I think my leg might be broken,” he said. “What about you? You took a tumble coming down with me.”

 

Furihata rolled his shoulders experimentally as he nodded his well being. It wasn’t the first rough landing he’d experienced. He felt like one giant bruise, but he was okay. At least, nothing major was broken, but he doubted he would even be able to tell for sure until after the adrenaline wore off.

 

“Tsuchida? Fukuda?” he asked.

 

“I’m good,” they both said.

 

“Now I see why you got the offer for the Arrows,” Kawahara said into the silence. “You’re one hell of a Chaser. But maybe stay away from Seeker.”

 

Furihata blushed. It wasn’t like he’d  _ intended  _ for this to happen.

 

“Thanks,” he said dryly. 

 

“Your leg is pretty fucked up man,” Fukuda said to Kawahara. “We should splint it and get you back in the air.”

 

Kawahara looked doubtfully at his broom, which was all but broken in half, right down the middle. A crack ran all the way from the handle to the brustles.

 

“Uh, I don’t think I’m going to get back on that,” he posited. Worse, it looked like Tsuchida’s broom hadn’t fared much better from hitting the wall when Fukuda ran into him, and Fukuda’s barely had any of the bristles left after rubbing against the ice.

 

Only Furihata’s broom was actually operational, and it wouldn’t be able to take the four of them. Furihata could tell the levitation charms on it were failing pretty quickly, and that much weight would be the end of it. He’d been lucky not to snap it in half and impale himself on it when he hit the ground catching Kawahara. As it was, he wasn’t sure he would have trusted the broom enough to get back on it with just himself. 

 

“Then we’ll get you out of here safely,” Fukuda said sternly. “We’ll think of something, but we’re not gonna leave you here. Hufflepuffs gotta stick together.”

 

Kawahara laughed. He winced as the movement pulled at his leg, reminding him of the painful injury.

 

“Coach could probably do something about that if we got you to her,” Tsuchida said. “Let’s get it splinted and worry about the brooms later.”

 

The other three wizards nodded, and they set to working getting Kawahara mobile.

 

“Hey, how far do you guys think this goes?” Fukuda asked, illuminating his wand and peering into the darkness. “I wonder if we could get through the mountain.”

 

“Akashi will have thought of that,” Furihata said automatically, but that didn’t mean it wasn’t worth exploring. They sure as hell weren’t going  _ up. _

 

“Why did you guys come after us?” he asked. “We’re four wizards down in the air now.”

 

“Because we saw you both go down hard and figured it would take two of us to get the two of you,” Tsuchida said absently, tapping Kawahara’s leg with his wand. The leg was quickly and neatly bound in bandages that spewed from the tip of Tsuchida’s wand. Tsuchida picked up Kawahara’s broken broom, and snapped it in half. Kawahara winced as Tsuchida held it up against Kawahara’s calf, repeating the binding spell. 

 

“I’ll buy you a new one when we get out of here,” Tsuchida said, rolling his eyes at Kawahara’s expression upon the destruction of his broom. “That should keep you mobile for now,” he said. “We need to get you to a healer, but I don’t think you want me trying that…”

 

He trailed off and Kawahara nodded.

 

“Fucking around with healing is a bad idea,” he agreed. “So, we gonna explore?”

 

Furihata nodded tersely.

 

“Hold on,” he said, piling the remains of their brooms against the wall. He concentrated, jerking his wand as he cut precisely into the ice.

 

“If anyone comes down here, they’ll know where we went,” he said. “Unless anyone has a communication mirror?”

 

Everyone shook their heads. They had four, shared between the unit leaders. Connecting more mirrors was hellishly difficult and hadn’t seemed worth the effort only a few hours ago.

 

Furihata humorlessly thought they were paying for that oversight now.

 

With a sigh, he glanced at the wall, where he had carved a deep arrow, pointing in the direction of the mountain.

 

“Okay then,” he said. “Let’s go.”

 

…

 

Kuroko hit the snow painfully.

 

Kuroko rolled, falling several feet down the mountain before he managed to anchor himself enough to stop his descent.

 

At first, Kuroko wasn’t sure whether or not he’d stopped moving, because the ground was still shaking under him.

 

Kuroko lay on his back in the snow. He was suddenly  _ very _ aware of how cold it was, with the instant separation from the warming spells keyed to his broom. Kuroko stared up at the night sky, feeling the ground shake and seeing the sky moving in circles, not sure which was due to disorientation and which was actually happening.

 

And then Kuroko saw something dark and big moving over him.

 

Kuroko could only stare as a massive golem, which stood nearly as tall as the ceiling of the Great Hall at Hogwarts, stepped over him.

 

Kuroko felt the ground rumble below him as the foot came down, thankfully nowhere near him.

 

Above him, he saw flashes of lightning and fire, and knew that Aomine and Kagami were occupied.

 

Kuroko glanced around in alarm, looking for his broom. His eyes fell on a pile of shattered wood, and felt irritation rise up.

 

Of course he’d wrecked the broom. Whatever had hit him had probably done half the work as it was.

 

Kuroko glanced back up at Kagami and Aomine. Well, there was no way he was going to get their attention now, as they darted around the golem looking for an easy shot to take it down.

 

As powerful as they were, Kuroko was sure it would take them too much time to both take down the golem and find him, so he made an executive decision.

 

Kuroko started walking, heading up the mountain towards his boyfriends.

 

Aomine and Kagami might spot him on their way up looking for him, but there was no reason to waste time. Besides, on his own, he attracted significantly less attention. If they were counting on his misdirection, it would work best with his Lights in front of his shadow.

 

Luckily, they’d come fairly far up the mountain, and were above the first layer of cloud cover when the golem had attacked.

 

Kuroko felt the prickling sense of being watched, and turned in a circle, unsure of what he was looking for. He felt like he should be waiting for something, but he had no idea what it was.

 

Kuroko set his gaze back on the peak and started walking again. 

 

If they had placed themselves correctly, he should come over the edge of the mountain looking down on the back of the dragon’s folded wings protecting Akashi’s little fortress. He might even be able to see the rest of his friends fighting their way over the other side of the rim.

 

He heard an explosion, but with all the noise echoing through the valley, he couldn’t tell if it was behind him or in front.

 

The wind was picking up now, as was the snow. Kuroko could barely see with the snow being picked up and swirled around by the wind, combined with the snow that was already falling. He narrowed his eyes and tried to cast a warming charm on himself.

 

It didn’t work. Kuroko scowled and tried again. He thought maybe his hands were warmer, but that was it.

 

His stomach sank a little.

 

He’d never had a lot of power, but Charms was one of his better subjects. He was scared to consider what this might mean.

 

And then Kuroko was slammed directly into the snow, face first, by a spell.

 

Kuroko groaned, pushing himself over, finding himself lying in the snow for a second time in what felt like as many minutes.

 

His eyes burned as he tried to focus on the wizard standing over him. All he got was the vague impression of a person, standing where Kuroko knew his attacker was.

 

It occurred to Kuroko then (far too late to be of any use) that with all the magical machine guns taken down and the golem occupied with trying to freeze Aomine and Kagami off their brooms, he should have known it was another wizard that had picked him out of the air. He’d forgotten to worry about it, which was concerning.

 

Kuroko could barely follow the other wizard with his eyes.

 

He knew Aomine and Kagami would be completely helpless against this new opponent, even if they managed to finish their fight with the golem in time to come to his aid. This would have to be his fight.

 

“Mayazumi Chihiro,” Kuroko bit out.

 

The golem-wizard didn’t answer. 

 

Kuroko wondered if it even could. How sentient was this thing exactly? He’d never heard of a golem that could use magic independently or think for itself. The golem attacking Aomine and Kagami was far less sophisticated - it had been programmed to attack anyone nearby, so it did. Mayazumi Chihiro was not so much a creation of magic as a work of art.

 

Kuroko tried to dodge a spell aimed at his face, but didn’t roll away in time. The cutting charm sliced open his cheek, instead of cutting his face in half.

 

Kuroko fumbled for his wand, but he’d dropped it in the snow.

 

Mayazumi threw another spell, and Kuroko tried to block it with his misdirection.

 

It went straight through, burning Kuroko’s side.

 

Kuroko cried out as he tried to get to his feet, but he was knocked down by another spell.

 

Kuroko looked up, staring around in alarm as he tried to locate the golem. All he could see was the snow.

 

A spell hit him in the back of the head and Kuroko was pushed forward. He could feel his head burning and hoped he had not been cut too deeply.

 

He opened his mouth to scream for Kagami, praying one of his Lights would hear and take notice, but a foot collided with his side. Kuroko hadn’t seen or heard the golem moving, and was taken entirely by surprise at the blow.

 

_ Shit. _

 

Kuroko didn’t hear Mayazumi cast or see the spell moving, but he was blasted backwards, hitting a rock outcropping hard.

 

He couldn’t even feel Mayazumi’s magic, and that scared the shit out of him. Obviously, Akashi had improved on his golem’s misdirection since he’d kidnapped Kuroko. Or rather, the demon possessing Akashi had used that experiment as a way of improving it. Who knew how involved Akashi really was with this “experiment” any way.

 

Kuroko scrambled, trying to get back on his feet. He’d taken a fair share of beatings in the dueling arena, and he wasn’t about to allow a lifetime of work to be discounted.

 

He’d never really successfully fought a single wizard in a one on one battle on an open and even field, but he had other skills.

 

His hand touched on a loose rock.

 

Kuroko picked up the rock in his hand, straightening. He threw it. Mayazumi dodged. Not once did his expression change, not that Kuroko could see it clearly enough to know that for certain. 

 

He grabbed another rock as the golem advanced menacingly.

 

Memory hit him all at once. 

 

He’d never really mastered transfiguration. The power heavy discipline left little room for error, and Kuroko had managed the grades he had had only through a diligence of study worthy of the house of Hufflepuff.

 

And yet, somehow, Kuroko’s shortcomings had never really mattered. And sometimes, they even helped.

 

Kuroko held up his hand, looking for his wand. He hadn’t even considered diving for it before, too distracted with Mayazumi’s relentless attacks, and with the defeatist knowledge that there wasn’t much he could do with it, but he needed it now.

 

“Accio!” he yelled.

 

From somewhere a few feet away, he saw something long and dark rise out of the snow and make an aborted attempt at coming towards Kuroko before it fell back down, thankfully resting on top of the snow.

 

Kuroko dove for the wand, not minding that he once again ended up covered in snow. To be honest, he could barely even feel the cold any more, which he knew wasn’t a good sign, but it left him free to focus on his fight with Mayazumi.

 

Kuroko tapped the stone with his wand and threw it at Mayazumi.

 

The golem blinked as he was hit in the face by a gray tortoise. 

 

“Now you are just embarrassing both of us.”

 

Mayazumi’s voice was quiet, and Kuroko was surprised he could even hear it over the din around them. He supposed that this was his answer to wondering whether or not Mayazumi could speak. Though Kuroko remembered upon hearing it that he had in fact heard Mayazumi speak once before. When Akashi had set the wizard-golem on him while Kuroko was kidnapped, he had spoken the spells he had used to attack Kuroko.

 

Kuroko kicked himself for forgetting that, even as his plan was pushed into motion.

 

Dense purple smog filled the hillside. Kuroko stood absolutely still. His legs trembled under him, but the colder it got, the less he could feel them. Every part of his body ached from the fall and from being tossed around by Mayazumi. His cheek hurt. The burn in the middle of his stomach hurt. He could feel blood dripping down the back of his neck, and didn’t want to consider what that meant for the injury to the back of his head.

 

Kuroko was at the end of his stamina.

 

“You can’t hide from me,” Mayazumi said, a few feet away, somehow sounding offended without so much as inflecting it in his voice.  “My misdirection is better than yours, and that is why you are going to die here.”

 

“I was not hiding,” Kuroko said in an even voice.

 

Mayazumi whirled around.

 

Kuroko braced himself.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

Mayazumi cast.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes.

 

The magic sparked in his consciousness. Whatever Akashi had done, this creature still had wizard magic, because it had been created by a wizard. As unnoticeable as it was, Kuroko could feel it when he was looking for it. That magic burned into Kuroko’s senses, carrying the smell of burning ozone as it neared.

 

It flared with the familiar power of Akashi’s own magic, and Kuroko smiled grimly. He sent it flying directly back at its caster.

 

Mayazumi clearly had not expected the blast. Kuroko stared as his arm and side were blown away, revealing stone. 

 

The part of Mayazumi that still looked like flesh flickered. 

 

And then it fell. Kuroko was looking at a solid stone block, lined with runes. They glowed menacingly gold, but as Kuroko approached, they died down.

 

And then the stone burst into dust.

 

Kuroko stared at the remains of Mayazumi Chihiro, the magnitude of what he had done overwhelming him.

 

Mayazumi might not have been a wizard, per se, but he’d probably deserved to live. Kuroko didn’t like the idea that he’d robbed him of a chance to be something other than the servant of a demon.

 

Kuroko was brought back to himself by the sound of the much larger golem tumbling down the mountain.

 

It seemed that Aomine and Kagami had dispensed with their own attacker. Kuroko kept moving. He hoped they would find him, but he couldn’t stay still, couldn’t stay here.

 

He needed to find Akashi and end this.

 

Kuroko resolutely did not look back at the pile of dust that had been Mayazumi Chihiro as it slowly was obscured by the increasingly heavy snow.

 

…

 

Takao didn’t like the fact that they’d been fighting the defenses of the ward system, but had yet to see a single person. The golems and turrets had kept them busy, and any time the warders among their group tried to touch the shield it sent a magical shock right back at them.

 

This was certainly a well defended fortress. They weren’t going to bring down the wards.

 

But if their attack didn’t get the attention of the people  _ inside  _ the fortress, then Kuroko would be in there alone, fighting to get the demon out of Akashi.

 

“Where is everyone?” he shouted. 

 

“Clearly, the red bastard is still hiding his cards,” Taisuke Ootsubo said. His younger brother nodded, glaring ahead of them.

 

“I don’t like it,” he said.

 

“Nor do I,” Taisuke concurred. 

 

Takao watched as Kimura and the older Miyaji brother blasted the head of the last golem clean off. Miyaji swooped in a circle on his broom, whooping loudly.

 

With the golems and turrets down, there was a moment of silence. The snow had started falling, and Takao was thankful for the warming charms they had keyed to all the brooms. 

 

“Is that it, do you think?” The younger Ootsubo brother asked hopefully.

 

_ No chance in hell,  _ Takao thought, though he too  _ wanted  _ to believe that this would be over soon.

 

“Even if it’s not, I don’t think Kuroko would have had time to fight Akashi, so we’re going to have to trigger some real attention if we don’t get any,” Taisuke said softly, and his brother nodded, determined. 

 

Takao shifted on his broom, feeling antsy.

 

_ Where was Shin-chan? _

 

“There!” Takao shouted. “I see light, we have incoming!”   
  


Ootsubo passed the warning on through the mirrors, and all of the wizards put up shield charms.

 

There was a haze of clear light coming from just the other side of the rim. Takao inched closer, trying to get a good idea of what was coming.

 

He didn’t need to wait long.

 

This was what they had expected, what they had hoped for, but Takao still wasn’t ready for the sight of people lining up along the rim of the mountain.

 

For a moment, they stared down their attackers, both sides watching each other warily.

 

And then the night exploded in a fury of spell casting.

 

The spells came fast and strong. Takao flew low to the ground, his team following his lead. That put the attacking wizards above them, but most still had their eyes to the sky.

 

“Stupefy!” Takao whispered, repeatedly, taking out four wizards on his own before anyone noticed he was there.

 

His eyes scanned the crowd, but he didn’t see Shin-chan yet - 

 

And then there was a flash of yellow, and he ducked under a curse, swearing. That had been aimed to kill, and Takao unfortunately recognized that burn of power.

 

Kise Ryouta, framed on either side by Kasamatsu and Nakamura of his original dueling team, was smiling like a man possessed.

 

Takao’s blood ran cold as he put the pieces together.

 

All of these people, they were possessed.

 

They couldn’t use any lethal force for fear of killing people they knew, people they cared about, children in some cases, but the demons would be aiming to destroy them.

 

For the first time, Takao knew mortal fear. It had been all well and good to accept the risk of death in the living room of the Aida home, or in Kuroko’s sitting room. It was quite another to stare his own death right in the face in the form of Kise Ryouta.

 

Takao had shared a room with this man for seven years. He was a bit puffed on his own appearance, and had put far too much stock in being a member of the Generation of Miracles, but Takao had mostly  _ liked  _ him, at least before the end. 

 

Kise had known what it was like to be a muggleborn kid in a world that still gave into its prejudices far too often, and had worked hard to overcome people’s assumptions about him.

 

Takao didn’t  _ want  _ to fight him, or the demon possessing him.

 

But with the fear of the harm Takao might do or have done to himself came a fury, a righteous rage that was the reason he’d been sent to Gryffindor in the first place. 

 

“Where’s Shin-chan?” he demanded, and Kise laughed.

 

“Not here,” he said. “He’s too busy for the likes of  _ you. _ ”

 

And okay, Takao was getting annoyed. These demons clearly had no creativity whatsoever. Sure, once upon a time, his blood status had been a sensitive issue for him, but no longer. Takao had overcome that insecurity.

 

“Go suck a cactus,” he said instead, and fired two stunners at Kise. They bounced harmlessly off a gold shield. Takao was vaguely aware of Ootsubo engaging Kasamatsu, and hoped his friend and former Captain wasn’t too distracted by the fact that he was fighting with his boss.

 

Takao didn’t have much chance to dwell on that, because Kise threw another curse, and Takao only barely managed to dodge the gold ball before it collided with the ground a mile down and took a solid chunk out of the mountain.

 

“Shit!” Takao swore to himself. He righted his broom, avoiding another spell hurled with precise aim, and took another few shots of his own.

 

“Could use a little help here!”

 

But they were overwhelmed.

 

Kise was bad enough, but he wasn’t the only one firing curses. There were dozens of wizards up ahead, and barely seven wizards in Takao’s unit. He didn’t have a single second to see how the rest of his friends were faring, too busy dodging curses and spells. He managed to catch a few wizards unaware - one looked like a witch young enough to still be in Hogwarts, and Takao’s chest constricted painfully.

 

Takao didn’t have the breath to cuss, so busy was he dodging fire. He thought he heard Kise laughing, but there was no making out the curses the possessed man was actually using. The ground was on fire, and Takao could barely see. Fiendfyre, he thought desperately. It burned even in the tundra, and it shone with a sickly green haze.

 

_ Merlin preserve me,  _ Takao thought as he spiraled upwards on his broom, trying to find a single place of safety. There was no retreat - the spells followed him, though from this angle, Takao made a much more difficult target.

 

He could see the Ootsubo brothers occupied with Kasamatsu, while the older Miyaji and Kimura were fighting the others from the Kaijo team.

 

Takao wondered if the wizards being possessed regretted following their leader to Kise’s side, and snorted.

 

The younger Miyaji had been forced to land, unable to keep flying under the barrage of spells, and was barely holding his own against a group of very young wizards and witches - more students, Takao surmised, and remembered with a sick, sinking feeling that the entire school had evacuated.

 

Plenty of the demons they would be fighting would be possessing children.

 

It was an effective human shield, if sickening.

 

That fury was back, the anger at how much he and everyone stood to lose, the unfairness of it all. Takao yelled out an incantation that was barely a spell, sending the possessed wizards below scattering as it shattered the very stone beneath them.

 

A solid chunk of the mountain fell away. Behind it, the ward still shone, even where stone had once been, but it had put their attackers off guard to take out a few of them. Takao saw Kasamatsu go down, and looked around wildly, trying to find Kise - 

 

He saw the blonde too late. The green spell was already coming at him and Takao had no time to dodge. He threw himself bodily off his broom, screaming at the top of his lungs. Kise pursued, casting relentlessly at him. Takao screamed again when his breath ran out. Takao closed his eyes and cast blindly, throwing as many stunners as he could. 

 

He landed hard, below the rim of the mountain, and was thankful for the snow that broke his fall. 

 

He sat there for a moment, breath entirely robbed from his lungs, body aching from the rough fall.

 

“Hey, Kazunari.”   
  


“Am I dead?” Takao asked, not opening his eyes at the sound of the oldest Ootsubo’s voice.

 

“No, now get the fuck on my broom.”

 

“Aren’t you going to buy me dinner first, Senpai?” Takao asked, fluttering his eyes open.

 

“He’s fine!” Ootsubo yelled to the rest of their team.

 

“Where’s Kise?” Takao asked. “Did I get him?” 

 

Ootsubo laughed.

 

“You sure showed the mountain twenty feet to his left what was what,” he said. “Izuki got blasted over this way and landed a lucky shot in his back. You’d be dead otherwise.”

 

Takao coughed, covering up his embarrassment as they rose back into the air. 

 

“Any sign of Shin-chan?” Takao asked.

 

“Yeah, but we’re needed to deal with a bigger problem,” Ootsubo said, and as they watched, the mountain in front of them exploded.

 

“Murasakibara?”   
  


“Yep.”

 

“Cool.”

 

Takao let Ootsubo deposit him on the rim of the mountain to help them clear out the less serious threats to free up more people to deal with Murasakibara. 

 

Takao took off running, immediately joining Riko, who looked like she’d taken a fire spell right to the side. She was holding one arm around her waist while casting with the other, and Takao followed her line of sight to her opponent.

 

Aida Kagetora, whose eyes shone with the tell-tale gold of human possession.

 

Delightful.

 

“Need a hand?” Takao asked. 

 

“Sure!” Riko shouted, and Takao smoothly took over her shielding charm to alleviate some stress on the injured witch. 

 

Takao cast a stunning spell. It missed, but his former headmaster turned around as though to watch it.

 

And then he started walking away. 

 

Takao tensed, wand in hand.

 

“What?” he asked. Had he gotten hit in the head?

 

But all the wizards and witches that were possessed were retreating back behind the shield, heading down into the valley. The stunned bodies of the opponents they had taken down were left where they were.

 

Takao desperately tried to catch a glimpse of Shin-chan, but there was nothing.

 

“What is going on?” Takao demanded.

 

“I don’t know,” Riko said, frowning. She looked up at Kiyoshi, who was nursing an injured shoulder. He’d gone straight to take on Murasakibara when he’d shown up, and had managed to hold him off, but they were all lucky that the other wizard had done as little damage to their ranks as he had. 

 

“What do you see up there?” Riko yelled to Hyuuga. Hyuuga swooped lower. His face was covered in soot and one side of his head was bleeding. He was grinning widely, nonetheless.

 

“They’re retreating!” 

 

…

 

Hyuuga heard their allies cheer at the sight of their enemies retreating behind the shield, but it seemed their good luck was destined to hold out. 

 

Hyuuga saw more than felt it when the shields around the fortress went down, and all he could think was that somehow, inexplicably, Kuroko must have managed to finish their work sooner rather than later.

 

In any event, with their opponents retreating and their way suddenly clear, Hyuuga was sure that they needed to press whatever advantage they had gained. He led the way, Kiyoshi behind him on one side and Izuki on the other.

 

“The wards are down!” Hyuuga shouted. “Go now! Go!”

 

Hyuuga was at the front of the unit speeding up the hill. Not for nothing had he been made Captain of his school Quidditch team, or selected to start as Keeper on a professional team. He was more than competent on a broom, which was an advantage with this kind of aerial attack. 

 

They chased the possessed humans back up the mountain. Hyuuga stunned a few, but he was more focused on bringing out the Generation of Miracles.

 

He wanted to provoke a response.

 

They cleared the edge of the rim, and Hyuuga’s breath was momentarily taken away by the sight in front of him. In the center of the mountain, protected by these high walls, Akashi had created a city. It nestled in the protection of a massive dragon.

 

Remembering well how the dragon Akashi had created as a simple fourth year had come to life with some unexpected and nasty surprises, Hyuuga knew that they were going to have to watch out for it.

 

But he was more interested in the city itself. It was glowing with green light. It looked like lamps... 

 

No. Runes. Hyuuga squinted, trying to read them.

 

He was distracted, however, as the dragon’s eyes opened, and it roared. The massive stone beast roared, and Hyuuga winced as the sound made rock tumble down from the sides of the mountain, shaking loose banks of snow as it moved. First the head, then the massive stone neck as it shook, and then the wings, unfurling. It crouched, and then jumped, huge stone wings rising to catch the air, screeching into the howling winds.

 

From her position in the air, Momoi carefully scrutinized the runes they were looking at. She might not have Midorima’s impressive memory, but she’d been no slouch at school. She had never seen a configuration like this before - and certainly not one of this scale.

 

The green light shone up through to the sky, nearly obscuring their design, making it all the harder. Momoi scanned her memory, seeing flashes of sequences that made sense. Her blood curdled as she recognized the purpose for the rune circle.

 

Her eyes widened in fear.

 

“Everyone get down!”

 

Momoi's voice, magically amplified, echoed across the mountains. Through the howling wind and the falling snow, she projected her voice as loudly as she could.

 

They had much bigger issues than that giant fucking dragon.

 

That was a summoning circle.

 

“GET DOWN NOW!”

 

Every broom dove for the ground. Shield charms went up as they dove for cover, not sure what would happen but knowing it wouldn’t be good.

 

Not everyone would make it, Momoi knew, but the advance warning would get  _ some  _ of them on the ground and that might be enough.

 

That was when the center of the mountain exploded in green fire.

 

…

 


	59. Gay Love Literally Saves The Day IDK What Else To Say

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a bit late; its been a crazy week at work and with other stuff, but we're still on the weekly update path right now! Enjoy!

**…**

 

Furihata had no idea how long their group had been walking. Fukuda was supporting Kawahara on one side, but even with a splint, he was moving slowly. He wasn’t the only one; the rest of them were hurting from their fall, and wouldn’t have made much better time even without Kawahara’s serious injury.

 

Their progress was dismal. Occasionally, noise from the battle would filter down to them, but for the most part it was eerily quiet.

 

The fissure gave way to a system of rock caves. Furihata and the others shared a glance, but they had to keep moving. They didn’t exactly have a choice to go back – either someone on brooms would catch up with them or they had to find another way out, because, to be honest, none of them were getting out of this crevasse otherwise. Furihata had no desire to find out if he could levitate a whole person hundreds of feet into the air, and he wasn’t going to experiment now. All he needed was to drop them halfway up the ravine, and they might be a lot less lucky on the way down. 

 

Still, he glanced up at the lone sliver of sky that he could see as they passed into the rock caves, hoping that they weren’t going to end up at a dead end, or worse, being ambushed themselves. This group was hardly a set of powerhouses; Furihata was probably the strongest of the lot of them, and that wasn’t saying much about their capacity to defend themselves.

 

Sakurai had always been the strong one of their little Hufflepuff cadre, and Kuroko had clawed his way into power using the oddity of his misdirection. Furihata was pretty sure he couldn’t compare, even if Kuroko wasn’t as good at traditional magic as even the weakest of their group.

 

Furihata knew full well that he was much better at Quidditch than dueling, and he’d come to accept that. It wasn’t what he’d wanted. It wasn’t what he’d hoped, but he did love flying.

 

It just stung that he’d turned out to be so… average… at something he’d wanted so dearly to succeed at, and had dreamed of so much as a kid. He’d wanted to be a dueling champion, but he just couldn’t compete against the might of some of his peers.

 

Furihata’s grim musings left him as he focused on their path through the caves. There was no time to lose on regrets and missed chances. He’d lit his wand as they headed into the cave, his soft lumos giving them a circle of light. The young men huddled together in the small sphere of light.

 

The roof of the cave shook, and dust came down on all of them.

 

Furihata glanced nervously up at the ceiling.

 

Fukuda, who was helping support Kawahara, did so as well.

 

“Sounds like we’re at least heading in the right direction,” he said, and Furihata had to agree.

 

“Hopefully they won’t bring this whole place down on us before we get to the other side,” Tsuchida said dryly, and another glance was exchanged. A sense of urgency spiked their pulses at a worry they didn’t even know to anticipate until that moment.

 

There were plenty of powerful wizards clashing overhead, and any one of them might have the power to crush them without even knowing it, as though they were bugs.

 

Furihata had never felt so powerless in the face of overwhelming magical strength as he did right in that moment. They could die any second, with no chance to see it coming or stop it.

 

He wrestled with his fear as they came on an intersection.

 

“We need to head due west to keep going towards the center of the mountain,” Tsuchida said. He cast a  _ point me  _ spell, and his wand veered towards the cavern that broke off to the right.

 

Furihata nodded decisively, cutting another arrow to point which cavern they had chosen. It occurred to him that it was just as likely he was leading their enemies to them as their allies, but there was nothing to be done about it if they wanted to find their way back if they were lost, or if they were to hold out any hope of being saved.

 

They had no other way of letting their friends know where they were.

 

The four wizards walked in silence for some time after that. They came upon two more intersections, performing the compass spell at each one, keeping them on track.

 

The silence was getting to all of them, but any attempt at conversation ended up slowly dying as nerves and the seriousness of the situation sank in.

 

For all they knew they would get to the other side of the caves and find that all of their friends were dead. It was equally possible that they would hit dead end after dead end and be trapped down here forever, dying slowly of the cold, thirst, and hunger.

 

Furihata was so nervous about where they were going that he actually breathed a sigh of relief when they stumbled across a barrier in the middle of the passage.

 

“It’s the wards from up top,” Kawahara grunted, peering closely. They could see the spark of magic fueling it. “At least that means we’re going the right way.”

 

“How are we going to get past it?” Furihata asked, looking closer for any weakness as though he could find any just by peering with his naked eyes. He doubted he would find one, not in a ward created by the Generation of Miracles.

 

“We don’t,” Fukuda said with some finality. “We might as well wait here. Our friends will be able to follow us or this shield will fall, but either way I don’t think it would be productive to trace our steps back.”

 

“A-are you sure?” Furihata asked, wringing his hands, uncertain what the best possible path would be, knowing only that he didn’t want to sit still. He didn’t want to die waiting here.

 

“It makes sense,” Tsuchida said. “We should take a break anyway, drink some water.”

 

They all had canteens, and worse case scenario they could melt the ice clinging to the stone of the cave walls. They could hold out for long enough.

 

They sat in silence for a while, Furihata’s wand the only small circle of light illuminating them.

 

“Should probably put that out,” Kawahara suggested roughly, nodding to his wand. Furihata looked up nervously. He didn’t really want to be left in the dark.

 

Nevertheless, he agreed. They didn’t know how long the might be down here, so wasting the magical energy to keep it going was kind of pointless. With a feeling of dread in his stomach, Furihata nodded.

 

“ _ Nox _ ,” he whispered, his voice a little hoarse.

 

The wand went dark, and Furihata shivered a little.

 

It took some time for their eyes to adjust to the dark. Their shadowed forms took on more detail in the dim light given off by the shield. It wasn’t much, but the different colored sparks helped them see. At least it would be very obvious to them when the shield went down, and they could make all haste in rejoining their companions. They could get Kawahara help and get back to the fight.

 

“How do you think they’re doing up there?” Fukuda asked quietly.

 

“I don’t know,” Tsuchida said softly. “It can’t have been very long since we went down.”

Furihata glanced at his watch. The face was cracked, but it looked like it had only been twenty or so minutes. Not bad at all, given everything. He told his companions that, and they nodded solemnly. Nobody wanted to posit a guess on how long it would take for their companions to neutralize the shield.

 

They had only just adjusted to the dim light when suddenly the entire passage went dark. Furihata’s heart skipped a beat in its rhythm as he realized how dark it was.

 

“The shield is down!” he said, too loudly. “We should go!”

 

Furihata lit the end of his wand. With renewed energy from the excitement that came from seeing that there was an end in sight, the four of them got moving again. Fukuda supported Kawahara’s weight where his leg would not take it, and they made good time down the passageway.

 

Slowly, they began to hear the echo of explosions, and they looked around, alarmed.

 

“We’re close to the exit!” Tsuchida exclaimed. “I think I can feel the wind!”

 

True to form, it wasn’t much longer before they saw an exit. Green light spilled into the cave, and Furihata lurched forward. The green light couldn’t mean anything good, but as long as they were outside, they could figure out where they were.

 

He was the first who spilled out onto a flat mesa overlooking the valley where Akashi had set his fortress.

 

Furihata caught his breath as the others, slowed by Kawahara’s injuries, took their time catching up.

 

The entire bottom of the mountain was glowing, and Furihata stared for a moment before sense took over his brain. The part of him that was used to calling plays in Quidditch and making plans in the middle of the game started working overtime, figuring out a way to get them all out of here safely.

 

“Who can apparate?” Furihata asked.

 

“I can,” Tsuchida said. “But I can only take one, and I don’t think I could come back and make more than one trip after.”

 

“I never got it,” Fukuda said, and Furihata shook his head.

 

“Me either,” he confessed. “We should stick together, try and climb up. We’re more likely to get their attention.”

 

A plan formed, Tsuchida clasped Fukuda, and then Furihata’s hands.

 

“Be safe,” he said. “I’ll see you soon.”

 

He apparated away with Kawahara, and Furihata breathed a sigh of relief as they vanished on the wind.

 

“Well this is going to suck,” Fukuda said, looking up at the mountain.

 

“Fuck yeah it will,” Furihata agreed.

 

“Well, well begun is half done,” Fukuda said. “Let’s get to it.

 

Furihata nodded, and they started to climb. Here the rock was so steep that they were moving vertically, holding onto the rocks for dear life. They had only been climbing for maybe a minute, having made it a few feet up the rock face of the mountain, when the entire thing shook as though the earth itself was rumbling.

 

As Furihata watched, the stone dragon around the circle appeared to come to life. With gold lines of power shining through the rune structures carved around the entire body of the creature, it shook its head and roared. The sound echoed through the heart of the mountain and raised goose bumps on Furihata’s arms.

 

“Merlin, Morgause and Morgana!” Fukuda swore. “That’s a fucking dragon!”

 

Yeah, no shit.

 

The dragon launched itself in the air. It screeched again, sending gold fire up into the air, and then began to flap its wings, rising high into the sky. It blew a line of fire around the rim of the mountain before swooping down, completing a circle inside of the mountain. Furihata ducked his head down as the dragon neared, crying out as it flew close enough that the force of wind threatened to pull him free from where he was holding on with every ounce of his strength.

 

Furihata held on, but Fukuda screamed. He was thrown free of the rock face, his grip not as good as Furihata’s. He hit the plateau below, rolled, and then kept falling.

 

“Fukuda!”

 

Furihata received no response. He scrambled down the wall, getting safely to solid ground. He held up his wand, trying to see where the other boy could have fallen, when he was distracted by something far more sinister.

 

The ground  _ was  _ shaking, and just below, where Akashi’s city had been, the circle of green light was pulsing.

 

Furihata watched in horror as a clawed hand emerged from the depths of the portal – one much like the portal they had found in the warehouse in America, but on a much, much bigger scale. The demon emerged, long tongue flicking out of its mouth as the dark spikes around its head shuffled around.

 

It was looking for prey.

 

Furihata ducked behind the rocks, his wide eyes unable to hide his horror as beast after beast emerged from the ground. Winged monstrosities that spat green acid, long snakelike beasts with hundreds of sharp legs, each emerging creature was more horrifying than the last.

 

When a massive face, one that nearly filled the entire circle of power, thrust itself through, proving to have jaws the size of an entire building, Furihata screamed, going white.

 

It didn’t matter. In the howling noise created by the demon emerging to feast on the remains of the magical world, any noise Furihata made was entirely lost.

 

And then, not five feet away on the other side of the outcropping where Furihata was hiding, Akashi Seijuro appeared, wearing a wide, twisted grin.

 

...

 

At the rim of the mountain, Momoi was crouched as low as possible to the rock.

 

“Well this is fucked,” Imayoshi said.

 

That was an understatement.

 

From far away, Hyuuga managed to yell them a warning just in time for Momoi to see the dragon come to life. She scowled, knowing full well that Akashi had probably used her own runic research to build the thing, and that he had shaped Dai-kun’s magic into carving the damn dragon in the first place.

 

Irritation was waylaid by urgency as the dragon breathed golden fire at all of the wizards on the rim. Shield charms went up, and thankfully it seemed that everyone was spared the full force of the dragon’s wrath. It dove down, doing an impressive circuit of the valley before rising back up into the sky.

 

“That’s going to be a problem,” Tatsuya murmured, eyes on the dragon warily.

 

Worse, Momoi could hear noise behind them. She turned, and the bodies of the students and civilians who they had been stunned were beginning to glow a sickly green.

 

One by one, the demons were rising out of their prey, ready to attack them from behind themselves.

 

Momoi would have been impressed with the ploy, if she wasn’t so goddamn pissed off. They had been lured in close by the retreat, and then the summoning circle had activated just in time to drive them back, into the demons that were abandoning the people they had assumed were safe behind them.

 

It was a tactic that would inspire panic, disorganization, and flanked them in a way that would make it very hard to fight their way through or to run away.

 

“That’s what it means to be a member of the Generation of Miracles,” Sakurai said, sounding awed. “They planned this from the beginning.”

 

For some reason, that was the final fucking straw for Momoi Satsuki.

 

“Fuck the Generation of Miracles,” Momoi said primly, standing and smoothing her shirt down the front of her body and pulling out her wand in a precise motion. The expression on her face spelled murder.

 

“If you want to win some stupid duel, the Generation of Miracles will suffice,” she said. Each word rang with power that hummed so thickly it was making the snow around her melt before it touched her skin. The power intensified and the icy ground under her boots began to thaw from the heat of her magic. “When you need a  _ real  _ Miracle, there’s a reason they say to go find a witch.”

 

“Merlin’s cock,” Imayoshi’s breath caught in his throat as Momoi let loose her power.  

 

Sakurai glanced at his partner.

 

Imayoshi was full on  _ entranced. _

 

Sakurai rolled his eyes. His partner had a thing for  _ power  _ all right.

 

And Momoi Satsuki apparently had it in spades. Where she’d been hiding it all the years they’d known her none of the boys rightly knew. Morgana knew more than a few of them had never managed to pay attention to anything deeper than the slope of her breasts, and they apparently would have paid for it dearly if Momoi had a mind to make them.

 

The pretty princess of Slytherin didn’t look so prim now. She was terrifying, her hair held back out of her face as she let her wand burn with power.

 

“Sho-kun, rally our team, get them fighting the demons behind us,” she said. “Find the others, stay together. Fight your way down. There’s a system of caves underneath the rock. We need to regroup and shut down that circle. Get anyone with a working broom on bringing down that dragon too, since it’s just going to follow anyone it identifies as an intruder, and we’ve all been tagged.”

 

“Yes ma’am,” Imayoshi said dryly. “And I thought I was the Captain here.”

 

Sakurai would have laughed, if the situation weren’t so serious.

 

It seemed more than one of the cadre of the Generation of Miracles had hid their true talent in the shadows. Momoi Satsuki’s misdirection just happened to come in the form of giant tits and a bright pink shade of lipstick.

 

Momoi’s hair streamed out behind her as she took off running.

 

She wasn’t going to stand here and let Akashi murder these people. He’d gone too far, and her fury would not be denied.

 

Possessed or not, Akashi would pay in blood to her. Every drop shed at his will would be taken from his own veins tenfold in retribution, of that she would make sure.

 

Momoi let her comrades deal with the demons beginning to pour out of the gateway. Akashi would be somewhere nearby, and it was past time to end this.

 

_ If I were a controlling egomaniac that engineered the end of the world, where would I be watching from? _

 

In the edge of the mountain, there was a flat outcropping overlooking the gateway.

 

_ Probably there. _

 

She couldn’t see a flash of red or a tell tale sign that her opponent would be there, but Momoi knew. She had a feeling - call it a woman’s intuition - that she would find the fight that she was looking to start there.

 

Momoi cast a featherlight charm on her feet, and jumped, using her magic to propel her farther and faster than the muscles in her body ordinarily could have done.

 

She could feel the world falling around her, and concentrated on aiming where she wanted to go. Brooms were all well and good, but there was nothing like gravity for getting you somewhere as quick as possible.

 

At the last moment, Momoi levitated herself, hovering above the ground before allowing herself to drop. She landed gracefully, barely even displacing the snow as she touched down.

 

Momoi landed directly in front of Akashi, wand drawn, her power drawn tightly to her skin in an aura of pink surrounding her.

 

“Are you here to duel me, Satsuki?” Akashi asked politely.

 

“No,” Momoi said. Her voice was rough. “I told you once before, Sei-kun, I don’t play at fighting like you silly boys. I am going to kill you.”

 

Akashi didn’t react to this. He wouldn’t have, aside from smiling at her politely, the way he had when she had made her original threat. She had to remind herself that she’d used the name for the benefit of the wizard behind the demon currently controlling Sei-kun’s body.

 

The thing she was speaking with, well, killing Akashi would have the dual benefit of destroying it and ending the reign of terror it had begun. 

 

“I see,” the demon said, almost as emotionlessly and carefully as her Tetsu-kun would have. “Then I suppose I’m going to have to stop you.”

 

…

 

Kagami was furious with himself.

 

He’d managed to lose Kuroko.

 

He and Aomine both had been busy with the Golem, and now Kuroko was gone. They knew that if he was actively hiding himself from Akashi that they were unlikely to catch sight of him again. With Kuroko’s misdirection functioning normally, they often struggled to keep an eye on Kuroko and that was when he wasn’t actively trying to hide.

 

Aomine and Kagami hadn’t even had time to fight about it. They could hear the sounds of the battle, and knew where they were needed.

 

The two wizards raced up the slope of the mountain. Against hope, Kagami strained his eyes, trying to catch a glimpse of his Shadow. He saw Aomine doing the same, though he refrained from commenting on it and starting a round of insults between them.

 

There was nothing shameful in the fact that they both loved Kuroko and were worried about him.

 

Still, the silence was more tense than anything. They flew in absolute quiet, the only sound being the whistle of the wind as they moved through the night air.

 

They could hear the distant sounds of explosions, and then… nothing.

 

Kagami glanced at Aomine, who looked troubled.

 

“We should go faster,” Aomine said, coaxing even more speed from his broom. Kagami agreed, matching him. He wasn’t as comfortable on a broom as Aomine, and if they went much faster he doubted his ability to control it, but that didn’t matter. They couldn’t waste time. If he fell, they could deal with it.

 

They reached the rim of the mountain just as the wards went out, and Aomine hissed in alarm.

 

“What the hell?” he demanded. “What is that guy doing…”   
  


“What happened?” Kagami asked.

 

“The wards, Akashi took them down,” Aomine murmured.

 

“You don’t think Kuroko already…” Kagami trailed off uncertainly.

 

“No,” Aomine said. “Tetsu’s good, but no way. This is a trap.”

 

He was vindicated seconds later as the center of the mountain started to glow.

 

“Oh shit, get cover!” Aomine dove for the other side of the rim. Kagami artlessly followed. They were shielded from the explosion of fire, and watched in awe as the dragon rose up out of the valley.

 

“That was close,” Aomine said, looking back at Kagami. 

 

“Think we should deal with that?” Kagami asked, nodding to the flying stone creature.

 

“I’m more concerned about those,” Aomine said. Kagami looked down, following Aomine’s line of sight in time to see a massive set of claws emerge.

 

With a thought, the large glaive that Aomine had shown them the first time he had explained what kinds of weapons would be useful against demons emerged in Aomine’s right hand. He looked at Kagami with a sly grin hiding the grim atmosphere between them.

 

Tetsu was still missing, and demons were pouring out of the mountain like water.

 

“Highest kill count gets a night on top,” Aomine said flatly, and dove.

 

Kagami was right behind him, the axe burning with red fire in his right hand only a second later. They descended on their first demon as it was halfway up the mountain. Kagami went for the head and Aomine severed the body in half, blue lightning burning down the length of his blade.

 

“That doesn’t count!” Aomine scowled. “I got to it first!”

 

Kagami whirled, slamming the sharp blade of his axe into the face of a demon trying to sneak up on him. He hacked again and again until the head was removed from the body, and set it on fire with a wave of his hand. The soot colored his face as he watched it burn, but it was one of the most satisfying things he’d ever seen.

 

“One,” Kagami said smugly. “Beat that, Ahomine!”

 

Aomine glared, and leapt off his broom over Kagami to thrust his glaive up into the belly of a low flying monster that looked like a lizard but with the sharp pointed teeth of a carnivore. Aomine summoned his broom before he hit the ground, looped around the screaming wounded monster, and cut off its head.

 

From above, Kagami thought he could hear reinforcements, but he was in the zone. One of their allies skimmed overhead on a broom, so close that Kagami could feel the air whistling over him. He glanced up in time to see Miyaji execute a flip and fire off two javelin curses right at the eyes of an oncoming demon. It reared back as black blood sprayed from its horrifying face. 

 

Then there was another, a massive shadow that didn’t look like any animal Kagami had seen on Earth. Kagami let his berserker magic flow through his veins and sprang forward, following the example of Miyaji and aiming directly for the demon’s eyes. He didn’t know fear or pain or exhaustion - all he knew was the blade in his hand, the power in his bones, and the enemy. Every demon in front of him would be cut down, no matter how strong or powerful. He could stay here forever, fighting demons until the end of the world if he had to, if it meant keeping Kuroko safe.

 

He lost count in the haze. It didn’t matter. He saw in the distance the blue flashes of lighting that meant Aomine was still on his feet, and could hear curses and shouts that meant others had joined them in the fray.

 

There was a massive demon with snapping jaws that came after Kagami and took three of them to take down, two of them from the air conjuring long range weapons and Kagami, coming in close to cut at the tough skin as best he could to slow it down. Kagami could feel the blood of demons running freely down his blade, knew that his grip was becoming slippery from the gore. The bodies were beginning to get in their way, but the stream of demons refused to end. 

 

These were what Aomine had called ‘lesser’ demons, creatures with no mind or agenda, just the need to feed on magic and destroy everything in their path. They weren’t very smart, and were driven by base needs. These kinds of creatures couldn’t possess others, but stronger demons could, and those would be coming along soon too.

 

They had to stay focused.

 

They had to end this somehow.

 

Kagami swayed as he turned, his hold on his berserker power trembling before he righted himself. 

 

It was too soon for him to run out of energy or power, never mind that killing just one of the massive monsters took more than enough out of a single wizard. 

 

Kagami swore furiously to himself.

 

He might be strong, but he wasn’t going to be strong enough. For all these demons, they needed a real, proper Berserker, and he wasn’t even close.

 

Kagami snarled as he slammed his axe into the skull of another demon.

 

Whatever power he had at his disposal, he would clear the way for Kuroko.

 

Kagami didn’t have time to register it as the clawed hand of yet another demon slammed into him from above, sending him flying off his broom and into the mountainside.

 

Kagami was thrown rudely from the Berserker state and found himself in pain and exhausted, staring up at the hulking form of Murasakibara Atsushi. 

 

_ Where the hell did he come from? _

 

…

 

Hyuuga was leading the fight in the air. He’d rallied some of the better Quidditch players from their school days and led the assault on the dragon. When Imayoshi had made it clear that Momoi had issued her commanding orders, Hyuuga had frowned, but accepted her logic. He left Riko and Kiyoshi to handle the demons behind them, and rose up to tackle one of the problems they could actually fix.

 

The dragon.

 

The thing roared, letting loose blazing gold fire that would have roasted Hyuuga alive if he hadn’t managed to move in time. As it was, he could feel the extreme heat of the blaze, and wondered if Akashi was nasty enough to make the thing spew fiendfyre.

 

He glanced behind him and didn’t see the snow ablaze, so he comforted himself knowing that while magical, the fire wasn’t drawn directly from hell, unlike the rest of the opponents they were cutting down tonight.

 

It honestly made for a pretty nice change of pace.

 

Hyuuga crossed underneath the demon, sending a long cutting charm down the middle. Dust was sent up, but the runes weren’t broken at all. They continued to shine, and Hyuuga was sure that another section of the runes probably created some kind of shielding charm, or made that segment impervious to cutting charms.

 

The dragon didn’t seem to react at all. Being a golem, Hyuuga wasn’t sure whether or not it should have, but thinking about it too hard made his head hurt. 

 

“We have to destroy some of these runes!” Tatsuya advised.

 

“Well, when the one of us with abjurer training has some thoughts about that I’d be happy to hear them!” Hyuuga shouted.

 

“Keep it distracted!” Tatsuya shouted. “I’m going to try and induce a cascading failure in the rune next powering it!”

 

“Just do it quickly!” Hyuuga shouted back. “I’m going to take this thing on a merry chase, so keep up!”

 

Taking a deep breath, he regretted every time he had chewed out Kiyoshi for doing something stupid and dangerous.    
  


Nothing Kiyoshi Teppei had ever done in a dueling arena, even one he had shared with Hanamiya Makoto, could possibly measure up to the idiocy that Hyuuga was about to come up with.

 

Hyuuga conjured a rock, and threw it at the dragon’s face. He hit dead on (not that he felt great about the shot, given how freaking big the head was), but he had the golems attention.

 

“Hey ugly!” Hyuuga shouted. “Respect your senpais!”

 

The dragon roared, fire hitting the shield Hyuuga had sent up, knowing that he was about to play with fire. Literally.

 

“Come on then, if you want to kill me, you’re going to have to catch me!” Hyuuga shouted.

 

And then, with a dive that could have impressed Wronski himself, Hyuuga plummeted almost straight down towards the ground.

 

The dragon, with much less maneuverability, followed. Hyuuga pulled up only inches from the rock floor, and the dragon crashed into it, having to shake off the impact before it continued pursuing Hyuuga into the valley. Stone along the side of the dragons face, neck, and body was cracked and crumbling from the high speed collision and Hyuuga internally patted himself on the back for that.

 

Demons were everywhere. The green fire of the portal was illuminating the whole scene like some kind of creepy movie, and Hyuuga shivered on his broom.

 

Even if they dealt with the demons blocking their bid for freedom, even if they handled the dragon, could they really kill this many demons?   
  


_ One problem at a time Captain,  _ he told himself grimly. He wove in and out of the fight. Aomine was holding his own, throwing bolts of lightning and swinging his glaive with a malice that made Hyuuga shiver all over again. The guy was ruthless, and Hyuuga was happy to have him on their side.

 

The dragon crashed into demons, blocking their way indiscriminately. Aomine sent a grin Hyuuga’s way and fired lightning towards the dragon, scorching the glowing gold eyes, before swerving sideways to avoid the claws of a particularly persistent demon, and Hyuuga’s attention was drawn back to his pursuit. The dragon had not so much as stopped, even with a blackened and cracked face. The magic holding it together wouldn’t let superficial damage like what Hyuuga and Aomine inflicted to slow the dragon down.

 

Hyuuga reached the other side of the valley and started to climb. 

 

The dragon was right behind him and he was running out of speed. 

 

“I got this!” the younger Ootsubo shouted to Hyuuga, and Hyuuga dropped, letting the dragon fly overhead to chase the younger Gryffindor for a bit.

 

Tatsuya passed not a second later.

 

“Help him corner the dragon, I’ve got it!” he shouted. Hyuuga took off, moving to catch up with the dragon and its prey.

 

Ootsubo landed, forcing the dragon to come down to the ground, face inches away from his own.

 

“Come and get me you shitty piece of rock!”

 

The man’s voice was high pitched and terrified, but Hyuuga respected the fact that he was still standing strong despite the fear. It was the core of what it meant to be a Gryffindor, and it boded well for them that they still had those who would fight through their fear in order to make the world safe.

 

Tatsuya snapped his wand out, cutting a line across a rune in the dragon’s back. It glowed gold, and then went black. As it did, a full section of runes along the side of the dragon’s body followed suit, flaring and then extinguishing.

 

The golem reared back, screaming and roaring, letting off bursts of flame that Tatsuya dodged expertly. He threw another curse at the demon’s eye, where Aomine’s scorch marks hadn’t managed to cut into the runes, and then dove, avoiding another jet of golden fire.

 

With a shout of triumph, Tatsuya cut away at a rune under the dragon and sped out from under it, spiralling up into the air.

 

The dragon screamed.

 

“Give it one more good curse!” Tatsuya yelled.

 

Hyuuga raised his wand, as did Ootsubo.

 

“ _ Reducto! _ ”

 

The dragon exploded in a shower of rock and magic, and the three wizards ducked as they were showered.

 

Tatsuya whooped, laughing again.

 

“Dude that was AWESOME!” he shouted. “I CAN’T BELIEVE THAT FUCKING WORKED!”

 

“Are you telling me now that you actually didn’t know how to kill the dragon and that you could have just gotten us killed for a theory?” Ootsubo demanded.

 

Tatsuya shrugged.

 

“Man, you wanna try outsmarting a genius with runes next time?” he asked. “That was a fucking work of art we just destroyed, have some respect.”

 

“Respect my ass,” Hyuuga muttered. “You youngsters…”

 

Tatsuya rolled his eyes.

 

“Okay gramps, let’s go kill some demons and get you back to the nursing home,” he smirked, and swooped off on his broom.

 

Hyuuga blinked at the sheer sassy disrespect. 

 

Ootsubo giggled.

 

His life was mercifully saved by the intervention of Tatsuya, who turned around upon realizing that the other two wizards weren’t right behind him. He cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back to them.

 

“Do we have a war to fight or what?” 

 

Grumpily, Hyuuga sped off after the other boy, muttering about kids who couldn’t respect their elders all the way.

 

Still, as Tatsuya swooped down, shouting at the top of his lungs that “the dragon is dead! The dragon is dead!” Hyuuga felt himself smiling grimly.

 

He did  _ not  _ cheer quietly to himself as he saw Ootsubu the younger join in, the two wizards high on their recent success as they shouted for their allies to hear that the skies were theirs, barring of course, the flying demons.

 

Hyuugas mood sobered quickly at that thought, and he looked to the edge of the mountain.

 

He needed to find Kiyoshi and Riko. 

 

…

 

The demons that had emerged from their peers and acquaintances were not the mindless beasts rampaging below. 

 

These things looked almost human, but their hulking forms had wings, and their faces ended in fanged snouts.

 

Kiyoshi held the line, with Riko on one side and Imayoshi on the other.

 

They stood with their friends. Together, they would face the demons and win, or they would die.

 

Kiyoshi was determined that the latter would not happen. He stepped forward bravely, letting a long broadsword materialize in his hands. It was the heavy kind used by his Viking ancestors, the voyagers who had navigated the seas and fought fiercely to claim their lands. His was the blood of a Berserker, though it was less potent in him than in his young teammate, Kagami.

 

That didn’t stop him from calling on the power to fill his veins.

 

“I won’t let you hurt them,” he said bravely, bracing himself for the attack.

 

The demon in front of him laughed. It lunged forward, claws ripping at Kiyoshi’s chest. He used a blasting curse, but the the thing’s skin was too thick.

 

Kiyoshi wielded his blade, forcing the demon back or lose a hand (claw?) to the massive sword.

 

He swung it again, catching the demon on a wing, and enjoying the sound of the scream that followed. 

 

Kiyoshi didn’t know which of the wizards the demon had possessed, but every one of these demons had already hurt someone, potentially beyond repair, and he was not going to allow that to pass. He would claim justice for those hurt, and prevent every one of these demons from hurting someone else.

 

The other wizards were using concussive hexes to keep the demons at bay, only allowing them close enough to taste the sharp edge of an iron weapon.

 

Another demon knocked Kiyoshi off his feet. He lost the sword as he was thrown through the air, barely managing to grip the edge of the rim before he was thrown off the mountain entirely. The demon pursued the advantage. 

 

Kiyoshi concentrated and apparated, appearing behind the demon. He summoned his sword before the demon could realize what had happened, and hacked at the demon’s neck.

 

The thick muscle parted, but not all the way. The demon turned and screeched, making Kiyoshi wince. The sound was terrible, almost loud enough to damage his ears, but he kept at it. 

 

The demon screamed until it was no longer moving, head still hanging by sinew and some muscles. Kiyoshi could see the white bone of its spine, surrounded by black muscle, and he kicked, sending the demon off the mountain.

 

He turned, and jumped into another fight. Three demons were harassing Izuki, and Kiyoshi drew their attention, pushing the much more injured wizard behind him.

 

They wouldn’t take any of them, of that he would guarantee.

 

“You think you can protect him?” one of the demons mocked in a grating, deep voice.

 

For some reason, that infuriated Kiyoshi. 

 

“Yeah, I do,” he said, leveling his sword. “Come on, let’s make it a fair fight.”   
  


He let the Berserker take over, blurring the edges of his pain and exhaustion. They were all tired, they were all running up against the limits of their use of magic, they all had been fighting, but Kiyoshi was determined that he would protect his friends for as long as he could still stand.

 

To be a Berserker meant that he didn’t get to put down his sword until his body could no longer stand by any aid of magic or force. The world narrowed down into the first target, and he ran forward, sword high and level even in his exhausted arms.

 

He still felt the beating he got. The demons flung him to and fro. He got in a glancing hit here, and stabbed a demon in the shoulder there, but his efforts only angered them. His body was battered, scratched. One of the demons bit him in the arm.

 

_ That,  _ Kiyoshi felt, because it was the crunching snap of bone that roughly pulled him out of the Berserker state. He screamed in pain, falling back, barely managing to get his arm free.

 

He stumbled back a few steps, swinging his sword wildly to keep the demons away from him. 

 

“You can’t protect anything!” the demon that had taunted him earlier jeered. It was too close to the taunts that Murasakibara Atsushi had once said to him, to what Hanamiya Makoto had sneered at him, to what people had been trying to tell him since he started dueling, and Kiyoshi just did not care.

 

He was tired of being told that he couldn’t protect his friends. He was tired of not being strong enough to. Now, as an adult wizard, he had that power, and he would use it until the well from whence it had sprang ran dry.

 

Kiyoshi held his injured arm to him and extended the sword in his left hand, radiating magic and fury.

 

“When they are in danger, I will be their shield!” Kiyoshi shouted, springing forward and stabbing blindly. He disposed of the limp demon, and it was set ablaze by the spell of one of his comrades.

 

Another demon dove for Mitobe while his back was turned dealing with another enemy.

 

“When they are hurt, I will be their splint!” he roared, and he could barely hear his own voice against the sound of chanting, the beating of oars against shields and the rush of water.

 

“I WILL NOT LET THEM BE HARMED!”

 

He beheaded another demon, coming to rest with one hand on the ground supporting himself.

 

For all his big words, there were too many demons, and they were being overwhelmed. 

 

One of the demons went down, and Kiyoshi looked around, trying to see who had cast the spell that had literally exploded the demon’s head from the inside out and left the stump crawling with black fire.

 

Another demon exploded, this time starting at the belly. Hyuuga was treated to the sight of the black guts spilling free of the demon as it died pitifully in the snow.

 

“Those are some big words for a guy who is basically the human equivalent of a Teddy Bear,” came a sneering voice from behind him.

 

Kiyoshi had never been happier in his goddamn life to see Hanamiya Makoto than he was in that moment. He didn’t have to think about the warm smile that graced his face.

 

“Captain!” Seto said brightly. “Thanks for saving us from dying.”   
  


“Yeah, well, their fucking Phantom gets the pleasure of my company next, once I’m through with these demons, since it’s his fault I somehow managed to grow a conscience.” Hanamiya muttered, blasting curses as he came closer.   
  


“I didn’t realize you’d talked to Kuroko.”   
  


“He basically told me he was  _ disappointed in me _ ,” Hanamiya sneered, wiping his forehead with the hand that held his wand as he surveyed the situation. He saw one of the demons narrow it’s eyes bracing to act, and he moved quickly.

 

The demon went up in black fire before it could even move an inch.

 

“Hanamiya!”

 

“You wanna take points from Ravenclaw and give me a detention for using dark magic, or do you want to live?” Hanamiya snapped. Kiyoshi shrugged.

 

“Actually, I was going to say that that was some great aim,” the Hufflepuff smiled. “Keep it up!”

 

Hanamiya rolled his eyes as the demons attacked, and they were thrown back into the fray with new vigor, empowered by Hanamiya’s ease at thinning out their numbers.

 

He was a shadow after all, they couldn’t even see him coming.

 

“What the fuck is it you always say, you tremendous sanctimonious prick?” Hanamiya shouted over the din. “Let’s have some fun?”

 

“Let’s have some fun!” Kiyoshi averred cheerfully, raising his sword once again.

 

He didn’t need to have the power to win the fight, he thought with determination. Just to raise his blade one more time. After that, he could worry about the next blow.

 

Hanamiya shouted in fury as he brought another field of black fire rising into the air, killing three demons at once and sending a tower of magic raising into the sky. 

 

...

 

The world was spinning, and Kagami wasn’t sure what to make of that. His vision was turning a hazy shade of gray, which was also pretty concerning. He could see a halo of light surrounding him, and he didn’t know where he was.

 

Time felt like it had stopped moving, and though he was sure he could hear distant sounds around him, they sounded very far away and very slow, as though Kagami was watching them happening through water.

 

He thought about Kuroko. His Shadow.

 

The man that had brought Kagami into this drama from the beginning, for whom Kagami was willing to sacrifice anything, everything, should it be asked of him. The depth of his devotion scared Kagami sometimes, but it made sense. They weren’t just a good romantic match - they were partners in battle, comrades at arms.

 

They had fought and risked their lives together, and that was a bond that would never falter.

 

Kagami did know one thing for sure; that whatever had happened since the day he met Kuroko Tetsuya on the basketball court in Los Angeles, he would be willing to go back and do it all over again exactly the same way. In a thousand worlds, a thousand lifetimes, a thousand versions of Kagami would always find their way to a thousand different Kuroko’s, no matter what else stood in their way.

 

They stood together.

 

And Aomine? It had been such a surprise that he fit into that equation as well as he did, given how often he and Kagami fought and how caustic their relationship was, but it had mostly translated into really, really awesome sex. They stood together too, fitting differently than Kuroko, but forming a complete whole, all three of them.

 

Aomine had been the spark that pushed him to improve. Kagami had thought he was hot shit, in America, and he was, even if he was dumb enough to blow off his own legs in an experiment gone wrong. Fighting with Aomine, fucking Aomine, dueling Aomine… it was trench warfare at its grittiest and most bloody. 

 

Aomine was just lucky that Kagami and Kuroko both had come armed to fight their way through the minefield that was their relationship. 

 

Kagami was pretty sure he had a concussion because his next, unprompted thought while lying in the snow listening to the din of battle was that Kuroko had beautiful, graceful hands.

 

He loved Kuroko’s hands.

 

Not delicate like they were girly or anything, but they were smaller and more nimble than both Aomine’s and Kagami’s. And yet those hands lacking the strength of Kagami’s massive ones had brought them to victory time and time again, had helped hold back even the strongest of spells as though by a miracle. Even magic as powerful as Aomine’s lightning - so powerful that the first time Kagami had felt the purest form of Aomine’s magic he’d gotten chills running down his spine from the sheer strength of it - could submit to the manipulation of Kuroko’s power. Kagami was reminded that Kuroko had held his own against Aomine too, in different ways, in less traditional ways, but that the fight, that give and pull, was part of the way all three of them related to each other. 

 

Equally miraculously, Kuroko had reached out those hands to Kagami, and the other boy had proclaimed that Kagami was his Light.

 

Kuroko had said then that he was a Shadow, but it was Kuroko who had brought him to the spotlight, had pushed him to improve, had driven him to find the strongest opponents and fight and fight and fight no matter how many times they lost. Kuroko had given him the strength he had now, no matter how the other wizard wanted to phrase it. All of Kagami’s talents would have amounted to nothing if he had refused to train them, and without the incentive of Kuroko’s personal war, Kagami was sure that he never would have managed to unlock the Berserker state at all, let alone become so in tune with his magic that it felt as natural as breathing. Kuroko had pushed Kagami into Aomine, and it had been like dousing a fire with gasoline.

 

Kuroko had taken many a beating in those early days, mostly by the bastards he’d once considered to be his friends, but he had always gotten up after. By his example, Kagami had refused to back down, even when he felt like he was stalling, like he couldn’t improve. By his example, Kagami had become the worthy equal of another, very different Miracle. 

 

Aomine and Kuroko had given him that, and now Kagami couldn’t even give them the protection of unlocking his Berserker form, of giving Kuroko every ounce of magic he carried in his blood, because of this block.

 

He thought of Aomine, grinning, taunting him on the field, one upping every move he made with more power of his own, laughing wildly as Kagami met every challenge and surpassed it. Kuroko, reaching out his hand, urging Kagami on, telling him when he was being too childish for words, pushing him always to be better, to improve, to stand more fully in the light…

 

Kagami had thought that the beat in his ears was his heart, failing, but it was drums. He could hear drums, and a sad, lone voice singing. He could hear the clatter of hooves and smell dust, though here in this tundra that was unlikely.

 

He could hear the howl - not of a wolf, but of a Coyote.

 

Kagami’s blood was pumping faster with the increase of the drums, and the sad music in his ears was filling his heart with an emotion he didn’t understand.

 

_ You need to get up and fight. _

 

It was Kuroko’s voice, smiling down at him, framed by the sun. Kagami had tripped during one of their early morning runs around the lake and Kuroko, covered in sweat and at the end of his short stamina had stopped to get Kagami back on his feet, pushing him to go faster, to get stronger, to fight harder. Kuroko, misdirecting spells on the dueling arena and covering his back. Kuroko exploding a demon from the inside out, taking ownership of the odd power that was his own, pulling Kagami on his insane crusade with him.

 

_ You need to get up and fight. _

 

Aomine, walking away from him after that first defeat, and all Kagami could taste was the bittor iron taste of blood on his tongue and the only thing he could hear was the drawl of the arrogant boy Aomine had been, dismissing Kagami as not being strong enough, and Kagami was already ready to jump to his feet and take him on a second time, to show him what he could really do. Aomine, laughing as Kagami met him blow for blow in the dueling arena, the foil he had never quite hoped to pray for. Aomine pulled him forward, demanding, consuming, so different than Kuroko.

 

_ You need to fight! _

 

Kuroko’s hand grasped hold of Kagami’s right completely just as Aomine grabbed hold of his left hand and his ears were filled with the sound of drums, a beat he knew even without ever having heard it before, because this was his heritage, the magic handed down to him.

 

The desperate defense of that which was meant to be left alone.

 

Kuroko and Aomine smiled, and Kagami chased after them, knowing that as strong as Aomine was, as powerful as Kuroko’s misdirection had the capacity to be, they couldn’t fight a war on their own, they needed him, they needed his power  - 

 

_ Then get up and fight! _

 

Kagami knew immediately that the voice did not belong to Kuroko, nor did it belong to Aomine. It took him another few drum beats - or was that his heart, thrumming with the true power of his Berserker magic? - before he placed the familiar owner of that voice.

 

Coyote.

 

All at once Kagami understood.

 

The single minded Berserker rage that Alex had helped him unlock was only part of the equation. And perhaps, it was an approach that might have even worked if Kagami’s magic trended more closely towards the Berserker of his mother’s people, but Kagami’s predecessors, the Berserkers who had hunted and defended their tribes for decade after decade, never fought alone. Their spirit and hearts were always with their tribe, and whatever they did, they did for the good of all of the people who lived among them. They never cut themselves off the way Kagami did, narrowing his sight down to that singular goal, craving only destruction.

 

His Berserker was not meant to be a bull in a china shop, let loose to carve a path wherever it saw the need for one. His Berserker was meant to work  _ with  _ others; the strength of his power was the strength of those it defended.

 

_ Get up and fight! _

 

His magic was strong because he stood with his Shadow, with his matching Light, with his friends, because he used his magic to protect them.

 

It felt so simple, and yet knowing that academically did not prepare Kagami for having to experience it in practice. He felt like the knowledge had set his blood on fire, like he could see the movements of all of his allies on the field, feel their magic flowing and ebbing as they made war with the demons around them.

 

Kagami was supposed to be there with them.

 

_ Get up! _

 

Kagami opened his eyes and saw the sky ablaze with fire and the ground burning with gold magic.

 

Around him exploded a halo of red fire, bright enough to hold back the sickly green light of demonic magic that was filling the center of the mountain.

 

The Berserker inside his blood was finally fully awake.

 

It was  _ furious _ .

 

...

 


	60. Furihata Gives Akashi A Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Housekeeping; it looks like the last few updates we have left will be coming on fridays now, just because I can't keep updating thursday nights anymore. Three chapters left to go!

 

 

**…**

 

Kagami didn't know how Murasakibara had come to be in front of him, and he didn't care.

 

He could hear the movements of his allies on the battlefield like a second heartbeat at the back of his mind, could feel the rush of magic and the clang of weapons as they fought for their very lives. Kagami didn't care about how or why the enemy was in front of him, all he knew was that in order to keep his friends and family safe, he was going to have to take down Murasakibara.

 

The last time they had fought, Kagami had needed the help of Kiyoshi to fight against the sheer power that Murasakibara could bring to bear. Now, Kagami wasn't sure he would need the assistance.

 

Perhaps, even possessed, Murasakibara could be bested.

 

Kagami braced himself.

 

"You're such a bother," Murasakibara drawled, and it sounded so much like the man himself Kagami doubted momentarily that he was even possessed. Of course, the gold eyes gave him away.

 

As did the magic. Murasakibara sent a wave of gold at Kagami. The Gryffindor dodged it, letting it blast harmlessly away at the rock he had been standing on.

 

"You can't run from me forever," Murasakibara taunted him in an even voice.

 

"Who's running?" Kagami demanded, and charged.

 

The field of battle didn't narrow, the way Kagami was familiar with when he had accessed his Berserker state before. He was conscious of all the movement around him. His injuries faded, his fear with them. The worry that perhaps they could not survive this had vanished from his mind.

 

Together, they could face any odds. Whatever the risk, they would be able to overcome it, no matter what.

 

Kagami charged.

 

Murasakibara grunted as he defended himself from the first set of magical blows.

 

"You're annoying," he snapped, but his own spell bounced harmlessly off Kagami's shield. If some magical residue did get through, Kagami didn't notice. He didn’t think he would if it did, not until well after the battle was over, anyway.

 

Murasakibara didn't even raise his arm, but Kagami felt the warning pressure of incoming magic.

 

Murasakibara had broken off a piece of the cliff behind him, and let it fall directly over Kagami. The red head blasted it to pieces and the debris rained down on them harmlessly.

 

"Come on, fight me!" he shouted.

 

Murasakibara sent another massive boulder flying at Kagami. He sent it flying back at its caster, and it was the purple haired wizard who destroyed it this time, turning it to sand the second it came in contact with his hand. It fell to the ground, still glowing slightly from Kagami’s power.

 

A second later, Kagami was forced to take to the air as stone spikes burst from the ground. He jumped, using magic to extend his time in the air, landing right behind Murasakibara.

 

He landed a blasting curse that threw the Slytherin a few feet back, and pressed his advantage.

 

They exchanged another round of spells, Kagami's red fire matching the gold magic of the possessed Miracle.

 

"You're much better at this than the last time he destroyed you," Murasakibara said, leaving Kagami no doubt that he was fighting the demon. “I’m actually enjoying myself.”

 

"Why don't you just let him go and come fight me like the man I know you aren't?" Kagami taunted.

 

"I don't think so," Murasakibara's mouth said. "This is much more fun, all the way around."

 

Kagami grimly shrugged.

 

He hoped Murasakibara would forgive him for kicking his ass.

 

Kagami sent a spray of fire burning bright red against the dark night towards the other wizard. Murasakibara blocked it with a gold shield.

 

Feeling desperate, Kagami raised his hand again, incanting the spell to summon a wave of Fiendfyre.

 

The shield the demon conjured this time was pure green, demonic in origin, and it directed the flames directly upwards, hitting one of the lesser demons as it leapt to attack one of Kagami's friends. He grinned.

 

"Ooh, the good guys using demon fire? That’s pretty hypocritical of you, don't you think?"

 

"I think I'm gonna kick your ass, that’s what I think," Kagami said, utterly unbothered by the use of the borderline dark spell. He wanted to survive, he didn’t give a shit about maintaining a claim on the moral high ground. "Now come on, let's end this!"

 

The demon smiled contentedly. It lifted Murasakibara's arms out to his sides.

 

"I am Zipacna," the demon said. "I have broken the Earth. I have raised mountains. I laid to waste entire continents, and you think that you, a petty human, can defeat me? I am the strongest of all my brethren, and I will lay you down as easily as I flattened the Earth!"

 

Kagami had the impression, burning against the inside of his eyes, of a humanoid figure with a great snout like a crocodile, and a massive man raising and lowering the ground itself as he pounded on the ground.

 

Well, Akashi certainly had found a hellish match of power, if not personality, for the largest Miracle, Kagami thought grimly. Murasakiabara’s magic alone was daunting, but this demon was significantly more powerful than him. 

 

"Sure thing, gator guy," Kagami said easily. "I've fought giants before. You don't scare me."

 

Murasakibara leaned in close, and Kagami could see the teeth that were the demon's true form snapping as though about to remove Kagami's entire face.

 

"I should," it growled.

 

The ground underneath him began to shake. Kagami sent a fireball at Murasakibara and didn't wait to see if it landed. He rolled, attacking again and again. He sent blow after blow, hoping to overwhelm the demon with his firepower before the fight continued.

 

It had already been going on for too long. Kagami could feel that he was nearing the end of his strength, but he couldn't let himself run out of power before their battle was done.

 

Kagami roared, a combination of rage and focus as he concentrated his power into his blasts of fire. They glowed red hot in the dark night around them.

 

The demon inside Murasakibara bellowed in return, throwing the fire away with a blast of golden power. Kagami was thrown sideways, caught off guard by another set of boulders.

 

Murasakibara twisted his hand, and a set of rocks rose into the air, sharpening themselves into long spears. They were thrown at Kagami at top speeds, faster than he could even see, let alone dodge.

 

The ground underneath him was breaking, exposing long fissures in the stone, and forcing Kagami to struggle to keep his balance. He jumped from one piece of cracked and moving ground to the next, unsure of his footing or when the ground underneath him would cease to be stable enough to stand on. 

 

Caught between trying to stay on his feet and his focus on the stone lances Murasakibara was throwing at him, Kagami barely managed to get a shield up.

 

He managed to catch all but one of the stone spears, and it caught his side, tearing out a line of flesh as it swiftly flew by. It crashed in a cloud of dust on the rock behind him, but the pain had distracted Kagami for long enough that he was thrown to his knees by the moving ground under him. It was roiling as though it was liquid come to a boil.

 

Kagami threw another fire curse, trying to buy time, but unfortunately, time was now working against him. Time was the enemy, and the longer he stalled, the worse his exhaustion was becoming. He did not have time.

 

Kagami could feel his energy waning. His connection to his magic was receding, overtaxed from his near constant use of it since the demons had started crawling free of the pit to hell that Akashi had opened for them. Kagami didn't know how long they had been fighting, but he knew it was longer than he had ever held onto the Berserker state before, let alone the fully unlocked state that he was now experiencing.

 

He tried grasping at it, concentrating as hard as he could on feeling the magic flowing through him and his comrades.

 

Kuroko, Aomine, Kuroko, Aomine, Kuroko...

 

He chanted it, imagining Kuroko and Aomine’s hand reaching out to him, as though by doing so he could extend the life of his own stamina, but the truth was that Kagami was at the end of his supply of power. He had hit the edges of his stamina, and he stumbled and went down.

 

He couldn't have kept fighting forever, he knew, but it rankled him to have come so close to besting Murasakibara and failing, yet again.

 

Would he never be strong enough to protect Kuroko? To stand by Aomine’s side and hold up his strength?

 

Murasakibara hummed.

 

Kagami looked up. The ground had stopped moving, but Kagami was on all fours and he couldn't find the energy to move any more. He was stuck where he was, completely depleted of the power he needed to fight.

 

Not now, not so soon!

 

"I told you," Murasakibara said in a bored voice. "I told you that I was going to crush you, and then I did."

 

Kagami gasped for air, looking up at the other man, wondering if he was about to be executed. He glared up at the demon that had bested him. He'd done everything he could, and it rankled him that it would end here, like this, but it seemed that determination wasn't enough anymore. 

 

He didn't have a choice.

 

Murasakibara waved his hand, and a wave of magic hit Kagami with all the force of a muggle bus.

 

Kagami was blasted directly through the rock face. He felt stone give way under him, and he was falling backwards again. He lost sight of Murasakibara as he was thrown through the stone, and he had no concept of where or how far through the rock he had fallen. It seemed like there was an empty and open space of some kind, but Kagami couldn't see anything, and didn't have a chance to look more closely.

 

He was unconscious before he hit the floor.

 

…

 

Kuroko stared over the edge of the mountain, arrested by the horror in front of him.

 

He had been too late.

 

The black husks of demons – somehow even more horrifying in the light of day – moved like a churning single mass below. Here and there he could see the spark of power that meant his friends were fighting.

 

But where was Akashi?

 

Kuroko watched the battle, unable to move.

 

He needed to get down the mountain to help. He was torn between trying to look for Akashi and trying to fight the demons.

 

They couldn’t  _ see  _ him, which made his use on the battlefield invaluable, but Kuroko knew he would be better off finding his friends and ripping the demons out of them.

 

Kuroko alone might be able to take out a demon or two. Akashi might be the only one with the power to really end this. 

 

Kuroko slid down a few feet, a cloud of dust rising into the freezing air behind him. 

 

He’d climbed down this hill before, when the wind was too strong for him to use a broom. It would be a steep climb, and it would take time, time he wasn’t sure that they had.

 

Well, Kuroko was already wasting too much of it.

 

He started to climb.

 

He slipped a few times, distracted by the height and the sounds of battle below. More than once, a stray curse rocketed into the mountain close to him, but those did not scare Kuroko. It meant his friends were still among the pulsing mass of demons. They were still alive, and still fighting.

 

He would bring whatever relief he could.

 

Kuroko didn’t know how long it took him to stumble towards the portal. He slid the last long part of the way down, looking for any sign of Akashi.

 

Somewhere a few yards away, he saw a flash of gold among the demons. It came again and again. Kuroko’s attention was caught at once.

 

Gold power.

 

The magic of a demon, under the mask of a wizard’s power. It always came out gold, no matter the underlying color of the wizards magic.

 

It might be Akashi, or it might be someone else who needed to be exorcised. Either way, it was a start.

 

Kuroko took off at a light jog, concentrating.

 

_ I am a shadow. You can’t see me. There’s nothing to see. _

 

Kuroko ran around another demon, and found Midorima, just as the green haired wizard threw Susa and Wakamatsu into a wall. They lay still.

 

Kuroko winced.

 

“Hello Midorima.”

 

Midorima whirled around. His eyes looked crazed.

 

“You.”

 

“Me,” Kuroko agreed simply. He eyed the possessed wizard.

 

“I will not let you hurt my friend any more.”

 

“Why don’t you make me?”

 

“I am more than happy to.”

 

Kuroko raised his hand. He concentrated hard. He remembered pushing as hard as he could when Adad had been terrorizing him in the shadow realm, and sending the demon far away.  It was different from what he had done to rip Adad free from Aomine, but Kuroko had no intention of allowing this demon to drag him back to the underworld.

 

Kuroko never wanted to go there again.

 

_ Go back to the void. _

 

Midorima’s entire body buckled.

 

“What the hell are you doing?”

 

Kuroko felt the pull of his power. The demon was fighting.

 

He didn’t dignify the creature with a response.

 

_ Leave him alone! _

 

The demon opened Midorima’s mouth, and howled. Kuroko winced, the sound raising the hairs on the back of his neck. The demon was calling for backup, and Kuroko couldn’t fight that many demons on his own. He was shaking from the effort exorcising just one, but he forced himself to stay standing.

 

_ I am the shadow, where the wind does not blow. Rage all you like, the void is silent. _

 

Midorima screamed, and this time Kuroko wasn’t sure if it was Midorima in pain or the demon inside. He could feel the creature loosening its grip on the man underneath, and he pressed his advantage. The demon’s claws were coming free, and Kuroko would rip his friend free. 

 

He thought about Midorima, the boy who had sat with him when his other friends had ignored him, who had consented to help him with his homework at the Ravenclaw table for all that Kuroko belonged elsewhere, who had been a friend and ally to Kuroko for a long time.

 

He remembered that first, confused look Midorima had given him, and he wondered, not for the first time, what the prescient Ravenclaw had seen the first time he  _ really  _ looked at him.

 

_ Go back to the shadow! _

 

Midorima’s skin seemed to bubble for a moment, and he fell to his knees.

 

From within, out stepped a demon.

 

It was mostly human in shape. The man was pale, with the mighty mane of a lion. His jaw was vaguely feline, jutting out, as were his ears. Kuroko supposed there were teeth to match.

 

A lion’s tail jutted behind him.

 

The blue haired wizard braced himself. He would find out soon enough if he could banish this demon without it trying to drag Kuroko back with him. Kuroko couldn’t afford to leave the battlefield now, nor did he have any desire to return to the dark realm of demons. 

 

Kuroko only had a moment to take in this appearance before the demon shrieked again, a sound entirely un-lion-like, as it ran for him. Kuroko stood his ground.

 

_ I am a shadow, you can not touch me. Claws cannot rip what is not really there. _

 

Before he had the chance to see if this was right, however, the demon was thrown backwards. Kuroko stared as the demon was dragged, howling, high into the air.

 

And then he exploded.

 

Kuroko turned to stare at Midorima, whose wand was in his hand. His face looked waxy and pale, but his eyes were burning with determination, and they shone their ordinary green color. 

 

The magic surrounding Midorima’s hands as he leaned back against the wall and groaned was his own forest green, a color altogether different from acid, neon green of demonic magic.

 

“Midorima!” Kuroko stepped forward.

 

Midorima opened his eyes.

 

“It is good to see you well, Kuroko.”

 

“I would say the same, but it would be a lie,” Kuroko replied. “At least about you being well. It  _is_ good to see you, even if you look this terrible.”

 

Midorima barked out a sound that could have been called a laugh only by the most generous interpretation imaginable. He coughed, leaning his head back against the wall, and Kuroko wondered just how much being possessed had harmed him. He didn’t know how long it had taken Aomine to recover after Kuroko had ripped the demon out of him, but for Midorima to come right back up swinging couldn’t have been easy. 

 

“Marbas was no joke,” he agreed. “Thank you. That was a… decidedly uncomfortable experience.”

 

“You are welcome.”

 

“Where is Takao?” Midorima demanded hazily after a few moments.

 

“He is here, fighting to find you,” Kuroko said, and Midorima relaxed.

 

“I knew… it was a lie.”

 

“I know,” Kuroko said, even though he didn’t. He had no idea what Midorima was talking about, honestly. Though he could guess. Given Takao’s personal history, one of the easiest ways to harm someone who cared about him would be to force both of them to relieve the pain of the past. Midorima had done or said something to Takao, something that had tipped Takao off that Midorima wasn't himself anymore, giving them the advance warning they needed to bring enough people together to fight the demons.

 

Their relationship, on reconsideration, must have been much closer than Kuroko had believed. 

 

“Midorima, where is Akashi?” Kuroko asked.

 

Midorima’s head rolled.

 

“There’s a ritual site…”

 

Kuroko nodded. He could find it.

 

“Is that Midorima?”

 

Kuroko turned. The older Ootsubo and Miyaji brothers were covered in blood and soot. One of them was bleeding sluggishly from a cut on his forehead, his eye closed as blood fell over it.

 

“It is him, just him,” Kuroko said, causing Ootsubo to jump. Ah, his question had been directed to Miyaji.

 

“Well, that’s one Miracle,” Ootsubo said. “Thank you, Kuroko. I didn’t see you there at all.”

 

Of course he hadn’t. 

 

Kuroko took his hand.

 

“I need to go find Akashi,” he said. “Good luck. Please take good care of Midorima. This is not his doing or his fault.”

 

“Good luck,” Miyaji echoed, his voice hoarse. 

 

Luck.

 

It was one thing they didn’t have at the moment. 

 

That was okay though. Kuroko didn’t think he’d ever really had much good luck in his life, and he’d managed just fine. They would shut down the portal, save the people who were possessed, and rid the world of the demons that had managed to break through. It wasn’t luck that was aiding them, but something else, maybe even more powerful.

 

It was hope.

 

…

 

Aomine had lost sight of Kagami in the melee. His vision had narrowed down to just whatever demon was in front of him. His arms hurt – he didn’t think he’d ever fought with a sword for this long, or extended his magic in this way before. His breath was coming in heavy pants, and he thought back to every time he’d made some nasty comment about the Seirin team running in the morning with some level of chagrin.

 

Aomine was far from out of shape, but he was more used to being the heavy hitter of his team – the one hit wonder who could shut down a dueling team in a moment if he needed to.

 

He had never participated in a duel that had lasted this long, where he was fighting this hard for an extended period of time. He barely even had a second to catch his breath.

 

If Imayoshi were here, Aomine knew exactly what he would say, too.

 

_ Well, that is why we have  _ practice,  _ my stubborn kohai, and you deserve everything that happens to you for ditching.” _

 

Aomine scowled, hacking at another demon.

 

The monsters were coming too fast, too quickly. He knew that they needed to shut down the portal, but Aomine didn’t have the knowledge or power to do that. He hated to admit it, but without Akashi, there was very little chance that they would be able to manage it.

 

Or at the very least, doing so would require the expert hand of Midorima, who Aomine had yet to spot in the fray.

 

Aomine slipped in a pool of dark demon blood, and ended up on his back, staring up at the sky. It was almost obscured by demons.

 

Many more were escaping into the world than dying by their hands, Aomine thought, panic and hysteria rising in his chest.

 

He only just avoided getting crushed by the foot of a massive demon with one eye protruding from what looked like its own actual brains.

 

_ Fucking gross, _  Aomine blanched.

 

Aomine rolled, his glaive clanging against the stone as he tried to get back up onto his feet.

 

“Leaving so soon, Aomine-cchi?”

 

Kise’s cloyingly affectionate nickname had never sounded so sinister coming out of the blonde’s mouth. Aomine rolled, not having enough time to get back on his feet as he felt magic coming his way.

 

Kise’s laughter followed him, and Aomine stopped himself, kicking out at where he could hear the blonde as he pushed himself to his feet.

 

“How’s it going Kise?” Aomine asked. “Want me to hand you your ass for the hundredth time in a row?”   
  


“Oh man, this guy has so many feelings about you,” the demon said, showing every single one of Kise’s perfect teeth as it smiled predatorily at him. “I’m going to do him such a favor by grinding your bones into dust.”

  
“Yeah yeah, you’ll drink my blood and make me swallow my spinal cord, whatever,” Aomine rolled his eyes. “You know I’ve heard this shit before. And it doesn’t matter. Your demon friend inside me couldn’t end it, neither could the pathetic master you follow. The only one who can beat me is me, dumbass.”   
  


Kise’s face twisted in fury.

 

“That might have been true once, human, but you can’t stand against me. I know more about the nature of magic than a paltry human like you could ever learn.”   
  


“Yeah?” Aomine asked. “Then bring it. And you can see why Kise’s been losing to me since we were eleven.”   
  


He was prepared when the demon attacked, sending out a line of gold spells. When they hit the ground behind Aomine, they exploded.

 

That was pleasant.

 

Aomine forced himself to laugh, goading the demon on.

 

“That all you’ve got?” he jeered. “A mighty duke of hell and all, and all you’ve got is some blasting curses? Some demon you are!”

 

He ducked another powerful spell and didn’t wait to see where it landed. Aomine jumped, gaining the higher ground just in time to avoid another spell, and finally went on the offensive.

 

Aomine’s lightning sparked to life between his hands, and he threw it directly at Kise.

 

Kise’s answering spells made the ground below his feet disappear, and Aomine jumped away, before realizing too late that Kise hadn’t actually made the groun vanish, he’d just charmed it to look that way.

 

Dick. Aomine would make him pay for that.

 

His hasty retreat meant a rough landing, and Kise was coming in hot. Aomine send a short bolt of lightning at the demon, but it dodged, that annoying smirk once again fixed in place.

 

Kise snapped his fingers, and the world fell away.

 

Aomine looked around in alarm. The battlefield was gone, and instead he was floating. Around him, his vision was full of floating colors, swirling and flashing and mixing in with another.

 

Bright twinkling lights danced around him, demanding that he follow their path with his eyes and distracting him from staying alert, as he should have been. 

 

He couldn’t even feel the ground below his feet. As far as his senses were concerned, he wasn’t even standing on anything. 

 

Aomine hadn’t been on the receiving end of this kind of illusion in a long time. And yet, he should have expected it, anticipated it, because Kise knew Aomine’s weakest suit was dealing with illusions, and Kise himself excelled at them. This had been his specialty when they were in school…

 

Aomine didn’t see the spell coming at him until he was already barrelled over. He could feel the flesh on his shoulder burning, and realized that Kise’s curse had literally peeled off a stripe off skin from behidn his shoulderblade.

 

Fuck.

 

Aomine didn’t know enough healing magic for that, and he was too distracted to even try. 

 

The pain hadn’t broken the illusion, even as Aomine clutched at his shoulder in pain. He couldn’t see Kise, but he wouldn’t. 

 

Aomine breathed deep through the pain and closed his eyes. He knew that they were the most easily deceived of his senses, and he wouldn’t see the holes in Kise’s illusion, even if there were any. Instead, he focused on his magic.

 

He stretched out his power, looking for Kise. He could feel the magic that made up the walls of his illusion-prison. He had to get out of here, before he accidentally wandered into the path of another demon’s jaws by pure accident.

 

There!

 

Aomine turned and roared with success, blue lightning pouring out of his hands to where Kise was standing. 

 

The illusion fell away in seconds, and Aomine was forced to focus his attention on the spell, lest he be distracted by the battlefield around them.

 

He wasn’t going to let Kise win, not when it mattered. Kagami needed him by his side. Kuroko was counting on him.

 

“TAKE THAT, ASSHOLE!” Aomine shouted, fury lending strength and power to his spell.

 

Kise materialized into view, the air rippling around him.

 

He was holding onto Aomine’s lightning like it wasn’t hurting him at all. Aomine glared, pouring more power into the spell.

 

With a jerk of his arms, Kise broke the connection between himself and Aomine, sending the lightning ricocheting into the ground. It knocked a section of the mountainside free, sending it crashing to the ground between them.

  
Aomine cast into the smoke, trying to keep sight of Kise, but the blonde was gone.

 

A second later, Aomine felt the burn of magic behind him and turned.

 

Kise’s eyes were gold, but between his hands, he was holding lightning.

 

Aomine remembered the one time Kise had been able to replicate his lightning while they were fighting each other. Aomine had paid dearly for ending the fight when he had, and had taken on an injury so severe he hadn’t been able to fight in the next round of the duel.

 

Hopped up on demon magic, Kise could do a lot more damage.

 

“What’s it you always keep boasting?” Kise asked. “The only one who can beat you is you? Well have a taste!”

 

Kise’s face morphed. He took on Aomine’s own tanned appearance, and threw the blue lightning at Aomine.

 

Aomine was so surprised that the lightning hit him dead on, burning the center of his chest. Aomine was thrown backwards, into the side of another demon. The massive creature turned and roared, inches from Aomine’s head. Aomine conjured an iron spike and took advantage of the moment to drive it right through the center of the demon’s mouth, and let it thrash in pain as he took off running.

 

“What happened to all that bravado?”

 

Lightning exploded in front of him and Aomine stopped short, turning to face off against Kise again.

 

He had a sinking feeling that he wasn’t going to win this fight, which meant he needed to get out of here as fast as he could. 

 

Kise threw another bolt of his own lightning, which Aomine shielded himself from. It bounced away, the smell of ozone heavy in the air.

 

“Come on, what happened to kicking my ass?” the demon asked, advancing slowly.

 

Aomine growled, sending another spell at the demon. The demon smirked. 

 

“You know, this guy is pretty useful. He might be the only one of you to really understand how magic works, deep down on a really instinctual level. And it’s not just your lightning that he’s dealt with.”

 

Aomine didn’t even have time to process Kise’s face morphing into that of Kagami, because the demon was spewing pillars of fire at Aomine and he was shouting curses, trying to dodge, trying to shield himself, trying anything at all.

 

In desperation, Aomine brought down a landslide of rocks between himself and his opponent, hoping for just a moment’s reprieve while he tried to figure out what to do with the possessed Miracle.

 

He couldn’t kill him… could he? That might be his only hope. 

 

_ Aomine-cchi, show me that spell one more time! Aomine-cchi, how dare you learn that one without me? Aomine-cchi, duel me one more time! _

 

Aomine felt his heart clench.

 

He didn’t think he  _ could  _ kill Kise, but he didn’t know enough to make the demon leave his friend alone. And he might die if he couldn't take Kise down. 

 

Aomine leaned back against the rock, taking just a moment’s rest to catch his breath and try and think through his options.

 

He didn’t see the demon approaching from above until it was almost on top of him. Aomine had once second to look up and register a demon with a massive span of spiked black wings. He had the impression of feathers that gleamed like metal, and injured skin parting to show black scales like armor underneath, and then all he could see was the jaws, opening wide and coming directly for him.

 

Aomine screamed. He wish he could forget the wet crunching noise that came when the winged beat closed its jaws around his leg, but he didn't think he ever could. His vision whited out for a minute, and the next thing he knew, he was swinging through the air, being carried by his leg.

 

Every jerk of the flying demon's wings made Aomine's leg throb, and he could hardly believe he was still conscious.

 

He knew, objectively, that if he wanted to live through this encounter, he was going to need to fight the demon. He experimentally tried moving, and the bird-lizard-demon thing let go of him, throwing him up in the air and then catching him by the injured leg, using the sharp lower claws to do so. The black talons bit into Aomine's skin.

 

Aomine screamed again, unable and helpless to do anything else.

 

Shit, he was going to die. The demon was carrying him off to eat him.

 

_ Tetsu, I'm sorry. _

 

It was the thought of Kuroko that finally cut through the haze of pain. Aomine didn't want to die here, most of all because he needed to find his boyfriends. Kuroko and Kagami were in trouble, and neither could protect themselves as well as Aomine could protect them.

 

Concentrating on that helped the pain fade a little bit. It was just enough for Amine to clear his mind and figure out his next move.

 

He summoned his glaive into his hand, hefting the weight as he watched his target carefully.

 

The demon swooped, and Aomine struck. He twisted his body up with enough speed to garner the necessary momentum for his strike. The demon screamed as Aomine's iron glaive came down on the side of its face, his aim shaky from the pain and moving too much to get a clean hit. The bird shook its jaw, sending black blood splattering.

 

Aomine thought distantly that if he did manage to survive this encounter, that he was never going to manage to be truly clean ever again. He was sure that there would never be a day that he didn't wake up feeling the sick, slick slide of demon blood on his skin, or smell the gore while walking down the street.

 

But that would require that he survive.

 

He wanted to survive to wake up with Bakagami and Tetsu. To eat Bakagami's breakfast out of the pan and let him chase him around the kitchen while Kuroko watched, playing with that damn dog.

 

He wanted to have a life.

 

Anger did the rest of the job that desperation could not, and Aomine found energy returning to him as he thought about everything that he stood to lose.

 

"Go back to hell!" Aomine shouted, and he slashed with the glaive again and again, targeting the legs holding him. He could break a fall - he wasn't going to survive getting chewed on by a demon, especially if it decided to start eating his magic.

 

One leg came free, and Aomine stared, faintly ill, as the claw remained stuck in his leg. The bird screeched and howled angrily, and Aomine took his chance, severing the other leg with a mighty blow.

 

The ground rushed up to meet him, and the air was whistling in his ears. Aomine let himself fall, his glaive disappearing back from whence it was called. He savored the peace for a moment, letting himself pretend, just for a second, that everything was okay.

 

Aomine sent a blast of air at the ground as he neared, slowing himself down. His timing was off, but he managed to break his fall, even if he still hit the ground pretty hard.

 

Aomine grunted as the air was knocked out of his chest. He felt vindicated in his decision to dissipate his glaive. He would probably have impaled himself if he had not done so.

 

Still, here on the ground Aomine was a target. There were demons everywhere, and fewer wizards fighting them. Aomine looked around, half expecting to see Kise's mocking face advancing on him. He didn't think that he would last long against the blonde, especially not in his current state. He didn't even have the magic to heal himself, and his body was starting to give out, even as his magic was reaching the end of it's power. 

 

Aomine could see bodies on the ground. Some of them looked human. He didn't know if they were alive and unconscious, or already dead.

 

Maybe he could still save them.

 

A fully fledged demon, human like face snarling with the fanged snout of a dog, filled his vision, and Aomine called back his glaive, feeling so tired.

 

Magical exhaustion wasn't something he had a lot of experience with, but he wondered just when he would hit the limit of what he could do.

 

How hilarious was it that Aomine had spent his entire childhood chasing just this opportunity, to see where the limits of his power ended, but now that it was here, it meant the end of the world?

 

It was kind of funny, like a really bad joke, and Aomine didn't realize he was laughing until the demon twisted its head, considering him as though he'd done something quite unexpected.

 

Aomine was sure he had some kind of concussion, but that didn't matter. He threw himself forward, and planted the heavy iron weapon into the middle of the demon's body.

 

With a yell, he let navy blue lightning move down the path of the blade, filling the demon from the inside out. Aomine screamed as he let loose his power.

 

The demon exploded.

 

Aomine was covered in another shower of guts and demon blood, and hissed as it came in contact with his open skin. He had no idea what the effect of a demonic infection in his injuries would be, but he wasn't sure he wanted to know.

 

He reminded himself that he needed to survive first.

 

Aomine limped backwards. He dragged himself along the side of the mountain until he saw the entrance to the cave system below the fortress.

 

It had been their last plan of defense, their final retreat if they needed to. Aomine knew he could seal the caves, and the demons would be hard put to get in. He glanced around.

 

He could also just seal this entrance. Aomine sighed.

 

Despite being more dangerous, he knew which option he would choose. He wasn't going to doom anyone who might be caught outside. He entered the cave and blasted the entryway, covering his retreat.

 

Aomine was left in the dark, but that was fine. He didn't really mean to get out of here, he just needed a moment's respite from the demons.

 

He'd been running and fighting for so long, and now every step sent shocks of pain up his entire side along with the sharp ache in his leg.

 

Other injuries were making themselves known. Aomine had known he'd taken a beating, but he was in really bad shape. It was all he could do to concentrate on just putting one foot in front of the other, with no goal in mind, just wanting to get deeper into the caves, to safety.

 

He was praying Tetsu and Bakagami made it too.

 

Aomine stumbled forward, and his leg finally buckled under his weight. He was shocked it had taken him this far, really.

 

He hit the ground hard, once again losing all the breath in his lungs, and Aomine sighed, accepting that he could go no farther.

 

He took out his wand (and how much did that say about how exhausted he was that he needed his wand to do magic?) and cast a witch light to keep him company.

 

If he was going to die here, deep underground, he would at least like to see it coming.

 

Aomine leaned his head up against the wall and waited for death or his allies to find him, whichever came first.

 

…

 

Furihata watched as Momoi appeared in front of Akashi, landing smoothly on the stone. Her bold declaration that she was there to kill her former friend made his heart leap up into his throat.

 

And yet, that might be the only sensible option. Kuroko was nowhere to be found, and no one else knew how to  _ force  _ a demon out of someone when they didn’t want to go.

 

For all they knew, Kuroko might have been waylaid in the blizzard. He could be lying dead somewhere on the mountain, slowly being covered by the snow, and they had no other choice but to act themselves.

 

The demons were still pouring out from the portal below, and Momoi tightened her grip on her wand.

 

“Come for me then,” Akashi said softly, and Momoi smiled viciously.

 

“Ladies first, Sei-kun? How noble of you. You didn’t even give the first shot the first time we practiced dueling together.”

 

Furihata wondered what that was supposed to have to do with anything, but then he saw the demon still unnaturally.

 

It snarled.

 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” it asked through Akashi’s mouth.

 

“Oh Sei-kun, don’t you remember all the times you said ladies first to me?” Momoi asked, sugary sweet. She twirled her wand between her fingers, looking bored. “When we studied in the library, every time you held the door open for me? You were always such a polite boy, and it was no wonder. My mother doted on you. Dai-kun’s too, because who wouldn’t want a son like you, Sei-kun?”

 

Furihata caught on as the demon flinched again.

 

She was giving Akashi the opportunity to fight. She was reminding him of who he was, of the times he had that were worth taking back.

 

She was brilliant, Furihata thought. Smarter than any witch or wizard who ever lived, probably,

 

“So come on then, Sei-kun” Momoi said. “You took one shot at me the whole time I helped train you to duel. Let’s fight like you always wanted me to, and I’ll show you the real power of a woman’s intuition on the battlefield.”

 

The demon was moving more slowly, and it couldn’t move out of the way in time. Momoi snapped her wand, and the air around them  _ rippled _ .

 

Momoi hadn’t moved from the place she had landed on the stone, but suddenly Akashi was bleeding from three places.

 

“You’re much more disappointing,” Momoi pouted. “Sei-kun would have seen that coming. He probably did, didn’t he? You just can’t listen. Or maybe he’s smart enough to hide that from you. Don’t worry Sei-kun, we’ll pry you free!”

 

The demon snarled. It threw pure green fire at Momoi, who leapt gracefully out of the way.

 

“Now don’t go charging at a woman like that,” she chided disapprovingly, landing. “It’s not an attractive trait in a man. Sei-kun knows better than that.”

 

“SHUT UP YOU BITCH!”

 

Furihata’s breath caught as the insult was hurled at the witch, but she smiled serenely.

 

“Stop what? Winning? Or saying your name?”

 

“I AM VEPAR-”

 

“Sei-kun,” Momoi corrected gently, like she was talking Kuroko through a particularly hard spell. “Sei-kun, Sei-kun, Sei-kun, Sei-kun!”

 

She punctuated each repetition with a spell, moving her wand smoothly and precisely.

 

“I AM THE RIVER THAT CONNECTS THE REALMS!”

 

“Sure,” Momoi said agreeably. “And Sei-kun is my friend, and it’s about time for him to come back and pay me in blood for everything he’s done to me and the rest of our friends. Where’s Tetsu-kun, Sei-kun?”

 

The demon roared, spewing fire from its mouth like a real dragon. Momoi laughed, a high delightful sound that belonged anywhere but this bloody, grimy battlefield, dodging and running. She was moving faster than Furihata could really follow, but he had no trouble following the fire. Akashi was turning towards his direction and the Hufflepuff ducked down to try to avoid attention and not get scorched.

 

“Sei-kun, you’re going to have to do better than that!” Momoi shouted.

 

Akashi fired off a spell, but it met Momoi’s halfway. Pink and gold exploded, and Furihata ducked for cover again as the explosion rocked the ground he was standing on.

 

This matchup of power might destroy the entire mountain, if they weren’t careful. 

 

The rock was on fire, limiting their motions, and Furihata wondered what kind of blaze this had to be to burn even without any wood or flammable material.

 

Momoi kept laughing as she moved, but now it sounded forced and strained even to Furihata, who understood girls less than he understood runes. She was taunting the demon, trying to draw out Akashi.

 

Momoi landed on both feet, her wand aimed directly at Akashi.

 

This time, she wasn’t fast enough.

 

Akashi had moved before she managed to get to her feet, and the green curse was already moving towards her by the time she raised her wand.

 

Momoi’s eyes grew wide, and she stepped back. She raised her wand in the air to bring the ground in front of her with it.

 

She didn’t have enough time.

 

The stone had only risen enough to cover her waist when the green curse hit her.

 

Furihata watched Momoi fall, unable to move.

 

He wanted to. He’d bonded with the woman quite a bit while they were both at the Kuroko manor, and he was quite fond of her, even if she intimidated the shit out of him. But the figure of Akashi was standing again, and Furihata’s instincts screamed at him to run.

 

He was shaken, frozen in place by fear.

 

Akashi remained where he was, and Furihata thought that maybe, for just a moment, this was his chance.

 

He took a few uncertain steps forward. Akashi whirled around. Furihata didn’t think he could ever recall the other wizard looking so vulnerable and afraid in all the time that they had been in school together.

 

“GET OUT OF HERE!”

 

Akashi’s voice was hoarse and ruined. It didn’t feel quite right, the way he was moving his mouth, but it had been so long since he had been in control of his own body that he barely remembered how it was supposed to move any more.

 

Furihata realized that the death of his good friend had shaken something loose, and Akashi was temporarily in control. He wasn’t going to leave Akashi here like this, not when there was a chance he could help the other man. He especially couldn’t leave not knowing for sure if Akashi was himself or not, because if he left and the demon took control again, the Hufflepuff was just going to die anyway, so as far as Furihata was concerned, he wasn’t going anywhere.

 

Even if he was scared shitless.

 

“No!”

 

“Are you an idiot?”

 

“M-m-maybe,” Furihata said. His grip on his wand was white knuckled, and he certainly looked afraid. “But y-you’re not gonna h-hurt anyone else! N-not while I’m here!”

 

He’d killed Momoi. He’d  _ murdered her  _ right in front of him, and Furihata would not let Akashi do that to anyone else, not unless he went through Furihata.

 

Akashi laughed, gold eyes flashing in the firelight around them. He seemed to straighten, and Furihata winced, knowing that the demon was back in control behind those eyes.

 

“You think you can hold a candle to  _ me,  _ you pathetic human?” Akashi demanded, slowly stalking towards the boy in front of him. “You can die right here just like the rest of your pathetic race will!”

 

“N-no I won’t!” Furihata protested.

 

“You’re going to die miserable and in pain!”

 

“I won’t!”

 

“You-“

 

Akashi’s voice caught in his throat, and Furihata started at him.

 

Akashi was staring at Furihata, his clawed hand an inch away from the brunet wizard’s throat.

 

“No,” Akashi said hoarsely.

 

One of his eyes burned red.

 

“That is enough,” Akashi growled.

 

“You can do it!” Furihata cheered him on. “Do your best!”

 

The demon smirked through Akashi’s features making Furihata’s heart sink through his stomach into the ground. He’d hoped for just a second that Akashi might have been able to get free of the demon’s control, but -

 

“Little Chihuahua,” he mocked. “Don’t you know you’re supposed to be afraid when you are facing down a fox in the skin of a lion?”

 

Furihata braced himself and stubbornly lifted his chin higher.

 

“Well, it doesn’t matter,” the demon inside Akashi said dismissively. “You’re of no concern to me, and I’ll dispose of you quickly. You and the rest of the worms who thought they could stand in my way.”

 

He raised his wand.

 

Furihata shut his eyes tight. He didn’t want to see his death coming towards him. He didn’t want to have to watch, as though by closing his eyes he could deny what was about to happen to him.

 

But death didn’t come. He heard a noise that sounded like the other wizard was in severe pain, and a dull thud. Furihata opened one eye experimentally.

 

Akashi was on his knees. His eyes flashed, red and gold, red and gold, as he fought for control of himself.

 

“GET. OUT. OF. ME.”

 

It sounded like Akashi was speaking around knives in his throat. The sound was rough and primal, barely recognizable as a human voice.

 

Furihata held his breath. He was afraid to move, lest he disturb Akashi’s intense concentration in kicking the demon out of him.

 

Akashi raised his head.

 

His eyes were both red.

 

With shaking legs, still supporting himself with one hand to get his feet underneath him, Akashi pushed himself up to one knee.

 

He rested there, his expression fixed and determined.

 

Then he stood.

 

Akashi swayed and righted himself. Furihata could tell the moment he found his balance, because despite the slight shake in his limbs, Akashi had stopped swaying.

 

“I’m done with you,” Akashi said haughtily, and for a moment Furihata thought that Akashi was addressing him before the red head whirled around.

 

There was another man – no, not a man, not by the sight of his burning green eyes, or the furry fox ears, or the long tail  - standing in front of them. His brown hair was artfully tousled, and his features would have been handsome, if they didn’t include sharp, predatory teeth.

 

This was the creature that had possessed Akashi, and in so doing wrought the end of the world. This was the murderer of Momoi Satsuki, the thing that would have so willingly killed Furihata if Akashi had not finally managed to shake loose the demon’s control over him.

 

The demon shrieked with laughter, clapping its hands together like a child.

 

“Oh, there’s that Akashi pride!” It howled. “What a joy to see you still alive and kicking! I was afraid I had fried you mind completely.”

 

“I’m going to make you regret not killing me when you had the chance,” Akashi said steadily. His fingers twitched.

 

The air rippled with the use of his power. Furihata ducked for cover just in time.

 

The ground under the demon exploded, and all the former Hufflepuff could hear was the high pitched, jeering laughter of the demon.

 

“Oooh, Shrimpy-chan wants to play!” it shouted.

 

“I suppose,” Akashi said, regaining his control with surprising aplomb. “Though I guarantee that if this is a game, I will win. My will is absolute.”

 

Akashi waved his hand, and an iron sword materialized there. He adjusted his grip on the sword. He braced his feet in the dirt. He brought the weapon up,  _ en guarde _ .

 

“Koki, right?” Akashi asked. His voice was strained, as though he was still in pain. “Furihata Koki?”

 

“Uh yeah, that’s me!” Furihata squeaked.

 

“Koki, I believe that you should run.”

 

“No, I think the little maggot should get to die watching his hero eviscerated on the ground,” the demon said, suddenly serious, flicking long, graceful fingers.

 

Furihata was thrown against a rock, suddenly unable to move. He could barely even breathe past the pressure resting on his chest.

 

“Let him down,” Akashi said, his voice deliberately calm.

 

“If you’re so confident you can win, it won’t matter what I do now,” the demon sneered. “And he really does want to see what I’m going to do to you. Or didn’t you ever notice?”

 

Akashi stared stonily back.

 

“How hilarious! This little chihuahua has been infatuated with you for years, and you haven’t even noticed!”

 

Furihata could feel his face burning in shame.

 

Akashi’s expression was furious, but when he spoke again, it was slow and measured. He was forcing himself to stay calm in the face of this fight. He couldn’t let the demon distract him. True or not (and Akashi didn’t need the tremendous skills of legilimency that he’d developed to guess that the demon was telling the truth), he didn’t care what the demon had to say.

 

Honestly, Akashi was pretty sure he was going to die here.

 

He was pretty sure he didn’t want to walk away from this fight anyway.

 

But he wasn’t going to let anyone else die for him. Because of him. By his hand. It didn’t matter, they were all the same.

 

“I am the speaker and my will is absolute.”

 

The demon laughed, sharp teeth bright against the nighttime darkness.

 

“Okay Shrimpy-chan, we can play. But I’m so much more powerful than you now. I’ve been feeding on you for a while, and you never even noticed! Trust me, I’ve been  _ all  _ up inside you, and I already know how this contest is going to end.”

 

Akashi growled.

 

“I AM THE SPEAKER AND MY WILL IS ABSOLUTE!”

 

The demon laughed again. The movement of its mouth showed off its too sharp teeth. Green eyes burned dangerously in the firelight.

 

“I will cleanse your pathetic, weak stain from the face of this earth,” he intoned, gathering dark power around him with every word that he uttered. “I will rip your entrails from your body. I will burn your skin from your bones. I will make you swallow your own eyeballs and I will cut you to pieces, bit by bit, for a thousand years of never-ending suffering! You will regret standing against me, you insignificant speck of dust.”

 

Akashi swung his arms wide. He nearly overbalanced himself with the gesture, too unused to controlling his own body, almost forgetting that one hand was clenched around the hilt of his sword. 

 

“Come fight me then,” he said hoarsely. “Take what you believe to be yours. But if you want to hurt these people, you  _ will  _ have to cut me down first.”

 

The demon was still laughing and it was grating on Akashi’s patience.

 

“Oh, I will,” it said. “I want you to know that I am really going to enjoy this, Shrimpy-chan.”

 

“Not more than I will,” Akashi said. He was shaking on his feet, but he looked ready to keep up the fight for as long as his body would hold him steady. “I can promise you that.”

 

The demon pulled a heavy black sword from thin air. It thrummed with magic. With no warning, he surged forward bringing his blade down on the body he had previously inhabited. Akashi blocked, the sound of the swords meeting echoing loudly, even over the din of the horrific battle happening below. 

 

“Hmm,” the demon hummed happily, as they traded blows. Akashi was being cautious, holding back. He was supporting his own blade with two hands, and Furihata was scared that he might have used up all his strength when he kicked the demon out of his own head.

 

“You and I are quite alike in that manner,” he said. “Wanting to dominate, wanting to win.”

 

The clang of metal reached Furihata as Akashi and the demon exchanged more blows, Akashi grunting as his sword made contact with the demons’.

 

“We’re nothing alike!” Akashi snapped.

 

“Are you sure?” the demon asked, feigning confusion. “We’re not all that different you know. There’s a reason it was so easy for you to summon a demon into the world.”

 

“He’s lying!” Furihata shouted from the other side of the mesa.

 

“I believe the correct term for that is no shit,” Akashi said, spitting. Furihata winced at the tone, even knowing it wasn’t directed at him in particular. “I’m nothing like you.”

 

“Are you sure? Didn’t you ever wonder why your daddy hated you so much? It’s because he knew that you were cursed from birth.”

 

“Shut up.”

 

“Even if he was the one that did the cursing, he still had trouble looking at you,” the demon practically sung as he swung at Akashi’s head, only to be blocked and parried. “You know as well as I do that you’ve got  _ just enough  _ demon in you. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have been able to do what you did, bringing me here. What about what you did to that poor boy? Didn’t he deserve better than what you did to him when he was only a child who got in your way?”

 

Akashi growled.

 

“I  _ know  _ what I did was wrong,” he said. “And I’ll face the consequences for that. But first I am going to make sure that these people will survive long enough to take their vengeance from me.”

 

“Isn’t it just a little bit too late to be getting all noble and principled like this?” the demon asked, swooping in near Akashi’s right shoulder and whispering directly into his ear. “You’ve been hurting everyone around you for so long, they don’t even know who or what you are any more.”

 

Akashi jerked to the side, swinging too wide. The demon dodged easily, dancing away from his opponent and laughing all the while.

 

“Face it, Shrimy-chan, you’re just like me.”

 

Akashi lunged, and the demon raised its sword up. Their blades hit with a blast of magic that left scorch marks on the ground around them.

 

Akashi disengaged, spun, and went for the demon’s side. The demon blocked again, letting Akashi waste his energy on the offensive.

 

“You know I’m not lying,” the demon grinned widely, not a single hair out of place as it held it’s sharp teeth so close to Akashi’s face. “You know that you felt it long before I was ever in my head.”

 

“Shut up!”

 

“You know that the  _ other  _ you was already making decisions, and you might have kept him so tightly under wraps with all three of us in your head, but how much control do you have over him when you’re by yourself?”

 

Akashi snarled, running forward again, only to be thrown away by the demon’s magic once more. He cried out painfully when he hit the sharp rocks of the ground.

 

“You know that’s not even you,” the demon sneered, stalking closer to his prey. “It would be such a relief if you were only crazy, but that’s your twin. Your father had him possessed by a demon and murdered him in order to bathe you in his blood in a ritual to give his family more power and prestige. All that you have, all that you are, is because of the blood of your own twin brother. You were oh so happy to step back and let him handle your crumbling team, the world, your failing relationship with the man you wanted to court, the very end of the world itself… This is all happening because of you and your weakness. If you had kept him under control, you might have avoided this entirely.”

 

Akashi’s chest shook with unshed sobs he could not give himself over to. He raised the sword just in time to partially block another blow from the demon. He dodged quickly enough that the rest of the demon’s blade sparked against rock.

 

“But perhaps you need a demonstration?” the demon asked, grinning. “Your twin was the one who let me into your head after all.  _ He’s still there, and he wants to be free. _ ”

 

The demon gestured with one hand, the weight of its magic rippling the air between him and the powerful wizard.

 

Akashi dropped his sword, clutching his head and screaming.

 

“Can you hear him?” The demon taunted him.

 

Furihata was afraid. Anything that could do  _ this  _ to Akashi could kill any of them easily, and he was still pinned in place, immobile.

 

“Don’t let him get to you!” he shouted.

 

The magic holding Furihata to the rock outcropping was let go, and Furihata fell onto his hands and knees, fear making his heart race. He rose up on shaking hands just as Akashi was doing the same.

 

Akashi made eye contact with Furihata, and Furihata felt his stomach sink.

 

“Why don’t you go ahead and rid this child of his sad notions of fairness in the world,” the demon suggested, shifting out of an attacking stance. He was smiling, waiting to see what was going to happen. Furihata’s heart was beating so furiously he thought he was going to throw up.

 

“You don’t need to do this,” Furihata stammered as Akashi advanced with his sword.

 

“Don’t I?” Akashi asked, and it wasn’t the demon, but it also wasn’t quite Akashi. “I’m not doing this because I need to.  _ Want  _ to might be better.”

 

“Whatever you’ve done, it doesn’t matter! That doesn’t bind you to any future course!” Furihata shouted, too loud, clutching at the rock behind him. He had nowhere to run. His magic was no match for the power of Akashi Seijuro. He would die if Akashi didn’t get a hold of himself and whatever was in charge of his mind now. Furihata didn’t understand quite what was happening, but he knew that he needed to convince Akashi to come back to the rational decision maker Furihata knew him to be.

 

“You don’t know what I’ve done!” Akashi all but roared, making Furihata flinch. “ _ Nobody _ knows what I’ve done!”

 

“I know _you_ ,” Furihata said quickly. “I spent six years trying to _be_ you, I watched you growing up, wishing to every god that I could become as powerful and skilled at dueling as you were. This isn’t you. None of this is you. This is not the person you are!”

 

Akashi lunged for Furihata. There was no recognition in his eyes.

 

Furihata dodged to the side, avoiding one swipe, then ducked to avoid another, before being blasted back into the rocky outcropping he had been pinned against.

 

He groaned, blinking stars from his eyes as he tried to focus on getting himself back on his feet. Making his body move even an inch was a struggle.

 

A shadow came over him, and Furihata was all too aware of Akashi standing over him, holding his sword.

 

“You know who you are,” Furihata said desperately. “You can fight this, but only if you try! You have to pull yourself back, you have to take control!”

 

Akashi paused, moving slowly. Furihata saw the gold in one eye flicker, and he smiled encouragingly.

 

“Listen, Akashi’s twin – I may not know you as well as I know your brother, but he’s not to blame for what happened to either of you, whatever it was. We can help you move on, whatever you need to do, if that’s what you want, but that demon isn’t going to help you. He’s been hurting both of you, and it’s time to make him stop.”

 

Furihata was sure that Akashi was in control now. He looked so tired, concentrating so hard.

 

“Koki,” he whispered, eye color flickering.

 

“Oh for fucks sake,” the demon sneered. “I can’t fucking  _ believe this.  _ The power of friendship overcoming the might of my magic? Fuck both of you off a goddamn ledge. I guess if a bitch wants a job done they’ve got to do it themselves.”

 

Furihata tensed, and only just saw the demon move, knocking over Akashi and raising the sword high.

 

Akashi stared in alarm, red eyes watching the descending arc of the blade above him with pure terror.

 

He closed his eyes, but opened them immediately when he heard Furihata scream.

 

Furihata was holding onto the blade of the sword, inches from Akashi’s own face. Furihata’s eyes were desperate, and there was blood dripping down his hand, running down his arm in dark rivets. He brought up his left hand to support his grip, holding onto the blade with all his might.

 

He did not let go.

 

The sword sunk deeper into his flesh. It was almost all the way through, and Furihata was pretty sure he was going to lose half the hand, but he didn't care, not if this bought them more time. The bite of the sword burned, and Furihata could see the flesh around the cut turning black. That wasn't good. And yet, he couldn't let go now, not when he needed to buy Akashi more  _time._

 

Even if he died here, if Akashi walked away, whole and himself, then Furihata knew he could trust the other man to take care of this. He would save the world. Furihata just had to give him the opening to do it. 

 

“You idiot!” Akashi gasped out, which Furihata kind of thought was pretty ungrateful, given the situation. 

 

“Shut up!” Furihata snapped.

 

With a jerk, he ripped the sword free of its owners grasp. He didn’t even cry out as his hand hung bloody and useless at one side as the sword came free.

 

“I’m so fucking sick of you!” Furihata shouted at the prone man. “I’m so goddamn sick of all of you pretending that just because someone isn’t powerful means they’re useless or worthless! You’re all just shitty bastards with your heads up your ass. You’re not the only one who can help people!”

 

Furihata couldn’t see what was going on in Akashi’s head, but he hoped to every god he knew that he was getting through to the other guy.

 

“Just because you’re not the best at something doesn’t mean you can’t be good at it! That you can’t enjoy it! Some of us just have to do the best we-!”

 

The demon punched Furihata in the face. Furihata sprawled out onto the gravel. He couldn’t feel anything other than the burn in his hand from where he had so stupidly grabbed onto the blade of the demon’s sword, but he was bleeding anew from several places, and his cheek was already bruised from the demons blow.

 

Akashi glanced only once at the other wizard, moved by his bravery.

 

Akashi moved with a speed Furihata didn’t think he had been capable of at the moment. He supposed magic and adrenaline could help with that, but the other wizard moved like lightning. He rolled to the side, stumbling to his feet as he called the demon’s sword to him.

 

The demon screeched in fury, but Akashi’s power had already deposited the hilt of the blade in his hand.

 

He turned, hefting the weight of the new sword, and then, without warning, he ran. He lifted the blade in a high arc, moving too quickly for the demon to dodge, aided by magic and desperation. The black blade gleamed in the flickering light of the flames and the green glow of demonic magic surrounding them.

 

And then it was moving again.

 

Vepar screamed as the sword pierced his chest. Furihata watched as Akashi cut down the demon. He drew the blade out of Vepars body with a sick, wet sound, and hacked again, the crunch of bone making Furihata wince. With effort that made it seem like he was lifting many times the weight of the sword itself, Akashi raised the blade and hacked, and hacked, and hacked. Every cut to the demon’s almost human looking skin exposed blood that shone black and opaque, followed by flowing green light. Each hit landed with a wet, sickening crunch, and the satisfying scream of pain from the demon that had started this.

 

Akashi collapsed to one knee as the demon shrieked, but he kept his head held high as he stared down the dying demon. He tried to raise the sword one more time, but his shaking arms couldn’t raise it again.

 

It did not matter.

 

He didn’t break eye contact once as the demon was consumed by green fire.

 

In the end, there was nothing left but ash.

 

Furihata still held his breath. Akashi looked like he would be hard put to get back on his feet, but Akashi probably didn’t want or need his help. Nevertheless, he took an aborted step forward. He stopped because Akashi propped himself up using the demon’s sword. He shook where he stood, but the redhead wizard turned to smile at Furihata.

 

The world was ending around them, but Furihata smiled back through the burning pain in his arm.

 

He was not afraid. Not anymore. How could he be? Akashi was here.

 

…

 


	61. Hopefully, The History Books Will Forget To Mention That We Were All Tremendous Assholes (AKA Bitches, This Is The Best Piece Of Foreshadowing I Ever Wrote Suck My Dick)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is chapter sixty one! We are two chapters from the end and counting down. Please mind the Graphic Descriptions of Violence, Minor Character Death, and M ratings, as always. 
> 
> Also, I know I said in chapter nine that if you can squint you can see the future. Perhaps upon reflection there might even be a particular conversation that I wrote (and yes, it was on purpose and planned when I wrote it) that might have told you exactly what the biggest reveal in this chapter is? XD

 

 

**…**

 

_Magic of this nature demands sacrifice._

 

_Akashi was no stranger to this bargain. He’d traded his own blood dozens of times as an ingredient in a ritual. As far as he was concerned, no price would have been to high for this particular piece of magic._

 

_The boy was struggling, crying out in the magical bonds Akashi had used to keep him still. He could have paralyzed him, but there would be no need for that soon enough._

 

_Akashi was meticulously clearing the opening in the trees. He could see the sun setting over the edge of the farthest branches, dying the sky blood red. He was still shaken from his earlier failure. The rune circle had been complicated and needed a lot of power, but to know just how inadequate he was…_

 

_Akashi was preoccupied enough to drown out the cries of his sacrifice behind him. There was so much to do, and while Akashi was sure they had time, at least time enough for this, he wanted every second of it that he could take for himself._

 

_Finally, he had flattened the ground and prepared the base of the ritual, drawing the runes that would summon the creature he needed. The base could be drawn merely in the dirt, but he would trace them three times – in salt, for purification, in blood for power, and in ash to seal the spell._

 

_The boy struggled in the center of the clearing as Akashi moved tiredly, lining each piece of the diagram in the first layer of salt._

 

_Akashi was unconcerned with his fussing. He’d snapped the boy’s wand, and was more than capable of subduing him if he by some chance managed to break free of Akashi’s magic bindings._

 

_No, the only delay Akashi had anticipated when he had first conceived this solution was the selection of his sacrifice, but it had been much easier than he’d thought to figure out who it had to be. The history between them alone was what made that obvious enough._

 

_It was a shame, but it had to be done._

 

_From here on in, he would be branded with a magic darker than any other. He would never be able to go back from this moment. He would be tainting his very soul with the unspeakable things he would do here tonight._

 

_In balance though, what was his innocence and purity worth, commensurate with the world? Akashi would damn himself a thousand times over before the future he had sworn to stop came to fruition._

 

_Akashi focused his attention on making sure that he had set up the ritual perfectly and that the lines of runes were even and straight. One misstep would make this not only a waste of magic and time, but the waste of a life too. Akashi wanted the body count on this apocalypse to stay as low as possible._

 

_With everything planned out just so, Akashi ran over the steps of the ritual. He took his time laying the salt, stalling in the dying light of the sun as he braced himself for the distasteful task of drawing the first ingredient he would need to contribute._

 

_Blood. His own, for now. Akashi winced as he looked down at his arms. He’d bled quite a bit already, had spilled it uselessly in a failed attempt to carry out his plan to change the shape of the mountains to create the fortress that would protect them from demon invasion, should Gold Jr. choose the worst of all paths. Akashi was sure he’d lost well over a pint on his wasted venture, but there was nothing for it._

 

_He did not change his expression as he opened his veins again. This would be over soon, and he would be able to rest and heal when he knew the world would be safe._

 

_The pain of the cut was sharp and cold, and then it was over. Akashi spilled the dark, viscous fluid into a bowl, waiting until he had enough to trace the entire pattern, before healing the wound on his arm._

 

_This was almost over._

 

_Akashi could feel the magic begin to settle around them as he finished the lines of blood._

 

_Simple wood ash was easy enough, and Akashi spread it evenly, letting the pressure of the ritual’s magic press down on him as he invoked the most dangerous work of magic he had ever attempted._

 

_The sun had fully set by now, and it was starting to get dark. Akashi set witch lights floating around them with a lazy wave of his hand, bathing the clearing in red light._

 

_The sacrifice behind him was yelling again, and Akashi cracked his neck._

 

_“I will be getting to you,” he said, annoyed. He turned around, hardening his heart against what he was going to have to do._

 

_Akashi met the eyes of Ogiwara Shigehiro, and saw the fear there. He could not allow that to influence him now, not when he had the fate of the entire world on his shoulders._

 

_One life for all of them._

 

_For the power to save the world, this boy had to die._

 

_The ritual called for the blood of a sacrifice. It called for all of it._

 

_Akashi locked every piece of sympathy and humanity he had behind steel vault doors inside his mind, and settled himself in the center of the ritual circle, beside the living sacrifice. He’d already cast a stasis spell on the boy so that he would be able to survive long enough to complete the ritual._

 

_It would be an unpleasant last few moments on Earth, but Akashi was giving him something beyond the promise of pain. Ogiwara Shigehiro would die an honorable death to save all of wizardkind. He would be a hero._

 

_Ogiwara would be a hero and Akashi would take his place as a villain in history, if that meant that there was a history to be passed down, and people to hear it, when all this was over._

 

_With a wave of his hand, Akashi moved the boy so that he was laying on his back, looking up at the stars._

 

_“You should be honored,” Akashi said at last. “I’m giving you the chance to help me save the world.”_

 

_“You can go right to hell,” Ogiwara snapped. “Let me go or I swear to Merlin-”_

 

_“You will do nothing,” Akashi interrupted, sounding bored. “You are necessary for this ritual, but you should not forget that you could never have compared to me.”_

 

_Ogiwara fell silent at the sight of the knife. His eyes were wide. His skin paled._

 

_Akashi slit cleanly, efficiently, at the flesh in front of him. He didn’t even see a person as he worked, just dark red gleaming dully against pale skin. He didn’t hear Ogiwara screaming, he didn’t process any of it._

 

_If he did, he wouldn’t be able to do what had to be done._

 

_Akashi closed his eyes and started to chant._

 

_The pressure became unbearable. Akashi blocked out the noise from in front of him, ignored the wetness of the ground below him as the blood seeped through the entire circle._

 

_He challenged the foul feeling magic around them._

 

_This was the part he wasn’t going to enjoy._

 

_Akashi raised his hand._

 

_He could hear the sacrifice crying._

 

_He refused to allow it to influence him._

 

_Akashi sliced into the flesh and muscle of Ogiwara’s chest, blood welling up and pooling on the ground._

 

_The magic in the ground hummed as it received the first drops of its sacrifice’s life force._

 

_Ogiwara howled as Akashi continued cutting. The sound that came out of his mouth was almost inhuman when Akashi flicked his wrist, cracking Ogiwara’s rib cage open._

 

_The blood began to pour openly._

 

_Ogiwara thrashed and wailed._

 

_Akashi ignored him. He reached deep into Ogiwara’s chest cavity, coating his hands and continuing to shape the runes by witch light. The sun had long since set, but the fire could only be lit at exactly the right time._

 

_He would have silenced the screaming man if he’d been certain that the additional magic would not interfere with the ritual. Tearing into the demon realm was a finicky business._

 

_Ogiwara’s desperate screams filled the woods. Akashi was glad that nobody was around to hear them._

 

_Nobody would be coming to the aid of his sacrifice. The ritual would proceed._

 

_The circle took shape around him. Akashi leaned back on his heels._

 

_“Please don’t do this to me, please have mercy, why are you doing this?”_

 

_Ogiwara was sobbing again. It seemed even the helpless sheep knew when it was time to be led to the slaughter. Akashi could not do him the mercy of making it quick, but it didn’t matter – Ogiwara was going to die to save the world. It was an honorable death._

 

_“Goodbye.”_

 

_Akashi pulled the still beating heart free of his prey. The veins and vessels that were still connecting it to Ogiwara’s body tore, struggling to pump what was left of his blood through his dying body._

 

_Ogiwara screamed._

 

_“Argh, my heart!” Ogiwara shouted, blood bubbling from his mouth between his words. ““You’ve ripped it out of my chest! You’ve killed me!”_

 

_Akashi ignored the screams._

 

_He couldn’t afford to have any sympathy for the other man, no matter how pitiable he was._

 

_“I’m bleeding out! I’m dying!”_

 

_Akashi bit into the still beating heart._

 

_Eventually, the screams died out as Ogiwara did._

 

_The man lay limp as Akashi ate his raw heart._

 

_Akashi held his breath and kept it down, even when his body tried to physically reject it, bending over and heaving._

 

_By pure will, he did not vomit._

 

I am the Speaker and my will is absolute. I will not fail here.

 

_Akashi was shaking._

 

_It was time._

 

_The circle was drawn in blood. His clothes were stained with blood. There was so much blood. The ground was wet with it. His skin was wet with it. Akashi was covered in blood and he would never be free of the slick, sticky feel of viscous red all over._

 

_The shape of the carved runes formed a circle around him. The sigil he needed was in the center, directly in front of Akashi. It was a complicated, complex design. On one side of a line, two crosses rose up away from the summoner. A line extended between them to the elevated point of a triangle, which sat upside down at the top of the sigil. On the other side, a half circle bent towards Akashi, with three crosses upside down. A curved line drew away from where the half circle met the line that split the sigil in half._

 

_Akashi’s hands had been shaking when he started, but they had stopped now. Now he could feel nothing but a numb, detached need to finish the ritual and gain the power he needed to help him finish the job he had started._

 

_With steady hands, he snapped his fingers, and a fire erupted out of Ogiwara Shigehiro’s body._

 

_“I am the Speaker and my will is absolute,” he said into the circle. “I name you: Vepar, lord of the reaching river between the realms. Come through. You will heed and obey.”_

 

_The fire burned green, throwing the scene into sharp relief. In the middle of the circle, the ruined and burned remains of Ogiwara Shigehiro lay, lifeless._

 

_Akashi hardened his heart to what he had done._

 

_He was going to change the course of the future. One life was worth that, surely._

 

_The fire flashed green and burned and burned and burned, and when the demon arrived, its eyes burning an even brighter, more sickly green than the flames themselves, Ogiwara was burned to a crisp, unrecognized and blackened._

 

_By the time demon and wizard left the site of the ritual, there was nothing in the fire’s remains to show that Ogiwara Shigehiro had ever been there._

 

_Within days, the wind and rain had washed away any sign that anything had happened there at all._

 

_Generations later, it would still be the case that no plants would grow inside the clearing, and no animal ventured past the long erased lines of the rune circle that once stood there._

 

…

 

Kagami stumbled down the underground passageway, hand holding onto the wall for support and guidance.

 

He’d woken up a short time before, disoriented and alone in the dark. He’d been cocky, believing that he could match up to a possessed Murasakibara, and he was probably lucky for the rockslide that had closed the passage behind him.

 

That, plus the fact that the demon was clearly too lazy to pursue him into the mountain. Or maybe it just believed that Kagami had died when the rocks fell.

 

To be honest, he kind of felt like death warmed over. The only reason Kagami knew he hadn’t died was because he hurt way too much to be dead. His entire body was bruised, and he had a few nasty cuts and bites he knew needed seeing to. Every part of his body hurt.

 

He was running blind, too afraid to light his way in case the magic gave away where he was. He had no idea how strong the demon’s senses were, but he did know he didn’t want to get caught with his pants down.

 

He wanted to survive his.

 

He prayed to every god he could name that Kuroko and Aomine and everyone else could survive too.

 

Every so often, the whole tunnel would shake with the force of a magical explosion. Above ground, the battle with the demons was still raging full force.

 

Kagami stumbled into a crossroads, and down to the left, far down the tunnel, he could see a blue light.

 

It wasn’t the green of demonic magic, or the gold of their magic filtered through that of a wizard, which was encouraging.

 

Still, Kagami paused. Was it worth finding another wizard who might betray him or give away their position with their magic.

 

A low groan settled his decision.

 

If someone was hurt, he couldn’t just leave them to die down here, not without seeing if there was anything he could do to help before running off. There was a reason the Sorting Hat had put him into Gryffindor after all, even if Kagami hadn’t understood the significance of that decision at the time.

 

_I see you run towards danger to help others without hesitation. That is a very commendable trait in a young man such as yourself. You’ll find your cohort in GRYFFINDOR!_

 

Kagami changed course, walking towards the flickering light.

 

The closer he got, the more familiar the witch light felt. By the time Kagami was halfway down the tunnel, he didn’t need to see the wizard’s face to know who it was.

 

“Aomine!”

 

Even to his own ears, Kagami’s own voice was almost unrecognizable.

 

Kagami started running. He stumbled across the uneven ground, making his way to the other wizard as quickly as he could.

 

Kagami skid to a stop, cutting up his knees as he landed on the rough floor.

 

“Ahomine, wake up!”

 

Aomine turned his head, eyes blinking open.

 

“Bakagami,” he said, recognition lighting up his expression. “What are you doing?”

 

“Hopefully saving both of our lives. Now come on, we have to go.”

 

Aomine laughed.

 

“Sorry Bakagami,” he said. “I don’t think I’m going anywhere.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Kagami demanded.

 

Aomine nodded down to his leg. Kagami’s gaze fell to the limb and he flinched, blood turning to ice in his veins.

 

Shit, that looked bad. That looked really bad.

 

Aomine’s leg was broken. The white, jagged tip of one of the bones in his lower leg (fuck if Kagami knew what it was supposed to be called) was sticking through skin and the fabric of his pants. The ground under Aomine was wet with dark, congealing blood.

 

“We’ll find you a healer,” Kagami said. “I’ll get you moving, and we’ll find a healer to fix this and you’re going to be okay.”  


Even Kagami knew he was rambling, but he couldn’t stop himself.

 

“What, you gonna carry me and fight off demons at the same time?” Aomine huffed contemptuously, leaning his head back against the wall. “I know I couldn’t do that, so I know _you_ can’t.”

 

“Shut up,” Kagami said, blinking away tears as he stared down at the horrible wound. “Shut up, we’ll figure out something.”

 

“We both know I’m still out of your league,” Aomine said weakly.

 

“Just… Just stop,” Kagami said. His hands were shaking. “I’m going to try and set it.”

 

“Touch it and die, Bakagami, I’m not fucking around here, you’ll lose me the leg,” Aomine snapped, eyes going wide open as Kagami stared at the mangled leg.

 

“Shit, what even happened?” Kagami asked.

 

“Flying demon caught me in the leg while I was busy trying to take down Kise,” Aomine grit out. “Threw me around for a bit, but I got free. I think part of the tooth got lodged lower down there too.”

 

Under the break in Aomine’s leg, what Kagami could see of his skin looked like ground hamburger meat. He thought he was going to be sick.

 

He had no idea how to even start fixing something like this.

 

Kagami leaned back against the wall next to Aomine, the world spinning heavily around him.

 

“We need to get you a healer,” he repeated. “I don’t… I don’t think I can fix that.”

 

“No fucking shit,” Aomine said. “It’s fucked up. I don’t think I’m gonna be able to keep the leg.”

 

“Better you lose your leg than your life,” Kagami said, resting his head on the back wall. “Think you could walk on it if I made you a splint and a cane? We don’t have to get far, and we wouldn’t need to try and heal the leg if we could just line it up enough to keep it from getting more damaged. We could blast our way up and I could levitate us both out of here-”

 

“While under attack from demons the whole way up,” Aomine noted.

 

“I don’t see you coming up with any great ideas!” Kagami snapped.

 

Aomine put a hand on Kagami’s cheek.

 

“That’s because there are no clever ideas that are going to get me out of this,” he said, sadness creeping into his voice. “There isn’t anything we can do for me anymore. You can’t get me out of here without dying too, so you might as well just give it up and run for it. We don’t both need to die here.”

 

This was punctuated by a particularly powerful explosion from the surface.

 

“Well, lucky for you I’m the one who gets to make that decision,” Kagami said, bringing his hand up to cover Aomine’s. “And I’m staying.”

 

Kagami could feel the weight of the demonic magic pressing in. The battle overhead would end soon, and afterwards the demons would turn their attention to the caves below. They didn’t have a whole lot of time.

 

With just a single exercise of their power, these creatures could destroy the entire world, if they wished.

 

The only saving grace they had was that these demons wanted to eat their magic first.

 

Whatever small mercy that was, Kagami didn’t want it.

 

The roof of the cave shook again.

 

They were coming.

 

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT, YOU NEED TO GO!” Aomine shouted, shoving weakly at Kagami’s shoulder. “GOD DAMN IT YOU MORON, LEAVE ME HERE!”

 

Kagami couldn’t even hear what Aomine was saying. This was unimaginable. This was a force he could never overcome. There was no possible way to win. There was nowhere safe to run to, no place where they could hide until it was over. There was only choosing the spot in which they would be cut down.

 

He and Aomine were going to die here, the most horrific death they could have experienced.

There was no future for them. They had squandered their only chance.

 

Maybe they should have stood behind Akashi when they’d had the opportunity, before he’d gone full on crazy. Maybe then they could have stopped Nash Gold Jr. before any of this happened. Maybe then Akashi’s brilliant plan would have even worked, and he never would have felt the need to meddle with demons to do what they had to do.

 

A profound sense of helplessness overcame Kagami then.

 

“I’m sorry,” Kagami whispered, tears flowing freely from his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

 

“You goddamn idiot, why won’t you run?” Aomine demanded, his voice breaking with every word. He wasn’t shoving at the other wizard anymore; he clutched at Kagami’s arm tightly, the most he could do to curl into the redhead’s embrace without moving his leg.

 

“Why won’t you save yourself?”

 

“Because it wouldn’t be worth it,” Kagami whispered. The entirety of his focus was on counting the faint beats of Aomine’s pulse, the rise and fall of his chest as his lungs pulled in air.

 

Aomine had to live.

 

Another explosion rocked the ceiling overhead.

 

“What do you think is happening up there?” Kagami asked.

 

“Nothing good,” Aomine said. Kagami huffed.

 

“Well obviously,” he said, but neither of them talked for a while. Where Kagami’s hands sat on Aomine’s shoulders, Aomine could feel them shaking.

 

“You need to go,” Aomine said again.

 

“No fucking way,” Kagami replied tersely. “I wouldn’t get far on my own anyway.”

 

“No kidding,” Aomine said. “If it were me, I’d make it passed the demons just fine.”

 

“No you wouldn’t,” Kagami snapped, unwilling to be drawn into a battle of machismo right now. “ I know what you’re trying to do and it’s not gonna work. Just shut up and just sit there, all right?”

 

Aomine chuckled, but he did as Kagami said.

 

They winced as another explosion sent dust shaking free from the ceiling.

 

“So what do we do when they bring the whole cave system down on us?” Aomine asked.

 

“We’ll deal with that if it happens,” Kagami said, making himself comfortable curled around his boyfriend.

 

He was bracing himself to cast a shielding charm. He didn’t know if he could hold it against Merlin knew how many tons of rock, but he would try.

 

All he knew was that he wasn’t going to leave Aomine here to die, not after having lost so many people already.

 

He hadn’t seen Kuroko in hours, not since the Shadow had been knocked off his broom. Kagami really hoped that the other wizard had found a way to take shelter. He hoped Kuroko was safe too.

 

He didn’t dare bring up the topic.

 

Kagami didn’t know if whatever this was between him and Aomine could last without Kuroko holding them together.

 

Kagami was distracted enough that he didn’t notice when the explosions stopped. For some time now the only sound in their cavern had been the flow of air as they breathed, and the soft echo of movement as they shifted where they were sitting. Aomine was too tired and hurt to argue with Kagami anymore and Kagami was exhausted beyond the capacity for simple conversation.

 

Kagami didn’t know how much time had passed when the other wizard spoke again.

 

“It’s quiet now.”

 

Aomine’s voice was rough and quiet in the semi darkness.

 

“I think the threat has passed,” a new voice said.

 

Kagami and Aomine whipped their heads around, staring at Kuroko.

 

“Testu! Thank Merlin,” Aomine said, trying to pull himself back up against Kagami’s grip. “Talk some sense into your damn boyfriend already and get him out of here.”

 

Kuroko just stood there, his face blank as he took in the scene in front of him.

 

“What is happening?” he asked. Kagami looked up. His face was caked in blood – the dark black belonging to demons, and the sickening red of his fellow humans. All three of them were exhausted, and had watched so many of their number die.

 

“I couldn’t leave him!” Kagami whispered, his eyes shining with tears. “I couldn’t leave him.”

 

“I know,” Kuroko said. “It is alright, Kagami, you don’t have to explain.”

 

Kuroko knew.

 

“We’re going to die, Bakagami, you wanna spend your last moments on earth crying, or you wanna go down fighting?” Aomine asked, purposefully not looking at the redhead’s tears. “Come on, get up and go keep the war going, you’re not doing me any good here. At least get Tetsu out of here, or are you going to make him die with us too?”

 

It was a verbal blow meant to strike at Kagami’s most vulnerable soft spot, and it hit just as hard as he intended it to. Unfortunately for Aomine, it only pissed Kagami off, and did nothing to displace him.

 

“Fuck off,” Kagami said. His voice sounded choked and pained. “I’m not leaving, so don’t you dare even suggest it. I won’t leave you.”

 

“Tetsu, talk some sense into your damn Light!”

 

“I thought that’s what Kagami was trying to do.”

 

Aomine let his head fall back against the floor in frustration.

 

“We’re going to die here, you idiots,” he said softly a the fight left him.

 

“Probably,” Kuroko acknowledged. “But this is the end of the world, we can do what we want. I am not afraid.”

 

“Why the hell not?” Aomine demanded.

 

“Because my Lights are with me,” Kuroko said simply, like it was just that easy.

 

Aomine laughed, but quickly groaned in pain has the movement jostled at his injured leg.

 

“Hey, stay still,” Kagami ordered Aomine.

 

“Yeah right, like that’s gonna change anything,” Aomine shot back. “Tetsu’s right, die here, die there, die now, die later, we’re all gonna die.”

 

“Then suck it up for me,” Kagami said. “Have your existential crisis later.”

 

Aomine leaned his head back in frustration.

 

“You two have got to stop ganging up on me,” he muttered.

 

“Like you and Kagami ganging up on me is more fair,” Kuroko said, not sounding at all as upset as the words might have indicated.

 

Aomine chuckled.

 

“You’re easy to tease, Tetsu,” he reached up and ruffled Kuroko’s hair. Kuroko didn’t even try to stop him.

 

“Hold on guys, shh,” Kagami suddenly cut through the playful banter, sitting up. Fire glowed around his hands. “Do you hear that?”

 

Somewhere close by, the echoing sound of footsteps on the gravel.

 

“Should we douse the lights?”

 

“They’ll have heard us,” Kagami said grimly. “Might as well see them coming.”

 

Kagami stood up, standing over Aomine and Kuroko defensively.

 

“The footsteps sound human,” Aomine said, his voice strained from the pain.

 

Kagami nodded in agreement as the shape of a human figure came out of the darkness, reaching the edges of the light in their cave.

 

Human didn’t necessarily mean that the person coming towards them wasn’t possessed by a demon, but it did mean they probably weren’t going to be immediately facing down a roaring mindless beast of the kind that was rampaging outside.

 

The figure was wearing dark red robes, tightly wrapped around their body. The hood was drawn up, with cloth wrapped around the lower part of their face.

 

“Show yourself!” Kagami called out.

 

The figure stopped.

 

“Take off your mask, or I’ll cut you down where you stand.”

 

“There’s no need for that,” A masculine voice said. “It is good to see you made it this far, not that I was worried about you.”

 

The figure pulled down the red hood, revealing green hair, darkened by soot but the color unmistakable, and two clear green eyes.

 

“Hello.”

 

“Midorima?”

 

“Yes, it is I,” Midorima said, removing the cloth mask. His face underneath was covered in blood. It had been smeared over every empty bit of skin Midorima could reach, obviously in a hurry.

 

“What the hell is that?!”

 

“I would think that you would be able to recognize what is obviously blood.”

 

“I knew that!” Kagami shouted. “Why is it on your face?”

 

“This was the only way I could think of to escape the notice of the demons. They smell the magic in our blood, so I covered myself in the blood of one of my comrades. I hoped it would cover the scent enough that they would pass me by. I was correct.”

 

Kagami winced.

 

“Whose blood is it?” Kagami asked.

 

Midorima just glared, and Kagami had the sinking realization that it was probably that of one of Midorima’s teammates, and he felt like shit all over again.

 

“I’m sorry,” he said.

 

“I am too,” Midorima said seriously. “But we have to move if we do not wish to share his fate.”

 

“I’m not going anywhere like this,” Aomine admitted, nodding to his mangled leg.

 

“Are you a wizard or not?” Midorima asked contemptuously. “You always did neglect the more subtle and important parts of dueling. Someone who cannot heal their own injuries is a liability in the dueling arena and the battlefield. Akashi, or at least Imayoshi, should have seen through your shortcomings well enough to drill some basics into you. You are a disgrace.”

 

Aomine laughed again.

 

“Man, it is really fucking good to see you again,” he said hoarsely. “I missed your shitty attitude and your worse lectures.”

 

“Hmf,” Midorima said, rolling up his sleeves. “You are a stubborn fool. All three of you.”

 

“It’s okay to say that you missed Aomine,” Kuroko deadpanned. “I missed you and Aomine both.”

 

Midorima huffed, unimpressed.

 

“Move over, both of you,” Midorima said, making Kagami and Kuroko move back a few steps to give him room to take a look at Aomine’s leg, each holding one of the Gryffindor’s hands.

 

It really was very bad.

 

Midorima didn’t even react to the sight. Kuroko supposed that he’d probably seen significantly worse on the surface.

 

Midorima cut the fabric of Aomine’s pants, using magic to vanish it so that he could have clean access to the wound.

 

“This will hurt,” Midorima said. “Brace yourself.”

 

Aomine grit his teeth.

 

“Do what you gotta do,” he said. “I’ve had worse.”

 

Midorima chuckled.

 

“As a single break, I know for a fact that you have not,” he said with a small twist to the edge of his lips. “Now be still.”

 

The wound glowed green, the bright verdant color of Midorima’s true power.

 

Then, with a sickening, terrible _snap,_ the bone jerked back into place.

 

Aomine screamed.

 

“Hold him still,” Midorima said. “I have to concentrate and I don’t want to heal skin into his marrow.”

 

Kagami obliged, and Kuroko held onto Aomine’s hand all the tighter.

 

The skin of Aomine’s leg knit itself back together above the now set break. Dark green fire burned over the wound, stitching skin and blood vessels, and holding together the bone under the surface.

 

Aomine winced, but the hard part was over now. He was covered in sweat and looked a little green, especially in the light of Midorima’s magic, but his complexion was much improved and he seemed a lot more aware than before, without the pain cutting through his concentration.

 

Midorima pulled back, and Aomine experimentally flexed his foot, testing how much of the damage Midorima had been able to heal for him.

 

“Under normal circumstances, I would have you remain still for at least an hour, but I do not believe that is advisable under the circumstances,” Midorima said. “You leg can be re-healed with little long term consequence, but your life is unfortunately irreplaceable if we are found by demons.”

 

“Yeah, we need to get moving,” Aomine said. He grabbed onto the rock of the wall beside him and started pulling himself up. Kagami scrambled to help him, but Aomine waved him off.

 

“You’re good at this,” Aomine said, after taking a few slightly unsteady steps. “I can hardly feel it.”

 

“Yeah well, tomorrow you’re going to hurt,” Midorima said, pushing his glasses up his face. “And that’s a guarantee.”

 

Unsaid was Midorima’s implicit promise: _There will be a tomorrow for you to feel this._

 

“Are you in any other pain?” Midorima asked.

 

“Kise did a number on my chest with my own damn lightning, and he treated my shoulder with the delicacy of a potato peeler, but-”

 

Midorima’s eyes were already glowing green. Aomine sighed in relief as he felt the skin grow back and heal on the back of his shoulder. He rolled it experimentally, feeling almost no pain from the high of the magical healing.

 

He was actually feeling pretty optimistic about their chances at the moment.

 

“Thanks,” he said.

 

“It is my duty as your former teammate, nothing more,” Midorima said, flushing at the praise once again. Kuroko was gratified to see that as much as the end of the world sucked, some things never changed.

 

“So it’s the four of us against an army of demons,” Aomine grinned. “Exactly how I wanted to go out. I say we get to the surface and take down as many of them as we can. Bakagami, you take the over, I’ll go under, and we’ll meet in the middle? Tetsu and Midorima can cover us for as long as they can.”

 

“I’m not your _cover_ ,” Midorima hissed contemptuously.

 

“And you four are not alone.”

 

All four of the wizards turned, facing the figure of Akashi Seijuro.

 

Kagami immediately stepped in front of the others again, hands held out in an offensive gesture. Fire burned in his hands, bright and clear. He was ready to fight, to defend the people he loved (and Midorima too).

 

“Peace, Kagami Taiga.”

 

Akashi’s voice was even, if strained. His eyes were fixed on the redhead’s hands, and he stood entirely still, not giving the other man an excuse to attack.

 

“I am not here to hurt you. In fact, quite the opposite.”

 

Kagami snorted.

 

“Yeah right,” he said. “You’ll excuse me if I don’t believe you. My personal experience is telling me otherwise.”

 

“Believe what you wish, by all means,” Akashi said, stepping further into the light. “But I am Akashi Seijuro.”

 

_Of course, I am Akashi Seijuro. Your captain._

 

The words were not as smug this time around. It was not the sharply edged barb it had been in the training room after the fight with Murasakibara. This was the earnest boy that had come to Kuroko in the library that afternoon at the beginning of fourth year, offering an invisible outcast the world, not the monster that had crawled inside him and made itself at home.

 

This pronouncement was greeted with silence.

 

“Tetsu, it’s really him?” Aomine asked warily, not standing down.

 

Kuroko was staring at Akashi with eyes that shone in the firelight. Akashi’s eyes were both red. Behind them, all Kuroko could see was the human soul that had driven Akashi to desperate ends to save the people he cared most about.

 

There was no trace of any demon left inside of him.

 

“Yes.”

 

Kagami’s face broke out in a smile, his wand falling to his side.

 

“Damn, it’s good to see you man. You’re a giant bag of dicks on a good day, but if we’re gonna take down demons, I’d rather do it with someone with serious firepower on our side.”

 

Akashi grimaced.

 

“It is… good… to be myself again,” Akashi admitted. “I have brought reinforcements.”

 

Akashi’s presence had obscured notice of anything or anyone else, but looking around, Kagami saw Murasakibara and Kise behind Akashi.

 

“Hey,” Kise said, raising a hand. He was soaked with dark black blood. There was a hollow expression in his eyes.

 

Murasakibara was spotless in comparison, but he had straightened to his entire height instead of his usual slouch and seemed much grimmer and more intense than usual.

 

“Hey Kise,” Aomine broke the silence. “Finally broke a sweat in the dueling arena chasing after me, huh?”

 

Kuroko wanted to bury his face in the palm of his hand as Kise turned pink and started apologizing to the blue haired wizard.

 

Speaking of things staying the same… it seemed this part of Aomine would literally never not be an asshole either.

 

Kuroko laughed.

 

All of the wizards around him in the cave stopped and stared at the wizard laughing, holding himself up on the wall of the cave.

 

“Uh, you alright there, Kuroko?” Kagami asked uncertainly.

 

“I should be surprised that Aomine and Kise can still fight through the end of the world, but I’m not,” Kuroko explained when he finally stopped laughing.

 

Kagami chuckled.

 

“Ain’t the end of the world yet,” he said. “It’s only the end of the world when there’s nobody left to say it.”

 

“Well said,” Akashi said. “And hopefully we can prevent things from getting much worse. We need to close the gate, hopefully with all the demons on the other side.”

 

Kagami felt a flash of anger. His temper, frayed thin from fighting, from the fear that he had been so close to losing everyone he cared about, finally snapped.

 

“Who the hell put you in charge?”

 

“I thought even you would see the wisdom in-”

 

“This is all your fault, so don’t lecture me about wisdom!”

 

Akashi stared down Kagami for a long few seconds. The atmosphere in the cave was tense, but astonishingly, it was Akashi who backed down.

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

The words had the resignation and relief of confession.

 

Akashi didn’t deserve the relief of being forgiven for what he had done. It was that sense of self castigation that caused him to push forward.

 

If his friends were going to hate him, they might as well hate him for everything he’d done. Akashi couldn’t keep secrets any more.

 

“I apologize,” he said. “I fear that my confession will bring division we may not need, but I do not believe it is fair to obscure the truth any longer,” Akashi said. “I do not ask for your forgiveness, only that you extract your vengeance once I have had the chance to right the greater wrong I have committed in nearly ending the world.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Kagami demanded.

 

Akashi grimaced.

 

“I stumbled upon a cache of research in my father’s library,” he said. “That was what brought me to the conclusion that the best way of securing the power I need to create these defenses was through possession.”

 

“Akashicchi, we know that-”

 

“I chose the demon carefully,” Akashi said. “Vepar, the lord of the reaching river. His magic was stronger than nearly any other demon, and I believed that his power would shore the defenses against his own kind. I aimed to fight their fire with their own fire. I miscalculated.”

 

“No shit,” Aomine agreed. Akashi sighed, and held up his hands.

 

“I apologize,” he said, looking uncharacteristically nervous. “I find myself stalling in an attempt to prevent myself from saying it in plain terms. To call Vepar into this world and welcome his possession, I needed to make a human sacrifice. I needed their blood – all of it.”

 

Silence fell at this admission of murder. Even if every other death could be attributed to the control of the demon, this was premeditated homicide. Akashi had been half crazy with the need to do _something_ to protect them, but who-

 

“Who was it?”

 

Akashi found himself unable to look Kuroko in the eye. He forced himself to raise his head. He could not avoid this. He deserved every bit of Kuroko’s wrath, and dancing around the question would fix nothing.

 

“Ogiwara Shigehiro.”

 

The name was met with heavy silence as the Generation of Miracles processed this piece of information.

 

Kagami was the first to react.

 

“What the hell?”

 

“I make no excuses for the horrendous crimes I have committed.”

 

Somehow, that calm resignation and acceptance was fucking worse than Akashi trying to make excuses. Kuroko wasn’t familiar with the rage that rose like bile in his throat, had never felt anything that burned quite this much in his blood, but he felt the sudden, overwhelming need to destroy something, anything, to _make_ Akashi pay even if he was already “sorry” for what he had done.

 

Kuroko walked up to Akashi.

 

With a sound like a crack of thunder, Kuroko slapped the other wizard.

 

Akashi didn’t raise a hand to defend himself.

 

Nobody else did either.

 

Akashi didn’t defend himself when Kuroko slapped him on the other side of his face.

 

He stood there, arms limp at his sides when Kuroko punched him in the jaw. It was Kise who ran forward when he realized that Kuroko had no intention of stopping.

 

“Kurokocchi!”

 

“HE KILLED SHIGE!”

 

Kuroko’s voice did not sound like his own, not even to himself. If anything, he sounded more like a wounded animal than a person, his throat raw from the harsh sound he’d forced through it.

 

Kise wrestled Kuroko away with some difficulty.

 

“Kurokocchi, you have to stop, he’s our only chance at making it out of here alive!”

 

Kuroko seethed, breathing hard, his eyes wide with fury.

 

“He’s the only way Kagamicchi and Aominecchi are going to live to see tomorrow.”

 

Kuroko was still furious. He hated that Kise was probably right, but he wanted Akashi to _pay._

 

“Why did you do it?” he demanded.

 

Akashi bowed his head, not moving from the ground.

 

“Does it matter any more?” he asked.

 

“To me, yes,” Kuroko snarled. “Tell me.”

 

Akashi shook his head.

 

“It won’t help your anger,” he said. “I will not excuse what I have done. If you need to kill me for my penance, I will allow you to do whatever you feel is just in payment.”

 

Kuroko felt disgust well in his chest.

 

Akashi didn’t deserve forgiveness.

 

He didn’t deserve to be absolved.

 

“Get up,” he said.

 

Akashi did so, bracing himself as if he was expecting Kuroko to hit him again. The fact that he was perfectly willing to take whatever Kuroko intended to do immediately curbed the urge to engage in more physical violence.

 

Kuroko wasn’t going to let Akashi absolve himself so easily as by taking a beating.

 

“I might have forgiven you,” he said, his voice cold as ice. “For the demons, for everything that happened in school, for treating Kagami like crap, but only because he wouldn’t let me hold a grudge on his behalf, for kidnapping me, and if Aomine wanted me to, even the hurt you inflicted on him.”

 

Akashi flinched at each item, and Kuroko hated that he was taking responsibility for it, denying Kuroko the satisfaction of rubbing his face in the long list of ways Akashi had either fucked up colossally or deliberately hurt them.

 

It was Kuroko’s fault Ogiwara had been a target. Hadn’t it been for “Kuroko’s sake” that the Generation of Miracles had harmed Ogiwara?

 

For the same reason, Akashi had set Haizaki to terrorize Kuroko’s fellow Hufflepuffs to drive a wedge between them, because Akashi had wanted Kuroko for himself and didn’t know how to share, as though Kuroko were some kind of possession.

 

In the end, Kuroko was fully aware that whatever reason Akashi had committed the act, it had been his fault that Ogiwara was on Akashi’s radar in the first place.

 

_Shige._

 

Kuroko wanted to scream, frustration welling up in his chest and blocking his throat.

 

“Go to hell,” he said, barely managing to form the words with his lips. He was shaking so badly, but he needed to be away from this man right now.

 

He turned and strode further into the cave.

 

There was a beat of silence.

 

“Holy shit, Akashi-cchi, you fucked up.”

 

“I am aware,” Akashi said, wiping his forehead.

 

“Then you shouldn’t have done it!” Kagami snarled, before turning to run after Kuroko.

 

“What he said,” Aomine said, jerking his head behind him before striding more deliberately after the two of them, his leg still stiff from the healing.

 

“You deserve that,” Midorima sniffed, unmoving from the other side of the room. “For the record.”

 

He’d been happy to let Kuroko beat the shit out of Akashi if he wanted to, because gods knew the rest of them wouldn’t do it.

 

Maybe if they’d gotten better at saying no to Akashi when they were still in school, none of this would have happened.

 

Maybe, maybe, maybe.

 

Midorima knew how it was all too easy to let oneself be driven to insanity by potentialities. All they truly had was the world in front of them, and regret at the movements of the past or fear for the future would not change the danger they faced presently.

 

“I know,” Akashi said roughly.

 

…

 

Kuroko was incredibly grateful. Neither of his Lights said anything as they joined him. They sat on either side of him, taking one of his hands in each of their own.

 

Kuroko drew his knees up to his chest, and for the first time in a long time, he let himself cry.

 

The three wizards sat together for a long time. Kagami and Aomine stayed with Kuroko until he was red eyed, but no longer shaking, ready to face the reality that was the demon apocalypse.

 

“We should help them figure out what we’re going to do,” Aomine said finally, when he’d heard Kuroko’s breathing even out for long enough that he knew Kuroko had pulled himself back together. Kuroko nodded but didn’t raise his head.

 

“Go help them, both of you,” he said, his voice muffled where his face was pointed towards his lap rather than at the two of them. “I need a bit more time.”

 

Both wizards hesitated.

 

“We need to come up with a plan to close the portal and end this,” Kuroko said, not looking up. “They need you. I’ll be right there.”

 

Aomine nodded.

 

“We’re only a few yards away,” he said in a low voice. “If you need us-”

 

“I’ll come get you.”

 

Kuroko raised his head. His eyes were red from the tears, but he looked significantly more calm. He smiled gently at Aomine, and then Kagami.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “When this is over…”

 

Kuroko sighed.

 

“This can be dealt with when we are safe,” he said instead. “We need to focus on surviving first.”

 

“Your emotions are important,” Kagami said gently, and Kuroko felt a surge of affection for the other man.

 

“In this one case,” Kuroko said, “I think a deferred emotional debrief would be acceptable.”

 

“Just this once,” Kagami allowed, leaning in. “May I kiss you?”

 

Kuroko nodded, and let Kagami kiss him. He turned to Aomine expectantly, who smiled as though it wasn’t the end of the world.

 

“You’re gonna be the death of me, Tetsu,” he said, kissing Kuroko just as thoroughly as Kagami.

 

“I hope not,” Kuroko said sternly, and Aomine’s smile faded a little.

 

“We’ll be right over there,” he repeated, and Kuroko nodded.

 

His two Lights rose. Both of them were scowling by the time they returned to the main group of the Miracles.

 

Akashi and Midorima had set to planning almost immediately, and welcomed the two wizards back, vigorously arguing about how best to close the gate.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath in and exhaled, practicing the emotional control he’d mastered while still in school.

 

For a moment, Kuroko had half expected to see black lines running down his arms as he struggled with his anger, but he knew that the spell had long since been removed. Just one more way in which Akashi had hurt Kuroko, that time without even trying.

 

Kuroko found himself unable to quell the fury inside of himself.

 

He tried to occupy his thoughts with plans of his own. When they left the caves, he would need to fight. They needed his wand and his magic, but Kuroko still had no idea what damage he could do.

 

After all, he couldn’t burn or freeze or cut the demons like his much more powerful friends.

 

But he wasn’t helpless.

 

Kuroko remembered what had happened when he had crushed the demon with his power.

 

_I am the void._

 

He’d crushed it out of existence and nearly burned down the whole city block.

 

Well, Akashi had made this mountain range with the death of his friend; Kuroko was just going to have to level it. He wasn’t sorry about it.

 

He flexed his hands.

 

The real question was, did he have the power?

 

Well, Kuroko knew one person he could ask, but he had no idea how he’d managed to get in contact with the wizard to begin with, let alone how to do so again.

 

Given that the only time Kuroko had managed to speak to Merlin so far was when he was in the demon realm, Kuroko was not exactly eager to repeat that initial experiment. Especially not with time running so short on them.

 

How did one go about summoning the greatest wizard of all time, who apparently spent way too much time on the muggle internet due to the boredom of his afterlife?

 

Well, Merlin hadn’t _actually_ been in the demon realm, Kuroko thought, absently drawing concentric circles on the ground in the dirt as he tried to reason through his puzzle.

 

What had Merlin said? It was all going on in his head? Did that mean Merlin was possessing him right now?

 

Kuroko shuddered at the thought. No, maybe it just meant that the demonic magic in his core was tied to the magic Merlin himself wielded. It could work like family magic – it bound generations by blood, no matter how much time passed between them. And the manifestation of this particular kind of talent was so rare.

 

Feeling very silly, Kuroko closed his eyes.

 

_Merlin? Are you in there?_

 

“Yo, homeslice! You found me!”

 

Kuroko started in surprise when he realized he’d heard the words with his ears, and not echoing inside his head as he’d hoped. Standing in front of him, still glowing softly, was Merlin.

 

Kuroko stared at the outrageously dressed wizard. This time his shirt had a chimpanzee wearing a pair of sunglasses throwing up a peace sign. It was sitting in space.

 

Kuroko was beginning to get the feeling that just looking at this wizard’s attire was meant to induce a seizure. Maybe that was how Merlin actually got rid of all the demons – they physically couldn’t look at him without having their eyes burn out of their skulls.

 

Well if that was the case, Kuroko was not sure he would be up to the task.

 

“I did,” Kuroko said. “Won’t they hear you?”

 

But even as the worry occurred to Kuroko, he glanced over to see that the Miracles and Kagami were frozen where they stood, completely arrested mid motion.

 

“Handy little trick,” Merlin said, wiggling his fingers.

 

“Now, tell me what’s going on in that little blue head of yours?” Merlin asked, reaching forward and ruffling Kuroko’s hair. Kuroko made a face – he was a grown adult, nobody had any business ruffling his hair like that, and he hadn’t liked it when people (mostly Murasakibara) had done it even when he was in school.

 

“Can I do it?”

 

Merlin, thankfully, didn’t waste time pretending he didn’t know what Kuroko was talking about. He met Kuroko’s deadpan stare evenly, considering the younger wizard.

 

“Well, it’ll work,” Merlin said finally. “I don’t know what it would do to you. You’re gonna be at the center of one big bomb.”

 

“I had guessed that.”

 

“You might go boom yourself. That’s _if_ you can avoid turning yourself into a void that swallows the entire planet.”

 

“Do I have the power to do it?” Kuroko asked. “Without doing what you said, turning into a void and swallowing the planet?”

 

Merlin sighed.

 

“It ain’t about _power_ kid,” he said. “Ok, simple explanation. Mass attracts mass. Magically speaking, you’re like… a super dense, but very small object. Like a black hole. Proper magic can’t really sense you because it either moves around you or gets sucked in. But because you retain mass, it’s hard for you to expel it. You don’t need all that much power; once you have a few demons in your grip, the rest will follow. The trick will be letting go at just the right moment for the explosion to rebound.”

 

So it would work.

 

That was all Kuroko needed to know. Crush a few demons, let the pressure of his magic build until it pulled in every hellfiend crawling the Earth.

 

One shot, and they could end this all once his friends closed the gate.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes and fought down the sadness and fury and unfairness that he would have to be the one to take the risk. It wasn’t worth dwelling on it. There was no other choice.

 

“Sorry you got dealt a real raw pair of snake eyes,” Merlin said, his sage nod offset by his cat ear headband. “I’d say come and blaze it with me if things get fucked sideways like it’s an MTV sex tape, but I think you’re gonna be ready to move on once you get here.”

 

Kuroko nodded, barely processing what Merlin was saying.

 

Move on.

 

Right.

 

He’d fucking told Akashi he was going to die for his mad plans.

 

“Thank you,” he said. “For telling me the truth. For helping me save them.”

 

Merlin patted him on the shoulder.

 

“Hey, it’s not so bad, dying like this,” he gestured around him. “If you’re lucky enough, you get to live on as a legend. Hell, most wizards swear by my y-fronts and that’s pretty fucking rad. Name a more iconic pair.”

 

Kuroko smiled, even if the words made him feel even more empty.

 

He was going to hurt his friends with this, he knew it.

 

“I’m rooting for you man, you should know that,” Merlin said. “I hope everything works out. Especially since you just managed to work out this whole center of a sexy bara sandwich you’ve got going on, and it’s pretty top fucking notch, I didn’t take you for the type, but _damn_ kid you’re tearing it up-”

 

“Thank you, Merlin,” Kuroko said with as much finality as he could draw into his voice. By the Fates, he did _not_ want to talk about his sex life with the ghost of Merlin.

 

“Fair enough,” Merlin said with a wink. “See you on the other side, K-dawg.”

 

Merlin shimmered and vanished.

 

Kuroko stared at the spot where the seemingly all-powerful wizard once stood and shook his head.

 

Well, that meant that there really was only one way to stop the end of the world.

 

Kuroko’s expression did not change as this registered with him.

 

This was going to hurt.

 

He would try his best to survive. He wanted to live. He wanted the promise of the relationship with his Lights and the happiness they had given him for the short time they had been together. He wanted to wake up next to them, to watch Kagami puttering around the kitchen making breakfast, to duel with Aomine, to live…

 

But in the back of his mind, Kuroko had made his peace with the fact that he probably wasn’t going to get that kind of a happy ending. He wasn’t that kind of a wizard, not some hero from a fairytale.

 

This wasn’t that kind of a story.

 

…

 

Kuroko found Midorima by the back of the cave. The green haired wizard was watching the fire burn, his eyes fixed on the flickering dance of the flames, not actually seeing what was in front of him.

 

Kuroko cleared his throat. When the other man did not register Kuroko’s presence, he tried again.

 

“Midorima.”

 

The former Ravenclaw finally looked up. He looked a little lost, like he wasn’t quite sure how to arrange his face again, after being possessed for so long.

 

Kuroko sat down next to his friend, a blank expression fixed on his face.

 

“Takao is alive,” Kuroko said. “Or he was, when the battle started. I saw him on the other side of the mountain.”  


Midorima nodded sharply.

 

“I am aware,” he said. “I saw him… but only briefly. There was little opportunity to speak to him. I had suspected. I wouldn’t even know that much if you had not ripped Marbas out of me.”

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

They both sat staring at the fire, Kuroko letting the burning swirl of emotions subside. He was glad that Takao had seemingly survived at least as far as they knew. The wizard was highly competent, and Kuroko had his suspicions that the other wizard might have a drop of the same demonic influence that apparently pervaded Kuroko’s own magic.

 

That thought only brought Kuroko back to the grim reason he had sought Midorima out in the first place.

 

“You know how this ends.”

 

Kuroko didn’t have to ask. He’d seen it in Midorima’s eyes since they had met up in the caves. Even if he hadn’t known Midorima was prescient, it was obvious  that Midorima knew exactly how this was going to end, and that it would not do so happily.

 

“I do. If we close the seal, we still have to hunt down and kill every demon on Earth, and we’ll be dead before that happens. Unfortunately, Akashi is right; the only way to close the gate is to make sure all of the demons are on the other side when we do. We need to to push the demons through the gate before it can be closed."

 

 

Kuroko nodded. His hand clenched in impotent frustration on his thigh.

 

"And if I can't? When the only option left is one that will kill me?"

 

What was he to do except what he had to in order to save the world? The look on Midorima's face told him everything. He would do what he had to. Whatever they had planned, however Akashi thought Kuroko was going to be able to push the demons through the portal, their best chance at survival was still Kuroko's private plan B. 

 

“I told him,” he said uselessly after a long moment of silence. It felt like whining; pointless and pyrrhic and empty.  “I told him what would happen, and he didn’t listen to me.”

 

It was all the self-pity he would allow himself. If Kuroko were to rage and scream and let the anger and sorrow and unfairness of it all overwhelm him, there would be nothing left of him. Worse, there would be no way he could do what was necessary. With that in mind, he declined to engage in such theatrics.

 

“I know,” Midorima said shortly. “If it is any consolation, you may join the club; my advice to him was hardly heeded in substance either. I am sorry that it has come to this.”

 

Kuroko idly wondered exactly how long the green haired man had known Kuroko’s fate. Had he seen it when he had watched the rest of the world burn? Had he known in Hogwarts? Or had the truth of the situation only recently occurred to him?

 

“Then may I count on you to aid me, and do what must be done? We have had our differences in the past, but this is different.”

 

Midorima inclined his head.

 

“For the record,” he said roughly, clearing his throat, “I wish that Fate had chosen another. Any other, myself included. I am sorry that it has fallen to you to clean up after the mistakes that we repeatedly made, but I am very thankful that you are here to do so.”

 

Kuroko considered his friend.

 

“The first day you sat next to me in Ancient Runes, I knew that an unlucky fate followed you,” Midorima continued. Kuroko didn’t know why his friend was in such a talkative mood, but if there was something the other wizard needed to get off his chest, Kuroko would let him.

 

This might be their last chance to let bygones be bygones and clear the air between them, after all.

 

“I felt the doom over your head like a physical presence, and I lied to you,” Midorima said. “There is nothing about who we are or were that was ever incompatible. Cancer and Aquarius, as water signs, are brothers under the same sky. To banish and to build from nothing are two sides of the same coin. In the way that your misdirection is the mirror reflection of Kise, your Warding is the opposite of my own. In another world, in another life…”

 

“Perhaps two different men with two different fates,” Kuroko finished in understanding. A Kuroko Tetsuya who had never lost his first Light so suddenly, who had never been doomed to fight a war to save himself might have found his life partner in a different Midorima Shintarou; one not burdened with the knowledge that humanity stood on the precipice of annihilation.

 

Perhaps a Kuroko Tetsuya somewhere that did not have Kuroko’s own horrible destiny hanging over his head was someone another Midorima Shintarou could have trusted at the outset not to break his heart, even inadvertently.

 

Kuroko had a moment of profound pity for the man next to him, doomed to know from the start how and when each person he met would betray and take advantage of the connection they were to form. He’d been doomed from the age of fifteen to know when and how his own classmates would die.

 

The knowledge of the future was terrible. Kuroko couldn’t imagine having that kind of heavy burden, but he was only now beginning to understand how much of a toll that gift had taken on Midorima.

 

When Midorima spoke again, his voice was almost as void of emotion as Kuroko’s.

 

“I have tried so hard to protect the people I love.”

 

“I know.”

 

“I tried so hard to protect myself, as selfish as that may sound.”

 

If Midorima’s voice wavered as he spoke, Kuroko was far too polite to mention it.

 

“I know that too.”

 

“I am sorry that I ever let you believe that I did not care.”

 

Kuroko offered his once teammate a small smile.

 

“Midorima is as transparent as glass,” Kuroko said bluntly. “Everyone knows that you act like an ass to everyone because you are scared what showing how much you care will get you. I am glad you have Takao to keep you honest.”

 

Midorima sputtered.

 

“Please protect Kagami and Aomine,” Kuroko said. “They will not understand. They’re going to be confused, angry. Hurt. They are destined for something greater than this, they have to keep going.”

 

Midorima scoffed.

 

“Greater than saving the world? I fear that if there are any ‘great destinies’ left for any of us to fulfill, we will not survive them.”

 

Kuroko put a hand on his friend’s shoulder.

 

“Living, Midorima. Dying is easy. They are better suited to living on than dying today as martyrs.”

 

“I could say the same for you.”

 

Kuroko hummed noncommittally.

 

“They are going to hate me,” Midorima said. “Just for knowing your intentions.”

 

“Probably.”

 

Kuroko did not look particularly bothered by this pronouncement. If Aomine and Kagami’s hatred was the only price Midorima paid for his own part in what had happened to the world (to Ogiwara Shigehiro, too), Kuroko thought he would be getting off easy. Forgiveness came easier than forgetting, when it came to his fury.

 

Midorima sighed.

 

“Perhaps our next lives will be luckier than the ones we are living now,” Kuroko said after a long time. “It is possible that I will see you again, someday.”

 

“Yes well, as Akashi would say, in this life, we were born to make history,” Midorima said mockingly. “We cannot help but accept the times and challenges that fate has graced us with.”

 

“I just hope that the history textbooks don’t leave out the fact that all five of you were the worst assholes of all time when they talk about how you saved the world.”

 

Midorima shouted in outrage, but Kuroko was already gone.

 

“Impertinent brat.”

 

And if Midorima’s hands were shaking, well. He could be excused his fear.

 

If all of the Miracles survived the next twenty-four hours, they would be competing with each other to see which of them would be the first to be able to separate Midorima’s head from the rest of his body.

 

They would have expected Midorima to do something to stop this, or at the very least to warn them, but there was nothing left to do. For once, Midorima was going to let Fate play its hand without intervention.

 

After all, if Kuroko’s destiny was to die to save the world, could Midorima really trade the lives of every person on the planet to save just one?

 

He knew that some magic demanded sacrifice. Perhaps this was just the price that needed to be paid for ridding the world of demons, and Midorima had no business stopping it.

 

Gods all damn him though, he wanted to. He wanted to be selfish and petty and damn everyone else straight to hell.

 

If it had been in his hands, if it had been his choice, he would have.

 

It was probably a very good thing for the world that decision was not, then, left to Midorima Shintarou.

 

…

 


	62. By All Known Laws Of Aviation And Physics There Is No Reason A Black Hole Would Function Like This (The King Is Dead Long Live The Queen)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> With the posting of this chapter, Wise Man's Fear will officially cross the 600k mark, and become the longest fan fiction in the fandom! Thats pretty darned cool you guys. 
> 
> So here we are. This is the *explosive* climax of Arc III and of this fan fiction! I hope that you will find this and my final chapter worth the hike to get here. I'm not trying to do some Lost level lack of payoff bullshit here. I won't bore you with any more housekeeping, only to beg that you remember this is *not* the final chapter when you get to the end.
> 
> I love all you guys.

 

…

 

The Miracles gathered in the caves underneath the remains of Akashi’s fortress. They had recovered as much as they were able. Aomine’s badly broken leg would take his weight, at least enough for him to be able to run and fight. Midorima had recovered from the overuse of magical energy from healing them.

 

Midorima had been scrawling numbers onto parchment for the better part of an hour, arguing with Akashi about numerology and the structure of the spell to close the portal once Kuroko pushed the demons through. Akashi had taken on some of his former liveliness in the academic debate, but they had now moved to the point where they were discussing themselves to death and Midorima was more than satisfied that the arithmancy would check out.

 

The plan was as simple as the execution was hellishly difficult. The Miracles would hold the demons back as Kuroko pushed their opponents through the portal. Akashi and Midorima would act as the main focus to close the portal behind them.

 

Midorima had kept to himself the suspicion that Kuroko had shared with him - that Kuroko’s power would be insufficient to do what had to be done, and they might have to take a more drastic, but easier road.

 

He prayed with all his heart it wouldn’t come to that, for all of their sakes. 

 

But with each angle of their plan figured out and their bodies and magic replenished as much as could reasonably be expected, the Miracles could delay no longer, no matter their churning dread at what awaited them.

 

Every moment of needless delay might be another death on their hands. 

 

The silence between them stretched out like a cavern and they were so afraid for the people who might not have made it. Nobody speculated as to which of their friends might have already died, which of them might even now be fighting for their lives while they prepared to lay siege to the portal. 

 

It was time to dive right back into the fray and finish what they had started.

 

“Let’s fucking finish this,” Aomine said.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“We are cancelling the apocalypse,” Kagami said with a grin.

 

“How very pithy and poetic,” Midorima observed.

 

Kise snorted.

 

“It’s from a movie,” he said, grinning widely as Kagami glared at him for outing his secret. “It’s a muggle thing. Kagami just ripped off Pacific Rim, battling fake CGI kaiju while we’re going go fight some real monsters.”

 

“A movie?” Akashi asked, sounding interested.

 

“CGI kaiju?” Midorima said softly at the same time, looking torn between curiosity and frustration.

 

“I’ll get us a monster movie playlist,” Kise said too lightly, not looking at Akashi. “When we survive the end of the world we can binge it.”

 

“I think when we’re done here I will have had more than enough of monsters and apocalypses,” Midorima said faintly.

 

“Me too, Mido-chin,” Murasakibara said firmly. Midorima smiled at him thinly.

 

“Well, then let's go cancel the apocalypse,” he said, and Kagami snorted.

 

“Yeah, let's sucker punch these assholes,” he agreed, not even mad that Midorima had used his borrowed phrase for himself.

 

They could no longer hide down in these caves and wait. It was time to confront their demonic invaders.

 

…

 

Akashi led them through the caves. It was mostly silent, but for the sound of their footsteps on the freezing ground, the exhaling huff of breath, and the soft swish of fabric as they moved.

They moved with purpose, new energy having flooded them from the chance to rest. The knowledge that the nightmare might soon be over put new power in their steps.

 

Kuroko, for his part, just wanted this to be over and he wasn’t sure if he cared exactly how it was resolved.

 

He couldn’t look at Midorima, and Midorima wouldn’t look at him. Their conversation by the fire hung heavy in the air between them, and Kuroko didn’t really want to rehash it. He knew what he needed to know, which is that if the time came, Midorima wouldn’t hesitate to close the gate so that Kuroko could act.

 

Even Kagami, Kise, and Aomine, normally the boisterously loud members of the group, were eerily silent. Kise looked more focused than Kuroko could ever remember seeing him. It was a version of the look he’d had during the tournament, when Akashi kept lashing out at him.

 

Kagami was holding onto Aomine’s hand.

 

Kuroko was glad that they could provide comfort for each other. He was afraid to think that they might need it more than they thought all too soon.

 

Finally, Akashi stopped.

 

“This is the closest exterior wall of the tunnel system,” Akashi said. “As soon as we open this, we’ll be fighting for our lives.”

 

“I still say we should try and shield the entire way.”

 

Akashi sighed.

 

“Atsushi,” he said. “You are powerful, but we need you to conserve your strength for when we get to the circle. We can make it there before putting up shields.”

 

“We’re all gonna die,” Murasakibara said petulantly, but he didn’t raise the issue again.

 

“Everyone ready?” Kise asked brightly. When they all nodded, Kise raised his wand, pointing it at the wall.

 

“ _ Bombarda!” _

 

The wall exploded outwards. Rock and dust rained down outside.

 

“Let’s move!” Kise yelled.

 

Akashi took point, leading the way out of the tunnels.

 

They had been taking cover for most of the day, and the sun was low in the sky, almost gone. It had already passed below their view inside the caldera of the mountain, and the only reason they knew it was out at all was because they could still see the dimly lit sky.

 

Among the shadows, the demons prawled.

 

“They’re not huge fans of sunlight,” Akashi said. “The more powerful ones have already started to spread out beyond the mountain, and it looks for now like only the lesser shades are staying close. They’ll be cautious until it gets darker or their more dangerous bosses come back.”

 

Cautious, but still able and willing to attack. The lesser shades were hiding in the shadows, but the ones with more defined features sneered and growled at them, wandering closer than the others.

 

“Stay watchful,” Kise advised unnecessarily.

 

“No shit,” Aomine snorted. His weapon was back in his hand, the iron glaive a heavy and comforting weight.

 

They were about half a mile up from the rim of the portal, which was thankfully quiet for now. Kuroko eyed their path down uncertainly, wondering how quickly they could truly clear the distance.

 

“Move,” Midorima said shortly, and they started walking. Haste was making their movements jerky and uncoordinated.

 

Only Kise seemed unruffled. He was setting their pace from behind Akashi. His eyes were constantly in motion, moving between his friends and scanning the area around them for oncoming threats.

 

Murasakibara stayed by Akashi’s side, probably sensing that if it were left up to any of the other Miracles, any trouble that befell Akashi would have to be faced alone.

 

They made slow progress down the steep slope of the mountain. They were about halfway there when trouble found them.

 

There was a massive screech overhead, echoing eerily in the silence. Before Murasakibara could do anything, the demon swooped down, taking a huge bite out of Akashi’s side in the process, slamming him back against the rocks.

 

“Akashi!” Midorima shouted. His eyes went wide.

 

The first thought that went through his head was not concern for the boy who had been his friend for years, it was that he couldn’t take apart the portal on his own.

 

If Akashi died, they wouldn’t be able to finish the ritual without him.

 

The demon screeched again, and took flight. It soared high into the air, shaking Akashi around like a rag doll. From his viewpoint, Midorima couldn’t tell if Akashi was even still moving.

 

Murasakibara was the first of them to move. The massive war hammer was summoned to his hand before he could say anything.

 

When he jumped, he cleared the distance between himself and the demon in a single bound, leaving a trail of magic behind him as he did.

 

Murasakibara sailed through the air and sent out a whip of power, catching the demon around the neck with a bright purple cord of magic. His weight carried him up and around, and then he was sitting on the demon’s neck, hammer raised. He slammed it down, once, thrice, and then it finally released its birdlike jaw, letting Akashi fall from its fanged beak.

 

The demon, Murasakibara, and Akashi were headed downwards. Murasakibara grabbed hold of Akashi, and apparated.

 

The purple haired giant misjudged the distance by a few feet. As the bird continued to plummet, the two wizards reappeared three feet above the ground. They hit the ground hard as the demon landed in a pile of broken limbs, sending up a cloud of dust behind them.

 

Kuroko had hardly blinked between one moment and the next before Midorima was standing again, as though nothing had happened.

 

“That was annoying,” Murasakibara crumbled. “It should have known that I was going to crush it.”

 

“Indeed,” Midorima agreed, looking a little stunned.

 

“That was  _ awesome _ ,” Kagami said fervently.

 

“Agreed, Murasakibara-cchi, you were pretty great,” Kise agreed.

 

“I think Murasakibara looked very cool,” Kuroko intoned.

 

Murasakibara huffed as though more annoyed that they had been interrupted.

 

“Let’s remember Aka-chin is pretty hurt,” he said, turning to Akashi’s bloody form, which hadn’t moved after he hit the ground.

 

The purple haired wizard threw up a powerful shield protecting them, a thick layer of almost opaque magic. Kuroko almost couldn’t see through the magical barrier.

 

Kuroko felt the racing beat of his heart calm as he realized they were no longer in immediate danger. Beyond the protection of the shield, the huge monsters moved in indistinct shapes, their burning green eyes creating streaks of light that gave Kuroko a headache to follow through the distorted image as they moved.

 

The sound of the demons throwing themselves against Murasakibara’s shield continued as the six of them turned to Akashi frantically.

 

Kuroko was close enough to be the one to reach him first. He reached out shaking hands towards the worst source of blood – the jagged cuts in Akashi’s side from the demon’s teeth. He pulled off his cloak, pressing it into the wound to close the gaping hole and try to stem the flow of blood.

 

“Tetsuya, just leave me to die here,” Akashi said, blood spilling out onto the ground around him. His voice sounded extremely strained, and it was clear that it was costing him a lot just to try and convince Kuroko to let him bleed out on the rocky face of the mountain.

 

“No,” Kuroko replied stubbornly, pulling off his cloak and applying pressure to the wound, trying to stem the river of blood spouting from Akashi’s ribcage.

 

“You will live to pay for what you have done with every day of your life,” Kuroko said in the same stubborn tone. “You will not die here.”

 

“You’re cruel, Tetsu,” Aomine said. “Let the man die.”

 

“No.”

 

“Tetsu-”

 

“He _ murdered  _ Shige _.” _

 

“Enough,” Midorima snapped. “We can’t get out of here without Akashi. He’s the only one with the power to help us close the portal, so all of you need to move so that I can heal him. If he dies, it’s over. So if you want to die-”

 

“Shut up, all of you!” Murasakibara shouted. The power behind his words washed over them, startling the group into silence.

 

“Help Aka-chin,” Murasakibara ordered Midorima.

 

It was Aomine who looked most affronted at this, his lips already moving in an objection. He was furious that even after everything Akashi had done, Murasakibara could still take his side.

 

“Unless you know another wizard as powerful as Akashi who is knowledgeable enough about demonic runes to help me dismantle this portal,” Midorima said to Aomine, one eyebrow raised.

 

Aomine growled, but he acquiesced. Kuroko moved out of the way, letting Midorima take his place. He moved aside Kuroko’s cloak, and his hands paused right over Akashi’s chest as he seriously considered whether or not they could afford to let the other man die. He’d spoken before accepting his own belief in the preposition, too determined to keep them moving to consider what it might mean to leave Akashi here.

 

He could just let Akashi die.

 

The heavy, heady thought was all too tempting. It said a lot about how Midorima felt right now that he wasn’t a hundred percent sure he wouldn’t have done just that, if other people had not been present.

 

“Mido-chin, we don’t have  _ time. _ ”

 

And there was Murasakibara again, somehow the voice of sense and reason in this. Midorima had been contemplating cold-blooded murder while his friend was focused on making sure they saved the world.

 

The words pushed him into action.

 

Midorima’s soothing magic healed Akashi’s side, flesh and skin connecting and bonding as though they had never been broken, save for a nasty scar in the shape of a bite mark where the new skin met the old.

 

Midorima was sure he could have, with more concentration and power, healed the skin in a way that did not produce a scar, but this was not the time and place to experiment, nor did he have the magic to waste on a perfect healing when he was about to undertake one of the most complicated runic spell breakdowns he had ever encountered in his life. And in truth, Midorima wasn’t tripping over himself to do Akashi Seijuro any favors at the moment. As long as the redhead’s body could survive the magic he needed to channel through it, he would be fine.

 

It almost scared Midorima how willing he was to play God with Akashi’s life, but then again, he’d certainly been faced with enough offense at the hands of the man to desire retribution of his own.

 

He’d just never considered himself a vengeful sort. It was so petty and human an emotion it was almost more relieving than frightening.

 

Midorima was still adjusting to his body and mind being his own again, and it was painful going. He didn’t know how much of his anger was his own and how much was echoes of the demon, driving him to acts he would never have considered before.

 

He shivered.

 

“Can you hear me?” he asked Akashi. Akashi nodded.

 

“I can’t feel a thing,” he said.

 

“Well, that’s likely for the best,” Midorima said, unable to work any sympathy into his voice. “I sealed up quite a few of your internal organs.”

 

If Akashi survived to tomorrow – if none of the Miracles or demons managed to kill him – he would be in a world of hurt.

 

“Aka-chin,” Murasakibara said. “We need to go.”

 

Akashi closed his eyes and nodded.

 

“Alright, Atsushi,” he said, pushing himself up to test out the stiffness of newly healed skin. He didn’t want to touch it or look at it, or anything else. He didn’t want to know the extent of his injuries.

 

And then he laughed.

 

“The gods are laughing,” he said, in response to the blank expression on Midorima’s face. “That I, most deserving of death for what I have done get to live to take another breath while those who were unwilling pawns and unknowing victims suffer and bleed without salvation.”

 

“Their salvation is waiting on you getting your ass in gear,” Kagami commented, unimpressed. “Besides, what was that you were saying about the demons staying cautious until the sun set?”

 

Akashi stopped laughing, his expression growing more serious at Kagami’s point.

 

“Of course,” he said somberly. “But from here in perhaps we should maintain the shields, and make use of Tetsuya’s misdirection?”

 

The group agreed. Kuroko’s expression appeared impassive, but he was apprehensive. He’d never managed to cast his misdirection this widely before, but he had a much better handle on it than he had once had, and after all, he’d learned long ago how to refract his spells into many directions.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

He knew the second it worked, because the noise of demons attacking their shield stopped.

Kuroko opened his eyes, not aware that he had even closed them. He was surprised it had worked, but he wouldn’t allow his concentration to waver.

 

_ Just one big shadow, moving along the side of the mountain. No more substance than the play of darkness as the wind shifts through the tundra, stirring up snow. _

 

The sudden quiet was almost alarming after all of the noise. It was eerie.

 

Kuroko opened his eyes to see the distorted shadows of the demons, still prowling, but curious, not angry or attacking. The sun had fully set now, and it was dark. Still, the silhouettes of the demons were visible moving against the night.

 

“Tetsu, remind me never to piss you off ever again,” Aomine said, not moving as though if by doing so he would break the spell of Kuroko’s power.

 

“Maybe remember that the next time you steal my blankets,” Kuroko said, and Kagami snorted. 

 

“You tell him, Kuroko-cchi!” Kise cheered. “I would never steal blankets from you!”

 

“Kise can keep his own blankets,” Kuroko felt the need to clarify his position, and Kise clutched at his heart.

 

The familiar antics broke some of the tension.

 

“Perhaps we should keep moving,” Akashi suggested airly, and the laughter slowly faded away.

 

“Of course,” Midorima said formally. “Shall we?”

 

They moved slowly under the umbra of Murasakibara and Kuroko’s power.

 

The portal still glowed with eerie green light, giving off a fundamental feeling of  _ wrong- _ ness.

 

It filled almost the entire center of the mountain, almost overpowering the purple light of Murasakibara’s shield.

 

The demons continued to prowl in the night around them, but they didn’t attack. The wizards watched their shadows move warily around them. Some of the bolder demons came close, sniffing at the magical shield, but not quite attacking. Perhaps they could sense all of Murasakibara’s power, but the distortion of Kuroko’s misdirection confused them enough that they weren’t quite sure whether they should attack.

 

Perhaps Kuroko’s misdirection wasn’t working at all and the demons thought eventually they would have more of a shot of attacking if they lulled the wizards into a false sense of security.

 

Could demons think at all? Clearly the one possessing Akashi could, but these were baser creatures, closer to mortal animals than the malevolent and intelligent demons that Akashi had summoned into his Miracles.

 

Kuroko knew he was rambling in his own mind, but didn’t know how to stop it.

 

“Spread out,” Midorima said tersely once they reached the edge of the portal, cutting through the line of fear. “And watch yourselves, all of you. Kuroko’s misdirection will likely fade once you leave the protection of this shield.”

 

With that, Aomine turned and pulled Kagami close and kissed him hard, their bodies pressing against each other as though trying to remove the space between them. Aomine didn’t have to look to know that Kuroko was close behind them.

 

He pulled Kuroko towards them and kissed him just as thoroughly. Kagami, not to be outdone, took their shadow into his arms and did the same.

 

“You’re sure you don’t want me watching your back?” Kagami murmured as he let Kuroko go.

 

Kuroko nodded.

 

“As whoever is not with me will be the one of the two of you closest to Akashi, yes,” Kuroko said. “Aomine will not be able to channel his magic to Akashi without disturbing the sensitive magic being worked here.”

 

Aomine made a face. He didn’t like that decisions had been made about the ritual based on his own weakness. The truth was he wasn’t sure that he could share magic with Akashi, not after what Akashi had done to him, and how thoroughly he had violated Aomine. Kagami certainly had no love lost for Akashi, but he was less likely to be triggered into disrupting the delicate magic that was being worked here.

 

As it was, the distance between them would be necessary just to stop their own power from destabilizing what Midorima and Akashi were doing.

 

“I will be perfectly fine,” Kuroko said.

 

“You better be,” Kagami growled back.

 

Kuroko felt a twinge of guilt. The words felt like a lie. The discussion he’d had with Midorima felt heavy on his conscience, knowing that there was a possibility he would need to die so that they could finish this.

 

Whatever happened, he didn’t want to hurt his Lights. Neither of them deserved that.

 

Kuroko pulled away, and Aomine and Kagami cast their own powerful shields.

 

“See you when this is over,” Kagami said. His trademark grin was just a little too strained. “We can do this.”

 

Kuroko watched the two of them head out in opposite directions. When Kuroko joined the circle, he would be heading in the same direction as Aomine. He knew the second his misdirection was no longer reaching out towards his Lights, where their power was too strong and his too overstretched. Kuroko felt the connection to them snap.

 

A line of shadows broke off from the ones stalking Murasakibara’s shield, following the two new sources of power curiously. Some ventured close, almost touching the bubble of power, but they still weren’t attacking.

 

That wasn’t comforting.

 

Kuroko was more concerned about the silence than he was when the demons were attacking. At least their motives were simple when they were fighting.

 

Kise cast the next shield, and he, Midorima, and Kuroko headed out. The demons didn’t follow them at all.

 

Midorima and Akashi would take up positions opposite one another on either end of the circle of runes surrounding the portal. They would tear it to pieces between them and end it all.

 

For just a moment, as they each took their positions, surrounded by glowing shields, Midorima had a shadow of a memory standing on the cold ground of the Quidditch pitch at Hogwarts, Murasakibara (towering over him, even at fifteen, never mind that Midorima was quite tall for their age already), glowering at him for snapping at Akashi.

 

Midorima distinctly remembered how much he resented that Akashi would not be by his side for the challenge of going through the maze. How funny that now, with what felt like an eternity stretching between that moment and today, between who he had been and who he was, that he was relieved to be in the position that placed him as far away from Akashi as possible.

 

At Akashi’s right hand, just far enough away that his presence wouldn’t interfere with the magic Akashi would be wielding, was Murasakibara, perhaps the only Miracle who still trusted Akashi enough to feed his own magic to the red haired wizard. It would be Murasakibara’s job to shield both of them from harm while Akashi worked, and to aid in overpowering any of the runes that Akashi couldn’t break.

 

Standing just a few yards away from Midorima, to his own right, was Kise. Kise had broken off two more shields, covering Kuroko and Midorima as well as himself, while maintaining enough distance to prevent disruption with Midorima’s ritual. His magic was just versatile enough that Midorima was unconcerned about the fact that their personalities rarely matched up.

 

Kise looked nervous, but the look in his eyes told Midorima all he needed to know. The illusionist who had won the hearts of the citizens of Britain, who had taken command of their public relations as though by second nature, would not falter.

 

He’d doubted Kise’s strength before, but Midorima knew better now.

 

On Midorima’s other side was Kuroko, and beyond him Aomine had taken his position, his red shield still holding strong as he strained his eyes to see the bright red fire spark of Kagami’s magic on the other side of the portal.

 

This position in the circle allowed him to protect both of his lovers at the same time. Besides, even he wasn’t dense enough to misunderstand the arithmantic importance of the configuration. Well, okay, it all went over his head, but he knew it was important.

 

Seven wizards, representing the most powerfully magic number, stood in the circle. Kagami and Aomine, equals in every way, balanced out their ends of the circle. Akashi and Murasakibara balanced against Midorima and Kise.

 

“These demons are creeping me out,” Kagami called out, looking around at the creatures that seemed to be waiting for something to happen. “Kuroko, are you still covering us with your misdirection?”

 

“No,” Kuroko said simply.

 

It was definitely really creepy. The demons should have been attacking them. Kuroko could feel the reach of his own power and he knew that he was no longer shielding his team from the demon’s senses.

 

It was like they were waiting for something.

 

Kuroko definitely didn’t want to be here when that thing, whatever it was, happened.

 

Kuroko watched beyond the shield of golden light as the demons paced between them.

 

“Let’s get it done,” Kise called out to them.

 

Midorima and Kuroko exchanged looks.

 

It was time.

 

This was it.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath as Midorima started activating the runes.

 

Around him, the Miracles took up their positions. Murasakibara, Akashi, and Midorima would focus on tearing down the shield while Kise, Aomine, and Kagami maintained shields around them.

 

They were depending on him to make this work. They were counting on him to save them, and he could do this.

 

Kuroko took a deep breath.

 

_ I am a wizard,  _ he thought firmly, letting the weak spark of his own magic be known to the demons around him, and he nodded to Kise, who was standing next to Midorima. The blonde wizard reluctantly took down the shield around Kuroko, biting his lip in concern.

 

Midorima and Akashi immediately got to work, glowing with magic as they catalogued the runic structure and began to figure out where the holes in the portal were. 

 

The magic fizzled around him as it died, and Kuroko braced himself.

 

There were plenty of demons hovering close, just outside the circles of light cast by the wizard’s shields. One of them ventured closer. It shuffled towards Kuroko as though sniffing him out.

 

Kuroko wondered if it was trying to figure out whether or not he was actually magic.

 

Kuroko patiently waited for it to come a little closer.

 

It had a long beak, with pointed ridges along the head. Kuroko had the impression of very large wings before he was far too busy to take in any more details about the monster.

 

The demon lunged towards him, shrieking in fury. The huge jaw opened, exposing a long tongue that looked too impossibly large to fit inside the demon’s mouth. Three rows of horns ran from the top of the demon’s head down the side of its face, framing the burning green eyes that shone inside the heavy skull with far too many teeth.

 

For a moment, all Kuroko could see was the teeth.

 

He froze, fear turning his blood to ice.

 

“KUROKO, NOW!”

 

Kagami’s voice shattered the fear and pushed Kuroko back into his expressionless state. He schooled his emotions to be calm, and leveled out his heart rate.

 

He wasn’t a wizard, and this demon was sorely mistaken.

 

He was just a shadow.

 

_ I am the void. _

 

Kuroko felt his misdirection strengthening more quickly than it ever had before. He could practically feel every rune of the net that made up his unusual magic powering up all at once, obeying his will. He grabbed hold of the demon with his magic. It stopped in its place, held still by Kuroko’s power.

 

This should be simple enough. He had done it before – he’d imploded Midorima’s spell, and another demon – and he could do it now. The trick was going to be not letting the demon explode just yet.

 

Kuroko crushed the demon slowly, experimentally.

 

It’s answering shriek was all Kuroko needed to hear to know that whatever he was doing was working.

 

He could hear other demons howling, and he was vaguely aware that the demons had started attacking.

 

They were done waiting.

 

Kuroko closed his eyes, trying to block out the noise. He could take care of one demon at a time, but he couldn’t allow himself to be distracted by the looming fear that one of their shields would fail.

 

_ I am the void. _

 

The demon folded under Kuroko’s power. Kuroko kept crushing and crushing, pushing it into a smaller space. He was already breathing hard, sweat gathering on his brow.

 

_ Could he really do this to all of the demons? _

 

Kuroko wasn’t so sure he had the power.

 

He reached out for another demon, dragging it towards him.

 

_ Come back to the void. _

 

The demon went faster than the first one.

 

Kuroko was trembling. He could feel his power slipping, and his skin was damp.

 

He felt as though he had just run a mile, or ten.

 

How on earth was he going to get rid of the rest of the demons? Merlin had said that at some point the magical mass in his reach would start summoning the demons of it’s own accord, but how many demons would he need to crush before that happened?

 

What if he didn’t have enough power to collect the demons before then?

 

Kuroko tried to force those doubts out of his mind.

 

He reached out for another demon.

 

The second demon took just as much effort to crumple under his powers, but as soon as he had forced it into the same small space as the first demon, Kuroko could feel the intensity of the magic shift.

 

He was sweating and shaking from the effort.

 

_ Merlin, you lying asshole, thanks for leaving me out to dry. _

 

Hadn’t Merlin said it wasn’t a question of power?

 

The demons were prowling closer to him, but they seemed irritated, like they weren’t sure why they were being drawn this way, content to think it was their own will that was driving them towards what they sensed to be a perfectly normal speck of rock.

 

It was working.

 

Kuroko breathed deeply, trying to keep his breath as inspiration struck.

 

Holding onto the demons in his grasp, Kuroko let his misdirection fall.

 

_ I’m a wizard, come and get me. You want a tasty meal? I’m right here. _

 

Kuroko winced as another demon came close. It roared, and leapt towards Kuroko, but when it was about to slam into the wizard, it was magnetically drawn into the ball of magic in front of him.

 

With it came three more demons. 

 

Kuroko could hardly contain his shock as the demons slammed into his tiny ball of power.

 

The others were coming closer now, fighting against the draw of Kuroko’s magic, but clearly failing.

 

Another demon slammed into the orb of power, and Kuroko staggered.

 

_ Come on, come and eat the delicious wizard,  _ Kuroko thought again, and he barely felt the tug on his magic when another two demons came flying as they lunged towards Kuroko, ready to attack. Pulling down his shields took a lot less effort than exerting whatever power this was, but keeping track of the demons he was holding onto took a lot of concentration. 

 

Kuroko grounded himself. He could see the demons coming, peering up over the rim of the mountain.

 

He could feel their call to the ball of demonic magic. They were being drawn back to the darkness they belonged in.

 

They wanted to feast on the magic of this world, but Kuroko was holding their reins, and he would not let them.

 

Come on, he thought. He could feel the edge of his magical strength, and he didn’t think he could summon another demon towards him.

 

Kuroko breathed through the strain, focusing on the steady inhale and exhale of breath in his lungs. He let his entire awareness fade to the single pulse of his heartbeat, to the connection with demons he was holding steady.

 

He was scared to so much as move, in case a single gesture might end his control over the compressed demons, and then all hell would literally break loose again.

 

And then one of the lesser demons from the rim of the caldera came flying towards the miniature black hole, and that was the turn of the tide.

 

All the demons close to Kuroko let out gurgled screeches as they lurched and were sent flying towards Kuroko, as though all the forces in the universe had been overturned and Kuroko was the new center of gravity. 

 

For the demons, Kuroko’s magic might as well have been its own planet.

 

Kuroko felt it the instant the ball of demonic magic hit critical mass. It felt like a shockwave heading towards him. He didn’t know how to brace himself against it, didn’t know if he even should, didn’t know how to withstand the power that was going to hit him.

 

Kuroko forced his emotions to calm. He asserted his misdirection again, letting himself relax into the familiar feeling of becoming unnoticed.

 

_ I am a shadow. _

 

He would be fine. He was a shadow. And what could hurt a shadow?

  
Nothing.

 

He would be fine.

 

The demons hit home with a force that drove Kuroko to his knees, but he refused to lose control of the power.

 

It was floating in front of him, a ball only a few inches in diameter, blacker than the night around them, blacker than the deepest darkness Kuroko had ever seen, just a few feet in front of him.

 

His own personal black hole.

 

If he lost control of himself, of these demons, he might swallow the world. He might swallow the whole universe, with the sheer number of demons in his grasp. 

 

Kuroko reached out, fascinated. He touched one finger to the side of the ball of magic, wondering if he could sense the demons inside.

 

A moment later, he wished he hadn’t done just that. 

 

There were so many of them, and they were still alive, even crushed as they were into such a small space.

 

They were constructs of demonic magic, not mere creatures of blood and flesh, so of course they were still alive, even now. Kuroko could feel every single one of them like a tiny heartbeat under his power, and he could  _ hear  _ them, wailing and screaming in the back of his mind. They moved like a writhing mass of sludge and ill-defined limbs.

 

The beat of their pulse (and was it a pulse if they didn’t really have hearts or lungs or veins to carry their blood? Kuroko’s head hurt) came all at once, like a single thrumming vibration, and it filled all of Kuroko’s sentence of awareness. He could feel it in his hands, the power extending out from the demons to the circle of power in the portal. He could feel the answering thrum in the ground underneath him, in the ley lines that expanded out below them.

 

Kuroko was heady with the power he held in his hands. He was controlling an entire army of demons.

 

If he wanted to, Kuroko could swallow the world.

 

And why shouldn’t he?

 

He was the void. 

He consumed everything, that’s what he did. In the end of the universe and at the death of all things, his would be the only power remaining, the dreaded emptiness between the stars, having swallowed every hint of life and light in the existence.

 

And wasn’t it right that he rain down destruction on the world, after everything?

 

Kuroko could feel anger rise up bitterly in the back of his mind.

 

The wailing in his head got louder, and Kuroko reached out again to touch the concentrated ball of demonic power as it reacted to the suffering that filled its master.

 

The world wrenched painfully, and then he was no longer himself.

 

He was resonating with the vibrations of demonic magic, and he was lost in the stream of power contained by his paltry command.

 

All he could hear was screaming. All he could ever remember was screaming.

 

There was nothing but that, an animalistic fear that was older than humanity, older than the world, older than time -

 

What had he been doing again?

 

It didn’t matter, because he could feel their fury as his own, and all Kuroko knew was that he  _ hurt.  _ He hurt so much he thought he might die from the longing to be healed again. He wanted to hurt the world, to tear it apart, to crush it under the weight of his power – the power of the demons under his control – and end it all, because only that could silence the howling pain in his own head. He wanted to deal back the damage done unto him, to rend and tear as he had been torn.

 

He was alone in the dark and all he had was this massive reservoir of pain and anger, and all he knew was that he wanted to destroy something – anything – everything.

 

He could feel the demonic power rising up, knew it was his to use, his to devour, but he refused to leave anything behind, not the demons, not the people, not even the land itself -

 

Akashi faced down Kuroko, his power burning brightly in the darkness around them. He shouted, his words blazing with power.

 

“Tetsuya!”

 

_ No. You have nothing to say to me. Your word is not absolute. I am the Shadow. I am the Void. Without your power and light you are  _ nothing.  _ You lie and preen and shout that you are absolute, but the only absolute in our lives is that all things will one day return to the void from whence they came. _

 

_ When the light fades, only darkness remains. Only silence, forever and ever and ever, the distant memory of all sound and motion more solemn than the twinkle of the far off fading stars. _

 

_ I am the only absolute. _

 

_ “TETSU!” _

 

In the dark, the burning light of the wizard’s power was blinding. Kuroko knew that light, he knew that he did, but he didn’t know from where -

 

“TETSU, MOVE THEM THROUGH THE GATE!”

 

_ I am timeless and ageless and I will not be refused. _

 

_ I am HUNGRY. _

 

He would not be denied, not when the one who had hurt him so much was right in front of him. Kuroko would have his retribution for all of the wrongs done against him by this man, and he would have it in blood.

 

Kuroko felt as though he had been knifed in the heart. The grief, raw and real and right there in front of him, felt so deep and jagged that he felt like it was going to swallow him whole, and cut him up as it did.

 

No words, no petty apologies could make up for this.

 

No greater good could justify what Akashi had done. No explanation would excuse him, nor would it ever heal the yawning, gaping pain ripping open Kuroko’s heart.

 

Shige had died, and Kuroko hadn’t even been there to try and help him. This was not just.

 

This was nowhere near fair.

 

Kuroko felt the anger burn in him. He was going to lose everything. He’d lost Ogiwara, he’d lost the Miracles, his friends were fighting, hurt and dying because of the imprudent decisions of one man who believed he could play God.

 

And Kuroko himself was going to have to give the last full measure of himself to protect everything he loved about the world. For a moment the pain and loneliness and resentment was so powerful he couldn’t breathe. He was a storm of magic, ready to tear apart the world piece by piece before any demon set foot on it.

 

He would burn it all down.

 

He would let the world crush inward on itself until there was nothing left but darkness and shadow.

 

He was the void, and he would swallow the whole universe to silence it and end the pain that he was feeling now.

 

Anything was better than enduring even another moment of this.

 

“TETSU!”

 

Aomine’s voice cut through the howl of pain and grief and fury in Kuroko’s mind. He faltered, because even the idea of Aomine sounding so pained and lost seemed to suck all the air out of Kuroko’s chest. It cut him off from his grief.

 

Whatever suffering Kuroko felt on behalf of the dead, he couldn’t allow it to stand in the way of protecting the living.

 

Shige might be dead, but Aomine wasn’t. Kagami wasn’t.

 

Kuroko held onto that.

 

He held onto the feeling of waking up between the men he loved. The smell of Kagami cooking in the morning. The feeling of Aomine’s lightning as he misdirected it during a duel. The heat of Kagami’s fire, the roughness of his hands holding onto Kuroko…

 

Kuroko clung to the memory of the people he loved. He held onto it as hard as he could, the shattering pieces of humanity, burning and cutting as he struggled to hold on to them.

 

_ A shadow has no past. A shadow has no future. And when the darkness falls, it is consumed. _

 

He thought about running down the halls of Hogwarts, about two teenagers arguing about Neem Oil and Jabbernoll feathers exploding at a temperature of seventy degrees, about the swish of Momoi’s hair as she laughed.

 

He thought about Kise and two dozen naked clones districting Aomine from attacking them, and about the dangerous glint the other man got in his eyes when he was serious.

 

He thought about Midorima, about his serious face lit by the flickering light of the fire and the words  _ perhaps in another lifetime,  _ and about the narrow eyed look of suspicion and curiosity the Ravenclaw had given him the first time they sat next to each other during Ancient Runes.

 

He thought about Murasakibara smiling down at him and  _ it’s fun dueling with you too, Kuro-chin,  _ and the ache in his heart as Murasakibara became even more callous than Kuroko had been.

 

He thought about Akashi, and the aura of righteous fury that had lined every inch of the teenager’s body when Murasakibara had been accused of cheating in the tournament. There had not been a time when they were in school together that Kuroko had not believed that Akashi had a good heart, even where Akashi’s ambition led him to do things Kuroko himself disagreed with.

 

And yet, hadn’t the child, Akashi Seijuro, been one of the kindest, if not also one of the most intense people Kuroko knew?

 

_ “I would like you to take that sixth spot. You have a unique talent that will assure our school victory,” _ Akashi had told Kuroko.

 

_ “I didn’t do it because I thought I had to. I did it because the thought of asking any of you to swallow poison on my behalf was so abhorrent I didn’t think I could bear it. I… could not do it,”  _ Akashi had said, white as a sheet as he stumbled away from the second challenge.

 

_ “Of course, I am Akashi Seijuro,”  _ something that wasn’t Akashi said, wearing his face, and Kuroko wanted more than anything, just to have the days before then back. 

 

Kuroko missed the boy who had been his friend, even with everything terrible that had happened between then and now. He knew that boy wouldn’t have made the same choices as this Akashi did, and he knew now that perhaps even from the moment Akashi’s twin, infused with demon energy and half transplanted into Akashi’s soul, had broken free and Akashi’s eye had first turned gold, that Akashi hadn’t been in his right mind. 

 

His heart ached, and his fury sputtered and died.

 

He thought about long days and late nights and early mornings spent training with his team, of Hyuuga’s grumpiness and Riko’s cheerful threats… Kuroko hoped that all of his teammates had survived, even knowing that the chance that there had been no casualties was slim.

 

For his friends, for these people, he had to hold onto himself.

 

He needed to give them the chance to live.

 

The howling in the back of Kuroko’s mind subsided, and he was in control again.

 

Kuroko pushed at the ball of demonic magic, trying to cast it back through the portal.

 

It wouldn’t move.

 

Kuroko shoved at it again, pushing with all the paltry might of his own power.

 

He couldn’t move it.

 

He wasn’t strong enough.

 

The Miracles were waiting for Kuroko, praying that he could finish this, but he wasn’t strong enough.

 

Kuroko could feel tears burning against his cheeks. He was shaking from the effort of containing every demon into that tiny speck of energy. It was fighting against him to explode back at the wizard.

 

_ Go back to the void. _

 

Kuroko pushed and pushed, but it didn’t move.

 

He could feel sweat beading on his forehead, and the strain in his magic. He knew that if he was just a little bit stronger, just the slightest bit more powerful, that he could have done it, but he couldn’t.

 

He was too weak.

 

They had made it this far, to the very precipice of victory, and Kuroko wasn’t strong enough to finish the job.

 

How shitty was it that they could have made it this far, and then failed to stop the demons because Kuroko was too weak? It felt like a bad joke.

 

Kuroko didn’t want to die. He’d been ready to, had known this might be a possibility, but he had clung on with both hands to the future he prayed he could have.

 

He’d wanted to live, but there was no question that for his friends, he would lay down his life if he had to.

 

Aomine. Kagami.

 

For his friends, for the life they would have.

 

_ Kagami. Aomine. I’m sorry. You truly were born for greatness. I’m sorry for leaving you behind. _

 

_ If there was any other way, I would take it. _

 

But any hope in a future Kuroko could have with them had was meaningless. It was the supplication of a dead man’s hand, raised to broken stone and dying stars and a silent god that did not care. It was the empty hope of a useless yearning that could never reach fulfillment. No miracle would save him – not one of God, nor of his friends.

 

There was no use dwelling on the inevitable, no matter how unpleasant. They were going to have to move, and do so quickly.

 

Nobody else would die here today. Of that, Kuroko was determined. This would be the end of their suffering, one way or another. 

 

“Midorima!”

 

The green haired Miracle turned when he heard Kuroko shout.

 

“Close the gate!”

 

Midorima’s face was unreadable.

 

“Kuro-chin, you need to push them through first!” Murasakibara yelled from the other side of the circle, his voice magically enhanced so they could hear him.

 

“Midorima!” Kuroko yelled. “I can not hold them much longer! You must close the gate!”

 

If he wasted any more time, he would risk having the power of the demons implode, and then there would be  _ nothing  _ left, and they would all be dead anyway.

 

He tried again to push at the ball of magic, to send it flying back to the void from whence it came, but the concentrated ball of demonic magic stayed where it was.

 

It was anchored on this plane, and it would take far more than Kuroko’s power to move it. 

 

Midorima’s eyes narrowed and Kuroko could see one of his hands tighten into a fist.

 

Kuroko relaxed, knowing that Midorima would do what he had to do, so that Kuroko would do what he needed to.

 

They had to cut off the way for any demons to follow, and then Kuroko was going to let those that he held captive have it.

 

Midorima was beginning the process of sealing the gate, shredding through the runic structure holding it together like tissue paper. Kuroko could feel the magic in the air waver.

 

“SHINTAROU, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” Akashi shouted. “YOU HAVE TO STOP! THE DEMONS ARE STILL ON THIS SIDE OF THE PORTAL!”

 

“NO!”

 

Kuroko felt Kagami’s denial of what was happening echo in his bones, but it was already too late. Kagami had started running first; Aomine was closer than Kagami, and even the blue haired wizard wouldn’t make it in time.

 

The world had gone dark around them.  The demon magic powering the portal had extinguished. This was the end.

 

The last of the evidence of the demons that had invaded their world was in the dark ball of magic floating a foot in front of Kuroko.

 

Kuroko pushed against the ball of magic again. It refused to budge. It was too heavy for Kuroko to shift.

 

Well, that just proved he was right. He could hear Kagami and Aomine yelling at him from a distance, but he knew that they wouldn’t get to him in time to stop him. 

 

He didn’t want them to.

 

He hated what he was going to have to do to them, but he couldn’t let anyone else die tonight.

 

Not when it was in his power to stop it. Akashi might have started this whole nightmare, but Kuroko had the ability to wake them up.

 

He braced himself.

 

_ I’m so sorry,  _ he thought.  _ Kagami, Aomine, I wish you could know how much I don’t want to hurt you. I wish more than anything that what I have to do wouldn’t cause you any pain. _

 

It was all in the timing, Kuroko had known that, though with his mind so full of controlling the dense speck of demon mass, he couldn’t remember where. If he added too much pressure, if he didn’t let it bounce back, bad things would happen.

 

Kuroko was not even conscious of the deep breath the empty shell of his body took. He was sightless and blind, a being of pure magic.

 

In these final moments, Kuroko came to a determination so resolute that it could not be broken, not by death or pain or any grief or loss he held within himself. He would lose everything he’d ever had, but he could make it hurt a little less for the ones he left behind.

 

He wouldn’t let the pain keep going.

 

He had to let go of the power he could not control. If he held onto it a second more, he would be sucked in, lost forever.

 

He had to let go.

 

Kuroko exhaled, feeling aware once again of his lungs, his throat, the body that made him himself.

 

_ This is not how my friends will die. The sun will come up, the world will keep going, and they will have a chance to pick up the pieces.  _

 

_ This is not the way the world will end. _

 

Kuroko squeezed down on the ball of magic with his power one last time, and opened his eyes, letting go.

 

_ I am a wizard. _

…

…

…

The explosion came before the sound.

 

Blue light, burning with the intensity of high heat and magic rushed outwards, followed by fire.

 

The Miracles dropped for cover, powerful shields forming without specific intent or spoken spells.

 

Murasakibara dove for Akashi, covering the both of them. Murasakibara’s shield was so strong it was fully opaque, so desperate was his determination that he save himself and his friend.

 

Midorima stood unbowed in the circle of runes he’d long since formed. He had come prepared for this eventuality. Green light formed a column running up into the sky protecting him.

 

Kagami, who had already made his way most of the distance to Aomine, tackled the blue haired wizard to the ground, burning red surrounding them only seconds before Aomine’s own blue gleamed underneath, a second layer of protection against the blast. The shield looked like a darker, deeper purple than Murasakibara’s. Kagami was screaming, his voice hoarse, but the dust that had been kicked up when he had dove for Aomine made him cough until he could no longer speak. Any sound he would have made after that was swallowed by the force of the explosion.

 

Kise’s gold shield formed a full bubble around him. 

 

In the moment before the explosion hit, the blond wizard reached out with his magic for any living souls he could find in the blast radius. They had not come this far just to lose any more of their kin in the fallout.

 

He felt them by the faint spark of their magic, some hiding in the caves, some still close enough to be hurt, despite hiding on the other side of the caldera. Kise wrapped them in protective magic, growing lightheaded as he stretched his magic to the farthest limits of his reserves.

 

_ Please Merlin, let there be no one else I missed. Let there be no more death. Let this be the end of it all. _

 

The fire came first.

 

It scorched the stone and melted the snow, and the sheer force of it pressed against Kise’s shields like a vice.

 

A horrible, wrenching, violent sound cracked through the air, the sound following the blast.

 

Kise howled, driven to his knees on the ground as he held his hands over his ears. His bright yellow shield held against the heat and force of the blast, but he hadn’t thought quickly enough for it to protect him from the awful sonic boom that came with it.

 

The Miracles lost sight of each other in the cloud of dust, smoke, and fire, and weathered the explosion of magic alone.

 

Black smoke eclipsed everything, leaving them on their own.

 

Kagami and Aomine held onto each other as tightly as they could.

 

Akashi beat against Murasakibara’s chest, desperate to accept his own death. Murasakibara held onto the much smaller wizard with everything he had, refusing to let go, fearing more than anything that Akashi would break free and deliberately go to meet his own death in the inferno just beyond the edges of his shield.

 

As mad as he was, Murasakibara didn’t know how to stop protecting Akashi, not after all the times Akashi had protected him in school.

 

What felt like an eternity passed them by.

 

The fire swirled and burned. Nobody knew for how long the world was nothing but fire beyond their shields.

 

After the fire came dense smoke, and molten stone, superheated by the explosion, rained down on the powerful shields. Midorima could see rock wrapping around his shield, glowing with heat, blasted into the wall of power that surrounded him. 

 

The noise was tremendous.

 

The storm of fire and ash continued for quite some time. Their shields never wavered, the wizards holding them knowing that even a momentary lapse might end in their death. 

 

Slowly, the world around them calmed.

 

The dust and ash began to settle. The storm in the air calmed, and its remains hung in the air like fog.

 

It was darker than night, the thick ash making it impossible to see.

 

The shields flickered and died one by one.

 

The haze hung over a world that suddenly felt all too quiet.

 

Kise was the first one on his feet. He shone with gold, his eyes scanning the rubble in fear. There was blood running down both sides of his face. His ears were ruined – had he been a muggle, it would have been the end of his hearing forever.

 

He held a ball of light in his hands, looking through the haze, which was so thick Kise couldn’t tell if it was still night. It felt like hours had passed, but with no light, it was impossible to tell.

 

The silence pressed in on the blond as he stumbled across the broken ground to where Midorima had collapsed. He’d been the closest to Kise when the explosion hit.

 

“MIDORIMACCHI!”

 

Kise couldn’t hear the desperate cry out of his own lips. His throat burned from smoke and the tearing at his vocal cords. He couldn’t hear anything as he shouted into the thick fog of ash.

 

It seemed unfair that they could have made it this far to lose any one of them now.

 

But Midorima was already moving, propping himself up on one shaking arm. He was covered in blood and so much soot, only his green hair made him stand out from the ground. He looked up at Kise, first confused, then worried.

 

Before Kise could bat away his hands, Midorima touched his hands to the sides of Kise’s face. Kise flinched at the spark of magic, but the cooling touch made contact anyway. Repairing Kise’s burst eardrums was the work of a few seconds for Midorima’s magic.

“Thanks, Midorimacchi,” Kise breathed out, much more quietly.

 

He was so tired. Midorima had to be even more so, given how much magic he had poured into closing the portal, and yet he’d immediately and unreservedly reached out to help his friend anyway.

 

“You’re alright?”

 

Midorima nodded, and let Kise support him as he rose to his feet.

 

Kise cast his eyes around the crater.

 

Further away, on the other side of the epicenter, he could see Murasakibara rising to his feet.

Kagami and Aomine pulled each other up, looking around through the dense soot trying to find the other Miracles.

 

Relief flooded all of them as they found each other in the dark.

 

The six figures staggered forwards. None of them were standing on their own, only able to keep moving because they were holding on to one another. They were drawn together like lodestones, so relieved by the proof that they had made it, they had survived, and that in the wake of the end of the world, there was something left to stand on.

 

Nobody spoke.

 

There didn’t seem to be anything to say.

 

After what they had done, silence seemed most appropriate.

 

Kise led them forwards in the center. Akashi was next to him, boxed in by Murasakibara and Midorima on one side.

 

On the other, Aomine supported Kagami’s weight as they stumbled across the wide crater.

 

It took quite some time, but the group of Miracles finally found themselves climbing up the edge of the crater. Blackened earth crumbled easily under their hands, burned beyond use or recognition.

 

They hit the edge of the smoke covering the blast site, bursting out into the dawn sunlight of a new day. All six stopped, squinting into the light.

 

The long, dark night had ended, and the sun had come up. It was almost poetic, even shining weakly over the thick clouds of smoke still covering the crater below. Even up here, there was a haze of thin ash, but none of them had ever been happier to see the light of day.

 

As they reached the edge of the blast radius, Kagami stopped.

 

“Taiga?” Aomine asked, tightening his grip under the redhead’s arms, holding his boyfriend close.

 

For a long moment, Kagami stared out over the crater behind them, his brow furrowed in concentration.

 

Standing together on the ridge formed by the explosion, framed in the rising light of the sun, the six Miracles stood in a halo of light.

 

“It’s nothing,” Kagami said. “I thought I had forgotten… but it’s nothing. We’re all here. We’re all safe.”

 

He rested his head in the dip of Aomine’s neck.

 

“We did it,” he whispered against his collarbone.

 

Aomine nodded.

 

“It’s really over,” he agreed. “We all made it.”

 

“What now?” Murasakibara asked in the same, reverent, hushed, tone.

 

Kise thought of each spark of life he could identify in the net of his power, of the people who would need to be dug out of collapsed caves and told the news that the threat of the demons was finally over, of the magical folk who would need medical care, rest, food, of the dead that would need to be identified, the living who needed to be reconnected with their loved ones who had survived, and the holes in society they would need to step up to fill at the loss. Of the government that needed to be changed to ensure none would be left behind when they reforged their society.

 

“Now we make the world one worth having been saved,” Kise proclaimed boldly. He was the first one of them to smile, the act lighting up his face despite the smeared blood of demons and the ash matting his hair to a near black, despite the fact that he knew their work was far from over. He had never looked less put together than he did in that moment and yet had never looked more a leader than he did. “Let’s go help clean up the rest of this mess.”

 

Akashi was the only one of the group who didn’t join the cheers that followed this proclamation. There was a shadow of darkness over him, a mute horror at having survived the carnage he had been responsible for.

 

Whatever the best of his intentions had been, this is what he had wrought. The regret and guilt of that knowledge gripped his heart with the strength of a vice.

 

He should not have survived.

 

Nevertheless, he followed Kise as the rest of the Miracles did as they stumbled away from the crater.

 

It wasn’t over, but the worst was. It was all even ground from here.

 

They were all alive, and that’s what mattered.

 

They had survived, and they would live to help the world recover.

 

…

 


	63. Epilogue: Headmistress Luna Lovegood Would Like To Thank You For Your Support

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well here we are. Chapter 63. The end, as it is. A little over one and a half years later, this is the last chapter.
> 
> I am overwhelmed by the response this fic has gotten. I am overwhelmed by how much I have watched my own work improve through this effort. I started this fan fiction because I failed Legal Writing as a first year in law school and wanted to embark on an ambitious project to cure my weaknesses. 627,920 words later, that project is complete. Our Epilogue title is a nod to the way in which this fic was first conceived (as more of a crossover than an AU), in which Luna Lovegood was actually the Headmistress (LOL). Honestly, one of the first scenes I wrote was one in which Neville, as the Herbology teacher, told Kuroko he knew someone who wouldn't mind being ignored now and again. This worked out better, I'm sure, but I wanted to end on a note that reminded us of the beginning.
> 
> You may note this chapter is technically "early." I couldn't help myself - I actually just got a job offer for a job out of law school, one that I'm going to accept when they get the paperwork to me. I was so excited, I couldn't wait another second. 
> 
> So in sum, thank you for being here. If you binged this last week or if you've been with me since the beginning, if you commented on every chapter or stayed in the shadow for every update, to those that drew fanart, to those who came and made my acquaintance on my Tumblr, to all of you who got this far, thank you for letting me bring you through this journey with me. Thanks for coming, thanks for staying, thank you all. [Stay in touch if you want,](http://mercurialink.tumblr.com) because I know I'll see y'all around.
> 
> Without anything further, and for the very last time, please enjoy the latest chapter of the Wise Man's Fear.

 

…

  
Akashi stood trial for the murder of Ogiwara Shigehiro on an oppressively hot and humid summer day, a few days before the midsummer festival.

  
He’d given himself up to the mercy of a pair of incredulous aurors as soon as he had woken up in the hospital. It had taken some convincing for him to be placed under arrest, but they begrudgingly agreed to investigate the matter.

  
He was currently waiting in his cell to be called for the trial. He’d refused his usual dress robes, and wore only a simple white collared shirt and slacks. He had no intention of influencing the opinions of his jury or judge by appearances.

  
The sun was rising over the barred windows, making it almost morning when he received a visitor in his cell. The stranger was small, and wearing a plain black cloak. Akashi hadn’t heard him approach, though he must have walked down the echoing chamber to get there. As he saw Akashi staring at him, the figure lowered his hood. 

  
The stranger had light blue hair and piercing eyes to match. He was no taller than Akashi himself, despite the fact that for a man, Akashi was quite small as it was. 

  
Akashi met sky blue eyes in surprise. He hadn’t expected anyone to be here – he’d explicitly told the Generation of Miracles not to come, not that most of them would have shown anyway, and everyone in his family was dead. 

  
“Who are you?”

  
Akashi asked, not really caring about the answer. His visitor didn’t seem to care much to answer either, because he answered evasively.

  
“It doesn’t matter.”

 

Akashi supposed it didn’t.

  
“How long have you been standing there?”

  
“I’ve been here the whole time.”

  
“I see.”

  
Akashi tilted his head to the side thoughtfully.

  
“Why?”

  
The stranger shrugged, his face still blank. Even looking the man right in the eyes, Akashi found that it was hard to make out any distinct features. Any time he tried to look at him and remember his face, the image seemed to slide away from him. 

  
“I came to ask you the same question,” the stranger said. “Why did you tell anyone about murdering Ogiwara? Nobody knew that he was dead, you could have easily gotten away with it.”

  
Akashi grimaced. He’d answered so many questions already about what he had done, and why he had confessed to it after everything had happened. 

  
“It was the right thing to do,” he said. “And I think… It was something an old friend of mine would have wanted.”

  
“An old friend?”

  
“Someone I’ve… long forgotten. A childhood memory, perhaps.”

  
“Akashi Seijuro having an invisible friend as a child is an adorable picture.”

  
Akashi snorted.

  
“Well, are you satisfied?”

  
“No,” the stranger said bluntly, stepping forward. Even standing closer to the light, Akashi could only barely make out the features of his face. How odd - Akashi had not thought this area to be particularly dark. Actually, it was fairly well lit, eliminating prisoners’ chances to use the shadows to lie in wait for the guards.

 

“Why did you kill him?”

  
Akashi sighed.

  
“I did, isn’t that enough?”

  
“No. Not for me. Why did you do it?”

  
Akashi strode over to the cot in his cell, buying himself some time to compose his thoughts. He laced his hands together, and rested his elbows on his knees.

  
“It made sense at the time,” he said softly. “I thought that the only way I could protect the world was to summon a great power to my aid. Such an act requires a sacrifice.”

 

He said the words mockingly, knowing now how flimsy the justification was when it had then seemed so powerful. Akashi felt clear-headed for the first time in years, and even the decisions of a few months ago felt fuzzy and ill defined. What he had thought was clarity of purpose was really just the garbage contribution of a twin that should have lived, had the world been merciful.

  
“So you needed to kill  _ someone _ . Why did you choose  _ him _ ? Anyone would have sufficed.”

  
Akashi snorted.

  
“The blood of my rival was a key ingredient in the ritual,” he said. “All of it, so there was no way to get around having to kill someone. I suppose accepting the idea of murder came easier than trying to chose the specific person to sacrifice, because after all, I was absolute. I had no rivals, none who could stand against me. The only ones who even had a chance were my teammates, and they were my own to order as I pleased, not my rivals, at least in my mind at the time.”

  
“How was Ogiwara Shigehiro in any way your rival?”

  
“I believe… no I am certain, though now… I can’t remember exactly… I realized that it would be enough to find someone who had rivaled me and won not just in a duel, but in any other contest. Ogiwara Shigehiro was my romantic rival for the hand of someone I deeply wished to court. The man I loved called him his  _ Light _ , and that itself made him my rival at the time.”

  
Akashi’s head was bowed, and he didn’t see the stranger recoil as though burned.

  
“And what of Nash Gold Jr., against whom you waged a personal war using the future of this entire country as leverage? Could he not have sufficed?”

  
Akashi laughed.

  
“He was not my rival,” Akashi said simply. “I believed from the very beginning that he could not possibly hold a candle to any of us. I knew with certainty that I would crush him. There was never any doubt to me which of us would prove to be the victor.”

  
Silence spread between them,

  
“I don’t know why I’m telling you any of this,” Akashi said, raising his head as he frowned. “Who are you, anyway?”

  
But by the time he looked up, the stranger was gone.

  
“How strange,” Akashi said out loud.

  
Even now, knowing he’d had a conversation with the man, Akashi could barely recall his face, the sound of his voice. He could only picture a blur, the soft impression of toneless statements, but not even the words themselves.

  
Akashi wondered if he’d imagined the entire encounter.

  
Perhaps he was more tired than he had thought himself to be. Perhaps his… other half, the part Akashi had believed gone was still affecting him more than he believed.

 

Akashi had thought his actions leading up to the demon invasion were perfectly rational; would he even know if that other, bloodier side was taking control again? He’d thought his twin gone, but how would he know?

  
Akashi laid back out on the cot, his eyes fixed on the ceiling until the aurors came to bear him to court.

  
Soon enough, this would be settled and done with. He couldn’t be trusted. He couldn’t be allowed to live. Surely he could convince the court of that - that a man of his disposition should never have been allotted so much power, that his very existence was a curse placed by the gods upon all of mankind.

  
Akashi followed his guards without a fight, without a word. He wasn’t exactly going to cause a fuss now when he was the one who had demanded to be charged to begin with.

  
He just wanted all of this to be over.

  
He wondered idly and not for the first time if the Ministry would execute him. They would need him to describe what had happened and the crime was so heinous and so… gory… they couldn’t possibly have any other choice.

  
Maybe then he could finally have some peace. The  _ world _ could have some peace, knowing that they did not have to fear the magic of a wizard as powerful as Akashi being corrupted as it had been. 

  
They placed him on trial in the largest courtroom in the Ministry. Akashi had accompanied his father to many trials in this very room, learning the art of serving on the Wizengamot at his father’s elbow.

  
One day, he’d been meant to become Minister. That would never happen now. Akashi didn’t want it to happen, anyway. He’d had his taste of absolute power, and found he had no desire to keep hold of it any longer.

  
The corruption his magic had rooted into him was profound. He just wanted to rest now. 

 

Looking around, he realized that more than a few wizards and witches had turned up to watch his trial. It was probably to be expected. He’d been the firstborn son of one of the oldest and most notable families in Britain, and now he was on trial for murder. Given the overly public nature of the life Akashi had led, he didn’t have the right to expect that his shame might be exposed in semi privacy.

  
“We call to order the case of Akashi Seijuro, who is charged, notably at his request, of the murder of Ogiwara Shigehiro,” the Chief of the Wizengamot read out. Akashi’s eyes flicked up to the panel of wizards and witches that would stand in judgment of him.

 

“By his request, the government has investigated his role in the events leading up to the war with the demons, and have also charged him with the murder of Momoi Satsuki and thirty-seven counts of negligent homicide by dark magic,” the Chief continued gravely. “Is the Ministry represented?”

  
At the table opposite Akashi, the smartly dressed wizard stood.

  
“Yes sir,” he said. “Miyaji Kiyoshi, for the government.”

  
Akashi recognized the name and the wizard who bore it. This was one of the wizards Shintarou had competed with, once upon a time. He was one of the wizards who had come to fight the demon invasion that Akashi had started.

  
How apropos.

  
“Is the Defendant present?”

  
The question was obviously only asked as a matter of record, because the Chief was looking directly at Akashi as he spoke. 

  
Akashi stood, his head bowed.

  
“Yes sir, I am.”

  
“Could you please state your name for the record?”

  
Akashi did so, feeling numb.

  
“Do you have a defense?”

  
“No, sir.”

  
“Then are you pleading guilty to all of the offenses as laid out by the government?”

  
“Yes, sir.”

  
“Hold on!”

  
The crowd in the gallery exploded in excitement as the doors burst open.

 

“Nijimura Shuzo, your honor,” the wizard entering the courtroom said, striding down the middle of the room. His black cloak billowed behind him dramatically. “I am the barrister of record representing Akashi Seijuro. My owl must have only reached your clerk last night. My flight from overseas was delayed.”

  
Akashi turned at the voice, his eyes wide in shock.

  
“Where is the form?” the judge asked his clerk. The clerk passed up a neatly bound stack of papers.

  
“Haizaki Shougo is the solicitor of record who prepared the form, your honor,” Nijimura said smoothly as he reached the front of the courtroom, standing by the partition that separated the court from the gallery full of onlookers. “And my apprentice. He informed me as soon as he was able about the trial and I am here now. May I approach and speak with my client? Haizaki is running the documents I need for trial here as we speak.”

  
The judge waived him on as he reviewed the documents. Nijimura confidently walked through the courtroom as though he had been doing this his entire life.

  
“Brat, how is it that you’re years out of school and still making your Head Boy clean up your messes?” Nijimura demanded, setting his briefcase on the table in front of him with an audible click.

  
“Shuzo, please-”

  
Nijimura waived his wand, silencing the area where Akashi was standing. Akashi glared at him and shut his mouth sharply. 

  
“Your honor, if I may?” Nijimura asked, when the judge looked up from the documents. “Akashi Seijuro is a war hero, a former star student, the Captain of Hogwart’s most successful dueling team two years running, and a brilliant wizard. Less than a month ago he was fighting for his life in the face of certain death against the menace of demons destroying our world. He is not mentally competent enough to knowingly, intelligently, or voluntarily plead guilty to the charges against him.”

  
“Well hold on,” the judge said. “Does the Ministry have any objection to the filed barrister of record?”

  
“No sir,” Miyaji said, nodding to Nijimura. “Mr. Nijimura’s reputation proceeds him in his practice, and while I did not receive his filing, I am sure that it is waiting on my desk in the office and timely so. We’re willing to proceed and waive any objection. I trusted his judgment as my Head Boy and senior when we were in school, and I have no reason not to trust it now.”

  
“Very well. Do you retract your client’s guilty plea?”

  
“Yes your honor,” Nijimura said. “My client is not guilty. Ordinarily, possession is an absolute defense to all conduct while possessed; the lesser act of summoning a demon, which would itself be a separate crime, here is inapplicable because at the time my client did so, he was insane.”

  
The judge stared down the defense lawyer.

  
“I will remind you that you are under a professional obligation to raise only legal arguments that you have reason to believe are true.”

  
“I am, your honor,” Nijimura said quickly. Behind him, one of the doors of the chamber opened for the second time, and Haizaki came striding through, carrying a huge pile of documents, followed by a handful of people. Akashi saw Murasakibara’s hulking form and caught a glimpse of green hair, but they were quickly lost in the small crowd of people who Haizaki found seats for in the galley before coming up to join them on the courtroom floor.

  
The judge nodded to Nijimura.

 

“I see your apprentice is here with your evidence. If you are prepared, I will convene this trial presently.”

 

“I am more than happy to.”

  
“Very well,” he said, turning to his bailiff. “Seal the doors.”

 

Nijimura buttoned the smart muggle suit jacket he was wearing and turned to Akashi. With a smirk, he undid the silencing charm on the area where Akashi was standing.

 

“Why are you doing this?” Akashi demanded. “I’m not one of your pet projects in lost causes, I don’t deserve whatever chance you think you can give me. What about that dead boy, who is protecting him or his interest? Or Satsuki? Or anyone else who died because of my actions? Protecting me isn’t helping anyone, least of all me.”

  
“Well, then it’s a good thing I’m the one who decides how to use my law degree,” Nijimura said smugly.

 

“Aren’t you not supposed to represent a client who doesn’t want your services?” Akashi demanded. “I’m firing you.”

 

“Ah, but you aren’t the one paying me,” Nijimura said with a smirk. “So you can’t fire me, which means shut the hell up and let me do my job.”

  
For a moment, it looked as though Akashi was about to assault the man who had come to save him from criminal indictment, but he bowed his head in deference to the older wizard. 

 

Nijimura patted him reassuringly on the back.

  
Akashi looked away.

  
“Hey, brat,” Haizaki said. “If you want to feel sorry for yourself, you can do that, but if you want to make up for what you’ve done, then you better be prepared to make yourself useful as hell.”

 

“Why does that sound so familiar,” Nijimura murmured in mocking thoughtfulness.

 

“Oi,” Haizaki glared at Nijimura. “This isn’t about me.”

 

Nijimura smiled serenely.

 

“I hardly think our situations are comparable,” Akashi said. “I nearly ended the world. You were simply an insufferable bully. I set you up to be expelled, did you even know that?”

 

“You really think I’m stupid, huh?” Haizaki asked, scratching the back of his neck. “Of fucking course I knew you set me up. I knew that a minute after it had happened, I just also knew nobody would  _ believe _ me. Now I suggest that you shut up and do what Shuzo wants, because you won’t win this one. I didn’t win mine either if it makes you feel better; it’s easier just to let him do what he wants.”

 

Akashi sighed.That didn’t actually make him feel better.

  
“Let’s begin,” The chief of the Wizengamot said grimly. “If the government will present its case?”

  
Miyaji presented the government’s case for most of the first day. They had the testimony of the aurors to whom Akashi had confessed, the statement he had provided under veritaserum was shown in a display penseive, and Ogiwara’s death certificate was presented. Aurors had apparated to the site of the ritual, but after so much time, they had found nothing but the residue of heavy dark magic in an empty clearing that corroborated Akashi’s confession.

 

Kawahara Koichi, who Akashi recognized from their days in school together testified about the death of Momoi Satsuki. He had apparently been not far from Furihata when the event had taken place. 

 

Nijimura cross examined the other wizard with a friendly smile, eliciting the proof that Akashi had been possessed at the time, that he had only managed to wrest control away from the demon after the fact.

 

Akashi felt guilt slide in his gut thinking about the moments before he had successfully fought off the possession.

 

A minute. Sixty seconds. Maybe not even that. He could have saved Momoi, but he hadn’t managed to. Possessed or not, her death was his fault. 

 

Miyaji called a few witnesses to speak on the stand to describe the attack. Mibuchi and Hayama were both called. 

 

Reo took the stand for the government and folded his arms in an attractive glare. He refused to testify to anything until ordered by the Chief, and even then was terse in describing Akashi’s plans when Akashi had still been vaguely in control of the demon. Hayama’s testimony was substantially the same, though he glanced over at Akashi with a smile when he was done. 

 

Akashi was just glad that both of them had survived. They had been placed in danger because of him, and he had used them without consideration for that. 

  
Nijimura took over the trial with a grim confidence. He put Midorima on the stand, and Akashi couldn’t help but glare at his friend for messing up his opportunity to make penance for his sins.

  
Nijimura had clearly already spoken with Midorima, and the other man hadn’t even warned him! Akashi scowled. When he’d told Midorima to stay away unless he intended on testifying for the government against him, Midorima had said nothing at all. He’d probably already been intending this.

  
Midorima testified about having visions of a terrible future. He explained that he had asked Akashi for a copy of a book detailing a ritual that was somewhat obscure, and a little dark, that could be performed on Samhain. It wasn’t illegal, but his cheeks blazed red as he described what future knowledge he’d received, and how he had run straight to the Slytherin dormitory with that information to solicit the help of the one friend he knew could aid in changing the future.

  
“What, if any, actions did my client then take?”

  
“He suggested that all of us sit our exams early. It made sense; we probably could have passed the N.E.W.T level examinations as fourth years based purely on our levels of power alone.”

  
“I see. What else did you do on his request?”

 

“Personally, I maintained a log of every vision I had for over a year, deliberately and continually inducing visions of varying circumstances until I believed I understood everything that might have an effect on the timeline.”

  
“What actions did you take based on the information you received from your visions?” 

  
“Akashi and I adjusted our plans accordingly. We believed that as long as we could continue to minimize the damage of the Gold presidency revealing magic to muggles, we would be able to prevent him from summoning demons and initiating the apocalypse.”

  
“Obviously that was unsuccessful.”

  
“Obviously,” Midorima parroted. 

  
“So what changed?”

  
“Akashi entrusted Aomine with a book about demons, so that Aomine could aid him in destroying any that managed to cross into our world, and Aomine was careless enough to pass on the book to Murasakibara without realizing what he had given over. Murasakibara left it behind in his apartment in Los Angeles when he was attacked. The book fell into Nash Gold Jr’s. hands.”

  
“Was this a series of events you foresaw in any of your visions?”

  
Midorima shook his head.

  
“No,” he said. “The future is… inexact. It is not always clear what deliberate or thoughtless decisions could change things. The outcome of a national election might be less important than the right person bumping into another person at a bar two weeks later. I honestly believed at that point we were in the clear.”

  
“What happened next?”

 

“I had created a ward matrix tied into the many journals and futures I had seen. The matrix was set to sound an alarm if our actions were leading us incontrovertibly into a future where our world would be overrun.”

  
“This alarm was set off?”

 

“Yes, by Nash Gold Jr. obtaining the book. In most of the futures I saw, he hired summoners to call forth the demons in response to muggles waging war with modern technology against the wizards of America - after he deliberately provoked it with a massive breach of the statute of secrecy designed to make the muggles afraid.”

 

“So, knowing that the end of the world might be imminently upon us all, what did Akashi do?”

  
“Akashi left to implement his backup plan – a fortress that would be resistant to demons and allow us to survive even if the rest of the world was wiped out. He intended to evacuate as many wizards as possible to protect the future of magic users.”

  
“Did it work?”

  
“No.”

  
“And when was this?”

  
“Yule.”

  
“You’re a master of runic warding, is that right?”

  
“That is correct,” Midorima said.

  
“The youngest ever, even?”

 

“So I have been told.”

  
Midorima’s tone was extremely clipped. It was clear that he did not enjoy having Nijimura lay bare the extent of his accomplishments before the Wizengamot. 

  
“What, in your opinion went wrong with the rune circle Akashi created?”

  
Midorima glared at the former Head Boy before sighing.

  
“He didn’t have the power.”

  
Nijimura raised his eyebrows.

  
“The power?” he asked, somewhat incredulously. 

  
“Miracles we may be, but gods we are not,” Midorima chided Nijimura. “To change the very face of the Earth in such a dramatic, permanent way required far more power than even Akashi Seijuro could bring to bear on his own. This was no cheap trick, no temporary conjuration or illusion. This was the protection of all of wizardkind, a shield against the most horrific monsters any of us have ever seen. Surely it has not been so long that I need describe what he felt the need to protect us from.”

  
Nijimura nodded.

  
“What did Akashi do in order to gain the power he felt was necessary to save us?” Nijimura asked.

  
“He summoned a demon.”

  
“What did that entail?”

  
“A fairly gruesome sacrifice,” Midorima said. “I did not know until much later what had happened. It was one of the rituals outlined in the book Nash Gold Jr. had stolen, and I had reviewed the information when I was consulting it for potential solutions.”

  
“Had you seen the possibility that Akashi would act on the ritual?”

  
Midorima sighed. He took off his glasses and cleaned them, buying himself a moment before answering.

  
“I knew there was a chance,” he said. “But there were… he could have chosen another. He could have chosen another path altogether. The future is fickle. I saw so many options I did not know what Akashi might do; it all depended on when and how he made his decision.”

 

“As far as you know of Akashi’s stated intentions, what was his plan for the demon?”

 

“He intended to discharge the demons as soon as we finished the act of making the fortress. He believed that the demons, weakened by the power drain, would not be able to fight back and it would be simple for one of us to throw off the possession, if not all of us. He was incorrect.”

  
Having established the desperate need that had driven Akashi’s actions, Nijimura called Murasakibara.

  
The other boy described the fight they had had in vivid detail.

  
Akashi closed his eyes, trying to forget it entirely, but unable to let go of the memory of the day when he had literally beaten Murasakibara into submission.

  
He’d felt something snap inside his head, a new fundamental understanding of the world come over him as he realized what he would need to do in order to keep his friends together. He wondered now, having had time to sort through the memories of his possession and what the demon had told him, if that had been the moment the binding his father had placed on his twin brother’s mind in Akashi’s own had snapped.

  
Either way, the other Akashi was gone now. He had been sucked away in the explosion – probably more demon than human, given what Akashi had seen while confined by the demon of what his father had done.

 

_ I am of course Akashi Seijuro _ .

  
Akashi hadn’t said those words, but he remembered them. His  _ other half  _ had issued them, the twin that remained absent now. He shut his eyes, ignoring Murasakibara’s testimony. To whom had he issued that declaration?

  
_ There have always been two of me. _

  
Akashi’s head hurt.

 

Something was missing. Akashi hated it when things didn’t make sense, and there was something that refused to add up right now.

 

Nijimura called a necromancer to court, whose certification was deeply scrutinized by the court. The older woman said almost nothing, though it was clear that her presence made the entire Wizengamot uncomfortable.

 

Nijimura had a coffin brought into court, and the government accepted the representation that this was the body of Akashi Masaomi.

 

Akashi refused to look at his father. Whatever was speaking through the zombie that was brought to the middle of a salt circle and ordered to truthfully answer the questions of the lawyers, it was barely a shade of his father.

 

Akashi didn’t want to have to hear that dull monotone explain to the public at large what the demon had taunted him with when he was possessed. Akashi had harbored half a hope it was untrue. He wondered how Nijimura could possibly have known.

 

Masaomi had taken the secret with him and kept it in the grave, and Akashi had never told a soul. The demon had known, but then who would it have told? Akashi grimaced as he came to the only conclusion that was reasonable.

 

Furihata had heard the demon taunting him, and had told Nijimura where to look. Akashi would have been impressed with Nijimura’s talent if he wasn’t annoyed.

 

He didn’t want exonerating pity. He wanted to be dealt judgement.

 

Miyaji declined to ask Masaomi any questions, and the necromancer laid him to rest in his coffin once again.

 

“Are you not going to let me testify and take responsibility for my own actions?” Akashi asked Nijimura dryly during the breaks. 

 

“Don’t worry, my impatient kohai, I have everything under control,” Nijimura replied.

 

And true to his word, Nijimura allowed Akashi to testify.

 

And testify he did.

 

Akashi laid bare every single misdeed he could name. The Wizengamot needed to understand - Nijimura’s superbly competent representation aside - that Akashi was a monster. What he had done was more reprehensible than the scourge of some dark lords the same court had put to rest.

 

Akashi had poured dark magic so deep into his soul he didn’t know if it was even wholly human anymore.

 

He needed them to hate him.

 

Nijimura was still smirking when Akashi was done, and Akashi couldn’t help but glare at him. What on earth did Nijimura think he was doing?

 

“Your honor, may I have an expert administer Veritaserum to my client?” he asked. Akashi clenched his hand into a fist.

 

“I refuse,” he said flatly. 

 

“You are asking me to order the administration of Veritaserum on an unwilling defendant - your own client?” the Chief of the Wizengamot said, leaning forward.

 

“Yes sir,” Nijimura said. “Akashi blames himself for what happened, but I believe if he is less inclined to paint himself in the worst possible light we can have clearer evidence of what his state of mind during these events was.”

 

The Chief of the Wizengamot ordered Akashi to comply with the request of his lawyer, and Akashi felt the stab of betrayal. He glared at Nijimura as he was administered the drug, up until his eyes glazed over and it began to take effect.

 

“When the binding on the twin fused into your soul broke, who was in charge?”

 

“Bokushi.”

 

“That’s your twin?”

  
“Yes.”

 

“And did you regain full control of your actions in full at any point after that?”

 

“No.”

 

“Did you try?”

 

“No.”

 

“Why not?”

  
“My team was falling apart. The world was falling apart. I was not strong enough, but Bokushi was. He had the strength and power to hold everything together. And then letting him stay in control was easier.”

  
“So when you sacrificed Ogiwara Shigehiro, which of you held the knife?”

  
“Bokushi.”

 

“And after that, when you finally broke free, why was that?”

  
“I overcame Bokushi, and fought the demon. I could hear Satsuki calling me back. I had to go to her.”

 

“When you ordered the evacuation, were you in control of yourself?”

 

“No.”

 

“Do you remember the evacuation itself?”

 

“No.”

 

“Do you remember setting up the rune circle to open the portal?”

 

“No.”

 

“What is the first clear memory you have from the night the demons invaded?”

 

“The wards being placed under attack.”

 

“And when you knew that wizards were coming to attack the fortress, what was your first thought?”

 

“Stop me. I prayed that they had figured out enough to know what was going on to stop myself and the demon before anyone got hurt.”

 

“Once you disposed of Vepar, what did you do?”

 

“I took Furihata Koki to receive aid for his injured arm.”   
  


“Then what?”

 

“I found Atsushi and Ryouta and pulled the demons from them.”

 

“After that?”

 

“We found Daiki, Shintarou, and Taiga in the caves below the fortress. We created a plan to destroy the runes anchoring the portal to close it, since none of us had the power to overwhelm such a large creation.”

 

“And then?”

 

“We fought our way down the cliffside.”

 

“Were you injured?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“How?”   
  


“A demon nearly clawed out my internal organs,” Akashi said in the same flat tone.

 

“After you closed the portal, what did you do?”

 

“I helped recover the survivors and locate the dead.”

 

Miyaji had nothing else to ask him.

  
After three days of evidence, Akashi was acquitted of the murder charge he had demanded be brought against him.

  
Nijimura had turned to the judge on the final day, delivering a succinct summation of the evidence provided.

  
“Your honor, Akashi Seijuro did something reprehensible, but he was not in his right mind when he did it. He was not only suffering the effects of a prolonged mental break that cracked open his mind and left it open to influence from demons, he was under the stress of preventing the crisis foreseen by his friend, the crisis we are only just beginning to rebuild after. Surely even the harshest of our laws cannot find that he acted there with malice, even if he did so in an ill advised manner. He lost control of the demon he thought he could direct as he wished, to catastrophic results. But that is not murder.”

  
The government had very little to add. The oldest Miyaji brother didn’t look like he wanted to be there at all. He’d been the only lawyer for the government who could be convinced to touch the case – no matter how it fell out, it could potentially ruin a career given the very public high profile nature of the trial.

  
The Wizengamot read out the verdict as Akashi cried, shaking his head in denial. He hadn’t wanted a second lease on life after what he’d done, and yet here the court was, giving it to him. 

  
He didn’t deserve it.

  
That afternoon, he went to Gringotts. 

  
He stopped in his family vault, where he collected two keepsakes – a picture of his parents (a magical photograph, not a sentient painting), and the violin he’d abandoned playing at the age of ten.

  
He withdrew and signed the documents that would transfer the Akashi estate, monetary funds, and lineage to his adopted brother, Akashi Ryouta. 

 

The adoption which had served only as a way of giving Ryouta a chance to get rid of Haizaki Shougo would now serve a better purpose.

 

Ryouta would do better by the name of Akashi than Seijuro himself ever had. The powerful blond wizard would use the money and blood status of the house that had made him his ward to do amazing things, Seijuro knew it.

 

Ryouta had raised his own lowborn and muggle name to eminence on the power of his own actions and stubbornness. Perhaps under Ryouta’s guidance, their noble house would be rebuilt. Seijuro left his old friend and comrade a note explaining it all, and placed it in an envelope. The ring worn by the patriarch of the family was the last item he placed with the letter before he politely handed it back to his banker.

  
“May your future endeavors bring you success,” he said politely.

  
“And you, No-Name Seijuro. May you find the peace you seek.”

  
Seijuro smiled, though it did not reach his eyes.

  
Peace. He didn’t deserve that. The best he could do was manage to place himself somewhere isolated enough that he could never hurt anyone again. 

  
“Thank you.”

  
He left the bank with his violin over one shoulder.

 

“Hey! Hey wait!”

  
Seijuro whirled around in alarm.

  
Furihata Koki was running down the cobblestones towards him.

  
Seijuro took a semi involuntary step backwards. Furihata’s left arm had been replaced by a shining metal contraption below the elbow. 

  
It seemed that despite the speed with which Akashi had aided Furihata in finding a competent healer before resuming the fight to find his friends, the healer had not been able to get to the demonic infection in time.

  
It was a miracle that Furihata had only lost the arm, instead of his life, for his foolish intervention between Akashi and the demon lord Vepar. If he wanted to slam it into Seijuro’s face to blame him for losing the original, Akashi half meant to let him. Certainly, the least he owed the other wizard was a moment of his time.

  
“Wait for me!” Furihata yelled, raising the metal arm and catching up to Seijuro, huffing for air.   
He came to a stop in front of the redhead wizard, bent over his knees. 

  
“Hold on,” Furihata said, bending over his knees. “Still not… in the best shape.”

  
“Furihata,” Seijuro said respectfully. “I was leaving.”

  
“Indulge me,” Furihata said, straightening up with a gleam of determination in his eyes. Seijuro recognized the look he had seen on the smaller wizard’s face during the battle with Vepar. He doubted he could deny Furihata when he was this determined to have his say.

 

“Surely you can spare me a minute,” Furihata added, glancing down at the arm again. 

  
Seijuro sighed.

  
“I apologize for my haste,” he said. “What do you need?”

  
“I wanted to talk to you about what happened. You saved my life.”

  
Seijuro’s mouth moved, but no words came out.

  
“I nearly killed you,” Seijuro said. “I cut off your arm.”

  
“A demon cut off my arm,” Furihata said, shaking the prosthetic. “Really, given that I’m the idiot who grabbed the sword in the first place, one might say I cut off my own hand, and let the infection take the rest. It’s not that bad. Takao and Midorima sorted me out with this thing, and it’s covered in runes. It works even better than the muggle kind of prosthetic, and they can practically make whole new arms without magic!”

  
That was such an odd concept, but Seijuro refused to be distracted.

  
“This is absurd,” he said. “You should want to run as far away from me as possible.”

  
“Well I don’t,” Furihata said, crossing his arms (one metal one flesh) and fixing Seijuro with a glare. “And I don’t think you’re in any position to tell me what to do.”

  
“I am leaving here alone,” Akashi tried. It was almost a plea. He didn’t want closure. He didn’t want forgiveness. He didn’t want a human connection again. He couldn’t be trusted not to manipulate or hurt others again. 

  
“Yeah of course you are,” Furihata said with a too honest smile. “I figured as much. That’s why I’m coming with you.”

  
Seijuro stared at the other man, struck speechless and incomprehensible.

  
For all his powers of observation, for all that he had once considered himself to be  _ absolute _ , he had never seen this coming. Not in a million years.

  
Obviously, he had failed to see this coming because it was just entirely ludicrous. Furihata Koki should want nothing to do with him, not trying to run away from him. 

  
“I’m not going anywhere,” Furihata added. “Just try and make me.”

  
The former Hufflepuff folded his arms and held his ground stubbornly.

  
“And before you even try that, just remember how easy it was to make me go away when you were possessed by that demon.”

  
Furihata tried to glare down Seijuro, but he was shaking in his boots.

  
It was kind of adorable.

  
Seijuro exhaled through his nose.

  
“Merlin, go home, Koki,” he said. He was tired. He felt so, so tired.

  
“No.”

  
“You can’t give up a career and a life just to follow someone with no name, title, or assets. I’m a pariah. I murdered someone, and even if they won’t hold me responsible for it, you can’t be with that kind of person. Don’t you have a Quidditch placement on a top professional team?”

  
“To everyone else you’re the hero who helped save us,” Furihata replied. “And I don’t care about assets or titles or reputation. I don’t care about your name. Hell, if not having a name is so important to you, you can have mine.”

  
Seijuro stared at Furihata, frozen in shock.

  
Furihata stared him down, looking to all appearances as though he was dead serious. Akashi wondered if he’d hit his head coming out of the bank, but this appeared to be reality, playing itself out right in front of him. 

  
“If I did care about any of that shit, I would have jumped off the astronomy tower a long time ago. It’s okay to just be where you are, and right now you need me. And I don’t want to leave you, either. I need you too, okay? This isn’t some big goddamn favor, you’re the only person I can trust to be strong enough to protect me.”

 

That was a surprising admission, Seijuro thought, examining the other man’s face more closely.

  
Furihata looked down. He still sometimes woke up screaming and gasping for air. He didn’t think he would ever be free of what he had lived through, but he would take being able to keep going, and Seijuro was the one who could help him do that.

  
Seijuro stared at him. He looked absolutely shocked and bewildered, but when he realized Furihata really wasn’t going to back down, he relented. 

  
“Alright then,” he said, wondering how this decision was going to blow up in his face. “Come on.”

  
Furihata smiled, and Seijuro thought it shone brighter than the afternoon sun. 

  
“Happy Midsummer, Seijuro!” Furihata chirped happily, reaching out to grasp the other man’s hand. Akashi felt the knot in his chest loosen.

  
“Happy Midsummer, Koki.”

  
…

  
It took more than a year, but Murasakibara was pleased with the outcome of his work.

  
Somehow, the toil involved with setting up his bakery had not felt like labor, not the same way showing up to dueling practice or going to class had been. Well, at least not after the first few months, during which Tatsuya was all but dragging him through the motions of living.

  
The bakery was in a large, two story building halfway down Diagon Alley. The interior was very open and welcoming, decorated in warm colors, with lots of glass cases showing off their magical confections.

  
The first floor had the register and a limited seating area. The second floor only wrapped around the sides of the wall, so that the middle of the building was open all the way to the top. A glass banister allowed guests to hang out over the first floor and watch guests as they ordered food and chatted.

  
There was a fountain in one of the larger seating areas, a simple water feature with brightly colored magical fish swimming lazily. On their slower days, Tatsuya would find Murasakibara eating up on the second floor. Sometimes on their busier days he would find him there too, but no level of exasperation would move the purple haired wizard. 

  
More than once, he’d chastised the larger wizard for feeding the fish sweets.

  
Sometimes, in the play of pink and red and gold in the fishes Murasakibara would find memories that left a shadow behind his eyes. 

 

About two months after they opened their doors for business, Tatsuya had (for the first and only time) come up to find the fountain smashed to pieces with water all over the floor and Murasakibara in a rage. He’d repaired the fountain and saved the fish, losing only one of them once he got them back into the water.

  
He didn’t need anyone to tell him where Murasakibara had stormed off to know where his partner was. He’d apparated directly from the second floor of the bakery after shouting down to one of the cashiers that he and Murasakibara wouldn’t be in for the rest of day.

 

The perks of being your own boss were pretty great.

  
A moment later, he was in the wizard village just off of Stratford-Upon-Avon. This was where Momoi had grown up. Aomine too – they had been neighbors in this sleepy town. Tatsuya imagined the bright spark of a woman he’d known only in passing and the dark haired but competitive wizard wandering down the lanes, dreaming of their futures.

  
Murasakibara was in the graveyard.

 

Tatsuya didn’t speak as he approached the other wizard. If Murasakibara wanted to talk about it, he would when he was ready.

  
“She thought we had so much more time,” Murasakibara said after a long time. 

  
Tatsuya slotted his hand into Murasakibara’s, looking down at the headstone.

  
_ Momoi Satsuki.  _

_  
_ _ Alis Volat Propriis. _

  
She flies with her own wings.

  
How appropriate. Tatsuya had not known the witch well, but he had known that she was fiercely independent and undeniably brilliant. She was one more casualty to lay at the feet of Akashi Seijuro – and if Tatsuya ever found out where the coward was finding, he would kill him himself, whether or not Murasakibara approved.

 

“He told me that he’d made a Vow,” Murasakibara said, low in his chest, staring off into the the distance. Tatsuya took a moment to work out who the purple haired giant had to be talking about.

 

“A vow?” he asked.

 

“An unbreakable one,” Murasakibara said, looking down at the headstone. “Momo-chin was their bonder, but he swore to Midorima that the future he saw wouldn’t happen.”

 

Tatsuya snorted.

 

“Well, he did a fantastic job.”

 

“I think he did a terrible one.”

  
Tatsuya hid a smile at his sarcasm flying under Murasakibara’s radar, but something nagged at his mind.

 

“If he swore that Midorima’s future wouldn’t happen, why does he still have his magic?” Tatsuya asked.

 

Murasakibara shrugged, his massive shoulders rising and falling.

 

“Mido-chin saw a lot of futures. I think the vow was about a specific one.”

  
“About the world actually ending?” Tatsuya asked, because that might make sense.

 

Murasakibara shook his head.

 

“No, it was something else, something really bad, that we couldn’t let happen,” he said. “I don’t remember what. I probably wasn’t paying attention.”

 

That sounded just… reasonable enough to be true. Maybe. 

 

And from the conversations Tatsuya had with Takao on the subject, Midorima  _ had  _ indeed seen many futures, many possibilities, almost all of which were terrible.

 

If Akashi had vowed to ensure that only one of them in particular didn’t come to pass, that would make sense. The question was, which one? Only Midorima would know that for sure. And while Murasakibara had resisted the urge to speak to any of the other Miracles about what had happened, Tatsuya was still in contact with Kagami and Takao. The latter man was busy working on some top secret research project, but Tatsuya made a note to himself to ask him what he knew the next time they met up. 

 

He knew for a fact that Kagami had not spoken with any of the other Miracles either, so that would be a dead end.

 

“It was stupid of Momo-chin to bond them,” Murasakibara said, cutting through Tatsuya’s thoughts. “And it was stupid for her to go and fight Aka-chin all on her own. It was stupid for her to think she could fix us just by being brilliant. She always thought she could fix us.”

  
Murasakibara trembled, and then he crumbled, like tissue paper suddenly doused in water.

 

“She was better than all of us and she should have just left it alone,” Murasakibara said in a broken voice. “I kept thinking who cares about any of this, but she did. She would have been so mad if I did what I wanted and never tried to do anything else ever again because it just hurt too much. She would have yelled at me.”

 

Tatsuya sat in silence with Murasakibara, his mind drifting to the final hours of hell they had endured during the battle against the demons. His right hand rubbed absently at the deep scar tissue left in his left shoulder from the snarling teeth of a demon.

 

Murasakibara had found him on the other edge of the mountain, where Tatsuya had been trapped by what he later learned to have been Kise’s magic. Kise had probably saved his life as close as he had been to the blast. He’d saved quite a few people, if the headlines were true. 

 

Tatsuya had said nothing about the presence of Akashi when he had seen the Miracles. As insufferable as the man was, this hadn’t been his fault, not really. Tatsuya didn’t think the kind of guy Murasakibara looked up to so much could have chosen this. Sometimes, the grief and anger was so much he could do nothing but imagine wrapping his hands around the guy’s throat, but the truth was he doubted it would actually make him feel better.

  
Instead he threw himself into helping his partner look for the survivors. Some had been dying even as Kise had put up shields - most had mild to severe cases of magical exhaustion. 

 

Akashi had been mute as they pulled rubble free to find the living, as they catalogued the dead (many of whom were so burned by the explosion that they were unrecognizable). 

 

Tatsuya wasn’t with the party that found Momoi. Akashi had apparently volunteered to return to the center of the explosion to carry the dead out, one by one in his arms, his magic run too low to even levitate them by his side.

 

He had heard Kise’s cry of anger, and seen Murasakibara whip his head around in pained shock.

 

Tatsuya never wanted to see that expression on Murasakibara’s face again. The gentle wizard had run, almost falling down the mountain into the cloud of smoke. He’d taken Momoi from Akashi’s arms. Tatsuya swallowed.

 

He’d liked her, for as little time as they had had together.

 

Imayoshi, who appeared to have had half his face pushed through a blender, had conjured a sheet to cover her, gently waving his wand to mark the edge of the blanket with her name, as they had for all the dead.

 

Healers had worked to stabilize the others, but some died on the mountain that morning. Backup from American healers had come well into the day, but over the next several days, they lost several more to the severe injuries the demons had caused.

 

So Tatsuya understood. He was angry. He was confused. He felt that he had lost something precious to him that he had left behind when they had gone to lay siege to the fortress made by the demon who possessed Akashi. He was relieved to have survived, and furious at having done so. 

 

There wasn’t much that could be said that could change any of that, so he said nothing. He stayed with Murasakibara, the simple physical contact reminding both of them that they were here, they had made it, and they had the chance to live a life worth having done so. 

 

He held onto Murasakibara’s hand until the larger wizard abruptly stood and said he was ready to leave. Murasakibara had been quiet for days after that; until Tatsuya woke up one morning to find Murasakibara awake at six in the morning apologizing to the fish, and carving a little rose onto the fountain in memorial of the fish he’d killed through his thoughtlessness.

  
It was sad. It was a little cute. It was hard to believe that the boy who could destroy a magical measurer with a  _ Wingardium Leviosa  _ was the same man using hand tools to carve delicate little symbols into the side of their fountain to memorialize fish. 

 

But then again, Tatsuya reflected, maybe not so surprising, given what he knew about the other wizard.

  
  


After that day by the headstone, Murasakibara threw himself into baking, designing and refining his craft. It wasn’t uncommon to see him mix batch after batch of filling only to taste it and reject the bowl, or to trash an entire tray of pastries as soon as they came straight out of the oven.

  
Tatsuya was relieved to see Murasakibara finding productive ways to cope with the deep wounds he still carried from the war. He worried that the other wizard might be getting just  _ slightly  _ overworked, but the work had put a burn in Murasakibara’s eyes and given new strength to the gentle giant who had been struggling to cope. 

  
The strawberry genius tarts were one of the more playful creations of their bakery – almost a prank item, if they hadn’t been so delicious. One bite would have the consumer speaking in arithmetic equations for five minutes. Tatsuya was amused.

  
After that, things leveled out, both emotionally and in terms of their business. 

  
Tatsuya had insisted on the wall trimmings and furniture accents be done in purple, as an homage to their executive baker. Murasakibara didn’t care about the aesthetics of their bakery and let his partner do what he wanted. 

  
He was honestly happy just baking and making other people happy with good food. 

  
In honor of the fall harvest festival, Murasakibara and Tatsuya had cooked up a series of sweet and savory pastries, full of vegetables and hearty fillings. Tarts full of spices and warm apple slices sat on display. The more expensive variety gave off a thick steam that would form into an apple tree and burst in a shower of harmless red and brown sparks, coating the pastry with a thick, sugary brown syrup.

  
Murasakibara’s taste for sweets and Tatsuya’s use of tricks and illusion magic combined in perfect harmony when they cooked together, though Murasakibara often still got moody enough to kick everyone out of the kitchen on his worse days. 

  
Tatsuya didn’t care that his partner was mercurial and fussy to the highest degree, and Murasakibara put up with his sharp edges. They softened one another, and had found a common ground on which they could both stand, and it made the personal relationship underlying their business much more solid.

  
“We need more of the harvest pastries,” Murasakibara noted to one of the sous chefs. The young witch straightened up and all but saluted.

  
“Yes Chef!”

  
She scrambled off to check on the status of the next batch of filling for the savory fall pastries.   
The giant purple wizard roamed among his guests, in his element. He chatted briefly with everyone, asking how and what they liked about the seasonal pastries. He commiserated with some that the season for fresh peaches would soon be ending, and then headed back behind the counter to check on how things were going in his kitchen.

 

There was always some kind of work waiting to be done, problems that cropped up, fires that needed to be put out (both literally and figuratively) and paperwork that Tatsuya said that he needed to sign, but he somehow didn’t mind. The work itself was fun, the kind of thing that Murasakibara would chose to do on his own anyway.

  
He really liked that people liked what he did not because of some accident of birth, the freak miracle of his magic, but rather because of the skills he had honed.

  
Anyone could be powerful, depending on the hand of fate. It took hard work to become this good at baking, and Murasakibara found that he liked that a lot.

  
There were more talents worth having than an overabundance of magic, certainly.

  
“Hey Chef,” Tatsuya said, sliding up to Murasakibara as he tasted the filling. It was perfection – light and perfectly creamy. This would be one of their last days selling the sweet summer tarts full of peaches, and Murasakibara would miss them. Tatsuya’s filling remained, as always, excellent. “What do you think?”

  
“Good!” Murasakibara said, his eyes lighting up. “It tastes fantastic!”

  
“Mind if I try some?” Tatsuya asked. Murasakibara shrugged, indicating that Tatsuya should do whatever he wanted. Tatsuya reached up and pulled Murasakibara down by the front of his apron, surprising him with a kiss.

  
The summery taste of peaches and cream was still clear in Murasakibara’s mouth, and Tatsuya grinned.

  
“Maybe some more cream,” he said, still grinning.

  
“That was a dirty trick,” Murasakibara complained, but he didn’t look unhappy. “You stole the last of my peaches.”

  
Tatsuya scooped another spoon in the mix and handed it to Murasakibara.

 

“Couldn’t resist, sorry,” he said. “I’ll get these baking.”

  
Murasakibara nodded, licking the last of the peach filling off the spoon.

  
As his number two walked off to work on the next phase of baking, Murasakibara surveyed his domain, checking to see where he could help alleviate build up and wait times.

  
He noticed that while he’d been distracted with other customers a large number of people had started queuing up by the registers. Murasakibara observed the buildup for only a moment, frowning at the sheer amount of people.

  
Their baking was going smoothly, the turnover of tables was happening at an acceptable rate… they could spare a line baker to get orders in a little faster just this moment. 

  
In a much louder voice than the one he’d used when talking to Tatsuya, one that bled authority into every syllable, he shouted: 

  
“Can I get another body on register three!” 

  
One of the line bakers on break sprang to attention and all but ran to attend to the customer. Murasakibara turned away. It was amusing – people found him intimidating now not because of his size or his magic, but because he was the chef in charge of one of the best wizarding bakeries in the world. They had made their debut with a bang, and thanks to Tatsuya’s business know how and marketing skills, and Murasakibara’s taste and baking skills, they had managed to make a name for themselves. 

  
He watched as the line baker turned cashier rang up an order for a vanilla puff scone and a coffee. The cashier handed them to the polite man who smiled and thanked them, and was gone from memory a second later as the next customer appeared to take his place.

  
The figure moved into the crowd, passing between people as though nobody really saw that he was there, and took a bite of the spiced vanilla puff. He smiled blissfully.

  
Perfect, just what he’d expected from Murasakibara’s talents.

  
He sat at a table in the corner, watching customers and staff hurry to and fro. Murasakibara managed the chaos better than he could have ever anticipated, and he enjoyed watching the large wizard in his element.

  
Murasakibara was happy in a way the man that had rarely been seen by most people, and it was a good look on him. He was content to watch the fruits of Murasakibara’s success, sitting in this warm and welcoming place that his old friend had built.

  
Customers’ eyes never fell to his table, and staff never stopped by to check on him. In fact, their eyes slid past the figure as though he wasn’t even there. If asked, most of them would have forgotten that there was even a table hidden away in that little alcove where the wall cut just so oddly. 

  
Even if someone had been watching that corner intently (and why would they, with so many other exciting and bright sights to take in around the store), they would not have seen the figure vanish into thin air like smoke. 

  
Maybe an hour later, passing through the crowded bakery, Murasakibara noticed the half eaten vanilla puff and the coffee (the first now almost stale and the second cold) sitting next to each other on the table. 

  
“Vanilla….” He murmured to himself, before turning around to go find Tatsuya. A stroke of inspiration had just hit him.

  
“Tatsuya, we need to find out how to make milkshakes!”

  
Tatsuya hummed in acknowledgement, and shouted to one of the staff to bus the table so that another customer could sit there.

  
…

  
It was almost unheard of to complete a Mastery in two years, and yet Midorima felt confident that he was about to become an exception that that rule. The Warders Guild would not admit a master for any less than a year of study and research, and Midorima had handed in his thesis one year and a day after his petition to seek his mastery was accepted. 

  
Which is what made what they were about to do such an excellent coup, almost verging on a prank. The Enchanters Guild would, potentially, be one of the first guilds to break with tradition and give a wizard their second mastery.

  
More scandalous still, they had waived their requirement for three years of study so that Midorima and Takao could present the fruits of their research.

  
There were those among the Guild who had been overruled to make this decision, and they had made their displeasure at the special treatment known to all.

  
Takao had come home from the Guild library carrying a poster advertising the date of their thesis defense to the entire guild.

  
“It’s Bhantry, that bastard, I know it!” he seethed. “That cowardly dick!”

  
Midorima sighed.

  
Their Master had floo called him that morning. He hadn’t figured out yet how to breach the topic with Takao.

  
“Yes, and he justified it by claiming excitement at having two such prodigious students and wanting to show off the brilliance of the Guild,” Midorima said. “Master Ruiz told me that the… simpletons in charge of the guild bought his false enthusiasm and even agreed to publish general community announcements. Mastery defenses are always public, after all, and why not drum up more excitement for academic advancement?”

  
“I hope he used a stronger word than simpleton,” Takao muttered mutinously, throwing himself onto the couch.

  
“You know for a fact he did not.”

  
Takao snorted. For all that their master was brilliant, he didn’t appreciate Takao’s sharp tongue. Had Takao been seeking a mastery on the merit of his own research, Midorima was sure their Master would have throttled him. As it was, Midorima was quite glad for Master Ruiz, because if any other Master of the Guild had been their advisor, then Takao might have been denied the credit he was due for his part in the incredible invention they created together. He was the staunchest of conservatives, a traditionalist even among traditionalists, and the knowledge that if there had been misconduct, Ruiz would not hesitate to report it, would be enough to deter some of those determined to find fault with the two would-be Enchanters. 

  
Ruiz would ensure that everyone knew it was Takao’s idea to start with, and that he had certainly not ridden on the coattails of his partner’s brilliance and magic. 

  
The truth was… almost the other way around. Takao had researched applications of muggle energy conversion and data networks when Midorima had been writing to him about ley lines, back when it had seemed like they could realistically prevent the end of the world from crashing down around them.

  
It had been Takao’s idea to pursue the idea he’d gotten while writing with Midorima, and Midorima, whose curiosity was voracious, had agreed simply to see if they could do it.

  
He was excited about the implications of their research, beyond just being conferred a mastery, and he hoped that the Guild would agree that what they were doing was pretty… awesome, as Takao would say.

  
Of course, Midorima had been excited when he thought that they would be presenting their research to their Master and the defense committee, not their Master, the defense committee, every Master of the Guild with an afternoon to spare, dozens of students, and an unknowable number of curious public spectators.

  
“Are you okay?” 

  
Midorima nodded wordlessly.

  
“There will undoubtedly be quite a few people there,” he said quietly. “Not in the least because there are idiots who will not let that stupid nickname die.”

  
Takao slid onto Midorima’s lap, smiling at him.

  
“If we were defending this thesis in front of one person or one hundred, or one thousand, or one million, it doesn’t matter. We’re going to stick to the facts, do everything right, and give them a presentation to blast them out of the water.”

  
Midorima smiled weakly.

  
“Besides, you think I’m scared of Bhantry? That decaying pile of feces hid in the guild halls while we were out fighting demons. What did he do while we were saving the world? Cower behind the walls of his school like they would save him from a real demon attack if it got this far. He didn’t even have the balls to evacuate. He just hates you because he knows you could kick his ass.”

  
Midorima outright laughed, his concerns ebbing somewhat.

  
“I guess this just means we should practice the demonstration in the main hall, just to make sure we’re comfortable there too,” Takao suggested. He was more than comfortable winging it in whatever setting, but he knew that public speaking was probably one of the few things Midorima could not do amazingly well on command.

  
“You think that will be necessary?” Midorima asked. “It’s not exactly a traditional setting for thesis defenses.”

  
They went anyway, just in case.

  
Three days later, on the last day of academic activities in the Guild before it closed for Yule, he and Midorima arrived at the main office of the Guild to be told that their defense had been moved to the largest lecture hall.

  
Takao smirked, knowing that the Guild’s ploy to put them off their guard had failed, and was practically vibrating with excitement by the time they got there.

  
Outside, the snow was falling heavily, and he was more than thankful to be inside, where the warmth kept the winter cold away. 

  
Midorima glanced through the open door.

  
The hall was packed.

  
Midorima gulped.

  
“We’re going to do fine,” Takao said, smoothing down the official guild robes and straightening Midorima’s tie. “Let’s go dazzle them, babe.”

  
Midorima took Takao’s hand in his own, and nodded.

  
“Yes.”

  
Master Bhantry was approximately eight hundred years old, or at least he looked it. He belonged to the exact same camp as Master Ruiz when it came to demanding traditionalism, but unlike Master Ruiz, he did not like Takao or Midorima. At all. He scowled as the two walked onto the lecture platform.

  
Midorima wondered if the old man had expected them to get cold feet and back down, feeling the pressure of so much expectation and so many people.

  
He narrowed his eyes. No, under that scowl, Bhantry actually looked pleased. He believed that Takao and Midorima had shown up with some half baked poorly researched thesis, and would get torn apart in public. He believed that they would leave with their professional reputations in tatters.

  
Well, he hadn’t seen their thesis. He wasn’t on the defense committee, no matter how much he’d tried to angle for it. And Midorima didn’t give a shit what Bhantry thought about them.   
The committee consisted of the head of the Enchanters Guild, four Masters randomly selected for each defense, and their own Master. They had had the thesis for one week, and would spend the next three hours trying to find a single hole in their work.

  
They wouldn’t find one. Of that, Midorima was certain.

  
“Welcome,” the head of the Guild said. “I understand there’s quite a bit of turnout from supporters of our students, and given the unusual situation, that’s fine. I will only once remind all of you to please not distract our students with any noise. Any Masters with questions shall issue them only after I have pronounced myself satisfied with the defense, should I do so. Our students have one hour to present and will remain to answer questions based on their work.”   
Midorima bowed as the masters took the front row of seats, and he and Takao were given the limelight.

  
“This is the thesis defense of Takao Kazunari and Midorima Shintarou. Guild Master Guo is present and leading the proceedings,” the head of the Guild said smoothly for the benefit of the transcript of the thesis defense that was being created. “Will the Masters challenging our students introduce themselves?”

  
“Master Ruiz, as the student advisor of these students. Guild Master Guo, I am honored to present them to you in recommendation of a Mastery.”

  
The guild master nodded, and went down the bench as the remaining masters introduced themselves. With the ceremony complete, he started the timer that glowed at the back of the room.

  
“One hour,” he reminded them, and the timer started counting down.

  
Takao jumped right in, explaining their initial research into the interactions of ley lines and magical conduction compared to muggle electromagnetism. 

  
Midorima explained then how they had managed to become enamored with muggle methods of storing large amounts of information.

  
“Our research was set to determine whether magic could provide the same kind of instant communication that muggles possess, creating a network from which data – images, information, whole books, moving pictures, anything – could be shared at a moments notice; or even projected live. It was with this objective that we began our work.”

  
And so they went, explaining their efforts to replicate the muggle internet. Takao and Midorima explained their success at creating stable permanent networks using enchantments, runes, and hellishly complicated mathematics.

  
“As we build and grow the connection, we will have a magical net covering the entire world. A World Wide Web of information accessible at your fingertips with only the barest brush of magic necessary to connect to it.”

  
Takao removed the set of crystals, and laid them out. With a tap of his wand, he activated them, and a line of white light connected the rocks before an image rose up over the three of them.

  
The projected image had what appeared to be a generic stock photo of a smiling student. He had light blue hair matching the color scheme of the website.

  
Beside him, a segment had some identifying information and a bio. Takao had a lot of fun writing it while sitting in his favorite seat, Midorima’s lap, one Monday afternoon. 

  
_ “We should make him interesting,” Midorima had argued. _

_  
_ _ “Nope,” Takao clicked his tongue. “Shin-chan, you’re wrong. He’s a placeholder, he’s got to be as boring as possible!” _

_  
_ _ “The committee will say we lack imagination.” _

_  
_ _ “The committee will appreciate our restraint,” Takao said. “And you know I’m right. They’re a bunch of sodding traditionalists with their heads so far up their asses that eating spicy food might make them puke.” _

_  
_ _ Takao had won out. So their mascot enjoyed reading light novels in his free time, loved vanilla ice cream, was average height, average weight, and drank tea. The only interesting thing about their fake person was the pale blue hair. _

_  
_ _ “Because boring people have blue hair,” Midorima said dryly when he saw Takao’s design. _ _  
  
_

_ “Those in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, Shin-chan,” Takao said seriously. “Plus, I just thought since that’s the color for the our magi-net site, we should make his hair that color. Since he’s the mascot.” _

_  
_ _ Midorima actually adored that idea. _

_  
_ _ “Fine,” he’d said, and their Number One was created. _

 

Takao grinned as their professors examined the image. They had already examined their own set of crystals, which could access this image remotely, without Takao or Midorima there to power the spell. Anyone who had never seen Number One, but who could get a hold of a crystal hooked into the network could get to his homepage, with a tap of their wands.

  
This was going to change the entire wizarding world. It would change their culture, their communication, their infrastructure… no facet of life would be the same. There would be no going back. Midorima and Takao hadn’t just come up with a theoretically interesting piece of magic - they were going to shape the very future.

  
This was a coup of the highest degree, but the sweetest part of it was watching Master Bhantry’s face as Takao gestured widely to Number One. The man was furious. He’d intended to humiliate two students who were too big for their britches. It turned out, they had been ready and truly turned out something extraordinary, and he was pissed. Midorima fully expected him to rise in challenge of the thesis after the Guild Master accepted it.

  
“I give you… Wizard Facebook.”

  
The room might as well have been rioting.

  
“This is Number One,” Takao explained when the room quieted down. “Kind of our mascot, if you will. His was first account made, as a test to confirm that the network could hold the data. As you can see, this is not an illusion we are producing right now. This information has been permanently saved and stored, and is accessible to anyone who can access the network through one of these crystals. This is the first magic-net website we’ve created, but the field is functional and could hold several more. For the purposes of our mastery, we have several pages with placeholder content, but the network could hold an unlimited amount of data.”   
The room hadn’t fallen truly silent since the image was unveiled.

  
“This is a new way of connecting with other people in an age of rapid development,” Takao continued. “Owl post, enchanted paper… these will be relics of the past. Our society will be taking a step forward into an age of rapid development and change. A web page like this would allow you to stay in contact with people no matter where they were – multiple people could check in with each other at once all at the same time on the same network.”

  
They discussed their site further, and showed the second page of the website. Their Number Two was a smiling dog with black and white markings, and eyes that matched Number One. 

  
Now, looking at it while Takao talked, something about it burned in the back of Midorima’s mind. 

  
Number Two.

  
Well, it was a cute dog, not that Midorima much liked dogs. They were loud and messy and required far too much care and cleanup. 

  
Still, perhaps he and Takao had been inspired from somewhere to find that particular image?   
Midorima distracted himself by looking back at Bhantry, who was turning an angry shade of purple. Midorima was still making eye contact as their hour began to wind to a close.

  
“In summation, the results of our study indicate that electromagnetic waves communicating information can be duplicated using particular resonances of magical energy when operated at extremely precise volumes and frequencies. These frequencies can be accessed to creative a massive magical network that may maintain more information than anyone could think to access in a lifetime, and could become a repository of information we could only dream of. Our practical application proves this to be a success, and we hope that the popularity of such a network will grow. Thank you.”

 

Midorima stepped down from the podium, frowning as he adjusted his glasses.

  
“Thank you, gentlemen,” the Guild Master said. “I just have some concerns about the practical use of such a network. Surely, the end result would be a series of disparate networks containing disproportionate amounts of information, thus preventing unlimited access?”   
  


Midorima nodded.

  
“Any two networks can be merged stably,” he said. “You can see appendix one-seventy-two for a log of our experiments demonstrating that once merged, anyone in either network can access information in any others. Over time, networks would merge by necessity, creating a wider web of information accessible to all. We would hope that with Guild and Ministry backing, the immediate popularization of such a network would allow us to get most everyone on it early on. The experiments showing that separate secure networks could be created serve as excellent demonstrations of their use for secure communications for the purpose of government work, or private Guild business.”

  
Midorima and Takao fielded several other technical and policy questions from the Guild Master, and then the other line of Masters. Midorima wasn’t surprised that Ruiz was the hardest on them, challenging both he and Takao more than even the Guild Master himself. He was thankful; none could argue that the challenge to their defense wasn’t thorough. With a few minutes left in the three hours, the Guild Master sat back. 

  
“I am satisfied,” he said at last. “Do any Masters of the Guild have any further questions of these students?”

  
Bhantry stood, as Midorima knew he would.

  
“This is preposterous and infantile!” he bellowed. “It hardly qualifies as Enchantment, and it certainly isn’t of the caliber of a Master of this guild.”

  
The Guild Master smiled tightly.

  
“Candidates,” he said. “Defend the assertion that this is a project rooted primarily in Enchantment, if you please.”

  
It was Takao who stepped up to field the question.

  
“With due respect, Guild Master, Enchantment is at its most basic form the process of imbuing an object with magical power. That’s the definition we learn reading the introduction to our first year Charms class. This is a permanent enchantment, imbuing the crystals that serve as our conduits with the magic that stores this information, and the power to connect to and project it. Wards and math and muggle science have guided our analysis, but in its most basic form, we have completed an Enchantment.”

  
The Guild Master sighed.

  
“Indeed,” he agreed. “Though I ask,  _ once again _ , Mr. Takao, that you refrain from inflicting your sharp tongued barbs on masters of this guild.”

  
Takao did not even have the grace to pretend to look ashamed, for which Midorima was very proud.

  
“Any other challenges?” the Guild Master asked. 

  
There were none, and Midorima and Takao exchanged a nervous look.

  
“Very well,” the Guild Master said, and Midorima had to fight the urge to take his partner’s hand.

 

“In my authority as the Master of the Guild of Enchantment, I find that I cannot accept this project for a Mastery in Enchantment.”

  
Midorima thought his stomach was going to drop through the floor.

  
“What?” he asked, before he could stop himself. Takao grabbed his arm, as though he thought Midorima was going to physically throw himself at the Guild Master.

  
“Thank you both for your passionate defense of your thesis. This session is concluded, and the petition of these candidates for a Mastery in Enchantment is hereby denied.”

  
Midorima felt like he had been stabbed in the gut.

  
Midorima shook Takao’s grip off and almost ran down the steps to catch up to the Guild Master, looking outraged.

  
“Why did you deny our petition?” he asked, in as subdued and respectful a tone as he could manage.

  
Takao was behind him a second to late to stop him, and the Guild Master looked at them both solemnly. He handed back the folder with all of their research – two years of work, wasted – and the crystals. The folder had been stamped with the seal of the guild denying the petition. Midorima felt sick with failure seeing the physical proof of their denial. He took the folder in hands that were shaking, though he wasn’t sure if it was with fury or disappointment. His blood was rushing too fast through his head, making him feel dizzy, light headed, and reckless. 

 

This didn’t feel real. 

  
“The Guild would own it,” Guild Master Guo told them. “While there would be a great benefit to us to do so, it might never reach the public at the scale you imagine. You cannot do what you have proposed as members of the Guild.”

  
Midorima stared at the man, slightly wild eyed.

  
“I would recommend patenting this device immediately and beginning to replicate it for mass sale at once,” the Guild Master added, glancing behind him. “It looks like you might already have half a dozen investors sold on the idea already.”

  
Midorima was shocked.

  
“Why would you inconvenience your own guild?” Midorima demanded. “You could lose your job and your Mastery if the Guild decided that you were working against their interests!!”   
Guild Master Guo turned, and smiled.

  
“What is right is not always to one’s own individual benefit,” he said. Looking around, he smiled serenely. “You have a gift, Midorima Shintarou, and I commend your instinct to share it with the world. Academia’s ivory towers are not, contrary to what it may seem, the center of all learning and enlightenment. Perhaps this will finally help the bigoted pure bloods realize how backwards the entire system is. Good work, gentlemen.”

  
He swept away, and Takao and Midorima were left staring at each other.

  
_ What the fuck _ ? Takao mouthed at Midorima. Midorima shrugged, thoroughly bewildered.

  
“He is right,” Midorima finally said. “Let’s go face our public.”

  
Bhantry was an ass, but at least he only smirked at them, striding past Takao and Midorima with purpose as he left the hall. Ruiz gave them both apologetic looks, gathering his notes and leaving.

  
Some of the Masters expressed dismay over the denied petition, others outright anger. 

Midorima could see only a few had recognized the real power play that the Guild Master had competed. 

  
“Whose dog is that?” a very polite man wanted to know.

  
“He’s just a creation,” Takao said, smiling at the nondescript wizard in front of him. “I did the art, made a baseline and decided what characteristics to use. But it’s not a real dog.”

  
“He is very cute.”

  
Takao had laughed and thanked the person, and moved on.

  
They spoke to several reporters, playing up that they intended to market the device with Takao’s playful reminders to the press that a Guild submission, even a failed one, was legally as good as a patent.

  
Midorima was exhausted by the time they got home. He rubbed his forehead, trying to stem the irritation and disappointment.

 

Takao had been brilliant with the press, but Midorima had never enjoyed being mobbed by people the way his partner seemed to.

  
He’d so hoped that today would turn out differently. He fumbled with his scarf and hat, sending snow that had fallen onto him while they were walking onto the ground in the foyer, where it quickly melted.

  
“You okay babe?” Takao asked gently, helping him out of his over robe. Midorima nodded stiffly.

  
“It’s not a vision, is it?” Takao asked in an undertone. Midorima shook his head.

  
“No, thank the gods,” he said. “I still have not had any visions since the attack. I believe that I would like it to stay that way.”

  
“Well that’s good,” Takao said. “I like it that way too. You’re a lot happier without them.”

  
Takao kissed Midorima on the nose, and it was a mark of how far they both had come that Midorima did not scrunch his face up at the public physical contact.

  
“You did amazing,” Takao said. “Really great today.”

  
“As did you,” Midorima said. “As you have done during our entire tenure working on this project. I am simply sorry you don’t have a mastery to show for it.”

  
“Are you mad?” Takao asked, biting his lip. “About not getting the mastery?”

  
Midorima shook his head.

  
“I was,” he confessed. “But Guild Master Guo was correct. We can do much more with this project on our own than we could controlled by a group with an agenda. We can bring information to the people without an agenda, and give everyone a voice to create whatever content they want.”

  
“You’re really sexy when you’re enabling free speech, you know that babe?” Takao asked.    
Midorima blushed up to the roots of his hair. 

  
“Well, anyway now I feel stupid because I got you a present to celebrate getting a mastery and now it’s just sad, but either way I got you a subscription to this horoscope service.”

 

Midorima thought of the gift that was wrapped upstairs, an enchanted bracelet with heavy protection spells, and sighed.

  
“Well, we might as well drink the celebratory champagne and make business plans,” he sighed, undoing his necktie. “Since we’ve effectively been kicked out of school. I’ll get the glasses. Tell me about this horoscope service?”

 

Midorima couldn’t deny that the words “horoscope service” didn’t engender a lot of fond feelings. He was happy without the curse of foreknowledge he’d once had, and he had no desire to meddle in the future any longer.

  
“Oh, the name is Oha-Asa or something,” Takao shot back. “I started listening to it when I realized you were divining your lucky items for the day. It’s total fucking bunk, you’ll love every second of it!” 

 

Well, that was almost funny, Midorima thought as Takao joined him in the kitchen smirking.

 

“I thought you might enjoy laughing at their stupidity,” Takao said, and Midorima smiled just a little. Perhaps he would.

  
Takao kissed Midorima chastely on the lips and danced away as the other wizard scowled behind him, opening the fridge with a little too much force.

  
Okay maybe he was still a little bitter about the whole thing. At least Ruiz could have warned them of Master Guo’s intent so they wouldn’t have to experience such a public humiliation. There had even been reporters there and –

  
Oh. 

  
Midorima paused halfway through the act of pouring two glasses of champagne. Of course. Master Guo had played up the hype surrounding them, granting a special early review when he never should have to avoid wasting more of their time. He’d allowed Bhantry to stew and fight about it, making them a controversy. 

 

There had been no better way to ensure the maximum number of people saw what they had done, given them credit for it and a national stage to begin their work. By morning, they might make the Prophet, perhaps even the front page if it was a slow news day, and that free advertising would be worth more than all the ads gold could buy them in a week when they started making themselves known.

  
Amazing.

 

Master Guo was truly a genius. Midorima smirked as he finished filling the glasses with bubbly champagne.

  
Midorima turned, feeling much lighter. 

  
“To the better things down the road,” he said, toasting with Takao. “We should see if we know any businessmen to help market this.”

  
Within minutes, they were lost in a whole new set of plans for their invention.

  
It seemed that even when things did not go quite as they had wanted them too, the world still had left them with boundless possibilities.

 

…

  
“Ready?”

  
Kise turned away from the mirror in his office. He’d been adjusting his already perfectly settled tie, fidgeting with his appearance to conceal his nerves.

  
Kasamatsu was standing in his doorway.

  
“You know, you really should lock this door when you’re in here. It’s a serious security risk; anyone could just come strolling in.”

  
“ _ Anyone _ just did, Senpai,” Kise teased.

  
“You know,” Kasamatsu said, stepping forward, “don’t think I won’t kick your ass just because you got elected Minister of Magic.”

  
Kise smiled. He might have been the youngest Minister ever elected, but he’d had one of the highest percentages of the popular vote of any Minister in modern times, as his chief of staff couldn’t stop reminding him.

 

He had already been popular, well known for taking the side of the people over the side of bureaucracy, and when the demon threat was dealt with, he was a war hero as well. 

 

“Do you remember when I appointed you as the head of the Department of Magical Law enforcement, and you said that you were going to argue with me about everything?” Kisa pouted. “If I’d known you were going to take that so literally, I would have chosen someone else!”

  
“Someone has to,” Kasamatsu said. “Or nothing would ever get done around here. Now come on, we’ve got a memorial service to go to.”

  
“One second,” Kise said, turning back to his mirror.

  
Kasamatsu made an impatient sound in the back of his throat.

  
“You look fine, perfect as ever, let’s go. You’re going to be late to the memorial service, and that’s just disrespectful.”

  
He grabbed his boss by the arm, ushering him out of the Minister’s office.

  
“Senpai!”

  
“What?”

  
“You think I look perfect?”

  
Kasamatsu hit Kise on the head.

  
“Don’t be an idiot, you’re Minister. Playing the fool doesn’t suit you.”

 

Kise straightened up, that serious gleam shining in his eyes.

  
“Of course,” he said, with a smile that gave Kasamatsu thoughts he definitely shouldn’t be having on the job. The intensity that hid behind Kise’s public face was certainly a sight to behold.

  
Kasamatsu knew Kise was stalling, and Kise knew it too. He didn’t want to go to this memorial any more than Kasamatsu did. The unfortunate thing for both of them was that neither had a choice in the matter.

  
Public opinion demanded that the Ministry recognize the heroes of the war and those who had fallen during it. It would be a time to grieve, to remember what had been lost, and to celebrate having lived to rebuild.

  
Kise wasn’t sure he wanted to face the emotions the service would induce in him, but as the newly elected Minister, he hardly had a choice. 

  
“Besides, after the service you’re due back in your office, since you still haven’t finished working out the kinks in the new muggleborn education bill, so we can’t waste time,” Kasamatsu continued. “We need to go.”

  
Kise nodded.

  
“Don’t be nervous,” Kasamatsu snapped, clapping Kise on the shoulder. “The people love you.”

  
“The people would have a collective heart attack if they saw how rough the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement treated their Minister,” Kise grinned, finding it easier to wrap the false persona he had built around himself since the first day he’d entered the public eye as a model than to be himself. Kasamatsu shook his head.

  
“They would have a heart attack just thinking we were involved,” he corrected Kise sternly.    
  


“Well that’s true,” Kise turned the full power of his malicious, smug grin on Kasamatsu. “We are  _ quite the scandal _ .”

  
Kasamatsu wanted to deny that even after all this time, Kise’s voice like that didn’t do so many unprofessional things to him, but he was wrong.

  
“Ryouta,” he said, hiding his affection and arousal under annoyance.

  
“Yukio,” Kise shot back, his smile growing wider.

  
There was a loud banging on the door just then.

  
“Minister!” Kise’s secretary said, sounding distressed. “Please, the reporters are starting to get impatient!”

  
Kise turned away, and Kasamatsu breathed a sigh of relief.

 

Thankfully, he rarely had much to do with the office of the Minister himself, otherwise he would probably have to quit his job to avoid going insane.

  
Kise straightened his black dress robes and opened the door to see the young, harried looking witch on the other side of the door already attempting to knock again.

  
“I’m so sorry Minister!” she all but yelled, and Kise fixed her with the much gentler, PG version of his most popular smile.

  
“It’s all right, I’m leaving now, my meeting with the head of the DMLE just ran a little over,” he assured her. “Kasamatsu, can I tempt you to escorting me to the service?”

  
Kasamatsu snorted. 

  
“Over my dead body, Minister,” he said, already heading passed the shocked secretary’s desk in the antechamber and pulling open the door. “Your auror escort will see you safely to the event. I’m going to go sit in the crowd with the masses.”

  
Kise pouted, but bade farewell to Kasamatsu as his escort peered into the office.

  
“Minister, are you ready?”

  
Kise smiled, taking a more confident breath and accepting the file with his notes for the speech from his secretary.

  
He could do this.

  
“Of course,” he lied with false bravado. 

  
In short order, he was escorted into the huge Ministry ballroom. It was coated in dark green marble, decorated with accents of gold filigree. The furniture was wood, but the tablecloths were black.

  
This was a day of mourning, even though it had been four years.

  
Four years.

  
Merlin’s beard, Kise couldn’t believe how long it had been.

 

Sometimes he still woke up at night in a sweat, watching the world explode around him. His ears would ring with the phantom pain of having been blown out by the soundwave.

 

It felt like yesterday. It felt like an eternity ago. 

  
Kise’s press secretary met him at the front of the room, and they somberly shook hands before walking up to the podium together. Kise couldn’t help but scan his eyes through the crowd.

  
Murasakibara’s height made him obvious, even if his hair wasn’t a dead giveaway. Midorima’s hair served the same purpose. Kise had to look harder, but by the very far edge of the room, near where Kasamatsu was sitting with a standoffish scowl (“Really, Yukio, you look so scary, you need to smile more!” Kise had told him more than once, apparently to no avail), he saw the dark blue hair of Aomine, and the deep red of Kagami’s hair. Kise knew better than to believe that Aomine was as bored and Kagami as pissed as they looked - but he also knew that the scary expressions were their way of making sure that they weren’t approached by anyone. 

 

Neither had answered a single one of his letters after that first hard week in which they had returned to their homes and tried to make sense of what had happened to them. 

  
There was no sign of a shock of hair so brightly red it was almost a deep pink.

  
Not that Kise had expected  _ him _ to come.

  
Honestly, Kise was glad that the bastard had made himself scarce and was apparently staying that way. He didn’t want to forgive the man. Kise didn’t think he could even if he wanted to, and he didn’t. He was too immature to make nice with the man who had almost ended the world, even if it was an accident, even now.

  
Kise’s musings had lasted until they reached the podium, and his secretary issued a somber greeting to the full ballroom. Kise didn’t hear a word of it, but he immediately focused when his secretary introduced him formally. 

  
“The Minister of Magic –Akashi Ryouta.”

  
Kise stepped up to the podium and nodded, even as he winced internally at the last name he would never get used to. His former Captain had left him the legacy that ensured not even the old pureblood crowd could object to his candidacy, but it was an unwanted one all the same. 

 

He didn’t want the money. He’d donated that to charity, every knut, as he’d done with the properties. He didn’t want the reminder of the man who had once been his friend following him like a ghost, but he couldn’t excise it. He didn’t want the legacy either, but it was his, and he intended to use it to help as many people as he could.

  
“Welcome everyone,” he said. “Four years have passed. While the traumatic events we come together to memorialize feel as much like a bad dream that happened an eternity ago for some, and yet our wounds remain as fresh as though they were inflicted yesterday for others. Today we celebrate. We are alive. We survived. We have rebuilt. We remember. This is not the end. But today, we also mourn. Many are not alive. Many did not survive. They are not here to celebrate what we healed.”

  
Kise kept his remarks short. He didn’t need to rehash an event they all remembered, nor did he wish to air his own pain so rawly in public.

  
Instead, he focused on the bravery of all who had fought in the war, and of the steady commitment to rebuilding their society that all had displayed in the aftermath.

  
Once, Kise glanced up and paused his speech, because he made eye contact with two pale blue eyes.The spectator seemed familiar, but the second Kise looked away, the man had disappeared.

  
How odd.

  
Kise finished his two-minute speech and bowed his head.

  
“In following the tradition of my predecessor, we will name each victim claimed by the Demon War, and leave candles burning in their stead overnight. Please join me in silence while the names are read.”

  
Kise had memorized the list. He’d known some, from the moment they crawled out of the crater, but there were several whose deaths he hadn’t learned about until later. 

  
He’d invited all of the Miracles to do the reading, but they had all declined. Momoi would have agreed to do it, Kise thought rebelliously, but hadn’t been able to ever get the words out in enough time to actually guilt any of them into doing what he wanted.

  
In the end, Kiyoshi had agreed to do it. Four years of study, the first of which had been aborted by the Demon War, had earned the man a Mastery in transfiguration, and he was a regular on the dueling circuit. With the Miracles steadfastly refusing to return to their former arena of fame, the fervor over dueling had died down somewhat, but the matches had become more exciting as the matchups became less one sided.

  
Certainly, it was still far more popular than it had been before the Miracles had entered the field, and Kiyoshi was a well known feature in the revived sport.

  
Kise schooled his face to calm, knowing that each name would be like a dagger in his heart.

  
He knew these people. They weren’t just lines on a list. He knew their families, their likes and dislikes, their strengths and hopes and fears and he’d never wanted such horrible fates to befall any of them.

 

“Aida Kagetora.”

  
The first name fell like a stone, because the Headmaster of Hogwarts was one of the most well known victims. He heard a small sob from the audience, and declined to look up and embarrass Riko more than she probably already was.

  
The first candle was lit.

  
The list didn’t get easier to hear, no matter how many times he heard it, no matter how many nights he spent staring up at the ceiling, wondering if they could have saved any of them.

  
If Kise had fought the possession more successfully, maybe he could have shortened that list. If he’d been faster, if they’d taken less time in the tunnels, if they had come up with a plan to get down the side of the mountain faster, if they’d found a closer tunnel to the outside and had to cover less ground…

  
Even one less name would have meant so much. 

  
Most of the names on the list were children. They had been students, possessed by demons and then eaten while still vulnerable and alone. They had been graduates, the ink still wet on their diplomas, who had decided to charge the mountain in a harebrained scheme to save them.

  
They had been average witches and wizards who hadn’t had the miraculous strength to fight and keep fighting as others had.

  
The list was long.

  
“Momoi Satsuki.”

  
Kise’s hand tightened imperceptibly on the podium.

  
Momoi.

  
As awful as it was, hers was the name that was the reason Kise would never forgive Akashi. If he ever saw the other redhead again, he would drop him like a bag of stones if he could. He hated knowing that in balance, the rest of the list might have one day been forgiven. Kise intimately knew how little choice Akashi had had in the manner, but –

  
But unlike Kise, Akashi had been able to fight it. If he’d pulled himself out just a minute earlier, they wouldn’t have lost their friend.

  
Kise could still hear her, like it had only been yesterday that she’d been yelling at him for using that illusion spell to make naked copies of himself.

  
“ _ Ryo-chan, you need to think about your reputation!” _ she’d reamed into him like she was his damn mother or something.  _ “Why on earth did you do that?” _

  
Idly, Kise realized he couldn’t remember why he’d thought baring his naked ass in a duel with Aomine and Murasakibara would have yielded results.

  
Why had he been fighting two on one, when he’d never even managed to take on just Aomine alone?   
  


Kise lost track of where they were on the list as he thought hard, realizing now that he was bothered by this loss.

  
What was he missing?

  
“Ogiwara Shigehiro.”

  
Another death Kise hadn’t seen. He’d only heard about it after, the boy that Akashi had confessed to killing in order to do the final ritual to possess himself, so that he would have enough magic to save the world.

  
The list continued to run, and Kise breathed through the loss of each one. 

  
The end of the list came, and silence fell heavily on them all.

  
Kise looked around. 

  
There were so many wizards here, the heroes who had held the line and fought, at great personal cost to themselves. But there were so many lights, floating around them, each the physical representation of the name on that list.

  
“May their memories be a blessing,” Kise said softly, after a long minute of silence. The assembled wizards repeated the sentiment in unison.

  
“It is these dark times that remind us that we must not allow ourselves to lose who we are to fear and anger and prejudice,” Kise said. “Wherever we come from, whatever we are made of, it cannot matter when we join together to better our community and our world. There are more insidious, more poisonous shades lurking at the edges of our community, and they seek to tear us apart and divide us into factions. If we fail to accept the diverse and rich tapestry of the wizarding community for what it is – the greatest of our strengths - if we do not stand together, we will surely fall alone. We must extend the hand of hope and love to all, and reject the teachings of fear and hate, and remember that darkness, no matter how deep, is only temporary. Thank you for joining me in memory of our fallen friends.”

  
Kagami and Aomine had left by the time Kise stepped down from the podium. Merlin knew the two of them had had a hard time readjusting to the world, harder than most. It was like there was something about them that just didn’t fit back in the world properly anymore.

  
Kise determined to step up his attempts to reach out to them, as he shook hands with the people present.

  
Kiyoshi hugged him when Kise found him and thanked him for doing the reading, which wasn’t surprising.  

  
Midorima found him somewhere on the other side of the room. 

  
“There is something wrong,” Midorima said in a low voice. Kise looked around in surprise and back to Midorima.

  
“Takao brought it to my attention,” Midorima said, in the same low voice. “Do you remember why he used Ogiwara Shigehiro as his sacrifice?”

  
Kise didn’t allow his expression to change. He thought he was the only one for whom that had stood out as odd, but apparently not.

  
“No,” he replied.

  
A lifetime of receiving incredulous and contemptuous glares from Midorima for expressing an opinion held Kise back from elaborating, but only for a moment.

  
“I was thinking of something else,” Kise said impulsively, blurting it out before he could convince himself he was being an idiot. “When I was thinking of Momoi and that stupid tournament.”

  
“And?” 

  
There was the eyebrow, the expression wondering just what Kise’s observation had to do with anything. Kise plunged ahead.

  
“She reamed me out for trying some trick during practice, but I don’t remember why. I don’t remember at all, but I was dueling Aomine and Murasakibara. Why would  _ he _ have ever made us duel two on one? When did he  _ ever _ do that?”

  
Midorima’s mouth opened, surprise on his face. He closed his eyes, his prodigious memory reaching back to their fourth year.

  
“I have a better question for both of you,” Takao said cheerfully, appearing seemingly out of nowhere, two drinks in his hand. “Evening, Minister,” he added to Kise, sounding entirely unperturbed and unimpressed by his stature.

  
“What’s the question?” Midorima asked, taking the drink with a frown.

  
“All the teams for that tournament had six people on them. I count five Miraculous Assholes, so  _ who was the sixth _ ?”

  
Kise opened his mouth and closed it several times, unable to find his voice.

  
What had been the tasks? Murasakibara had disposed of the power contest with a wandless Wingardium Leviosa spell. Kise had been forced to face the boggart – an incident he’d had nightmares about until they’d been replaced by dreams about possessed. Their… captain had poisoned himself and brewed the cure. Midorima and Murasakibara had disposed of the booby-trapped maze. Aomine had faced the timed challenge. The relay race that had nearly been lost by Aomine, evened out by Midorima, and saved by Kise himself had been a three-person race…

  
“Aomine had a partner in the time timed challenge,” Takao said, as if reading Kise’s thoughts.

  
“That was an individual event,” Midorima said at once.

  
“Nope,” Takao said, popping the p in the word. “Gold and Silver hit that together. And the senior competition was also a paired challenge, remember when Kiyoshi and Hanamiya actually got along for like five minutes?”

  
Midorima’s scowl deepened. He  _ had _ forgotten.

  
They’d had a sixth man, a phantom, who was nothing more than a shadow in their memories.   
Where had he gone? Had he not stood with them at their battle at the end of the world, or was he among the dead, so pale in their memories as to have been overlooked entirely?

  
Who was this man who they could no longer remember, but who had apparently been there the whole time?

  
“Someone tampered with our memories,” Kise concluded. Just as quickly, fury flooded him.

  
“That bastard.”

  
“You think it was him?” Midorima asked.

  
“Who else?” Kise demanded. 

  
“Perhaps your invisible friend,” Takao said, and then paused on the words.

  
He knew that there was something he should know, he just didn’t know what it was, and it was frustrating as hell. 

  
“I have the authority to pull records,” Kise said. “Whatever is missing from our memory, I will find it.”

  
“I will isolate each of the memories I have that appear to be tampered with,” Midorima said. “It seems Kazunari can recognize the gaps that I have overlooked for years. We should have spoken about this much sooner.”

  
“That would have meant answering my owls with something more than ‘go die,’ Midorima-cchi,” Kise said playfully, but his expression remained serious. 

  
“We should speak with the others,” Midorima added.

  
“Not  _ him _ ,” Kise stipulated harshly.

  
Midorima didn’t respond right away.

  
“No,” he agreed finally. “Not until we know what caused these gaps.”

  
Kise sighed in relief.

  
“Excuse me, Minister?”

  
Kise forced a smile on his face.

 

“Let me know what you find, and I’ll let you know the same,” he said, and turned to the individual who had asked for his attention.

 

It was Hanamiya.

 

“Well this is quite the party,” Hanamiya said with a smirk. 

 

“Oh good, the necromancer is here,” Takao said. “Shouldn’t you be busy playing with some zombies in a graveyard somewhere?”

 

“They’re called  _ inferi,  _ Kazunari,” Hanamiya said. “And if you’re so obsessed with figuring out what you’ve forgotten, memory alteration charms  _ don’t work on the dead.  _ Give me a time and place and  _ I’ll  _ get your answers, if there’s anything left of the body.”

 

“No,” Kise said immediately. The very idea of desecrating  _ Momoi’s grave…. _

 

Hanamiya shrugged. 

 

“It was just an offer Minister,” he said.

 

“It was an indecent one,” Midorima said, faster than Kise could decide whether or not to punch the necromancer in the face, glaring at Hanamiya. “I would not allow you within a mile of her grave.”

 

“I’m wounded,” Hanamiya said, placing a hand over his heart. “For all your preaching about prejudice-”

 

“Just leave her body alone!” Kise snapped in a low voice. “Go raise anyone else you want.”

 

Hanamiya smirked again, and Kise resisted the urge to hit him. How was it that the guy had managed to grow up into an adult that was just as infuriating as the child had been?

 

“I just came by to offer,” he said lightly. “Anyway, whatever memories are over _ shadowing  _ you, perhaps the answer has been there the whole time, you just haven’t seen it yet.”

  
Hanamiya’s eyes slid off to the side, his gaze fixed on one of the other guests. Kise followed his line of sight, and caught only a flash of pale blue before it was lost.

 

All he could see were guests at the event.

 

“If you know something,” Midorima began.

 

“Me? I don’t know anything about anything, except shadows - and zombies of course,” Hanamiya chortled. “See you later, I’m going to go take advantage of the open bar.”

 

The wizard sauntered off, leaving the three people behind him glaring at his retreating back.

 

“I hate that guy,” Takao said. 

 

“Please do not make me have to deal with you being arrested for assault at a memorial service,” Kise immediately cut in, glancing at Midorima and silently begging his fellow Miracle to keep his partner in line.

 

Midorima nodded slightly, letting Kise know that he would not allow the situation to grow out of hand.

 

“I really need to go make the rounds, but let me know what you find,” Kise said in a low voice. Midorima nodded sharply.

  
The rest of the reception was torture, as Kise waited for the time to pass. He wanted to get back to his office and go through his memories with a fine tooth comb in a pensieve. To dig through school records until he had an accounting of every Hogwarts student during the time Kise was there.

  
He wanted answers.

  
But, as Kasamatsu had reminded him hours earlier, he had a bill that needed work, and the business of the magical government of Britain took priority over Kise’s personal problems.

  
This shadowy mystery would have to be solved on his own time, which was previously in demand as it was. On second thought, he might have the records pulled and have a copy sent to Midorima as well. He would have to contact the others too, and hope that they answered. He called over his secretary and informed his escorts that he was returning to the office. He sent his secretary home, as he would be working late into the night and had no further appointments for the day anyway.

  
Kise was so engrossed that he missed the fact that he nearly ran into another man, standing just inside the doorway of the ballroom. 

  
Kise would not remember a moment later that he had seen anyone there at all, but light blue eyes followed the line of Kise’s back as it retreated with his secretary and auror escort until they turned a corner and were out of view.

 

…

  
Five years to the day after the explosion that had ended the war with the demons, a massive thunderstorm was pounding its way across Britain with no sign of letting up. The weather was bleak, though not out of character for the rainy isle. 

  
Aomine and Kagami apparated together, appearing in the entryway of their home at the exact same time.

  
“I told you I would beat you!” Aomine crowed victoriously.

  
“Eat me, I got here first!” Kagami replied. 

  
“Yeah, whatever,” Aomine said, stretching casually. “Nobody can beat me apparating but me.”

  
Their two duffel bags hit the ground by the door, throwing out twin clouds of dust.

  
“Man, we really should have swept before we left, huh,” Aomine said, coughing a little as he inhaled.

  
“I told you so,” Kagami said, punching Aomine in the shoulder lightly. “Didn’t I say, as we left, that you should have swept so we wouldn’t get dust?”

  
“Yes  _ Mom _ ,” Aomine sighed, angry at Kagami crowing at having been right. 

  
“That’s not what you were calling me last night,” Kagami smirked at Aomine. 

  
“I think I was mostly calling you an asshole when the security at that hotel showed up and thought a murder was taking place in our hotel room,” Aomine shot back. “No officer, I swear we’re not trying to kill each other -  this is just a  _ super _ enthusiastic blow job!”

  
“Oh please, you’re the one who wanted to do it in the pool the night before-”

  
“Only because you nearly got us caught while having dinner with the mayor!”

  
Kagami started laughing before he could help it, and Aomine followed suit.

  
Clearly, they both had a  _ thing _ , a thing they had to be a lot more cautious about, apparently, given how many close calls they had had during their vacation.

  
They fit together almost perfectly. Their jagged edges had places where they poked and prodded at each other, and empty gaping space where they couldn’t quite bridge the gap between them.

  
But it worked.

  
They made it work, because as far as either of them had ever thought, they only had eyes for each other. It was how the world was supposed to work.

  
Besides, with their careers, they weren’t ever going to be the domestic types anyway. Kagami was working Emergency Response for the branch of the Ministry handling natural disasters, both magical and otherwise. Aomine had signed on with Gringotts as a curse breaker soon after the war had ended. 

  
Neither of them had given up on chasing adventure, but sometimes it felt to both of them as though they were chasing more than just an adrenaline high.

  
They were looking for something they didn’t know the name of. Something forgotten, just beyond the tips of their tongues any time they tried to address the elephant in the room. Kagami had been to three mind healers to try and figure out whether they had been obliviated. Aomine, who refused to have anyone rattling around in his head (quite understandably, given the toll that Akashi had taken on him during the war) took the failure of this venture as sign that they were not going to ever have an answer.

  
Maybe they really were just chasing satisfaction beyond what they had, because they would never have enough. Maybe no matter what they did or how much fantastic sex or fabulous adventures they had, this was it.

  
They embraced each other and what they had, with the times their careers gave them.   
  


Aomine had wanted an adventure, and had run off to Gringotts, signing away ten years of his life as a cursebreaker. He didn’t know what he would do when his contract was up, but Kagami thought Aomine might renew it, given how much he loved the work, but they hadn’t talked a lot about it.

  
It didn’t hurt that Gringotts compensated Aomine very well for his skill, power, and willingness to leap into danger without much regard for the sanctity of his life and limbs.

  
Kagami and Aomine had fought about it. Once. Aomine had said only that once you had stared down the most horrific kind of death imaginable at the hands of a snarling demon, the idea of thousand year old curses was pretty tame.

  
As reckless as Aomine was, there wasn’t a whole lot that really stood a chance against his speed and power anyway, even if his lack of care had caused the destruction of several priceless objects along the way. 

  
Ultimately, Kagami hadn’t had much room to argue. He was a member of the Magical Emergency Management Agency, tasked with responding to severe disasters, both natural and magical. It was a global task force based in Geneva, with offices all around the world. Kagami was lucky that he was based in London. Most of his day to day work involved a lot more research and reading than Kagami had expected, but the responding to crisis stuff, that he liked a lot.

  
“Did you ever open those letters from Midorima?” Kagami asked.

  
“Nope,” Aomine replied. “I don’t want to talk to them.”

  
Unsaid was the rest; he didn’t want the reminder. 

  
Kagami knew that Aomine blamed nobody but Akashi for what had happened during the war, but the other Miracles featured extensively in the other wizard’s nightmares.

  
Especially Kise.

  
Aomine still had a thick scar running down the back of his shoulder, where Kise had peeled off a piece of his flesh while he’d been possessed. Midorima had healed it, but the green haired wizard had only been able to do so much. 

 

Kagami hoped that there would come a time when Aomine didn’t dwell on that fight, or the time he’d spent trapped inside his own head. He may have nightmares of his own, but none were as vivid as Aomine’s.

 

For himself, Kagami wasn’t nearly as determined to avoid the Miracles, it just so happened that he didn’t talk to them. He still hung out with Tatsuya, at least whenever they were in the same country, and he got some news from his brother by oath in that respect. They didn’t talk about the war, or the Miracles, or anything else like that. Sometimes they bitched about their parents, who still occasionally tried to contact them from America, but usually they met somewhere in the muggle world and played basketball and then ate burgers together.

 

( _ “You can tell you’ve been in Britain too long when you call them Muggles instead of Mundanes huh?” Tatsuya had asked during one of their more recent forays into muggle London.  _

 

_ “Sure, and what did you call a fucking cookie the other day?” Kagami retorted, sticking his tongue out at Tatsuya.  _

 

_ “Didn’t hear you complaining about my damn biscuits, but if you don’t like them just say the word and I’ll stop bringing them,” Tatsuya had shot back. _ )

  
It also helped that their jobs kept them moving. They never stayed in one place for long – they had bought the cottage right before heading out on a six-month honeymoon, just long enough that both had been threatened with firing. Aomine had heard rumors of treasure buried somewhere in South America, so they had disappeared into the jungle and remained incommunicado for most of it. Not that they had been particularly communicative before the honeymoon, to be honest. Tatsuya had been their witness in a relatively abrupt service in a courthouse before they were on their way. 

  
Kagami headed towards the kitchen, checking on the food they had left in stasis before heading out. Kagami had insisted that he refused to come home to an empty kitchen and have to shop right away, as much as Aomine had grumbled that they could deal with it when they got home.

 

From down the hall, Kagami could hear Aomine sorting through the piled up paper on the floor.

  
“We’ve got a shitton of letters!”

  
“If any are from Kise, burn them.”

  
“There are six of them from him. One of them has pink ink on the envelope. He’s getting desperate.”

  
“Fiendfyre those bitches, I don’t want to catch anything.”

  
Aomine’s booming laugh echoed down the hall.

  
“He’s gonna be writing us weekly now that we’re finally back semi permanently. We should have never let on that we were thinking of getting a place within five hundred miles of London; He keeps asking me to come work under Kasamatsu in the DMLE.”

  
“I can’t imagine anyone less suited for law enforcement,” Kagami teased. “You never met a rule you weren’t willing to break.”

  
“As opposed to you, who never broke any rules at all, ever.”

  
“Never,” Kagami said with a slow smile.

  
Aomine rolled his eyes.

  
“Then again, Auror Aomine Daiki does kind of roll off the tongue,” Kagami conceded heatedly, his expression making it very clear that he was thinking of more  _ ancillary _ benefits to being in a long term committed relationship with an officer of the law.

  
“We can buy a goddamn police uniform and roleplay cops and robbers if that’s what you want, but Kise will never be my boss.”

  
“Only if you promise to get the handcuffs too,” Kagami said.

  
“Careful, or I’ll hint to him that you’d be willing to look at changing careers and then you can get his weekly letters begging you to come work for him too.”

  
“Don’t you dare!” Kagami, shouted, laughing. “I swear, if he gets on my case too, I won’t be responsible for my actions.”

  
Aomine chuckled lowly, swinging Kagami into his arms and kissing him deeply.

  
“I would never betray you like that,” he promised.

  
“When are you back on duty again?” he asked.

  
“Tomorrow afternoon,” Kagami groused. “Boss wanted me on call as soon as we got back so I told him our portkey didn’t take us home until noon tomorrow. He said I had until ten past. Bastard.”

  
“Well then, we’ve got plenty of time,” Aomine smirked. Even now, he clearly had a one track mind.

  
“Babe literally all I want is a nap,” Kagami said, ducking Aomine’s lecherous grin and heading for their bedroom. “Sex later.”

  
“Bakagami-”

  
“Sex  _ never _ if you keep it up with that nickname – HOLY SHIT WHAT THE FUCK?”

  
Kagami was making a beeline for their shared bed when he suddenly realized that there was someone already sitting on it.

  
The man was petite with the build of a seeker. He had light blue hair and wide, blank eyes that gave away nothing as he stared up at the two men that had stumbled across him.

  
“Hello,” he said, sounding entirely too calm for someone who had broken into someone else’s house and was sitting on their bed.

  
“Who the hell are you?”

  
Kagami crossed his arms, glaring at the intruder.

  
“And how long have you been there anyway?” Aomine demanded, joining Kagami in the doorway.

  
“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya. I’ve been here this whole time.”

  
…

  
Awareness.

  
Awareness of consciousness, of being, but not of much else.

  
There was only the fleeting impression of movement and time, but there was awareness, something that had not been there before and couldn’t quite be described.

  
There was fuzzy light, drifting close nearby. The consciousness drifted closer. 

  
Suddenly, the light moved, racing towards the consciousness at top speeds.

  
When it came in contact with the consciousness, the consciousness knew it to be a piece of itself..

  
The consciousness knew itself to be more whole, and yet incomplete. It knew that there was more missing.

  
It was a thing, independent of the mass in which it moved, a miasma of shifting shades of grey.

  
The consciousness cast awareness further – something it had not thought to do before, or perhaps could not have, before that other half joined it.

  
Was it another half? Or an entirely different whole?

  
Time slipped by.

  
The consciousness floated, quiescent. It waited.

  
Another light appeared in the distance, and the consciousness pursued, moving in space and time towards that piece.

  
This light moved a little faster than the first.

  
It hit with a new wave.

  
Color. The consciousness knew color. The miasma was a mass of moving, driving color, no longer shades of grey. 

  
The light knew itself to be blue, a faded light color that contrasted with the bright, almost blinding set of colors around him.

  
The consciousness knew that there was more information it was missing. That it was not yet whole.

  
It determined that it would seek itself out.

  
A few pieces, some very small, later, the consciousness could see something beyond the haze of shifting color, something behind it.

  
It knew there was something past it.

  
The consciousness ventured close, and at the very edge, where the color was most translucent, it found another piece.

  
Kuroko.

  
The consciousness was Kuroko.

  
From whence this name came to be, or what would call the consciousness anything, was quite beyond the being, as it had never seen anything like itself before.

  
But it knew that. Kuroko.

  
There was a nagging feeling that Kuroko did not belong here.

  
It peered through the thin film of moving color, and it could see images it did not understand, and the consciousness knew  _ feeling _ .

  
It  _ yearned _ to be whole, to understand.

  
It cast about, finding another very large piece of light, one as big as the consciousness itself and called it closer.

  
All at once, Kuroko blinked.

  
He looked down at his hands, which were almost see through, like a ghost.

  
Was he dead?

  
Was this the afterlife?

  
He couldn’t remember how he came to be here.

  
He looked through the veil, and his eyes fixed on a face. 

  
He reached out through the veil.

  
Whoever was on the other side, he was part of who Kuroko had been, and he needed  _ answers _ .

  
Kuroko’s hand turned to pure light as he did so, and he knew  _ joy _ .

  
Shige. His first friend, his partner in crime. 

 

The colors shifted around him, giving the impression of handmade muggle post-it notes, flying in a massive storm of magic, and then settling down as though on an invisible wall in front of Kuroko. On the massive screen, he saw himself and Shige, bent over a cauldron, sneaking around the castle at night, writing notes in code…

  
Kuroko had the impression of a feather blowing up, and then more memories followed.   
  


This boy had died. 

  
Kuroko pressed around the edges of that hole in his memory, and the images changed, taking a new form. A dark cave at the end of the world, a soul wrenching pain that felt like it would never end.

  
Kuroko knew  _ grief _ .

  
Why, why had this happened?

  
And then Kuroko was standing along a corridor. It was a block of cells.

  
There was a man with red hair, and though his name escaped him, Kuroko knew that this was the reason why.

  
The name came while he stood there.

  
Akashi Seijuro. 

  
Kuroko could remember a dim library and a hand extended, an offer that would change his life forever, the beginning of an adventure that had set him on an incredible, amazing, and terrifying path. 

  
He wanted to know why this man had done what he had done. He needed to know when things had gone so sour for them and why.

  
It took some time to get Akashi’s attention, and his answers only left Kuroko needing more. 

 

When Akashi asked who Kuroko was, Kuroko wasn’t surprised. He doubted Akashi would have been forthcoming if he’d recognized Kuroko, and he’d known from the way Kuroko had talked about his  _ rival  _ for Kuroko’s affections and couldn’t even remember  _ Kuroko,  _ that Akashi didn’t know him.

 

How had Ogiwara Shigehiro been in any way the rival of Akashi Seijuro? Because he had been friends with Kuroko, because Kuroko had loved him, the first person who had looked at Kuroko and  _ seen him.  _ Seen his potential. Believed in him. Akashi might have wanted it to have been him, but it wasn’t.

 

_ Of course, I am Kuroko Tetsuya,  _ Kuroko thought, wanting to throw Akashi’s words back in his own face. Akashi might not react to the name, but it would satisfy Kuroko’s petty anger. He could do nothing to fix what was done, and he was still mad.

 

Before he could say that, however, the world dissolved around him, back into the maze of color.

  
Kuroko thought a long time passed. He was tired. He didn’t think he could try that again for a while. Just existing in the corporeal world took up a well of strength he hadn’t been aware of until he was actually using it. 

  
Instead of trying to get back to his home dimension, Kuroko decided his time would be better spent if he rested and looked for the other missing pieces of himself. 

 

Akashi’s words had left guilt burning through Kuroko. Shige had been targeted because he was Kuroko’s friend, because Akashi saw their relationship as a threat.

 

Ogiwara had died for the same petty reason the Miracles had attacked him in school. His friendship with Kuroko.

 

The guilt tasted like acid on the shadow of his tongue.

  
More light, and there was the impression of a sweet taste he knew to be vanilla. For some reason, this evoked more images, another man Kuroko knew he should know.

  
He appeared again, this time in some kind of store.

  
It was so overwhelming, all the people and things. None of them could see him, but Kuroko managed to order something at the counter with a bit effort.

  
He felt himself growing exhausted just from gaining the attention of the clerk, and he only managed one bite of the pastry before he could move no longer. Instead he watched, a passive observer in this strange world.

  
Murasakibara.

  
This time he knew the subject of his observation as he was looking at him.

  
_ It’s fun dueling with Kuro-chin. _

  
Kuroko disappeared again.

  
The new pieces now were all fairly small. Bits of information. Small memories. A dog. A home. A family that he visited, only to find that he had lost.

  
A lifetime unremembered.

 

Why did not one of them remember him?

  
The green haired man surely did. Kuroko remembered Midorima to be smart.

  
When he appeared again by Midorima’s desk, he shouted himself hoarse. The other man hadn’t heard him at all.

  
The door opened, and Takao ( _ rival, shadow, friend, comrade at arms _ ) was shining with light.   
Huge pieces of memory returned, and Takao blinked, staring at Kuroko’s face, and Kuroko hoped against hope, but then Takao’s eyes slid away, and Kuroko vanished again.

  
_ You have a type _ , Takao whispered in his memories, looking tired and too thin in his bedroom at home.

  
Kuroko had to keep fighting to find himself, to break back through to his own world.

  
He needed them to know he was alive, that he was still trying to find them.

  
Why had this even happened? He couldn’t remember.

  
He saw Midorima again, speaking to a wide conference with Takao by his side, and Kuroko’s gaze was arrested.

  
_ Number one _ . That was his face. Takao had designed his face.

  
Takao remembered him, though maybe as not as much as he should.

  
Kuroko cheered himself on.

  
Perhaps he could jog their memories himself? If they could find him, they could help him.   
Midorima would never let him down.

  
“Whose dog did you use?” Kuroko asked, because that was  _ his Number Two _ , his Nigou. Surely Takao had to remember? But Takao brushed him off.

 

When Kuroko shook hands with Midorima, he remembered more.

  
An explosion. Power, corrupted, burning with sulfur, and pain.

  
He’d ripped himself apart.

  
He’d ripped himself apart to stop the end of the world.

 

If he wasn’t dead, why not? By all rights he should have been blown to pieces. 

  
Was that why nobody could remember him?

  
Kuroko knew Kise when he saw the other man. He smiled, standing beside Kise as Kise voted for Minister, his face somber with responsibility.

  
Leadership looked good on the blonde.

  
He waved to his adoring fans, and Kuroko smiled.

  
_ Kuroko-cchi, you’re awesome! _

  
He was almost there, he was sure.

  
Kuroko sat through the memorial service. He hadn’t known that the Headmaster had died. No wonder Coach was distraught. He thought it was nice that Hyuuga held her hand.

  
He saw Kise speaking with Midorima across the room. He wandered closer just as Takao got there.

  
He cheered to himself when Takao remembered the sixth man.

  
_ I’ve been here the whole time, _ he thought desperately as they spoke.  _ Please remember me. _

  
He followed Kise as the blonde spoke to the attendees, reveling in knowing who these people were, at seeing them safe and whole and alive.

 

He watched as Hanamiya went up to speak to the others, and started in surprise when the wizard looked up and made direct eye contact with Kuroko.

 

Hanamiya smirked as Kuroko stared, too shocked to do anything, but when Kise turned, he couldn’t see anything.

 

Kuroko dogged him the whole evening, begging the blonde to see him, shouting his lungs out.

  
“KISE!” 

  
Never before had Kuroko wished for someone to notice him as much as he had at that moment, but Kise barely looked up as he brushed right by, and then the world dissolved around Kuroko again.

  
He was getting frustrated. 

  
There was an irregular, beating sound, and Kuroko wandered the mass of color, looking for it. It came in a flash of orange, bouncing on the black asphalt in time with the irregular sound and the feeling of oppressive summer heat.

  
_ You ever play basketball before? _

_  
_ Oh _.  _

 

_ Oh. _

 

Kuroko remembered Kagami’s shirtless form, and the first reaction he’d had to seeing it.

 

_ I think I might be gay.  _

  
The shine of sweat on the shirtless redhead and the warm feeling that Kuroko had when he saw his smile opened yet another door.

  
Kagami.

  
And just as quickly, he knew the paired smile to Kagami’s, the other part of their trio.

  
Aomine. 

  
Kuroko remembered him, but not wholly, not as he should have, not until now.

  
He beat against the wall that separated him from his lovers, from his world.

  
Was he truly dead? Was this his fate, to piece together all that he had been only to watch the people he loved lived their lives without him?

  
He prayed that they would remember. He needed them to remember.

  
Why couldn’t they remember?

  
Kuroko thought that was the last piece.

  
When he knew that answer, he would be whole again, though he didn’t know how he knew that.

  
After all, if his memory still had holes in it, he wouldn’t be able to know, or would he?

  
He found another piece of light hiding in a memory of Akashi.

  
_ I am of course, Akashi Seijuro. _

 

Kuroko grabbed for it, and he knew this was the last one, because his awareness came crashing down over him with a clarity like freezing cold water.

  
They couldn’t remember because Kuroko himself had not wanted them to.

  
At the very end, when he had let the demons explode and sent their magic into a miniature supernova, he’d prayed that they wouldn’t be in pain because of him.

  
This was his own fault for wanting to spare them the loss.

  
It was a fault he would undo.

 

Was that why Kuroko hadn’t died in the explosion? Because at the last moment, when he had released his control over the demons, he had been exercising his misdirection to force his friends to forget he had ever been a part of his life?

 

After all, how do you blow up a shadow?

 

Were these pieces… was this his soul? Had Kuroko managed to accidentally blow up his own soul when he’d set the demons to blaze?

  
The shifting walls of color fell away, and Kuroko was sitting down.

  
He could hear his lovers not so far away, and his heart beat so much faster.

  
He touched his arm and he could feel it. He was solid.

  
He held a hand to his heart and he could feel it beat. He could feel his chest rise and fall in time with his breath.

  
He was alive. 

  
When Kagami came falling through the doorway, laughing, Kuroko looked up, drinking in the sight of him like a man dying of thirst in the desert.

  
Aomine’s face was no less welcome, right behind him.

  
Kuroko could feel his heart swell and he could hardly contain his emotions at seeing them.

 

Even when Kagami’s face contorted in confusion and anger, Kuroko couldn’t find it in himself to be anything less than thrilled. The redhead demanded to know who he was, and Kuroko concentrated on pulling back his misdirection.

  
“I’m Kuroko Tetsuya. I’ve been here the whole time.”

  
_ I am a wizard. I am a shadow. You are the Lights that give me my strength. _

_  
_ Aomine’s mouth moved in a few interesting, soundless ways.

  
Recognition flickered in his eyes first, but Kagami caught on only a second later.   
  


It was Kagami who collected himself enough to speak first.

  
“You fucking bastard! You had no goddamn right!”

  
Kuroko’s heart couldn’t even sink at the reaction. Sure he’d hoped for a more welcome homecoming, but he would take even Kagami’s fury to be this close to the other man. He’d missed Kagami and Aomine so much.

  
“I apologize.”

  
Kagami marched over to the bed, furious.

  
“ _ You made us forget _ !” He was almost roaring with fury. “Did you even plan to come back?”

  
“No,” Kuroko said bluntly. “I was sure that I would die.”

 

Kagami let out a noise like a wounded animal.

  
“You can’t just decide that!” Kagami shouted.

  
“In the last instant, I only hoped that you would be spared the pain of my loss,” Kuroko said. “I made you forget because I thought it would be kinder. I wanted you to have a chance to be happy. I thought I would die. I was sure of it the moment I realized I was not strong enough to send the demons through the portal as we hoped. In the end, I was only strong enough to do what was necessary to stop them, and then to spare you the pain of that loss.”

  
“It was a lie,” Kagami said. “It was all based on a lie. How on earth could we have been happy without you? Even if you had died, didn’t we deserve to keep the memory of you with us?”

  
“I am sorry,” Kuroko said again.

  
“Where did you even go?” Aomine asked, sounding broken. He stepped into the room, staring at Kuroko’s face like he couldn’t believe that Kuroko was there. 

  
“I don’t know,” Kuroko admitted. “Too far. I came back as soon as I could.”

 

Aomine exhaled.

  
“Merlin’s bloody cock,” he said. “It’s really you, Tetsu? You’re really there? I’m not dreaming this shit, am I?”

  
“As far as I know,” Kuroko replied.

  
Impetuously, Aomine reached out, pulling Kuroko to his feet and pulling him into a hug.

  
It was tender, and Kuroko hugged back, feeling the warm body of his light, hearing the beat of his heart, the rush of his breath, and he was overwhelmed.

  
Kuroko held onto Aomine with all his strength as he felt Kagami hugging him from behind.   
  


His Lights were alive.

  
He was alive.

  
They could figure everything else out together.

  
“I missed you so much, Tetsu, and I didn’t even know what I was missing,” Aomine said.

  
“We knew the whole time something wasn’t there that should be, even when we didn’t know who or what,” Kagami said. “Even if our memories of you were gone, we still knew you weren’t there.”   
  


That was the moment when Kuroko’s emotions overwhelmed him.

  
Clinging to his Lights, he sobbed.

  
He cried harder than he could remember, harder than he had when he knew Ogiwara was dead, harder than he had on the astronomy tower when he was sure Kagami was hoping that Kuroko was something he wasn’t, that he could no longer love.

  
He was so relieved, he couldn’t do anything but cry.

  
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, we’re here,” Kagami said. “It’s okay.”

  
“I know,” Kuroko sniffed, positively shaking with relief. “I’m just so happy.”

  
He smiled up at his Lights, and Kagami finally kissed him.

  
The three of them held each other like they hoped the physical contact would prevent them from ever being separated again.

  
Aomine hissed in annoyance at Kagami, who smirked at the blue haired wizard when he pulled up for air.

 

Kuroko didn’t have the same benefit, because one gasp of air later, Aomine was kissing him too, and he didn’t care in the slightest.

  
It was so good to be home, in their arms.

  
Clothes were disposed of between one heartbeat and the next, naked skin pressing on naked skin as the three of them fought to reassert their connection over what felt like an eternity of distance and time. Aomine and Kagami were determined to worship Kuroko, and they did, with their mouths and tongues and bodies, working in tandem to make Kuroko feel whole again.

 

The physical touch, after so long without anything, was a balm to the loneliness and isolation in Kuroko’s soul. He held onto them as tightly as he could, unsure even now that he wouldn’t just disappear.

 

He couldn’t disappear.

 

He wouldn’t lose them again, of that he was determined. He would hold onto his stake in life and he would stay by their side.

 

Later, when they had burned through the frantic relief and sheer joy at being whole and together again, Kuroko laid between Aomine and Kagami, his hands entwined with theirs.

 

They couldn’t be bothered to move just yet, wanting only to hold each other here.

 

Kagami broke the silence first, the rain continuing to pound away outside.

  
“You were the only thing holding us together.”

  
“It was not on purpose.”

  
“Have you told anyone else?”

  
Kuroko shook his head against Kagami’s chest.

  
“I’m not sure I want to. I came back to you. I tried to reach out to the others, but I’m not sure I’m ready to face them yet.”

  
They would be so mad. Kise, most of all. Kuroko wondered where Akashi was now, after his trial. He wondered if Midorima and Takao had their patent, how Himuro and Murasakibara’s bakery was doing.

 

He wondered where Coach was, and how their team had fared, but those were all questions that could wait for another time. He could get his answers, but he wanted to  _ feel  _ again, to love his Lights fiercely.

 

He’d been only a shadow until Aomine had looked at him and pronounced “ _ Kuroko Tetsuya, you are amazing _ .” He hadn’t lived until he had tasted the desire to win that Aomine had passed onto him. He had been a shadow again, his misdirection barely functioning, until he had found Kagami in Los Angeles and fought by his side.

 

_ “I will be the shadow to your light. _ ”

 

He had said it like an oath, and an oath it had been.

 

They had the rest of their lives to keep making good on that, and Kuroko couldn’t wait. 

  
“Hey I get that,” Aomine said. “You don’t have to at all if you don’t want to. Listen, stay here for a bit. We can handle everything else… well, when we get there. Bakagami and I can call in sick for a while. The world can keep moving without us for a bit.”

 

The rain kept pounding on the windows, and Kuroko felt his heart swell, overwhelming him with the ferocity of his emotions. 

  
Kuroko clung to his lights, desperate for their warmth.

  
“Don’t ever leave again.”

  
“I won’t,” Kuroko swore. “No matter what, I’m not going anywhere. I never wanted to to begin with.”

  
Thunder cracked outside, and they held onto each other. 

  
“Whatever happens, we’re going to be okay,” Kagami promised.

  
“I know that it will be okay,” Kuroko said holding onto his Lights even tighter. He looked up at both of them, his eyes wide and trusting.

  
“You are both here.”

  
…

  
_ Our story began on a clear, cloudless night in Fall, when a group of children who were born to change the course of history were sorted into their Hogwarts houses.  _

_  
_ _ For the purposes of our tale, this is the end. This is the story of how seven Miraculous wizards became best friends, and nearly destroyed the world.  _

_  
_ _ And when they were done with saving it, they didn’t live happily ever after, but at least they were happy enough. _

  
  
…   
  
…   
  
…   
  
  
. : *.* .  **FIN** . *.* : .    
  


 

 


End file.
